2024 Tour Blog #1 – SoCal
A few weeks ago I got back from tour and I have finally started to get back into the swing of things. After being on the road for 26 days, playing 16 dates in 15 different cities, I feel like I have now gathered my thoughts about my escapades. With that, I present to you part 1 of my tour blog about the initial dates I played in my home region: Southern California
10/4/24 – Coaxial Arts – Los Angeles, Ca
My first tour date was on album release day. I played a venue I consider home, surrounded by friends, and on a bill I curated with some of my favorite electronic artists in LA. It was also my first time booking drag and a vendor at a show, something I hope to do a lot more in the future. Grace Kraft had her shop set up outside and it was really cool to show her off as my album artist (for those curious, https://linktr.ee/graceekraft). Every act on the bill showed off something crude, beautiful, weird, theatrical, or something in between. I wanted to make this show resonate with my values as an artist and I feel like the lineup and my set accomplished this.
Overall it was great start to the tour, but I do regret having the release show on release date. It was a mad scramble and I unfortunately didn’t have all my props and table giveaways in order until the following week. Next time I want to make sure my release show is a week before the album is done because I don’t think I can make that kind of rush a regular part of my process.
10/5/24 – Bandcamp Listening Party (Online)
This technically wasn’t a tour date, but it was cool nonetheless. It did feel kinda crazy holding one of these in between 3 dates during the weekend, but I would do it again. It was nice to experience the album with other people for the first time, reading comments in real time. I didn’t know many of the people in the chat, so it was interesting hearing feedback from people who hadn’t been in a room with me gushing about my own work over the last two years.
10/5/24 – Mrs. Olsen’s – Oxnard, Ca
This year I started getting more familiar with the queer music scene in Oxnard. It’s a small community of friends and acquaintances that’s really supportive of one another. I knew my friends at Princess Pillz would help me put on a good show, and they managed to help us book a black light themed venue. It was the smallest audience of the weekend, but there were a lot of familiar (queer) faces and enthusiasm for everyone that hit the stage.
That weekend I experimented a lot with what did and didn’t work for audiences on stage. It was this show where I started giving out flowers during some of my numbers. It turns out everyone loves getting flowers! I really want people to get used to associating me with flowers as much as they associate me with electronic music. The theme of nature vs tech is integral to my work. I often daydream about living in a cabin in the woods (as many do) but I cannot deny my love of technology, the unnatural, and the outright fake. Flowers & petals will hopefully be a big part of my stage presence for the foreseeable future.
10/5/24 – Til-Two – San Diego, Ca
This was the SoCal show I was the most nervous about. The only act on the bill I knew was Memory Theater who I had performed with earlier in the year at Che Cafe in San Diego. I had never met the artist Vaginals in person before, but she helped us book the venue, the DJ, and the closing act. After being full of nerves, this show ended up having the biggest turnout and the most energy of the weekend. It is the one that set the tone for the rest of the west coast tour. Andrew Wayne and I started to hit our stride and we got a taste of what it was like to play in a place where we either of us didn’t know very many people.
I have a hard time explaining what kind of music I make. Am I a pop act? Am I an experimental act? An electronic act? I make dark music right? I have always identified as goth so while I don’t make darkwave or post punk, I feel like my sound can be best described as “dark pop.” This show was a goth show. Andrew Wayne and I, nervous about going in, left the show feeling like we fit right in. The loud enthusiasm of the crowd was extremely validating. The reception made me feel like I must be doing something right.