Tracks of Our Queers

Brontez Purnell is a writer, musician, critic, model, zinemaker, dancer, choreographer, and quite literally, more.

An Oakland punk by way of Alabama, Brontez has just published his fifth book, 10 Bridges I've Burnt. I'm an enormous admirer of Brontez's writing, and am thrilled to chat about his queer tracks.

In this conversation, we discuss music by Carol Hahn, Emily's Sassy Lime, and his own...

Carl Austin-Behan served in the British Royal Air Force from 1991 until 1997, when he was discharged for being openly gay.

Lauded with honours for services to his country, including a medal for bravery, nonetheless he was ejected from the RAF – simply for choosing not to hide who he was.

Carl went on to win Mr Gay UK pageants, elections in local government, and the title of Lord Mayor of Manchester (the first to ...

Jenna Suffern is a Sydney-based comedian, producer and writer.

One half of comedy due Two Queers Walk Into a Bar, a writer and producer for Pedestrian.TV and VICE AU, and the star of her own one-woman show, It's Not Funny, It's Private, Jenna has helped curate a flourishing queer comedy safe space in Sydney and beyond.

We recorded this conversation live in the studio, on Gadigal land, and had a lot of f...

Josh Rivers is a cultural worker, broadcaster, and the presenter of the conversation series Busy Being Black, a podcast exploring how queer Black folks live "in the fullness of their lives".

Josh conducts his interviews in a way that allows people to unfold into their vulnerability, leading to inspiring conversations with fascinating guests from across the queer Black spectrum, including HIV activists from 80s L...

Tommy Murphy is an award-winning screenwriter and playwright based in Sydney.

Tommy adapted the Australian queer classic memoir Holding the Man for both stage and screen, while his limited series Significant Others was broadcast on the ABC last year. Most recently, he adapted Nevil Shute's On the Beach for the Sydney Theatre Company.

We discuss music by Whitney Houston, Olivier Messiaen, and Rufus Wainwright...

Stuart Linden Rhodes is the photographer behind the @linden_archives, a fascinating record of queer nightlife in the UK's north.   

During the pandemic, I start finding photos in my Instagram feed showing legends like Lily Savage, Su Pollard, and a pre-Spice Mel B, alongside a host of gay clubbers and allies dancing on sticky floors and tearing up the night. Like many others, it felt like I had a window into an era I ...

Bamby Salcedo is the CEO and President of the TransLatin@ Coalition, the largest trans-lead organisation in the United States, with a mission to improve and enrich the lives of trans Latin@ women.

Her activism over 25 years has seen her champion issues across undocumented migrants, HIV-AIDS, youth incarceration, and of course, the LGBTQ community. Her leadership is powerful to behold, and I hope you enjoy this conversatio...

Michael Cragg is a prolific music journalist for The Guardian, The Observer, Vogue and more, and as of last year, the published author of Reach for the Stars, an oral history of the mind-boggling period of British pop music that flourished between 1996 and 2006.

We discuss the heady confluence of factors that lead to an era bookended by the Spice Girls and the X Factor, Michael's own complicated relationship with mus...

Sherry Vine is a drag legend. Over a thirty year career, she’s carved out a reputation for searing wit, spectacular performance, and filthy humour. 

Sherry joined me for this conversation as the second season of The Sherry Vine Variety Show was about to premiere – the show has just completed filming on it's third season, and you can catch it on Apple TV.

We discuss music by the Smiths, Soft Cell, and Blondie...

Right back in ye olde podcasting days, I listened to just three shows – RuPaul and Michelle Visage's What's the Tee?, the BBC's Desert Island Discs, and the interview series LGBTQ&A, presented by Jeffrey Masters.

A GLAAD Award-winning broadcaster, Jeffrey's compassionate and curious nature shines through in his conversations with a ludicrously long list of queer legends, but it's his turn to ...

Welcome back to Tracks of Our Queers. 

One of only two female resident DJs at Manchester's iconic Haçienda nightclub in the early '90s, DJ Paulette has spent 30 years pioneering a rich legacy in a male-dominated industry... not the easiest of tasks as a Black, bisexual woman.

In this beautiful conversation, Paulette shares insights from her career and identity, alongside three transcendent selections – w...

Adriano Cappelletta is an actor, writer, and creator across film, television, cabaret, and music.

After researching Australia's reponse to AIDS in 2016 after years of volunteering with HIV/AIDS organisations, Adriano wrote the play Never Let Me Go, which was adapted into the 2022 television series In Our Blood by the ABC.

We discuss music by Arthur Russell, the Pet Shop Boys, and Madonna. You can follow abou...

In 1975, a very young and very gay trio of musicians were signed to Jet Records, a London label headed up by, well, Sharon Osbourne's dad. Handbag regaled audiences with outrageous on-stage simulated sex and snogging, before recording their debut album... which sadly remained unreleased, due to the stifling and fearful climate of the time.

Earlier this year, frontman Paul Southwell dusted off his copies of the album...

Annie Frost Nicholson is a multi-disciplinary artist based in London. It's easier to list which forms of art she doesn't bring her magic too, but I have particularly fallen in love with her visual meditations on loss, grief, and a lust for life.

Annie's own experience of a particularly unique tragedy has coloured her work ever since, leading right up to her roaming Grief Rave.

In this conversatio...

Gary Lonesborough is a Yuin writer from the South Coast of New South Wales. He's the author of two young adult novels, The Boy from the Mish – a stunning depiction of a queer summer romance between two Indigenous teenagers – and the brand new We Didn't Think It Through.

We discuss music by Bob Dylan, Kylie Minogue, and Elton John.

You can follow Gary on X here, and on Instagram here. You can learn more ...

Sophie Galpin is a UK-based multi-instrumentalist musician and artist, writing and performing as SOFT LAD.

Collaborating and touring with Self Esteem, the Breeders, and Jessie Ware, Sophie began putting out her own work last year, and continues to shape her own artistic voice with a new EP on the way.

We discuss some proper bangers this episode, by the likes of CeCe Peniston, Jessie Ware and Melanie C.

...

Bill Hayes is a writer and photographer, recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in nonfiction, and a frequent contributor to the New York Times.

The author of seven books, Bill is perhaps best known for his magical 2017 memoir Insomniac City, covering his move from San Francisco to New York, and his relationship with the groundbreaking neurologist Oliver Sacks.

Bill's taste in music is as diverse as the rest of...

Shamir Bailey is an American singer-songwriter based in Philadelphia. 

Bursting into the stratos-queer in 2014 with "On the Regular", Shamir has since continually defined and redefined his musical language, visual identity, and artistry, on his own terms.

His latest album, Homo Anxietatum, is out on August 18th on Kill Rock Stars. It was an absolute pleasure to discuss Shamir's own queer musical i...

Kris Andrew Small has left his distinctive signature on art for clients including Apple, Adobe, and Adidas — queering the mainstream along the way.

He joined me in the studio for this conversation, in Sydney / on Gadigal Land.

We discuss music by Brockhampton, Madonna, and M.I.A. You can follow Kris on Instagram here, and purchase his art here.

Tracks of Our Queers is produced, presented and edited by An...