By Jay Stracke
p1nkstar, Austin’s favorite queer pop icon, has partnered with Hotel Free TV to present “Girls Like Us,” a 50-minute live music video experience released last Thursday that celebrates Austin-based trans artists.
Hotel Free TV, a virtual livestream platform for local music, presents a safe space for artists to showcase new music and “has done a great job at representing the live music industry here in Austin,” says p1nkstar. “But unfortunately, the industry centers white cis men. We feel like a lot of the trans artists in Texas are not taken as seriously by the industry, and so we thought it was really important to showcase trans talent in a city where white cis men have been center stage.”
Blending aspects of a music video, visual album, and live concert, the “Girls Like Us” performance supercedes p1nkstar’s latest EP, released in March 2020, which served as an example of queer, creative, and collaborative power. “Girls Like Us” follows this trend with a strong team of queer and trans creatives. “Most everyone who’s involved is queer and trans,” Y2K, the performance’s creative director and production designer, says. “It’s really a great way to give everyone a little snippet into what trans talent in Texas holds.”
“All the artists that we chose are strong, not only musically, but they all have their own personality,” p1nkstar adds. “They all have built their own world around their eyes. I think these are all artists who are visionaries to us and that inspire us every day to just continue doing the work that we do.”
The live music video experience sees p1nkstar joined by Lorelei K, Belladonna, and Quentin Arispe, as well as special appearances by Gavilán Rayna Russom, Mr.Kitty, Ariel Zetina, and more. “I want people to realize how talented and resilient trans people and trans artists are, and to continue to support them,” p1nkstar says. “I think many times it’s hard for trans artists to find support outside of the queer community. It was also important for us not only to showcase trans artists, but to put them in a light where their work would shine and create beautiful visuals that they feel proud of.”
In “Girls Like Us,” the artists perform live music and choreography set within a futuristic cyberscape created through custom-built sets and light installations designed by Austin-based artists. “I like performance personas existing in this futuristic world where trans people are celebrated,” p1nkstar says on the design choice. “I think everything that we do—from our music to events and production and nightlife—we’re always thinking about showing people that it’s possible and creating these tiny spaces where that is the reality.”
“This [performance] can be seen by so many other kids and people out there who can identify with the performers and see themselves in them and say, ‘Oh my god, I can do that,’” Y2K adds. “That’s also something that’s really important, specifically to Texas and the South. There’s not a lot of representation of trans talent. It would be great to see some younger audience members feel connected or feel represented in that way.”
To view the virtual event, click here. For those interested in donating to the project, click here.
p1nkstar is a music and performance artist who creates nightlife experiences centering trans and queer artists of color in Austin, Texas. Her showcases see 20,000+ attendees per year, and she has received two Best of Austin awards for her space-making work in the city. She has performed at SXSW, Fusebox Festival, Babes Fest, OUTsider Fest, and Gender Unbound, and has exhibited nationally at the Blanton Museum of Art, the Visual Arts Center, and the Roots & Culture Contemporary Arts Center in Chicago.
