The truth is, every month should be about waving the rainbow flag. After all, PRIDE stands for basic human needs and fundamental rights: self-affirmation, dignity and equality.
As a music blogger, I don’t know a better way to show my support for the LGBTQIA+ community than by shedding some light on artists proudly (pun intended) repping their sexuality in the music business.
So this is exactly what’s awaiting you in this post.
Narrowing down the army of talented artists waving the rainbow flag in Australia to a palatable list of names is no small feat. I attempted it three years ago in this post already.
But in Australia, awesome new acts appear every day. So it’s high time to present some of them to you today.
This year, I’ve decided to approach this topic differently, however.
So here are five artists with stage names whose first letters spell out the word “PRIDE”.
P like Peach PRC
Peach PRC (from “porcelain”, real name Sharlee Jade Curnow) represents the new era of artists who successfully build their careers on TikTok. She took the platform by storm in 2019 after independently releasing her debut single, “Blondes.”
Since then, she’s racked up over 2 million followers on the platform, signed a record label deal and entered the ARIA Charts with some of her releases.
The artist came out as lesbian in January 2022. But in her songs, she also refers to her previous relationships with men from when she’d identified as bisexual. Like in the banger “Josh” that put her on my radar.
Aside from being a rising star in the music business, she’s also an influential social media personality with “a no filter approach to life.” On her TikTok account, Peach PRC discusses issues such as self-care advice, mental health, her struggles with ADHD, and drug and alcohol abuse. Oh, and did I mention she used to be a stripper before blowing up in the Aussie music world?
So get behind this pop starlet. I’m telling you right now she’s going to get very far, very soon.
R like RVG
RVG stands for Romy Vager Group. It’s an indie rock / post-punk band based in Melbourne that has been around since 2015. The group has just released its third studio album, Brain Worms.
And there would be nothing special about this story if it wasn’t for the fact that the group is fronted by a transgender woman who is also the singer and lead guitarist.
Romy Vager herself admits this particular scene is a challenging place for her. “In a world that is vastly cishet and male”, some audience members might be deterred by who she is, “no matter how hard she plays.”
So RVG’s music is – in a way – a form of social activism. But the band’s songs are not only related to sexuality. They’re also about trying to figure out life in general. That theme is particularly present in the recent record, navigating the world that “is very absurd right now”, according to Romy.
That’s just one of the reasons I follow RVG. Have I convinced you, too?
I like imbi the girl
Imbar Amira Nassi (aka imbi the girl) describe themselves as “a humble glitch in the system, currently making music and mistakes.”
They believe “gender is a construct”, pointing out that identifying as non-binary is a concept known for ages in Indigenous communities. But colonialism changed it all in Australia.
The Sydney-based R&B singer-songwriter is a “melodic rapper” and poet, too. They cite a plethora of artists as their influences and inspirations, amongst them Amy Winehouse, The Fugees, Childish Gambino, Lizzo, Missy Elliott and Allen Ginsberg.
In their career spanning approximately six years, imbi the girl has already performed at Groovin The Moo, Laneway and Listen Out festivals, just to name a few. They’ve also collaborated with fellow artists in Australia and beyond. One of the fruits of that music networking is “Don’t Stop”, a 2020 song with Alice Ivy and BOI, which currently has over 1 million streams on Spotify alone.
And even though they haven’t released any new music for over a year, trust me. You don’t want to sleep on imbi the girl.
D like Hope D
Yes, I know this is a little alphabet cheating on my part. But I really, really need you to get to know Hope D (real last name Defteros). Because she makes the sort of “cynical upbeat pop – rock that tells the stories you were burying.”
The young singer-songwriter has been popping up on my music news feed for some time now. Especially when it’s something related to the Brisbane music scene. She seems to have been gigging heaps since her 2019 debut.
Also, I couldn’t not notice that she received Queensland Music Awards two years in a row, in 2020 and 2021. The first one was for “Emerging Artist” and a year later, for a rock release for one of her breakthrough songs, “Second.”
Her artist moniker has also frequently been associated with other Aussie acts from the queer community, like G Flip, HANDSOME, Egoism or flowerkid.
Check out the excellent “Delirium” EP – a collaboration between all those amazing artists. Because music, ultimately, is about sharing it and having fun, right?
E like Electric Fields
I first heard (and heard of) Electric Fields at an unusual place.
TedXMelbourne 2017 was entitled “Rebels, Revolutionaries & Us”. And the music acts that performed at the event represented that theme perfectly. It was especially hard to forget the electronic-soul duo whose performance was… electric, like part of their stage name.
They’ve been dropping catchy dance tunes for years. Their super positive single “Don’t You Worry” occupies an honorary place on my Aussie faves playlist and is my official “pick me up” song when I’m down.
Vocalist Zaachariaha Fielding (who’s also of Aboriginal heritage) and keyboard player and producer Michael Ross are both members of the LGBTQIA+ community. And this year, their new single “We The People” has become the official theme song for the WorldPride Sydney celebrations (aka the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras).
And I couldn’t agree more with Michael Ross’ statement: “Pride is not just about acceptance, but feeling at home in your own individuality. ‘We The People’ is for all of us. Our differences help to make the world go ‘round.” I hope you feel the same about it.
Last but not least, here is a playlist with more queer artists from Australia and beyond, made by a record label that knows.
The video to Jen Cloher’s single, “My Witch”, is the best Valentine’s Day gift ever. Here’s why
Let’s start with a fun fact. Saint Valentine is often associated with the concept of “courtly love”, in which chivalry and nobility play a huge role. That’s why the holiday bears his name. But I feel like February 14th is not the right date for it. That’s when he was martyred and buried, not for…
6 reasons why Vigilantonie’s catchy depresso pop song “Cooked” got my attention
“Cold emailing a stranger to listen to an upbeat song I wrote about my depression is whack. But I keep writing witty hooks on sticky beats about mental health, so here we are”, read the two first sentences in an email that landed recently in my inbox. And that unpretentious, honest approach was already enough…
“We are so lucky to be a part of this country”. Sydney-based Tomboy pop/electronic artist HANDSOME on the queer community’s place in Australia. Interview
A few weeks ago, I was browsing through the New Music Friday AU/NZ playlist on Spotify when I came across a song called “Back To My Vice”. It drew me in right away, so I looked up the artist as well. It turns out HANDSOME has been making music with a message for quite some…
Silly McWiggles blog & podcast 