Get Your Queer On!

What’s it like being an out lesbian muso?

Great. We played a lesbian / women only gig earlier this year- was fun. There are good audiences out there and many talented lesbian musicians.

You’re UK based - please tell South African readers who you are and what you sound like?

We are an Acoustic female duo based in Nottingham. U.K. Called The Idolins, comprising of Karen Smalley-Turner (Vocals and acoustic guitar) and myself, Claudine West (multi-instruments). We describe ourselves as Acoustic, folk, pop. Melodic music that warms the soul. Songwriting from the heart. Some of our main influences range from Missy Higgins, The Indigo Girls, The Corrs, Kristin Hersh, The Cranberries, Suzanne Vega, Crowded House. The list is constantly expanding as we find and perform with great talents.

OK, time for a vitally intellectual question - do you get groupies?

Ha ha. Yes i have been known to pull at a gig. Musicians have great fingers, and hands and rhythm!! (wink wink. Ooh i’m cheeky!!) I suppose I’m intriguing and maybe scary to some. There have been girlfriends that i have written songs for and about, some that will never know.. There are the afraid ladies..who don’t want to seem like ‘a groupie’ and approach me. I have the utmost respect for women. We like to hang out and mingle with audiences as we are sociable girls!! Maybe I’ll write a book one day about it all. Life as a lesbian musician is never boring and is very beautiful. I have the freedom to express my art, my beliefs and hopefully entertain you.

Describe your ideal woman? Is the stage an odd place to meet a girlfriend?

Maybe if she was actually on the stage i’d be a little scared! I’ve met women through lesbian dating sites and had some really good times. erm..Knitting!! Met women through normal everyday life. I think sometimes peoples perceptions of you as a musician are a little different from the reality as a person.

My ideal woman. Is sensual, loving, kind, a bit wild now and again good sense of humour (They really have to with me-I like a mess about and a laugh). I’m not shallow as to say the women who attract me have to look a certain way. I go with the flow. You are who you are. I love the special moments. They are inspiring. I think if you feel the vibes and the fireworks then it’s amazing. “Feeling the butterflies crushed in your stomach when the beauty, attraction, lust” That’s an Idolins quote. I also wrote it with reference to what love does. Combined with music. Life make me smile.

So sometimes the instant spark occurs.Other times love grows. Heartbreak hurts. But if you don’t open up and take a chance when someone feels right you might just have lost one of the greatest loves you’ll ever have.

I should post my Gaydar Girls profile. ha ha. NO THAT’S WRONG!!

Being single at the moment is fun. When i’m in a relationship i’m very much a committed woman. I do long to settle down now I’m in my 30’s. But i can’t just make that happen.What i should say is… I’m more ready to settle than i was in my 20’s.

Would i go with a lesbian musician? Hell yes!!

Favourite lesbian musicians? And celebrities in general?

I’m a big fan Of K.D. Lang, The Indigo Girls, Melissa Etheridge, Ani Difranco.The L word got me into Betty. We have some great lesbian musicians locally… Greymatter and Hannah Brackenbury.There are some i can’t out. There are musicians i really really wish were lesbians..I’ll keep that to my bedtime fantasies.

Celebrities? I think i really did fall in Love with Karina Lombard of The L Word at one point. I admire Sigourney Weaver.

What’s your opinion of celebrities and closets? Do you think celebs should come out or are they entitled to their privacy?

I think if you are in the public eye, then don’t expect your secrets not to be shared. The press love that kind of scandal. Closets can be very deep dark lonely places. But then again. Who is really that bothered nowadays? Cultures are evolving, acceptance of peoples diversities becomes the norm eventually.
Bigots mostly don’t change they just get more screwed up.

“There is nothing mixed up about a woman who loves women, who wants to have sex with them, or who identifies as a lesbian. It is society that is mixed up because it punishes people for not conforming to its gender stereotypes” - Edward Stein

What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever experienced at a gig? The best thing? The worst thing?

Strangest? Meeting a woman and i spending 3 days in bed with after. No erm..

Performing drums at a wedding and seeing a guest slip and dissapear under a table with a huge bang. To this day i don’t know how she managed it? i cried laughing! With The Idolins it’s the ghost that takes our capos and guitar tuners when we get drunk. I need a constant supply!!

Best thing? When people cry with the beauty of our music. Making it special. The magic.

Worst? I get really nervous sometimes and go blank. Playing a gig in a tent at a mini festival on the coldest weekend of the year camping. But then again it was great when my fingers warmed up.And such a good gig.

Where does the name The Idolins come from?

‘eidolon’-A phantom; an apparition. Originally it was going to be eyedolins. The eye is a window to the soul. Then it changed to Idol; One that is adored, often blindly or excessively. The the lins part. Stringed instruments eg violins.

So combining all. We get IDOLINS. Strings that pull the soul.

The Idolins online:

We’re On Facebook ‘I like’
http://apps.facebook.com/ilike/artist/The+Idolins

We do have video clips on Youtube of us performing too. It captures a bit of the magic.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_yBqVvriK68

Myspace is best at the moment.
http://www.myspace.com/theidolins

My solo songwriting project is
http://www.myspace.com/bogwoppet