The Future Is Inclusive: The TCC Social #1
Back in September I was at Ten87 Studios interviewing producer and songwriter Charlie Deakin Davies (they/them). As I was switching my recording off, they said they had something exciting they wanted to tell me about. This is when Charlie told me about the TCC.
‘The organisation is called the Trans Creative Collective. Originally it was a directory to combine and to let anyone who is working in the arts connect with each other who come from a trans background, potentially. But our whole thing is that it’s inclusive, not exclusive. So, no matter what your background is, or how you identify, you are so welcome to be part of the directory as long as you are understanding of trans rights, of you know, disability or understanding of different cultures and different things like that. So it’s basically a list of like really solid people that if you work with them – you know you’re gonna be safe. And you don’t have to worry that they’re gonna say something transphobic or homophobic or racist or something like that.’ – Charlie Deakin Davies
The TCC began with Charlie, Max Blue Churchill, Jesley Faye and Andrea Di Giovanni taking part in a one-day recording session at London’s Abbey Road Studios in early 2021. Inspired by an International Women’s Day event Charlie participated in with the studio, the team sought to create a similar space for International Transgender Day of Visibility on March 31st. Though they quickly realised their work had only just begun.
Image Credit: The TCC.
Fast-forward to Saturday the 5th of February where the Trans Creative Collective hosted their first social event for an afternoon and evening at Ten87 Studios. The day included a conversation with a guest speaker, an audio workshop followed by a visual workshop, then rounding off with a Q&A.
Becky Carpenter (centre). Image Credit: Colleen Lee and Nelly Rodrigues.
The space also displayed physical art and photographs as well as hosting an art corner with Becky Carpenter (they/them/she) of Queer Craft London. Not only this, but the event also provided changing rooms, accessible and gender-neutral toilets and a quiet space on site, with volunteers on hand to chaperone. Bottles of water were freely available and the spaces that held the talks were fully air-conditioned. The TCC’s pre-event email encouraged attendees to take a lateral flow test to ensure safe participation.
Tickets to the event were free and reached full capacity at forty spaces days before, which encouraged the organisers to arrange an after-party at the adjacent Craving establishment. By the time of the social, interest in the tickets would reach double the allotted amount.
Nelly Rodrigues and Max Blue Churchill. Image Credit: Colleen Lee and Nelly Rodrigues.
With a brief introduction from Charlie, the social was opened proper by Nelly Rodrigues:
‘My favourite poem is by a Cuban poet. I found it by accident. I won’t read you the whole thing, but I will open with the closing line.
“Si me quieres, no me recortes: ¡quiéreme toda… o no me quieras!”
Which means:
“If you want me, don’t cut me up. Want me whole or don’t want me at all.”
Diversity is not a buzzword. It’s not a box to tick. You want me to produce your series, you want me to do stellar work, hire me and respect me wholly. As a whole person. That includes my culture, the way I choose to express myself. We should be accepted in entire parts. The TCC’s directory and socials are a crucial cog in a bigger machine. I envision it going beyond music, arts and film. There are gender nonconforming lawyers, educators and more. Today’s showcase is the foundation for that future. So, that being said. Demand to be sought, as you are. Whole.’
Max Blue Churchill in conversation with Tom Abdulhadi-Turner. Image Credit: Colleen Lee and Nelly Rodrigues.
Nelly then introduced Max Blue Churchill, who would be chatting with the event’s first special guest - Tom Abdulhadi-Turner. Max Blue (he/him) is a trans engineer and producer at London’s Strongroom Studios. His previous musical project, The Motion, saw him playing live in London throughout 2018 and 2019 as well as releasing three singles in that period.
Tom Abdulhadi-Turner (he/him) is a trans artist and Queering Anthropologist dedicated to improving the world inhabited by queer and trans people. Extracts of Tom’s continuing art project ‘Living Whilst Trans’ would also be on display at the TCC social.
Max and Tom’s conversation would largely centre on the availability of trans spaces and the public consciousness of the trans and queer community. Tom particularly cited 2015 as a turning point where the trans community became more visible on the world stage. Max noticed too how the narrative had begun to shift as he’d grown up with virtually no trans role-models, but now there are multiple trans figures for young people to look up to. Tom’s concluding message to the room was to make more of a good thing, especially creating spaces like the one the TCC is cultivating.
“Max forgetting to announce another artist as he pressed play.” From left to right: Katy Pickles, Andrea Di Giovanni, Charlie Deakin Davies and Max Blue Churchill. Image Credit: Colleen Lee and Nelly Rodrigues.
The second segment of the social shifted from the studio’s live room and into the control room. Prior to the event, the TTC encouraged submission of finished or work-in-progress audio mixes from artists. Here, four industry professionals would review them and give feedback in the moment with some of the artists in attendance.
The panel consisted of Katy Pickles, special guest Andrea Di Giovanni, Charlie Deakin Davies and Max Blue Churchill. Katy Pickles (she/they) is an assistant for AIR Management and an advocate for positive mental health in the music industry. They’ve also been producing music as Pillars since 2015, with their most recent single ‘Push & Pull’ released in September 2021.
Andrea Di Giovanni (he/she/they) is a genderfluid artist and songwriter. With accolades from RuPaul, Gay Times, Billboard, MTV and the BBC, Andrea’s expressive artistic style can be seen and heard in their debut album ‘Rebel’, released in 2021.
Dylan Holloway (right). Image Credit: Colleen Lee and Nelly Rodrigues.
The audio workshop was bookended by performances from singer/songwriter and trans artist Dylan Holloway (he/him), who began by playing a song called ‘Gotta Let Her Go’. The first track to be reviewed by the team was ‘Want To Stay’, the debut single by TS Autopilot who was in attendance. The self-produced, written and mixed track garnered comparisons from the panel to the trademark sound of a James Bond theme with their mesmerising voice and soaring string arrangement.
With filming taking place all day, the responses of the team to Heff Vansaint’s ‘Youth On Fire’ and ‘commentary RM’ by Jay Page were recorded and passed on to the artists. Also not in attendance were EMPERORS, whose track ‘We Are The Emperors’ received universal praise in the room. One attendee even softly said ‘I love this song so much’ as Max Blue pressed play on an empowering music video. Andrea likened the vocal in the track to his own baritone range and explained the advantages of changing the way words were vocalised in order to bring a new dynamic to a song.
Also in attendance to hear feedback on their music was GrapeGuitarBox, with the panel praising their romantic ‘Wait For You’ single, including its crowdfunded music video. Released prior to the pandemic, the acoustic track was recorded with session musicians in India and was said by one panellist to be ready for radio airplay. The video centres on two Indian women in love and living together, with much of their relationship portrayed through beautifully choreographed dance.
The final piece to be reviewed by the team was an instrumental by Sayher, whose music video for ‘In Dust’ moved the whole room. The film depicted a transwoman in early transition, experiencing the joy of body euphoria with a friend. In Dust is driven by industrial beats and distorted guitar with touches of piano, its sweeping sound well suited as a soundtrack. With Sayher there in person, she stated her goal was to compose for film in the future.
Prior to Dylan Holloway closing the segment with a live debut of a new song called ‘Divine’, he and Max had an impromptu discussion on being a musician during the transitioning period. Whilst Max moved away from his music and concentrated more on production, Dylan’s income relied on performing and so the changes to his voice had to be dealt with in real time. Andrea Di Giovanni and Katy Pickles both praised Holloway’s use of vibrato, with Andrea especially saying his voice reminded them of the comfort home brings.
Some of the day’s attendees in the live room. Image Credit: Colleen Lee and Nelly Rodrigues.
The TCC social then migrated back to the live room for the visual workshop, where Nelly Rodrigues and Colleen Lee would give feedback to filmmakers on their submissions. Nelly (they/them) is an associate lecturer at The British and Irish Modern Music Institute, a published author and runs the podcast ‘Mental Health Talks’. Their production company, Pankeu Media Communications was responsible for shooting the Abbey Road documentary that brought the TCC together.
Colleen Lee (they/them) is co-founder and director of photography at Recktangle Films, a production company established in 2019. They’re also head of video production at Wild Paths, a city-wide festival in Norwich planned for October 2022. Together, Colleen and Nelly would be photographing and filming the TCC social.
Nelly Rodrigues and Colleen Lee. Image Credit: Colleen Lee and Nelly Rodrigues.
The first short film to be reviewed by Nelly and Colleen was Theodore Anderson Lincoln’s ‘Interactions In Space’. Featuring a bespoke costume that incorporated a ribcage, the dancing figure was shot under a spotlight, the clarity of which garnered significant praise from Colleen Lee especially. Still students at school where the piece was shot, the whole team occupied a sofa in the live room where it was clear how much they enjoyed making films together.
The second piece was by Em Argiro and entitled ‘Gender Dysphoria’. Em’s honest and down to earth approach to making the video garnered a few smiles and a chuckle from attendees in the room, as if to say, ‘I’ve been there’. The voiceover was by Argiro, who was also the subject of the piece, navigating their identity, sometimes with help and hindrance from modern technology.
The last and shortest film was from Alex Moran. Their stop-motion piece featured a clay model depicting transition as a form of rebuilding your identity, taking away the parts you don’t like about yourself and replacing them with parts you do. Colleen picked out details from the film that other attendees hadn’t, a replay of the film highlighting the characters post-transition scars.
As well as discussing the films featured here, Nelly and Colleen also gave positive feedback to the music videos by GrapeGuitarBox and Sayher before the social moved onto its last panel of the day.
Charlie Deakin Davies and Katy Pickles. Image Credit: Colleen Lee and Nelly Rodrigues.
Moderated by Katy Pickles, the industry Q&A featured Nelly Rodrigues, Andrea Di Giovanni and Max Blue Churchill. With the Q&A flowing more like an open conversation, Andrea in particular noted the gap in the market for queer and trans themed gig nights and their willingness to help rectify that. Nelly also discussed their ethnicity, and the support they’ve received from their family surrounding their career and gender identity.
A question posed to the panellists asked about the state of their creativity before and after coming out. Here, Max Blue elaborated on how beginning his transitioning journey put him in a less creative space. He described moving away from writing music as a protective measure at the time, but concluded by saying his creativity has recently begun to return.
After questions were opened to the floor, Charlie Deakin Davies rounded off the event by giving out hand-made awards to Ten87 for ‘Best Studio Ever’ and literal tokens of appreciation to the day’s panellists. The social then moved from Ten87 to Craving Coffee next door for its after-party, where participants were treated to a DJ interspersed with open mic performances for the remainder of the evening.
The scope for the Trans Creative Collective is enormous. Not only is their directory long overdue in the arts, but events like this can provide solidarity to the trans and queer community and help them make connections within the industry. With the event being open to allies too, it’s a reminder that creativity is felt by all people and the conversation should remain open. The future of the arts is exciting, diverse, inclusive and beautiful. I can’t wait to see and hear more of it.
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For more information about the Trans Creative Collective, including forthcoming news of their directory, sign up to their mailing list here.
Alternatively, follow the TCC on Instagram and TikTok @the.tcc, Facebook @transcreativecollective and Twitter @the_transcc.
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