“Is This Real Life?” with Chase Icon

June 22, 2021

You may have heard the name Chase Icon before. She's an internet sensation, bona fide Twitter celebrity, and more than anything else, she's an icon. After over a year of being quarantined during the pandemic, the Los Angeles-based artist is making her debut in the burgeoning pop world. With three solo singles released this year among a myriad of collaborations, Chase is ready to take her talent beyond Twitter and become a household name in pop music. Having already performed alongside her pop peers such as Slayyyter, That Kid, and Alice Longyu Gao, it won't be long before she is.

Chase brilliantly incorporates her natural wit into her music to tackle even the most serious of issues. With her debut single, SRS, an abbreviation for sexual reassignment surgery, she feels, in her own words, that "turning something like bottom dysphoria into a fun, pop song is something that nobody's ever done before or even thought to do. I decided that I wanted to go there because I feel like trans girls need something like that to listen to and pump themselves up to. I also just feel like it's a fun, clubby song that everyone can listen to and bop to."

With an EP soon to be released and tracks that indeed speak for themselves, Chase Icon is "coming for the pop world."

Interview by Deren Owji
Photos by Anthony Vanity

First of all, happy Pride Month!

Happy Pride Month to you too!

You gained a huge following on Twitter with your hilariously subversive way of calling out transphobia and transmisogyny, as well as exposing problematic cis gay men on Grindr.

We love to see it.

With that being said, what does Pride Month mean for you? And how do you create space for yourself in our immensely diverse community?

Pride Month, to me, is more and more special every year, because I feel like I become a little bit closer to who I feel like I am on the inside. Before it was kind of a darker time, actually during Pride Month, because I would see everybody, you know, feel so proud about themselves and their sexuality and gender and everything. And I personally didn't feel that way for the longest time, because in my head I was so depressed. Now I feel like I'm finally in a place where I feel more comfortable with myself and actually proud of who I am and what I've done and accomplished. And especially as a trans woman, it makes me feel like I've done something that other people can look to. I've kind of become a little bit of a role model to some people. Maybe not the best role model.

Your sense of humor, It’s so dry and wonderfully witty. While it’s what originally brought you Twitter fame, it seems to also be an important part of your music. Is that a conscious decision? And if it is, what's informing that choice?

Well, everything I do, I feel like, has a little bit of humor because I just don't take life that seriously. And while I take everything I do very seriously, and I always want to put my best foot forward and put 100% into everything, I can't help but feel like humor is an important part of art. Life imitates art and lifes a joke, so I’d like to be able to laugh at it. That being said, with some of my future projects, it's not all necessarily comedy music. It never intended to be that way. I think that the way I go about putting humor in my music is that it's a little bit more dry. I feel like some people might not get it. But if you get it, you get it, and if you don’t, you don’t.

Why did you choose the name Chase Icon?

I just felt like it was something that was very fitting. It's how I see myself and how I perceive myself. Back when I didn't have any followers, I decided that I was gonna fake it till I make it and call myself an icon until other people recognized that and it eventually worked out.

You had the first live performance of your new material a couple of weeks ago in LA at the Heav3n Party. How would you reflect on that experience and what your stage presence is becoming as a new artist who's getting her footing in the post pandemic scene?

Live performance is something that really comes naturally to me. I've always been able to entertain a crowd. Though I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, because I've never performed my own music. Prior to quarantine, my own music didn’t even exist. I think that it was a little bit scary, but it surprisingly translated really well onto a stage. I was really happy with the way that it went and it was really surreal to hear people screaming my lyrics that I made up myself, like, on a stage. I was like “is this real life?” I felt like it was an iconic debut.

What has been the most challenging part of producing and releasing your music?

I would say, the most challenging part would probably be not overthinking things. I have a tendency to be a bit of a perfectionist. I want everything I do and everything I put out to be 100% up to my standard, which, without a major budget and a label backing is a little bit hard to achieve sometimes. I feel like I doubt myself sometimes, but I am a real artist. Whatever I put out is going to be Chase Icon’s art and I need to not doubt that.

Your debut single SRS: I want to talk about that a little bit. I love it. It's really my favorite release of yours so far. You invoke some really serious themes about living as a trans woman, and the way you tackle that is really creative and also light hearted at times. What kind of a role do you want your music to play in the trans and LGBTQ plus community at large?

I don't make music for any specific group. I think anybody can listen to it and enjoy it. But really… it is for the gays, you know, I do play for the gays. But really even more so, it's for the dolls. I try to make music that I want to scream in my own car. Music that I relate to. I thought SRS is a good concept, especially for my debut single, because the abbreviation for SRS is sex reassignment surgery. I feel like turning something like bottom dysphoria into a fun, pop song is something that nobody's ever done before or even thought to do. I decided that I wanted to go there because I feel like trans girls need something like that to listen to and pump themselves up to. I also just feel like it's a fun, clubby song that everyone can listen to and bop to.

Who is a trans artist who inspires or has inspired your work?

Definitely SOPHIE would be the number one. She’s kind of my North Star in everything that I do music related. She was unapologetically trans, and her work spoke for itself and could be listened to by anybody. It's just undeniably good. She’s really gotten to open people's minds a little bit to, you know, even like accepting trans people more.

It’s beautiful to see everybody talking about her and giving her the credit that she deserves. I was afraid that she wouldn’t get the recognition she deserves because she was a trans woman, but really she has a huge impact on the industry. It's impossible to not recognize her impact everywhere in music. It's in the stuff that you listen to on the radio. I think that it's really great that everyone's been talking about her and that her music is still going hard in the clubs now that they're opening up. It's really cool to see and hear that.

Your most recent single, “Life Alert'' dropped on June 16th. What is the meaning behind the track?

Basically, it's about it's about fucking an old man until he dies and taking all of his money. There's no real deep meaning behind that. Right? I just wanted a bag… and I feel like you would do it for a bag too.

Is there anything else you want us to know about her?

She's coming for you. She's coming for the pop world. She’s on the prowl. The EP is in the works. Expect the unexpected. I only release hits!

Music

Jesse Jo Stark Is in a Genre of Her Own

April 19, 2024

In the midst of a total solar eclipse, I got the chance to talk about music and style with Jesse Jo Stark.

As I’m on the phone with her from New York, Stark is on a tour bus with The Veronicas, driving through the Colorado mountains to enjoy some time off in between shows. The Veronicas have just started their Gothic Summer North American Tour, and Stark is opening the show. What’s special about this tour for the lifelong music obsessive is the sense of powerful feminine energy encapsulating the tour. “We just started [tour], but it’s been really lovely. I’m obsessed with the fact that we’re all women — it feels like a very powerful crew. The Veronicas are lovely, the crowds have been so fun, and the venues are beautiful. It’s gonna be a good month.”

Photography Sophia-Liv Maguire
Styling Marc Eram
Interview Angelina Hazzouri
Talent Jesse Jo Stark
Hair Antoine Martinez with PARADIS using Roz Hair
Makeup Sydney Szramowski
Photo Assistants Mia O’Neal, Rashaun Richardson
BTS Ms Josephine
Creative Producer Olivia Roper-Caldbeck

This is Stark’s second time touring since the release of her full-length debut album DOOMED in late 2022, which was very well received and led to Stark’s first sold-out international headlining tour on behalf of the album. Previous to her solo tour, she’s opened for various notable acts, such as Guns N’ Roses and Jane’s Addiction. I asked Stark, who’s been writing and playing music since age 11, what it was like to prepare for her first sold-out headlining tour. Unsurprisingly, before any tour, Stark goes into what she describes as “bootcamp mode” — dancing every day, vocal training, rehearsing with her band, and of course, working on her outfits. “That’s the sort of homework I love,” she says, smiling. (Even though we’re on the phone, I can tell she’s smiling when she talks about the outfit part. I’d smile too if I had her tour closet.)

What’s unique about Stark as a musician is that she has ultimately created her own universe by embracing every aspect of her creative upbringing, her raw talent, her fascinating influences, and her unwavering beliefs in not needing to fit into a certain box when it comes to her art. She creative-directs and styles all her own looks, referencing an ever-evolving list of influences that range from Vegas showgirls to Halloween to old films to her parents in the 90s. “I think when I was younger, I had this rebellion against what I was made from,” she tells me, “but now it’s just my blood. I constantly reflect on my childhood and everything I was taught and everything I saw. My brother and sister and I are constantly pulling influences from our parents from the past. I think, more than ever, I’m heavily influenced by them.”

Stark, the daughter of founders and owners of the self-made American fashion brand Chrome Hearts, and now its creative director and designer, is someone who always knew what she liked, but as she describes it, had to ‘go through the motions’ that come with growing up and knowing one’s identity. Today, her self-efficacy is palpable — and it’s inspiring.

...when I was younger, I had this rebellion against what I was made from, but now it’s just my blood.

When she’s on tour, Stark is growing with herself and with her art — she’s not afraid to take life as it comes and learn through the process. With every show, regardless of whether it was on her DOOMED tour or this tour with The Veronicas, Stark understands the importance of human connection through music. Seeing faces of music lovers like herself, meeting those who have traveled to see her, and visiting familiar and unfamiliar cities has reminded her that she loves being on the road. “The growth that happens on tour is so important to me as an artist.” Sometimes we have to leave behind what’s familiar in order to rediscover what’s important, and Stark is a proponent of this growth mindset.

Growth doesn’t just happen on tour with Stark — this evolution of herself happens within genre as well, and for Stark there’s no such thing. Since her first release Driftwood in 2017, the artist’s sound has shifted year after year, but in a harmonious way that still feels central to her gothic Americana roots. When asked if she’ll experiment with genre in the future, Stark confidently answers, “I think I’ve only experimented with genre. I don’t think anyone knows what genre I am.” (She calls herself a “horrific hillbilly” — a perfect descriptor.) Steadfast in her belief that we as humans can constantly evolve in our work, Stark thinks it’s antiquated to fit yourself into a certain box and focus on one specific trade in order to succeed. “If you look at us as people, we’re seasoned. We change all the time. I want to experience different things.”

Since Driftwood, a two-song EP rooted in rock and country, Stark has experimented with more robust beats and 808s on DOOMED, and her most recent single “skeleton” features a softer, grungier punk sound. Without fitting into a specific genre, Stark’s music is undoubtedly and wholeheartedly her own, transcending the boundaries of what many artists struggle with when finding their sound. “I don’t think we should have to label ourselves in any way, shape, or form; so I’m not going to. I will continue to make all types of different music.” Fuck yeah.

If you look at us as people, we’re seasoned. We change all the time.

This goes beyond just music — in terms of her personal style, the same mentality applies. We discuss the idea that clothing and dressing is a sort of playground, and personal style comes from within. Stark isn’t about following trends, but rather, she thinks it’s important to tap into different stylistic elements that amplify who we are at our cores. On her DOOMED tour, Stark wore a lot of leather and stuck to a fairly dark color palette. Right now, she’s into more bourgeois satin and lace, experimenting with different textures and wearing things that feel slightly daintier and more delicate. On this current tour with the Veronicas, Stark is making it more of a point to take everything in — absorbing inspiration from every city, writing songs on the road, recording video on a friend’s super 8 camera, styling and wearing new outfits, learning and performing new covers — ultimately growing through the whole experience.

It’s endearing and inspiring how well Stark knows herself. A Los Angeles native, she proudly tells me that the tour finishes on May 5 in her hometown, a show that she’s especially excited for. While we can’t predict what thoughtfully-curated outfit she’ll wear or what songs will be performed, with new music already underway, one thing is clear: Jesse Jo Stark is just getting started.

Music

9lives' Latest Single Continues to Push Sigilkore

April 19, 2024

The versatile artist, producer, and pioneer of the sigilkore genre, 9lives, has recently unveiled his latest single "CANADA" featuring jnhygs. In less than two years since his emergence onto the music scene, 9lives has carved out an impressive niche for himself as a prominent figure within the digitally-driven sigilkore movement. "CANADA" sees him teaming up once again with experimental dance artist jnhygs, following their successful collaboration on "XTAYALIVE".

With aspirations to establish himself within the mainstream arena of experimental music production and artistry, 9lives is blending his distinct dark production style with collaborations with a diverse array of influential artists who trust him to create innovative sonic landscapes. "CANADA" marks his second release of 2024, as 9lives continues to champion the burgeoning sigilkore movement, pushing the boundaries of genre, evolving into a multifaceted artist, and solidifying his status as a rising star with an expanding audience.

Image by Connor Pritchard

Reflecting on their latest project, 9lives shares, “In early 2023 jnhygs found my music and we started chatting through TikTok, releasing our first song together called "XTAYALIVE"." He adds, We’ve been friends since this song had a viral moment, and fans have been heavily requesting for us to work together again all over our videos.” Describing their creative process, he explains, “I sent a bunch of new ideas to jnhygs via Discord and she sent back vocals to “CANADA”, which I then used to create melodic layers and extra percussion to complete the song.

Music

Eclipsed at Vampire Weekend

April 16, 2024

It had been about a week since the goosebump-inducing communal howls at the moon, as it covered the sun through a cloudy Austin, Texas sky, left me needing to take a seat—suspended in awe of the totality of the event and the synergistic break from routine. I overheard someone say, “I mean, it feels like we’re all going to die, but in a way that’s okay, you know?" under the shadow of the eclipse's peak, ceremoniously brought in as the band performed “Jonathan Low,” (in Vampire Weekend's familiar ironic hue) a track they wrote for the third movie in the Twilight series, Eclipse.

It had been five years since the band had released an album. In celebration of their latest album, "Only God Was Above Us," ticket holders wrapped the streets in blocks outside the venue for the band’s first Stateside show in about two years. Event managers searched to replenish the venue’s stock of eclipse glasses, while the band prepped a show reminiscent of 'getting the boys back together again'.

Words and photography by Rianne Akindele

In between newly released songs like “Classical” and “Capricorn”, the boys filled the almost two-hour-long show with old favorites like “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa”, “Diane Young” and a genre evolved rendition of “Sunflower” as the crowd danced barefoot feeling the Earth’s energy intertwined with their own and the vibrations from the amps on stage. People stole glances at the imminently darkening sky, artists doodled, friends grabbed onto each other to scream the lyrics in each other’s faces, and onlookers from the highest level of the parking garage across the street cheered on in a symphony of nostalgia and anticipation.

Adding to the layers of the celestial afternoon, the band invited to the stage the likes of Thomas Mars from Phoenix, Dave 1 from Chromeo, and guitarist Brian Robert Jones, inducing further levels of indie revival euphoria.

As the show drew to its close, and the zydeco/country-rock “Cocaine Cowboys” medley fiddled through the air, a conversation could be picked up between two sisters in search of their Lyft driver through closed-off streets,

“I wish this happened more often.”
“Eclipses or shows like this?”
“Both.”

It’s moments like these that remind us of our shared humanity and the power of collective experiences; a gathering of souls under the same sky, sharing the joy of music and a wonder of the stars above. Perhaps it’s the rarity that allowed such transcendence, reverence, and gratitude to be felt. Either way, what a beautiful moment in time it was.

Here are a few shots from the Monday afternoon: