A first of its kind live gig and fundraiser brought to you by the Victorian Government’s On The Road Again initiative in partnership with the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia and AMRAP – the Australian Music Radio Airplay Project, JOY Media presents Queer AF on Saturday 19 November 2022.
Bring your dancing shoes, an outfit that says, ‘this is me’ and get ready to boogie the night away to some of Australia’s best musicians and help raise funds for Australia’s only LGBTQIA+ community media organisation JOY.
Featuring five incredible LGBTQIA+ musicians from all over Victoria, hosted by JOY 94.9 Drive hosts, Em and Warren and some of JOY’s best music taste makers, celebrating being exactly who you are!
Queer AF will be held at and is supported by The 86 in Fitzroy. Featured artists include Michael Waugh, Max Lawrence, Kee’ahn, Cry Club and Tanzer. Plus, special guest DJs!
Michael Waugh
Michael Waugh is a songwriter’s songwriter, a compelling live performer and an extraordinary storyteller. Michael’s insightful tributes to friends, family and parenthood are simultaneously deeply personal and nationally recognisable; we see our own brothers, parents, pubs, rivers, struggles and joys reflected in the faces of those characters who live large in Michael’s songs.
Max Lawrence
Naarm based musician Max Lawrence (they/them) blends electronic textures and jazz sensibility with larger-than-life art pop song writing. As a queer, non-binary artist, Lawrence’s genre-fluid approach champions multiplicity, creating music as a means of catharsis and inquisition. Inspired by the work of artists including Bjork, Moses Sumney and James Blake, Lawrence creates sonic and visual landscapes that blur the line between intimacy and fantasy.
Kee’ahn
With a name coming from the Wik people, meaning to dance, to sing, to play, Kee’ahn aims to honour her name and Ancestors through her soulful music that weaves lush melodies and words reminiscent of heartbreak and healing. Kee’ahn released her debut single Better Things back in May 2020. Kee’ahn was awarded the Archie Roach Foundation Award at the 2020 National Indigenous Music Awards.
Cry Club
Australian queer noise-pop duo, Cry Club are as gentle in spirit as they are ferocious on stage, they have a flair for creating relatable, empowering and danceable anthems coupled with head-turning moments of intrigue and flawlessly tight guitars which has seen them booked for festivals such including Falls Festival, Lost Paradise, and Splendour in the Grass. Their debut full-length album, God I’m Such a Mess, released in 2020, show cased their confidence, vision, and fiercely idiosyncratic personality and featured on triple j and KEXP.
Tanzer
Tanzer is in the business of escapism – and escape you shall. A singer, composer, disco DJ and art maker, Tanzer is known for her cinematic, high-glamour, escapist works that are at once intensely powerful, deeply fragile and darkly humorous. Her work spans stages, clubs, galleries and festivals and fuses musical forms to a multitude of performative and artistic outcomes. Her musical compositions move fluidly from opera to disco and from the experimental to pure pop – exploring self-image, gender, romance and the power of the alter ego. She competed in the San Marino national final for the 2022 Eurovision Contest, chronicling her surreal experience via a series of dramatic video diaries. Her EP Disco Automatic launched in April, featuring the singles Tango, Deep Fried Disco and Fantasy.
JOY Media is an LGBTQIA+ volunteer-based community Media organization and radio station committed to providing a voice for the diverse LGBTQIA+ communities, enabling freedom of expression, the breaking down of isolation and the celebration of our culture, achievements and pride. Our mission is to make Australia a more inclusive place to live.
JOY Media presents Queer AF
The 86, 185 Smith Street, Fitzroy
Event: Saturday 19 November 2022
Bookings: www.stickytickets.com.au
For more information about JOY Media, visit: www.joy.org.au for details.
Image: Tanzer (sourced)