Following shooting at LGBTQ nightclub, New Haven brings the masses together at the ‘T4T Trans Music Festival’ for Transgender Day of Remembrance

On the often solemn Transgender Day of Remembrance — which honors trans people who have died during the past year — and one day after the tragic shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado, the first “T4T Trans Music Festival” was held at Cafe Nine in New Haven.

It was a formidable, outspoken and often frenetic and punishingly loud event that ranged from empowering musical statements on personal transitions to cathartic punk rock screeches.

As one of the festival’s organizers said from the stage during Sunday’s seven-hour, eight-band event, T4T was meant to both honor the trans community and celebrate its resilience. “If we’re going to be a community,” said Ashley LaRue, a member of the East Rock House collective that created the festival, “we need to be around each other at times like this.

That community was out in full force for a widely varied day of performances that defied any expectations of what “trans music” might mean.

Evelyn Gray, a Connecticut native who now lives in Portland, Oregon, and drove cross-country to attend, not only was a highlight performance of the festival but helped organize it. “A lot of thought went into making sure it was a mix of performers,” she said.

The “T4T” title comes from a term for trans people who date other trans people, expanded to suggest a coming together of the community as a whole. “It came from dating,” says East Rock House co-founder Luke Devereux, “but it is like a mantra for the whole night.”

Cafe Nine was transformed for the festival. The organizers had requested that the club move the stools around the tables in the small club be removed for more of an open, mingling atmosphere. The only seating was at the bar area. The club’s restrooms were relabeled from “Men” and “Women” to “All Gender (Urinals)” and “All Gender (Stalls).” Pride flags hung around the room.

The festival began with South Windsor native Asher Kai doing an acoustic set of songs that drew from such inspirations as “The Chronicles of Narnia,” Thornton Wilder’s drama “Our Town.”

Kai was followed by three singer/songwriters who sang along with pre-recorded instrumental tracks. Erycka Ortiz added some enthusiastic dance moves and such intoxicating lyrics as “I don’t need to be who you want me to be.” The Pittsburgh-based beat artist Ishtar Sr. worked with experimental sounds and psychedelic textures and improvisations and such intriguing statements as “In sludge, I romp” and “I became Ishtar; the process was divine.” With her bright pink braids, Indigaux used their time at the mic for some impassioned and empowering political and social raps.

It wasn’t until the fourth act that more than one person performed onstage at the same time, a grand and abrupt leap to the lively Bug Seance, a five-piece indie rock outfit from Portland, Oregon. All the band’s songs were a mix of vulnerability and ferocity, with the sweet warblings of singer Maria DeHart contrasting with some raucous jumpy guitar solos and intense drumming.

Gray brought a harsh Goth/emo/doomcore mood to the proceedings. Clad in black with large wings, playing effects-laden electric guitar and backed by a live drummer, Gray emitted endless, transformative guttural screams but could also be friendly and endearing when she chose. It was a riveting performance. Statements like “Trans people do not owe you anything” got cheers from the crowd. Gray cut her hand shredding on the guitar. By the end of the set, she was crawling on the floor in a tangle of blood and feathers and a guitar strap.

Rusty Mullet, a three-piece “Acid Punk Trans Thrash” band from Boston, played a tight, musically profound, abrasive and high-energy set that had the crowd dancing, then moshing. The band dressed the stage for its set with a mannequin, a clown painting, luggage, a vintage amplifier and other objects, and the lead singer and guitarist, Dirt, was also a fashion trendsetter in a bright red skirt and patterned leggings.

The festival concluded with Space Camp, which formed in Connecticut nearly a decade ago and is now based elsewhere in New England. A powerful punk duo comprised of drummer Daisy and vocalist/knob-twiddling sound distorter/trombonist June, Space Camp was the loudest and most severe band of the festival. Their overall sound resembled a science-fiction horror film climax and served as a fitting, take-no-prisoners end to a frantic and forward-reaching festival.

All the artists commented on the importance of the T4T festival. Kai called it “inspiring.” Xotchitl, the drummer for Bug Seance, noted that as a trans woman, “just going outside puts you constantly in conflict with the world, so being here is a real pleasure.” “I appreciate all the love” is how Ishtar Sr. put it.

The crowd was warm and appreciative of all the acts, which is remarkable given the wild difference in styles and volumes.

Over half the acts hailed from Connecticut. It was the sound of a scene comfortably emerging from basement and living room shows to a full day and night at a friendly downtown club. Trans performers have been a part of the rock and dance realms for most of the last century: Icons include pioneering electronica composer Wendy Carlos, Jayne County from the incipient 1970s New York punk scene and Laura Jane Grace of the punk/metal band Against Me! There are hundreds of trans musicians around the country now. The T4T festival was a snapshot of the current state of the local scene plus a hint of what’s been going on nationally.

The festival was partly funded with a $5,000 Artists Respond grant from the Connecticut Office of the Arts, part of the state Department of Economic Development.

The East Rock House collective was launched a year ago as a collective for trans and queer artists. It began by organizing backyard concerts and has grown to larger and more frequent events, including visual arts exhibits and “queer mixers.” A Halloween event a few weeks ago drew 80 people. The T4T festival packed Cafe Nine for most of its seven-hour span, with attendance of anywhere from 50 to over 100 people depending on the act or the time of day.

One of the East Rock House founders, Marianna Apostolakis, says the collective is much in the spirit of DIY — do-it-yourself community-based organizing. “We all want this so much.”

Reach reporter Christopher Arnott at carnott@courant.com.