Segment 3 "Music in Milwaukee" Podcast

The podcast discusses accessibility within the music industry, focusing on physical accessibility, race, gender, and religion. Disabled musicians face discrimination from other musicians and lack representation. The interview with Marcelina Starr reveals her experiences in the Milwaukee music scene, including discrimination and challenges. She also talks about venues and the band's accomplishments. The host emphasizes the importance of understanding marginalized people's struggles and thanks Marcelina for sharing her perspective. ♪♪ Hello and welcome to Music in Milwaukee. I am your host, Grace George, and today on this podcast, we're going to be discussing accessibility within the music industry. The intro song to this podcast was a song called Crowded Rooms by The Nile Club, and stick around for later in this podcast because I'll be answering, I'll be reading off some answers to some questions I had for a member of the band, The Nile Club. Her name is Marcelina Starr, and we'll get to that later. But first off, let's start with generally talking about accessibility within the music scene. So it can appear in a variety of different ways. We can think about physical accessibility regarding ableism and people who have physical disabilities in general that challenge them within the music industry. However, we can also look at race, gender, and religion in relation to accessibility. These are all things that can factor into the music industry and just everything in general. However, it's definitely important to look at how these kinds of topics can intersect with musicians. So here's a quote from Gifta Shuma. She is the co-executive director of Blurring the Boundaries, which is a non-profit organization started in Montreal for deaf and disabled artists. She says, we all know how snobby the music scene can get, right? There have been times when I want to collaborate with other artists, but they don't want to work with me because they think I'm not a great artist because of my disability. And they wouldn't collaborate up until maybe if they see me collaborating with someone that they've worked with in the past. I think this generally brings up a really important issue that disabled musicians face. One that not many people who don't directly experience this issue will think about. The discrimination from other musicians for being disabled. I think it's generally safe to assume that the discrimination disabled people face within the music industry is traditionally based more on outside sources. However, it's also important to acknowledge that the discrimination can also happen directly within the scene by other musicians. And it's just generally the overall doubt from everyone around of disabled people's abilities. And it's very unfair and unreasonable. And just generally needs to be addressed more within the music scene, especially in the Milwaukee music scene. Another huge issue regarding accessibility in the music industry is just the general lack of representation of disabled people. Which, this lack of representation just generally leads to the issue and stigma that disabled musicians are less important. When there's not much representation of any minority group, that group is just generally more seen as less able or less than. So, Leroy Moore Jr. is the founder of Crip Hop Nation, which is a worldwide foundation for artists with disabilities. And this is a quote that I think is pretty significant by him relating to this topic. He says, I think there's a lot of significance to that quote. And just general significance of having proper representation of all marginalized groups within the music industry. I mean, it really does make a huge difference. And it is definitely an issue. So, those are some important quotes, some important context for my topic. And now, I'd like to segue into answering or reading off the answers to some of Marcelina Starr's, some questions that I asked her. So, we'll get right into that. All right. That's the beginning to the song, Open Arms by the Nile Club off of Wake Up With a Sense of Pride. And this is our segue into answering or I suppose reading off some of the answers to some questions that I had for the guitarist slash vocalist of the band, the Nile Club. Marcelina Starr. So, she plays a wide variety of roles within the band. Like I mentioned before, guitar. She is the vocalist for some of the songs. She also plays horns for some of the recordings. She plays a big part in social media presence, record keeping, and she's also in charge of promotion efforts for shows and releases. So, let's jump right in to the first question that I had asked her. What has your experience within the Milwaukee music scene been like? And have you experienced any kind of discrimination, any other general obstacles or challenges that you have faced while being a musician in Milwaukee? She says, as it currently stands, the Milwaukee music scene is a very interesting place. It can be dark and dismal in some corners as well as beautifully communal, loving, and accepting. This dichotomy is specifically why I call it interesting. There are a lot of people who go to shows, especially in the more hardcore parts of the scene, that are scary and obviously not supportive of those in the LGBTQ community. And do not want to see women, especially trans women, succeed or become anything more than nothing. In terms of discrimination, I have definitely experienced some. Lots of people in Milwaukee are not ready to accept those who are different than them. There's a lot of disdain I get from people all over Milwaukee when they clock me. Purposeful, misgendering, treating me as if I don't exist and don't matter, always getting looks of hate and disgust whenever I'm simply occupying space, horrid sexualization. It can become incredibly difficult to maintain mental health and feel safe in spaces like this. On the other hand, though, those who are close to us, a lot of the bands we choose to play with, our fans, those who enable us to be who we are, are some of the best people I have experienced being around. The community is really why I love making music. Being able to show all of these people who feel dejected and spit out by society, all of the trans and gay individuals I get to interact with, that they are worth something more and deserve the love I want to show them, is something beyond meaningful to me. It's my whole purpose to exist. The next question that I asked Marcy was, What venues have you played at in Milwaukee and how long have you been playing live shows for? Do you have a favorite slash least favorite venue? Her response was, In terms of venues, I can't even list all the venues we have played in Milwaukee. We must have played nearly every single one in Milwaukee by now. My favorite is probably the backroom at Colectivo. Least favorite has got to be High Dive. Too many times have I heard stories of people getting sexually assaulted in some form there. The venue cannot keep control of their clientele and they don't seem to care. Fuck that place. You heard it here from Marcelina Starr, High Dive is not the place to be. Next question that I asked her was, What is a big success or something that you're proud of in regards to being a part of the Nile Club? In other words, what is your biggest accomplishment? And this was the last question that I asked Marcy, so let's read out her response. The biggest accomplishment to me for the band is the growth we have made as individuals and as a group. We all started out basically from nothing and have built a small following and gained a great deal of life experience together. Our community is beautiful and I wouldn't trade it for anything else. As a trans woman living with autism in a city that is becoming notorious for its hatred towards us, I have to thank those that make our scene what it is. I don't know if I would have been able to be who I am today without this band. I don't think I ever would have been able to come out. With the way things are going and looking up, I may even be able to make music as a career. And that would make me so happy. It's incredible what can be done when you support a community and they support you in return. That concludes my very short interview with Marcelina Starr. I want to give a huge shout out to Marcy for answering these questions and giving us some general insight into the Milwaukee music scene. I think it's very important to acknowledge and understand the struggles that marginalized people experience within the music scene as a whole, specifically Milwaukee, though. I am a queer upcoming musician myself. Learning and discussing this topic has been really beneficial for me. And getting some direct perspective from Marcy has been just amazing. So thank you so much, Marcy. I've learned a lot of information from this project that will stick with me throughout my year, throughout my musical career, and I hope it does for you, too. All right, that's all for now. Here's No Forgives by the Nile Club. © transcript Emily Beynon