#241208
DRAGX̶FUNK is out!
My dear friend!
So much has been happening, both personally and professionally, it is somewhat difficult to discard most of it for this little letter. Going into all of things through last two months would take me a small novel to write.
So here's just a few of things in a letter form that I actually promised to you.
As you might now, my album DRAGX̶FUNK is out. I was sharing drafts of this work this whole year with you, so you might now a lot about it already. It comes from music writing and production for Maja Delak's "Image Snatchers Present: Mad Jakale In A Film We Haven't Seen" stage work that we premiered in December 2023 - exactly one year ago - on today's day - 8/12. (See also my 8min edit of a stream I did for "FediWave RadioFreeFedi" where I explain some of the background of the tracks: https://vid.pretok.tv/w/h8nfB6P6cmT3ndpBQJ3YWD)
I want to share few personal thoughts on it. Despite the fact that it was written in collaboration with choreographer and director of the show and other members of our The Feminalz collective there's also a passionate investement and perspective from my side that plays a part. I decided to call it DRAGXFUNK because it points at personal exploration of repression and shame in the need of expression which some might call "drag" in cases when it is obviously and clearly a performance, but it is also called "gender non-conforming", genderqueer, non-binary, expression of some form of transness of self, when it is a lived experience. And further, if you know my musical work you know "the funk" part of the name is a no-brainer. The syncopation of percussion, stabs of synth chords and the rhythmics of melodies imply, to me, a kind of irrational bodily joy, a journey of free movement and dance that is, well, quite sexual in the way it feels internaly. It is a resistance against the purism and the repression of non-cartesian multitudes of living, being, and loving.
And so,
I'm happy with final form of tracks, they are good enough for me at this point. We also made t-shirts and posters and QR-code cards for fans, friends, and supporters/buyers. The album had lovely response on the fediverse/mastodon with considerable number of purchases on Bandcamp. I felt like there's actually a small community of people who appreciate this work, are ready to support it, and that somewhat sustains me in an important way. We (together with invaluable team at Kamizdat/Emanat) organized a concert event Kamizdat Rentgen with great support DJs and performers with live singing and choreography.
In terms of finalization of this project, there's a few more things to do: I'm waiting for the final masters which will done by next week by Samuel from OpenMastering (and will change them on the Bandcamp), the USB booklet is in delay because I wasn't able to output anything in terms liner notes (despite working with a collaborator on it), but that physical release is in the works.
Tonight's exclusive "Backstairs Tone" is the full raw video recording of the "live performance" that happened last Thursday at Klub GROMKA in Ljubljana - it features a bit of "gonzo" camera work (first-person perspective), so feel free to skip parts that seem to get lost between the people (you'll know what I'm talking about).
Watch exclusively on VID.PRETOK.TV (PeerTube): https://vid.pretok.tv/w/sUznKPD4cheDNzuqgbuMAD (please don't share the link around)
Stream & download (free) the album:
That's all for this week. I'll write again very soon!
As always, thank you for your generous support, patience, and being part of The Backstairs Tone journey. I hope next week treats you well! 💚
