(Originally Published on The Huffington Post on 5/16/2013)

This Friday night James Franco and Travis Matthews‘ stunning, complicated and sexually graphic new film Interior. Leather Bar., a “docu-fiction” exploration of queer sex and BDSM subculture as it relates to Hollywood, mainstream culture and where we all draw the line as people, is making its Pacific Northwest debut at QDoc: Portland Queer Documentary Film Festival.

I had the opportunity to catch up with both Franco and Matthews this week to chat about the public’s reaction to the movie (so far), their intentions behind making it to begin with, how gay sex will save American cinema, and much more.

Watch the official Interior. Leather Bar. trailer and then read our conversation below:

Travis Matthews: If you mean a process that went as far and as deep and exploratory as it did with Val, no. Initially when we did the casting call, and there were so many guys who were both gay and straight, and a lot of them had different ideas of what they were willing to do, what was OK, what was too much. I kind of thought that we should just bring on extras that were really 100-percent behind this, but then it seemed like it made a lot more sense just to complement the arc that was Val’s story. You look at Cruising; it’s a story that follows that main character in a very similar way. That was a lot of the intent.

Lynn: That makes sense. I’m seeing the term “docu-fiction” used all over the place to describe the movie. In the context of this film, what does that mean to you?

James Franco: I think that describes a lot of different dynamics that are happening within the film. Our source was a piece of fiction, a movie called Cruising, but that fictional feature film had a lot of documentary kind of history attached to it in a very strong way. If anybody knows that film nowadays, it’s very hard to extract the film from its history, the history of its production and the protests that went on, the history of its reception and the personal histories of the people involved. So, from the start, our project was engaged with a source that was already combining docu-fiction in a very strong way. I think that the way that Cruising and its history are tied together informed our approach, and a lot of it really was discovery and exploration as we went. We didn’t have any firm goal in mind. I think that, for me, one of the clearest things about the project at the beginning was that we had an area to explore, but that it would be an exploration. That was a huge part of it. Anyway, I guess that’s a long way of saying our source involved docu-fiction and our approach accordingly involved docu-fiction.

Lynn: Do you have any theories on what William Friedkin’s motivations were in making the original Cruising film? Have you heard him speak to that?

Franco: Yeah, I have heard him speak about it, and he actually has a new book out. I started reading it but haven’t read the Cruising chapter yet. My understanding of why he did it was that there was a book that was written by a police officer that inspired the Pacino character, and that book had actually been attached to a young Spielberg at one point, strangely enough.

Lynn: Wow.

Franco: It wasn’t made, and then that book came around to Friedkin, and he wasn’t interested, and then there was some weird connection between a guy from one of his other films that was then working, like at the NYU hospital or something like that.

Matthews: Or was it the morgue?

Franco: Yeah, it was the morgue. (Laughs). I’m screwing this up, but there was some connection that he had with somebody from one of his other films where either that guy was in trouble for murder or knew about these murders, and I guess there had been a series of murders maybe near the Chelsea Piers or in the clubs or around the clubs or something, so that interested Friedkin, I guess, the murder stories, and he wanted to use the backdrop of these leather bars for a murder story. I don’t think Friedkin went into it with any bad intentions or bad faith or anything. After a while, it had to have been clear to him that the juxtaposition of these murders with the gay clubs was upsetting people, because it made some unfortunate connections that, you know, that this lifestyle led to depravity and murder.

Franco: But I don’t think that connection was Friedkin’s intention when he started at all. In fact, to his credit, he made The Boys in the Band very early, a fairly mainstream film that tried to examine gay lifestyles in a positive way. So I think that’s what happened, and then once he was in production, I guess it’s hard to know what to do at that point. You know, you’re just trying to make your movie, and this whole community is against you. I guess at that point you could either shut down or change the movie, which I guess he did in some ways, or just try and get it done. My guess is that he was thinking, “Look, I know my intentions aren’t evil or negative. I know I’m just trying to make a movie as best as I can. Maybe in the end people will see the light, that people are protesting something that’s not even finished; they don’t know what it is. Maybe when it’s done people will come around.”

Lynn: Have you experienced any of that yourself with Interior. Leather Bar., like, before people have seen it, there’s a reaction? Any parallels there?

Franco: Before it came out, there were some pieces talking about it, and they were just not right at all about what the movie was, as far as content or anything. So there was this misconception that was created just because people were writing about it in an uninformed way, and then as far as the reception after we started showing it at festivals, everybody sees it differently, and I guess that’s not surprising.

Matthews: I’ve been to a lot of the screenings, and I can tell you they vary, but they have been pretty consistently intense, like the Q-and-As. I don’t mean that necessarily just in a bad way, but I think people, regardless of what their expectations are going into this movie, are surprised. Some people are surprised in very positive ways, and sometimes in negative ways. Part of it, I think, is that the map of where things are going is a little bit crumpled, and I think people get thrown off in the midst of this. There are some pieces of it that, depending on who the person is watching it, can be a little bit intense or visceral for them. A lot of people have told me that they wish they could somehow come back to have a Q-and-A the next day, because a lot of people need to process the movie afterwards. Coming right out of it and then talking about it has been interesting to see where people go. I mean, in Istanbul the Q-and-A was an hour and 15 minutes long.

Lynn: Oh, my god.

Matthews: There was nobody facilitating it. It just went on and on and on, but people were really, really engaged. Regardless of how it goes, that kind of engagement, and then seeing people actually really discuss the movie and the topics it brings up in a real way, that’s every filmmaker’s dream, right, to have people talking about larger topics based on something that you made?

Lynn: Absolutely. If you were to reduce the movie down to a quick soundbite, what are some of the most important themes or ideas from Interior. Leather Bar. that you hope viewers take away?

Matthews: For me, the movie is about boundaries, all sorts of different boundaries — creative boundaries, sexual boundaries, personal boundaries — and even the shape of the movie plays with boundaries and form. Part of it, for me, is throwing people out of their comfort zone and sort of shaking them up a little bit, then forcing themselves to ask a lot of the same questions that get provoked in the movie. The fact that people are talking about it and discussing it is what I hoped for, and that’s been happening.

Lynn: Are you on board with that as well, James? Is that your hope for what the film’s takeaways are?

Lynn: I found it so touching to hear you speak in the movie about your motivations for exploring queer issues in film. Do you mind touching on just sort of your general draw to these themes? Why this project?

Franco: I mean, there are a lot of reasons: aesthetic reasons and personal reasons. I’ve been a part of professional mainstream film for 17 years, and then in addition to that, I am a citizen of the United States and, you know, I am engaged with its mainstream culture, but I’ve also done a fair amount of studying queer theory or queer cinema classes. So I’ve found that my place, one thing that my position allows, is a way to bring these two worlds together and also question the rules of mainstream cinema or mainstream culture, to examine why things are made the way that they are, why some subject matter is presented in one way and not another, and how those things shape us as people, how it shapes our beliefs, how it shapes the way that we live. If we can question those things or introduce alternative ways of viewing lifestyles or whatever it might be in mainstream cinema or indie cinema or art cinema, I think it can only be for the good. If other voices or other kinds of discussions or storylines or narratives from different perspectives are introduced, it will only make us richer as a people.

Lynn: I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment. Travis, what was the experience of co-directing this film with James like?

Matthews: [Laughs.] It was pretty wild and in-the-moment in a lot of ways, which I realize I kind of love. You know, I’m trained in documentary; I’m a self-taught filmmaker, but I did documentary for about 10 years, and something that I really miss from that is the run-and-gun feeling and execution. One of the things that was so great about this project and how we approached it was really how, from the beginning, James was pushing for this more than I was. I think I wanted to have a little more control over everything we were doing just for safety, but ultimately that collaboration of me trying to always keep some structure on it, and then James being a little more free-form with it, and then that coming together, is a lot of what you actually see in the film. There are different scenes in it that are loosely constructed with things that need to get accomplished and stuff like that, but we knew that there were so many ripe conditions with what we were filming, that there were going to be kind of spontaneous scenes that would happen through this long day of production, scenes that might add to the greater arc of what was Val’s story. A lot of that actually happened, and you see that in the final film.

Lynn: So did it morph as you all went along? In looking at the finished product now, does it do for each of you what you had intended for it to going in, or did that shift at some point?

Matthews: For me, it’s become much more than what I initially thought it might be. I hoped that we would be able to accomplish something that has the same intentions and weight and significance that our final film does, but that was part of the whole adventure of this movie, the not knowing. The stakes were so low that it allowed us to be that playful and spontaneous with it.

Matthews: No, of course they are still vital. Anywhere you can find safety, inspiration and a sense of community, I think that is always important, especially with queer youth, where, even though things have progressed dramatically in the last however many years, there’s still tons of discrimination that’s both direct and obvious, and also discrimination that’s much more beneath the surface. I don’t think there is any question about that.

Lynn: Agreed. I know you are both busy men, but before we go, can you give us an idea of what’s coming up for each of you?

Franco: Well, we are working on the release of this film, and then next I have a movie that’s premiering at Cannes, and I am hoping to do something else with Travis soon.

Matthews: Yeah. I think that’s definitely in the works. We need to find a time to figure out what that might be.

Lynn: Well, I look forward to seeing it when that happens. OK, thanks you two. I appreciate you both taking the time to chat with me today!

Franco: Thank you so much.

Matthews: Good luck at Cannes, James! Have fun.

Lynn: Yeah, James. Break a leg! I hope the whole world sees Interior. Leather Bar., and I can’t wait to see what comes next from you guys.

For more on QDoc: Portland Queer Documentary Film Festival, visit queerdocfest.org.

For more on James Franco, visit jamesfrancotv.com.

For more on Travis Matthews, visit travisdmathews.com.

Tickets for the Accidental Bear Queer Music Summer Tour Benefit For LGBTQ Mental Health Services & Suicide Prevention with Logan Lynn, Big Dipper, Conquistador, Darling Gunsel, and Rica Shay are on sale now!
 

7/5 – Beatbox, San Francisco, CA
7/7 – Los Globos, Los Angeles, CA
7/11 – Mississippi Studios, Portland, OR
7/14 – Chop Suey, Seattle, WA
7/19 – Webster Hall, New York City, NY

Presented by Accidental Bear and Sponsored by Manhunt.com, the proceeds from this tour go to Ali Forney Center (NYC), Pride Foundation (Seattle), Q Center (PDX), LA Gay & Lesbian Center, and Stonewall Project (SF), so we are offering a few ticket levels in an effort to raise the most money possible for these vital community resources.

Here’s the ticket pricing info for all 5 shows:

$15 – G.A. (General Admission)
$45 – G.A.+ (General Admission + Tour T-Shirt + Photo with Bands)
$75 – V.I.P (General Admission Ticket + Invited to meet and greet w/ bands at pre-show VIP reception, Tour T-Shirt and Photo with bands)

TICKETS:

Friday, July 5th – Beatbox, San Francisco, CA

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

Facebook Event Page

Sunday, July 7th – Los Globos, Los Angeles, CA

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

Facebook Event Page

Thursday, July 11th – Mississippi Studios, Portland, OR

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

Facebook Event Page

Sunday, July 14th – Chop Suey, Seattle, WA

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

Facebook Event Page

Friday, July 19th – Webster Hall, New York City, NY

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

Facebook Event Page

Mother’s Day today has me thinking about my own mom, how our relationship has changed over the years, and how lucky I feel to be where we are today together. Our story is one of deep struggle and even deeper joy, all held together by an unbreakable bond which was no doubt formed lifetimes ago.

My mother has always been a strong woman. Growing up in the same oppressive church that I did, she was held down for many years by traditional religious ideals and company which didn’t allow her to identify with this power, but those of us who have known and loved her all this time know that she is a beautiful, powerful force of nature, and she always has been.

Her loving sweetness, her well-read brain, her deep, complex inner life, her quick wit, her fierce loyalty, her earnest desire to be good; to know and accept the truth, and to be forgiving when others fall short, all make up her character and feed into a bright light about her. She brings this light with her when she enters a room, and all who find themselves in her presence are illuminated by it. I have watched this happen in dark corners of buildings, as well as in the darkest corners of my heart, for my entire life.

I learned how to cry from my mother; how to get in touch with my raw feelings and let them out when the world is too mean to keep them in. These skills have been life-saving at different points in my being here. My experience of growing up gay in the Midwest, even sometimes from those closest to me, was that there was no room in the rural Christian landscape for a sissy like me. My mother never once made me feel this way. She took me to dance class when I wanted to go, and she sat proudly at my recitals. She bought me Barbie dolls when I wanted them, and while I’m sure it must have scared her, she always seemed to celebrate my being different.

When I was older and troubled from the battle scars of my youth, my mother once again loved me through her fear. She marched bravely toward death as it came close to our family and she stood firmly between us, guarding me from the darkness with her light. You see, my dying was not an option for my mother. Having an addict for a child is a heartbreaking experience for any mom, but at no point did mine allow her heartbreak to break our bond. Even when it was inconvenient to look at, I have always known that she loves me with her whole heart and that this love is unwavering. (and believe me: I have tested it.)

It has not been an easy road, this staying connected bit she and I have managed to do over these last 33 years together…but I am so thankful to know and be known by her now. The past 5 years of my being clean and getting to be with my family (and the world) as myself once again, something we were all robbed of for the 16 years of my using preceding, has been nothing short of miraculous. We are in a place of mostly peace with one another for the first time in decades…all finally on the same page about the way the world works (as well as the way we think it should).

The fear which permeated every square inch of our home growing up – fear of hell, fear of church, fear of our family reputation being tarnished – all gone now…or “going” I should say. We missed each other for so many years that we still hit unknown places within our relationships even now…but there is a desire by each of us to understand; a willingness to listen as the other struggles to; and a feeling that we are all going to be alright after all.

My mother is a survivor and a warrior. There were points in our journey where she strapped me on her back and carried me through the fire just by listening to me, by sitting with me as I fought for my life, by forgiving me for the years where I hadn’t, and by never forgetting who I was inside no matter how far away I had pushed her. She held tight to the memory of me through times when others in her position might not have. This made her able to recognize me on days when even I could not recognize myself. When I was homeless she held my place at the table, and in many ways now it feels as though I never left, like we were never apart.  This is the work of a good mother.

I am just as proud of my mom for who she has become during my years of knowing her as I’ve heard her say she is of me. We are two creatures transformed, forever bonded by now distant memories of great sorrows, held close in the present by the hope of a future we almost didn’t have and a family we have fought hard for together. My parents are both allies now; to me and to our community. I love that I have the kind of mother that will stand up for what’s right no matter what anyone else thinks. I inherited this set of ideals from her, too. She has stood with (and for) me in this life and I hope I am lucky enough to stand with (and for) her in the next.

To all of the brave mothers like mine out there who have loved their kids enough to celebrate them just as they are; to the warrior moms who have chosen their queer children over their anti-gay churches; and to every brave woman who has mothered someone in need at some point in your life: Thank you.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Lots of love from overseas lately!  After profiling my upcoming summer tour this past March, I’m once again in print next month in Mondo Sonoro Magazine (the Rolling Stone of Spain) and Fantastic Plastic Magazine (also from Spain). This past week Mondo Sonoro also started giving away my new Remix E.P. “Dance Alone” free on their website, which you can check out HERE.

Looks like we’ll be coming across the pond soon at this rate.

Huge thanks to everyone who submitted tracks to the Hologram remix contest! After MUCH deliberation, along with the help of 4 other judges, we have chosen Hologram (BeeYizz Remix) and DJ Brian Yates as the winner of the $250 cash prize! We will also be releasing an official music video for the song in June, courtesy of Adrian Sotomayor (who directed the original Hologram video).

While everybody’s mix was really special this time around, we have decided to release these 5 mixes in the form of a new Remix E.P. called Dance Alone (releasing 5/7/13).

Listen and download your FREE copy of the Dance Alone E.P. from Bandcamp now:

Tickets for the Accidental Bear Queer Music Summer Tour Benefit For LGBTQ Mental Health Services & Suicide Prevention with Logan Lynn, Big Dipper, Conquistador, Darling Gunsel, and Rica Shay just went on sale this morning! San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, and New York City here we come.

The proceeds from this tour go to Ali Forney Center (NYC), Pride Foundation (Seattle), Q Center (PDX), LA Gay & Lesbian Center, and Stonewall Project (SF), so we are offering a few ticket levels in an effort to raise the most money possible for these vital community resources.

Here’s the ticket pricing info for all 5 shows:

$15 – G.A. (General Admission)
$45 – G.A.+ (General Admission + Tour T-Shirt + Photo with Bands)
$75 – V.I.P (General Admission Ticket + Invited to meet and greet w/ bands at pre-show VIP reception, Tour T-Shirt and Photo with bands)

TICKETS:

(Click to enlarge the tour posters below)

Friday, July 5th – Beatbox, San Francisco, CA

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

Facebook Event Page

Sunday, July 7th – Los Globos, Los Angeles, CA

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

Facebook Event Page

Thursday, July 11th – Mississippi Studios, Portland, OR

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

Facebook Event Page

Sunday, July 14th – Chop Suey, Seattle, WA

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

Facebook Event Page

Friday, July 19th – Webster Hall, New York City, NY

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

Facebook Event Page

(Originally Published On The Huffington Post On 4/24/2013)

Accidental Trailblazer: An Interview With Cult Cinema Icon Mink Stole
Each spring, Portland, Ore., plays host to QDoc: Queer Documentary Film Festival, the only festival in the U.S. devoted exclusively to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) documentaries, and one of only two festivals of its kind in the entire world!

Now in its seventh year, QDoc 2013 begins May 16. The opening-night film is I Am Divine, filmmaker Jeffrey Schwarz’s new feature-length documentary about the life and times of John Waters protégé and drag pioneer Divine, aka Glenn Milstead.

Last week I had the chance to view a screening of the film and catch up with one of its stars, queer cult cinema icon, actress/singer and original John Waters muse Mink Stole.

Mink Stole: I haven’t seen it yet.

Lynn: What?!

Stole: I have not seen it yet.

Lynn: Oh, wow. That’s surprising. I feel so lucky!

Stole: I’m gonna see it in Boston in a couple of weeks, and then again in Portland.

Lynn: Well, I felt very moved by the film. There was a “dreams really do come true” theme running throughout the film with regard to Divine‘s life. In making the film, how was it to be looking back at that period, and in particular your friendship with him?

Stole: It was nice, actually, because Jeffrey came here to Baltimore, and we spent a really fun couple of hours together. His take on Divine was so friendly, and so loving. I didn’t feel challenged at all to have to defend my friendship — and it was a real friendship. I wouldn’t say that Divine and I were best friends. You know, he had a whole life with his music career that I was not even remotely part of. I mean, I saw him perform and thought he was amazing, but I wasn’t part of that life. I’ll tell you the truth: We had lost touch between Polyester and Hairspray. He was off in Europe doing all this music stuff, but when John proposed Hairspray to us, Divine and I got back together. He had moved into an apartment right around the corner from me in New York, and we started spending time together again. It was really wonderful to reconnect with him. He was happy. He was doing really well. You know, he had money for practically the first time in his life, and it was wonderful to see him. Divine always did better when he had money.

Lynn: Don’t we all?

Stole: Yes, we do, but some of us are better at not having it than others. I’m better at not having money than I wish I were, if that makes any sense. [Laughs.] Divine had such a generous spirit. He loved to entertain lavishly. Divine would have us come over for tea parties with beautiful teapots filled with wonderful teas, like a real tea party in the afternoon, at tea time! When he was able to live the largeness that he wanted to, he was a very happy person. The last year or so of his life, when I was spending time with him again, he was lovely. It was wonderful to be around him.

Lynn: Looking back to the early John Waters Dreamlanders days, what was your favorite role?

Stole: From the early days it was definitely Taffy. I really identified with her. We were different but similar. I’m one of 10 kids, and Taffy was an only child, and my mother never beat me with a car aerial, and I did not wear baby clothes into my teens.

Lynn: [Laughs.] Small nuances.

Stole: Right. But I had a sense of isolation. Taffy was not bad. She was very unhappy, and that comes out when she finally finds the Hari Krishna. Now, I didn’t find the Hari Krishna, thank God. I found something else. I started acting and working with John and found a family in that sense. That did for me what Hari Krishna did for Taffy: It was a place to be. I’ve always strongly identified with that character.

Lynn: You were given your screen name by John Waters, correct?

Stole: Yes. Mink Stole is the name John gave me.

Stole: Kind of gradually. As John would introduce me as Mink, people just started calling me that. I never made a big fuss about it. I never insisted, “My real name is Nancy Stole,” and there are still a few people in the world who call me Nancy. Not many, and I don’t encourage it, not because I think, “Oh, well, I’m Miss Mink Stole, and you must call me that,” but when I was born, Nancy was a very popular name.

Lynn: Did John also name Divine at the same time?

Stole: I think I was Mink before Glenn was Divine, because I worked with John before Divine did. Roman Candles was my first movie with John, and I don’t think Divine’s in it. I can’t remember. I mean, it’s been a thousand years, and you can’t watch it, because it’s not available.

Lynn: You have to fully rely on the reel in your head.

Stole: Exactly, and it’s full of scratches and splice marks.

Lynn: I would love to watch that reel! You have delivered some of the best lines ever spoken in American queer cinema, and they were spoken with such sincerity.

Stole: John loved to give me nasty things to say, and I loved it!

Lynn: Do you get fans repeating those lines to you to this day?

Stole: Yes. Fairly regularly.

Stole: People really love the Connie Marble line: “I guess there’s just two kinds of people, Miss Sandstone: My kind of people, and assholes. It’s rather obvious which category you fit into.” Also, gay men in particular love Taffy’s line: “I wouldn’t suck your lousy dick if I was suffocating and there was oxygen in your balls!” Those are probably the two biggest.

Lynn: How did you first meet John Waters?

Stole: I met John in Provincetown on Cape Cod. I had just gone on a whim. One of my sisters was there, and I fell in love with it and decided to stay for the rest of the summer. My sister knew John, and when we ran into him on the street, she introduced us. By the end of the summer, my sister, John and I and a couple of other people were all sharing a house together. We were fast friends. When we came back to Baltimore, it was interesting. John moved back in with his parents. I moved back in with my parents [laughs], because that’s how old we were. You know, we were kids, and the rest is kind of history.

Lynn: Did you meet Divine around the same time?

Stole: I met him that winter following in Baltimore.

Lynn: There’s a longstanding rumor that you all were high on LSD while you were filming those early films. Is that true?

Stole: That is so wrong. Absolutely not true.

Lynn: Where do you think that came from?

Stole: Because people think we made it all up. They think that we improvised. We took a lot of acid — I mean a lot of acid — at the time, but not while we were working. Acid was Saturday night. You know, John wrote every word. None of this was improvised. … John was pack leader, gentle and respectful — he didn’t bark, he didn’t bite — but definitely pack leader. There was no fucking up on the set, because we couldn’t. The budgets were so tight. The scenes were shot in masters. Now, I’m not telling you to do this, but if you ever feel inclined to you go back and look at Pink Flamingos, notice that there are no cutaways. If the scene was 4 and a half minutes long and somebody blew a line at 4 minutes 15 seconds, you had to all start over, which did not make anybody happy.

Lynn: Much less the person buying film, I’m sure.

Stole: Right. There was a lot of dialogue. We showed up ready. I used to get very resentful of people calling us amateurs, because although we were not union back then, and we were untrained, we were so professional. We showed up on time. We knew our lines. We did overact a bit.

Stole: No. None of us knew what the hell we were doing, but I think for people who were untrained, our level of commitment was astonishing. I think we were doing the best we could. You know, every single person wanted to do a good job. We all really wanted to do it right, and we had fun. It wasn’t like we went on the set as whipped dogs … but we were a happy pack. We were glad to be there, but we knew that we couldn’t fuck up. It wasn’t pressure. It was responsibility, which is different.

Lynn: Agreed. There is still room for fun in responsibility. While we are on the subject of responsibility, there has been a major shift in mainstream acceptance of queer culture since the late ’70s and early ’80s. How has it been for you to have been a part of groundbreaking queer cinema before it was socially acceptable?

Stole: I had no idea I was part of queer cinema. I was just making movies. I happen not to be gay personally, but I feel like I get credit for being so progressive, and it’s like, “I was just working with my friends!”

Lynn: Mink Stole: accidental trailblazer.

Stole: That’s a very good term for it. When I was in Provincetown the summer I met John, that was the first time I had ever met gay people. Everybody I met that was gay was OK with being gay. I wasn’t meeting tortured people. I wasn’t meeting people who were miserable. Of course , there was a large community, some heteros, as well, but most of the men were gay. We all had horrible childhoods. It’s not exclusive to gays. Later I did the Eating Out series. I did a couple of movies with Lee Friedlander. I played the mother of the gay in But I’m a Cheerleader.

Lynn: That’s such a good one!

Stole: Yeah, I love that movie. But this was all happenstance. I did not set out to be in queer cinema. It just kind of happened in my life. I’m typecast.

Lynn: [Laughs.] You have a record on the horizon, as well. Can you tell me a little bit about what you have cooking on the musical end of things lately?

Stole: Well, I recently read your interview with Joey Arias, and he is going on the road with Kristian Hoffman. Kristian was in my band in L.A., and it was interesting, because I met him at a party — I was sort of just noodling around with music — and he told me he played keyboards. I had keyboards with me, and he said, “OK,” but I had no idea of his pedigree. Had I known, I would have been way too shy to ask him to work with me, but he was wonderful. I adore Kristian. We are very good friends, and I like Joey, as well. I haven’t worked with Joey, but I’ve worked with Kristian for a couple of years. I have two of his songs on my album, and they are songs that I have performed with him many times.

Lynn: How would you describe the genre of this new record?

Stole: It’s grownup eclectic. I didn’t write these songs, but I feel like even though I did not give birth to them, they are my adopted children, because I raised them. I don’t feel like they are covers; I feel like they are versions, because I really worked hard to shape each one of them, and each one of them is very different from its original form.

Lynn: When does the album come out?

Stole: It will be out very soon. We finished the recording, mixing and mastering. We are just waiting for the cover to come back, and then it’s off to the presses.

Stole: They are so different. Singing is harder than acting. You’re a singer. You know.

Lynn: Yes. You’re kind of on your own up there onstage.

Stole: And this is a self-produced album, so I do everything but play the instruments. You know, I chose the songs. I mean, I can’t say I arranged everything, but I set the tone for every song. I’m really lucky I have wonderful musicians to work with. It is all over the place. My musical tastes go from swing to jazz, rock ‘n’ roll, pop. I loved Madonna. I adore k.d. lang. I do get bored with Ella Fitzgerald. It’s, like, too much Ella after a while. When the album started out, I thought it was going to take a week, but it ended up taking two and a half years.

Lynn: Oh, my god. I know how that goes: “Down the rabbit hole we go.”

Stole: I had no clue. I had never done this before, and then it was like, “Wow, that sounds really good, but now this one sucks, and I have to redo everything.”

Lynn: Well, I’m looking forward to hearing it. I know you have a busy day ahead of you, but before we go, I have to swing back around to the film and ask: If there were one thing about your friend Divine that you would like the world to know, what would it be?

Stole: Divine was a pro, onstage as well as on film. I also worked with him with The Cockettes. One thing that people would never have known, because not that many people saw it: We did a small play in San Francisco in the early ’70s, a remake of Ladies in Retirement, and we played old women, and Divine gave as much commitment to playing a dowdy, frumpy old woman as he did to playing big, glamorous roles. He was an actor, and he was a damn good one, and I’m sorry he did not get to go on and do more work.

Lynn: What do you think Divine would think of all of this now?

Stole: I think he’d be thrilled. He’d love it.

Lynn: I’m excited that the world is going to get to celebrate him another round with the release of I Am Divine!

Stole: I am too. It’s wonderful.

Watch the I Am Divine trailer:

For more on Mink Stole, visit minkstole.com.

For more information on QDoc: Portland Queer Documentary Film Festival, visit queerdocfest.org.

To learn more about I Am Divine, visit divinemovie.com.

In case you missed it live on-air last night, I was the guest on Out Loud Radio this week talking about community work, summer tour, racism in the LGBTQ community, and more. I chat with Sasha Buchert from KBOO for a good 40 of the 60 minutes about why we are doing the work we are doing at (and for) Q Center in Portland, my dream for the world, and more.

To stream the show online, click HERE.

Logan Lynn Complete Discography

116 Songs – All 14 Official Logan Lynn Releases (2000-2013)
High Quality Masters Never Before Released!

Summer Tour Special: $50

(Click To Enlarge)

Included in this package:

- Albums -

Tramp Stamps and Birthmarks (2012)
Blood In The Water (2011)
I Killed Tomorrow Yesterday (2010)
From Pillar To Post (2009)
Logan Lynn (2006)
GLEE (2000)

- E.P.s -
Dance Alone Remix E.P. (2013)
Turn Me Out Remix E.P. (2012)
Everything You Touch Turns To Gold Acoustic E.P. (2011)
Feed Me To The Wolves E.P. (2008)
Clean & Stupid E.P. (2007)

- Singles -
Do You Want Me Or Not? (2012)
Turn Me Out (2012)
Movies (2011)
The Last High – Dandy Warhols Cover (2010)

Note: All songs are in their original .WAV format. This is higher quality than CDs or any available MP3 on the market. This is exactly how these songs were intended to sound!

The Discography package is only available here. To order, send $50 via PayPal to LoganDLynn@gmail.com and the download link will be provided to you via email once your transaction goes through.

Oh haaaaay world! Tickets for the Accidental Bear Queer Music Summer Tour Benefit For LGBTQ Mental Health Services & Suicide Prevention with Logan Lynn, Big Dipper, Conquistador, Darling Gunsel, and Rica Shay go on sale May 1st.

The Kickstarter raised a portion of money to make this tour happen, but we are still looking for sponsors to help us cover expenses so we can play these shows and donate the proceeds to Ali Forney Center (NYC), Pride Foundation (Seattle), Q Center (PDX), LA Gay & Lesbian Center, and Stonewall Project (SF). Putting together a 5-band tour takes a bit of cash…but nowhere near as much cash as the tour stands to raise for these vital community resources this summer!

If you are an individual, business, corporation, or organization and you are interested in showing your support of the LGBTQ community, a great way to do that is to become a sponsor of this tour! Click HERE to download the official sponsorship packet. We are especially needing travel and accommodations sponsors, but welcome anyone who would like to get involved in this part of the charity. Additionally, we realize not everyone can donate money or services, but everyone can help us spread the word. Share this post if you feel moved to contribute, friends!

Click to enlarge the tour posters below and RSVP to the event page in your city.
We are coming for you…

Friday, July 5th – Beatbox, San Francisco, CA

CLICK HERE TO RSVP

Sunday, July 7th – Los Globos, Los Angeles, CA

CLICK HERE TO RSVP

Thursday, July 11th – Mississippi Studios, Portland, OR

CLICK HERE TO RSVP

Sunday, July 14th – Chop Suey, Seattle, WA

CLICK HERE TO RSVP

Friday, July 19th – Webster Hall, New York City, NY

CLICK HERE TO RSVP

I agreed to be one of the guest panelists for an upcoming Portland Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence event at Crush in Portland on May 19th called “One Nun, Few Peeps”. It’s a fundraiser for Outside In, and it’s a take on Logo’s 1 girl 5 gays. I will be one of said gays, answering questions about (and I quote) “innuendo, intrigue and why we get that tingly sensation whenever we see a hot dog in a bun!” on stage.

Oh my god, friends. What have I gotten myself into???!!!

My homegirl Sister The Vegan Mary is going to be on the panel with me alongside Sister Krissy Fiction, James Lindquist, Zora Phoenix, & Athens Scities Foxx from the Rose Court…and the whole thing is hosted by Novice Sister Bertha Byotch. Don’t miss it!

Click HERE to RSVP.

P.S. – Yes. That’s Grammy Award-winning pop star Matt Alber in this photo with me and the Portland Sisters. He won’t be at this event with us, other than he holds a special place in my heart so he is kinda always there.

We released the video for Hologram (the 2nd single off my new record Tramp Stamps and Birthmarks) a few weeks back and now we are hosting a remix contest for the song with a $250 cash prize and official audio release to 1st place! All runners-up will be released as well in some capacity, be it through an official distributor or via this website.

Hologram was co-written by Los Angeles indie electropop duo Father Tiger. Greg & John (aka Father Tiger) wrote and performed the music, I wrote and performed the words, melodies, and vocals…and we are all looking forward to hearing what you all come up with.

Remix Contest Info

To download the original version, remix stems, and song parts, click HERE.
(Key: D, BPM: 122)

All submissions must be in hi-quality .WAV or .AIFF format. Once your submission is received you will get a confirmation email. All submissions must be sent via YouSendIt or Dropbox to Logan@LoganLynnMusic.com. Please include your name, the name of your remix, your email address, and song info with your submission. Deadline for submission is Wednesday, May 1st, 2013. Contest winner will be announced Tuesday, May 7th, 2013.

Now watch the Hologram video:

Tweet]]> http://www.loganlynnmusic.com/2013/03/hologram-remix-contest/feed/ 1 http://www.loganlynnmusic.com/2013/03/logan-lynn-interviewed-feminist-blog-week-read/ http://www.loganlynnmusic.com/2013/03/logan-lynn-interviewed-feminist-blog-week-read/#comments Thu, 28 Mar 2013 06:10:05 +0000 Logan http://www.loganlynnmusic.com/?p=4936

I was interviewed by the Underneath This Feminist Blog this week. Read our chat on their site HERE or read it below.

From Underneath This: (3/27/2013)

“Logan Lynn is a musician who is gay-identified. He has been writing and making music for a decade and a half. His videos have appeared on LOGO and MTV and he has played across the globe. From 2010 until 2012, Logan took a hiatus from music to devote himself professionally to LGBTQ advocacy at the Q Center in Portland. Logan donated sales from his album, “I Killed Tomorrow Yesterday to the Q Center. In 2012, he returned with the single, “Turn Me Out.”

Logan’s latest music video, “Hologram” can be viewed and heard at http://youtu.be/_fa5WgqY6cA (it is really great!). To access Logan’s music videos, please visit: http://www.YouTube.com/LoganGLEE. Please check out http://www.loganlynnmusic.com for more information about Logan.

Underneath This recently interviewed Logan about identity, music, feminism, as well as the media’s coverage of LGBTQ artists.

What was the process of becoming a musician like for you?

It was a pretty natural progression. I was raised in a fucked up Christian cult that didn’t allow instrumental music, so I was trained as an A cappella vocalist from very early on. When I escaped as a teenager, I fell into the downtown Kansas City 90′s party/rave scene and started spinning records. Then, when I moved to Portland in ’96 I met The Dandy Warhols, Elliot Smith, and immersed myself in the Portland music scene. I recorded my first record “GLEE” from 1998-1999 and it was released in 2000. From there, I slowly got my shit together bit by bit until I finally got signed to Caroline/EMI in 2007. I was on the label for 3 years and have only just last month regained the rights to the masters from that time. I’m going to be re-releasing “From Pillar To Post” and “The Last High” sometime this year, but for now they are out of print…and I am officially free once again! I released my new record “Tramp Stamps and Birthmarks” in December myself, and it’s been really nice to not have anyone telling me what to do, how to be, and who I need to be around. My major label experience was a fucking joke. It feels good to own my own words and likeness again.

How are you inspired when making music? Who and what have been your influences?

As a songwriter I have always been inspired by Karen Peris from The Innocence Mission, Liz Phair, Regina Spektor, Lily Allen, Elliott Smith…but I always work with different producers for each project, which tends to keep me moving forward…it keeps things exciting. Lyrical content and overall mood for my songs or records really depends on how miserable or in love or fucked up I am when I am writing.

Your music has been alternately described as singer-songwriter, synth-pop, electropop, indie, and emotronic. How do you see your style? How has your work evolved over time?

The early records are all about my being a fucked up junkie who wanted to die, then I got clean from alcohol, cocaine, and crack cocaine in 2007 and things shifted. It started being more about my inner life, longing, and now (years later) love…my songs are much happier these days because I am less lost.

Tell us more about your experience with the Q Center in Portland. What led you to this path?

I came to a public meeting at Q Center in 2010 after my friends were gay bashed in downtown Portland and was moved to try and make a difference. I ended up donating the proceeds from my 2010 record “I Killed Tomorrow Yesterday” to the organization and shortly thereafter decided to cancel my tour midway through and work full time for the queers, which I have been doing ever since. This decision was made easier by the fact that I hated my label and everyone around me at the time…and I was a total burnout…but it hasn’t always been easy. I am trying to change the world, and the world doesn’t ever like change. That goes for queer culture, too. It’s rough sometimes…but I still believe it is really important work and I don’t see a lot of other people in my position jumping in to take my place, so I just keep doing it. I’m going back on the road again this summer to raise money for Q Center, the Ali Forney Center in NYC, Pride Foundation in Seattle, the LA Gay & Lesbian Center, and the Stonewall Project in SF, so it feels good to be ending my hiatus. I’m blending my two loves: Music and queer activism. Let’s party and raise money for LGBTQ programs and services at the same time, friends!

What is your perception of the media’s coverage of queer-identified musicians?

It varies. I tend to think sometimes the straight media is nicer than queer media, but that whole crabs in the barrel story is nothing new at this point. If you want to hear me rant about this, check out a piece I wrote last year for The Huffington Post here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/logan-lynn/gay-press_b_1289436.html

In what ways is your work feminist?

If you are talking about my activism work, I am in the business of making sure that ALL voices be heard, honored, and respected. This goes for all humans; female, male, genderqueer, or undecided. Musically, I tend to write about pretty universal things – longing, love, sex, hurt…ultimately, I am a gay man who loves women, and I identify as a feminist myself…so I suppose in that way everything I do is done as a feminist ally, if not as a feminist myself.

Which projects are you working on currently?

I’m in full-blown tour mode at the moment gearing up for this July when I tour the states with Big Dipper, Conquistador, Rica Shay, and Darling Gunsel! Other than that, I am working on songs with a few of my favorite producer folks from earlier years…I sometimes wish I could take a time machine back to the midwest in the early 90′s and tell my teenage self about who he will be working with in 15 years. He would have seriously loved this. I have a lot to be grateful for. I just celebrated 5 years clean this past weekend, which is an ongoing project as well.

What feedback do you have for aspiring musicians?

Be yourself. Make your own path. In the end, being true to yourself is the only thing that matters.”

Instinct Magazine ran a piece on my summer tour for Accidental Bear with Big Dipper, Conquistador, Rica Shay, and Darling Gunsel today! Click HERE to read it on the Instinct site, or keep reading for the transcript.

Thanks for helping us spread the word, Instinct!

From Instinct Magazine:

“They say blondes have more fun, but we’re starting to think it might be the bears!

AccidentalBear.com has announced their 2013 Queer Music Summer Tour  kicking off this July in support of LGBTQ mental health services at The Stonewall Project (SF), Q Center (Portland), the Ali Forney Center (NYC), and our good friends over at the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center (LA).

Logan Lynn (pictured) will be headlining the tour alongside Conquistador, Big Dipper, Rica Shay, and Darling Gunsel, with a bunch of other amazing (and hairy!) queer acts opening for the headliners in each city.

Look for shows in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and New York City, with ALL proceeds going to the aforementioned organizations in their respective cities!

For more info on the tour, charities, and Kickstarter campaign, click HERE. And for sponsorship, click HERE.

Will you be attending Instincters? It promises to be a bear-y good time! (Sorry.)”

My new music video Everything You Touch Turns To Gold is coming out on Tuesday, May 28th! This one is co-starring and Directed by Rowan Wren, who sang the song with me on the record.

My wings for the shoot were built by Portland Metal Sculpture Artist Christopher Truax. Check them out below!

Have a listen to Everything You Touch Turns To Gold (Album Version) HERE now to tide you over…

The AccidentalBear.com Queer Music Summer Tour dates and venues have been announced and I will be hitting the road in July with Big Dipper, Conquistador, Rica Shay, and Darling Gunsel! Proceeds from the tour go to LGBTQ Mental Health Services & Suicide Prevention at Q Center (PDX), Ali Forney Center (NYC), Stonewall Project (SF), Pride Foundation (Seattle), and the LA Gay & Lesbian Center. It’s projected we will raise over $50,000.00 for the charities this summer in addition to raising awareness around these important issues. The more money we raise, the more people we help…and this is just the first round!

If you are an individual, business, corporation, or organization and you are interested in showing your support of the LGBTQ community, a great way to do that is to become a sponsor of the AB Summer Tour! Click HERE to download the official sponsorship packet.

Save these dates and come party with us for a good cause.

7/5 – Beatbox, San Francisco, CA
7/7 – Los Globos, Los Angeles, CA
7/11 – Mississippi Studios, Portland, OR
7/14 – Chop Suey, Seattle, WA
7/19 – Webster Hall, New York City, NY

One of my favorite remixes of one of my songs is Flufftronix’s mix of “Feed Me To The Wolves” and it has been remastered and re-released by Fluffy himself. Download the remix for zero dollars HERE or click on the album cover below. Cool, huh?

From the Flufftronix Soundcloud page:

Recently I’ve been kind of rethinking my entire approach to making music, oddly enough around a quote from Cher, “If it doesn’t matter in five years, it doesn’t matter.” Music is more disposable now than it’s ever been; trying to make music that transcends flavor of the month should really be a major concern if you want to last past a few internet cycles.

ANYHOO I’ve been doing some mixing and mastering work lately, and know way more about this stuff now than I did in 2009.. let alone 2012! I was never really happy with my shoddy DIY master on this track, so I took some time this past weekend to fix it up. I didn’t go back into the mix—I’m a budy dude and I know this would have sucked me in!—but I did do some much more appropriate compression and limiting. Thanks, hope yall dig! -Michael / Fluff

(Originally Published on The Huffington Post on 3/4/2013)

In talking with friends and other LGBT people about our experiences growing up queer in a straight world, I’ve found that it’s pretty clear that becoming a well-adjusted citizen has proven more difficult than many of us expected. For each of us, this has manifested in different ways: drug abuse for some, sexual dysfunction for others, problems with emotional intimacy for still others, and for a lucky few like myself, a mix of all three.

Like many people, I plowed through my teens and 20s like nothing mattered, because back then it didn’t. The world had done me wrong early on, and I was determined to take it out on myself and anyone who dared get close to me. I burned every bridge I came across, and half a decade later the ashes are still smoldering.

During a recent medical visit to address one of the ongoing long-term side effects of my former addiction, the doctor shamed me for having made the terrible choices that I made early on that I am still paying for now (something that has happened on many occasions over the years). With each “this could have been avoided” or “you should just be grateful you are alive,” I felt myself shrinking back into that old bad-seed role that I had inhabited for so many years, and it took days to shake the hopeless feeling of being destined to be seen as who I used to be forever.

A dear friend of mine whom I adore also managed to make it through her addicted years with her life tattered but intact. She spent a few years in prison for drug-related crimes and resurfaced a new woman, clean for the first time since she began using as a kid, and ready to start living the life she had been robbed of by the burden of her addiction. Unfortunately, her new “freedom” comes with a burden that she will not likely shake.

Even after paying for her crimes and making things right with society by doing her time, my sweet friend will always wear the virtual shackles of her former imprisonment. She will not be allowed to vote, it will be difficult for her to find a job and housing or volunteer with charitable organizations that require background checks, and she will always be painfully identified as “criminal” by some, no matter how beautiful her transformation has been in the years since. This begs the question: If society won’t acknowledge that a person has learned from his or her mistakes and grown as a result, what’s the motivation for any of us to even try?

As upsetting as I find all this judgment to be, I am also part of the problem. Sometimes I will walk past someone on the street whom I knew long ago, and I will instantly sum them up as though no time had passed, like I already know their character based on my experience of them from so many years before. This thinking implies that I am the only person in the world who has grown out of being completely terrible. In reality, chances are pretty good that the miserable people I once knew are not still the same miserable people they were back when we were all being miserable together.

I know as well as anyone that people do change, yet I am often quick to judge, and even quicker to react to others judging me. Knocking this off is front and center in my process of trying to become a better version of myself, but it’s a practice that takes work to achieve. Lately, when I get upset about the past showing its face in the present, be it through my own ghosts or my partner’s, or with my family, in the roles we have been playing for decades, I try to stay present in the moment and stand still with the feelings as they come, realizing that there is nothing that can be done about the past aside from accepting it.

Like it or not, what’s done is done. I cannot alter where I have been, the things I did while I was there or whom I was doing them with, and I would not want to if I could. Society may judge me for the road I took, but I have to respect the journey I have been on, even the parts I cannot bear to look at, for without them I would not be the person I am today. This must be applied to those I love as well, however uncomfortable or painful that may feel in the present; and if this is how I am to treat someone I love, should I not also treat every person I meet this way? Whether we be doctor or patient, prisoner or guard, we are all worthy of new beginnings, however low we may have fallen.

For More on Logan Lynn, visit LoganLynnMusic.com or Facebook.com/LoganLynnPDX.

AccidentalBear.com has announced their Queer Music Summer Tour in support of LGBTQ mental health services at The Stonewall Project (SF), Q Center (PDX), Los Angeles LGBT Center (LA), and the Ali Forney Center (NYC).

I am headlining the tour alongside Conquistador, Big Dipper, Rica Shay, and Darling Gunsel, with a bunch of other bangin’ local acts joining us as openers in each of the cities.

Dates and venues will be announced soon, so stay tuned. We are playing Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and New York City this first round! Gonna be so much fun.

Watch videos from the headliners here:

Logan Lynn

Conquistador

Big Dipper & Rica Shay

Darling Gunsel

For more info on the tour, charity, and Kickstarter campaign, click HERE.

If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, click HERE to download the official sponsorship packet.

Recently I have witnessed a great deal of conflict within Portland’s local queer community online, in the press, and in real life. Much of this seems to come about as a result of heated debates around social issues, sex, politics, art, and the complicated inner-workings of the LGBT community in PDX (and everywhere). I believe there is much to be learned from conflict, but the way some of this has been playing out lately in the public sphere has felt mean spirited and has been difficult to watch at times.

It is my belief that we were all born inherently kind and connected to one another. Each of us was handed our own set of circumstances at birth, which are sometimes pre-destined long before birth, but most babies are not born angry. As kind queer babies are growing up, we sometimes find ourselves mistreated, abandoned, and ridiculed for being different. We are held down by layer upon layer of systemic oppression buried centuries deep in a culture that has its head shoved so far up its own ass it cannot see the part it plays in the cycle of abuse. This is painful and infuriating.

So what do we do with the fury we carry from having this history? How do we reconcile these justified feelings of outrage? Many of us might not feel powerful enough to take on our families, bosses or governments at the root of our feeling oppressed, so we aim lower and end up putting our pain on one another. Instead of queer people banding together to fight external oppression, we end up oppressing ourselves through infighting. It’s a tale as old as time, but all that cutting our friends amounts to in the end is a divided community, and a divided community is not a strong one.

We are still in the midst of a culture war, friends. While many changes have been made in our favor, we cannot forget that we still live in a country that treats queer people like second-class citizens, and in a state that actively perpetuates this discrimination. I fear sometimes the queer community may be so busy fighting with itself that we forget we are supposed to be organizing a real unified effort for our love, our lives…and that there is true power in numbers. When we spend our time at odds and working in silos instead of enriching each other’s efforts, we chip away at the hard-earned power we do have as a community.

Our fair city holds queers so different from one another it’s sometimes hard to imagine how we all could end up in the same room together, much less at the same table – but there is a place for every single one of us at this table. There just has to be. Each of our queer voices is important and essential to moving us forward as a people. Your lived experiences around love, sex, race, class, violence, religion, family, and all of the struggles that make you human bring a unique perspective to our collective history and your voice must be heard and counted or our history is incomplete.

As someone who believes deeply in a someday world where we are all equal, the question of “How do we get all of these passionate LGBT individuals to work together?” is frequently on my mind. I believe whatever lived experiences we may come from, our end goals are largely the same. I don’t mean to sound Pollyannaish, but we need to somehow remember that we are all on the same team or it is going to take a long time for our movement to actually get somewhere.

You see…the people who would do us harm want us to be fighting with each other. That’s how they keep us down. They don’t want us to get along, because if we get along, we might get organized; and if our 10+ percent of the population ever got truly organized in a unified effort to fight our oppressors, well…we might just have a chance at beating them. The longer we stay living in our local queer bubble cutting one another, the longer they don’t have to worry about cutting us. Under this model, we will ultimately do ourselves in so they won’t have to.

My dream for Portland’s queer community is that we will rise above the norm and come together to work for real, meaningful change; that we will be kinder to one another, assuming good intentions until proven otherwise; that we will insist on having difficult conversations that really nobody wants to have because it’s terribly hard but god damn it we need to have them; and that we will always keep a 40,000 foot view of where we have been, where we are going, and how we are all going to get there…together.

Let’s do this.