CMEvery month we bring you #chellacast — A contemporary art+culture podcast.
Pop star Dorian Electra makes music that defies gender norms. In the past year, their work has gained a queer cult following and led to them being named a must-know talent in the media. Ahead of their performance poolside at The Dinah Shore Weekend, in Palm Springs CA., Dorian Electra sat down with Coachella Magazine to discuss music, fashion, gender fluid, upcoming projects and more.
“I started doing this. I’ve been doing like educational music videos for fun and also like for school since high school and college. And then I started working with Refinery 29 to do educational music videos about the history of sexuality and gender. And they were like original pop songs that had to do with the history of the clitoris, the history of drag, the history of vibrators, like all these different topics that are not well known about but like really interesting and make for a good pop song and started doing those and then started transitioning to making my own music just as Dorian Electra.”
“It’s just computer and microphone pretty much. There’s a few things that have like some guitar on them, but now you can have like a whole orchestra with like the click of a button and it’s so much cheaper and easier than having to like, you know, respect to instruments, love them, love real instruments.”
“My music video Man To Man… kind of taking this trope of the 9-5 corporate Wall Street businessman, someone that’s addicted to working, that defines themselves by their success in the corporate sphere. And then also playing with that trope and trying to subvert the masculinity and the kind of like modern machismo of the Wall Street man that’s sort of seen as this glorified warrior of today’s capitalist society and kind of trying to just have fun with that.”
“I pretty much write the songs with a music video in mind. Even if I never make the music video, I have to start with the visual to be inspired for the lyrics and that’s kind of what, I kind of work backwards in that way.”
“It just comes from feeling fluid. My identity, I don’t feel particularly fixed to being defined as female or male or genderless. I don’t fairly feel genderless either. I just, it’s more like a mood or a way of relating to people. I don’t really let that define how I feel about myself.
“The Dinah Shore — It’s my very first time. I’m so excited. This is like such an iconic queer and lesbian festival. This is an amazing, interesting history, and I’m, I’m like so honored to be a part of it.
Coachella Magazine Talk Radio: Ep. Nº9
Host Treem Heff
With special guest Dorian Electra
Photo by Ed Zabel Photography
Produced by Jorge Perezchica
This episode is sponsored by:
Palm Springs Grip & Lighting