Q: Hey, can you tell us a bit about where you come from, and what made you want to start a career in music?
A: Hey! I was born in NYC, and raised in the ‘burbs, just like Lou Reed — not to invite too many comparisons or anything. And to your second question: I have a career in music? Is this how it starts?
Q: Did you have any formal training, or are you self-taught?
A: Yes, and yes. I don’t think the two are mutually exclusive. There’s some agonized piano lessons in there, some saxophone for the old high school band (go Cats!), and a few years of voice and some opera for college credit. As for the rest, I like to think I’m self-teaching myself every day, and while I’m doing that, I’m also learning from my self teaching my self-teaching self.
Q: Who were your first and strongest musical influences, and why the name ‘Goldy Head’?
A: My first musical influence was definitely my mother’s heartbeat, whose cardiac reverberations I absorbed in utero. The strongest musical influence has got to be “Zadie Bobo” by Ivorian musician Ernesto Djédjé, which has been my ringtone for the past 3 years. I can literally feel it whenever someone calls me. Other than that, there’s a lot of David Bowie, Marc Bolan, and Bryan Ferry. And Lou Reed — but that goes without saying. Even though I just said it. Well, there it is. As for more current influences, I’m listening a lot to the unbelievably talented Anita Velveeta (@anita.velveeta), the genre-bending Diles Que No Me Maten (@no_me_maten), and Declan Mckenna (@thedeclanmckenna).
And “Goldy Head” comes from a poem by the Soviet wunderkind poet Vladimir Mayakovsky. I’m a socialist, so it’s pretty fitting.
Q: You have just released your new single, ‘Amsterdam, Damn!’. Is there a story behind it?
A: Oh, you bet there is. Back in 2018 I was on vacation in Amsterdam and I went to a drag show. I fell in love with one of the queens performing, but when I saw them outside after the show they were getting on a motorbike with someone else. My heart was broken. But it was worth it. Although I didn’t find true love that night, and may never find it in my lifetime, at least I’ve got this banging single to listen to to remind me just how lonely I am.
The music video to “Amsterdam, Damn” has a story too. One night in Mexico City I was taken to this great, queer bar called Travesura (@travesura.travesura) on a date, and I ended up meeting the host of the karaoke night, La Maga (@lamaga.mx). She was the fiercest thing on two legs I’d ever seen, and I knew that I wanted to collaborate with her on something. The music video was that thing, and she was my co-star. If you’re in Mexico City, don’t miss her.
Anyway, we made this music video — along with a bunch of other queer performers and artists — at a time when in the United States (I’ll speak for where I come from) things are very dangerous for LGBTQ+ people, and particularly for LGBTQ+ people of color. So there was a lot of urgency to making something that could serve both as a celebration of queer life and love, and also as a rebuke to the jerk politicians and people in my home country that are homophobic, transphobic, and just generally awful people. And also all those awful people all over the world.
Q: Can we expect a new EP or even an album from you in the near future?
A: You sure can. “Amsterdam, Damn!” is the debut single from the EP Jazz Is Dead, set to drop in the next month or so. Then we just recorded a full album in Mexico City. That one’s called Rogue in Porcelain. Both are awesome. Stay tuned.
Q: What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
A: I would say the key elements to the songs that listeners should keep an ear out for are the lyrics and the music. The rest they can pretty much forget about, as it’s really not that important. I would personally describe my sound as being very much audible, registering somewhere in 20 to 20,000 Hz range. There’s a lot of glitz, glam, and genre in there too. So if that’s not your jam, might I recommend an audiobook? Maybe some Zizek?
Q: Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it, or are you expecting something more?
A: Oh, I very much expect something more. To wit: boundless cash, instant and effortless fame, and at least an 8.8 rating in Pitchfork. I’ll take an 8.7, but I won’t post about it.
Q: Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song?
A: Honestly, it’s a real black box. Sometimes I’ll just leave a pen and paper out on my desk at night, go to sleep, and when I wake up in the morning: boom. There’s an entire song written on the page. Other times I have to think real long and hard about what I want to say, how I want to say it, and how I want it to feel — then I forget about all that, go to sleep, and boom. I wake up, and the song is written.
Q: What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
A: The most difficult thing I’ve had to endure in my life is the disenchantment with neoliberal, capitalist ideology I suffered at the age of 25, a blow from which I have yet to fully recover, and probably never will.
Q: On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
A: I’d say disabusing myself (or at least attempting to disabuse myself) of neoliberal, capitalist ideology has been a pretty significant milestone in my life up to this point.
Also, this is the first single. I don’t have a career in music, folks. Yet!
