My inspiration for wanting to create an online space for women and queer musicians to both highlight and appreciate the music of music made by women and queers is twofold. As a punk, queer female musician, I am perpetually disillusioned by the coverage of queer lady bands in both queer-focused and punk-focused forums. Many queer-themed blogs focus on celebrity appreciation and pop culture. It’s painful to find more information on Lady Gaga and Top 40-focused dance nights on queer blogs than information about current local/touring queer artists! On the male-dominated music blog side, girl/queer bands are still treated as a novelty to show how “down” the male blogger is – worth the occasional mention, but never more important than the pivotal straight man band.

My other inspiration is my desire to talk about awesome music and learn about more awesome music I don’t know about. Music is the focus of so much conversation with my friends, and I know we all have a lot to say and share about it. I want my friends from all over the globe to write about their current favorite girl/queer bands, the awesome & inspiring show they went to last night, the bullshit they deal with from straight guys at shows (their own shows, and shows they go to), their favorite records, and those rad stories about teenage music discovery. I’d love to put a tangible zine together, but I’m a full-time college student and just don’t seem to have the time anymore. So, I’m calling out some awesome musicians and writers to come share this internet space with me. I think it’s gonna be awesome.