Astro writes for QX about the launch of their new EP ‘I Hate Cabaret’ at The Divine on 1 June (changed from May 6) 2024. Go and see the EP performed in full with more new political queer pop songs. You’ll also get a free ‘I Hate Cabaret’ booklet with lyrics, stories and pictures to accompany the EP.
– by Astro –
On the 6th of May, I’m launching an EP called ‘I Hate Cabaret’ at London’s newest queer cabaret venue, the Divine. The EP is mostly cabaret songs about sex. ‘****ing Around the World’ is an anthem about a dubious but sexually liberating trans-continental journey I went on. ‘Forever Three’ is a power ballad about trying to decide which person from a drunken threesome to fall in love with. ‘I Want to Force You to be in a Monogamous Relationship With Me,’ is self-explanatory. Then there’s the final track about all the drag competitions I’ve lost over the years. The chorus goes, ‘If I lose this thing tonight, I’m gonna get so ****ing drunk that I will puke out of my eyes.’ That bitterness is likely where the title of the EP comes from. But to offset the negativity of the EP title I’m giving all the profits from the event to a trans and gender-non-conforming gathering of Radical Faeries.
If that charitable cause seems like a lot of esoteric jargon, just search radical faeries on google images. The Faeries are a community of hippy queers that originated in the late 70s and have spread around the world. We have gatherings which usually last around 10 days in which we cook for each other, hold sharing circles, no talent shows, and sometimes orgies. This summer a group of trans and non-binary radical faeries are coming together to organised the first gathering specifically for them in this country.
Before the radical faeries, I’d kind of given up on performing. But being in such a counter-cultural queer group reignited my self-belief. You would think with the current tidal wave of queer cabaret and drag, it would be easy to find performance opportunities, but I still feel like an outsider. I’m not really a drag queen. I’m definitely not burlesque or lip-sync. I sing my own pop songs, dress like a bejewelled aquatic alien, and act like a mix of Andy Kaufman and Courtney Love. For a while, I was bitter about not finding a place within the queer cabaret scene. But the prophet Baga Chipz once said to me in a Drag Idol heat, ‘You’re not a drag queen; you’re a pop star.’ So, I’m making that my affirmation!
I’ll be performing ‘I Hate Cabaret’ in full, along with some of my latest queer pop songs. Tickets are available on Outsavvy for £7.
Tickets to I Hate Cabaret: https://www.outsavvy.com/event/19309/astro-i-hate-cabaret-ep-launch
I Hate Cabaret is on Monday 1 June, 7:30 pm – 10 pm, at The Divine, 33 Stoke Newington Road, London N16 8B, United Kingdom.
All the profits from this event will go to a trans/gender minority radical faerie gathering.
