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Logan Lynn Interviewed by PQ Monthly This Week! Read it Here.

Logan Lynn Summer Tour 2013 - Photo by Rowan Wren copy

I was interviewed by PQ Monthly this past week about my summer tour, and this Thursday’s Portland show at Mississippi Studios. Have a gander at the original on the PQ site HERE, or just keep reading below…

From PQ Monthly, July 2013:

Now that July 4th has come and gone, you can start planning for July 11th–that’s the date the tour with the longest official title ever–Accidental Bear Queer Music Tour Benefit for LGBTQ Mental Health Services and Suicide Prevention–descends upon our fair city. The lineup is almost as long as the name–it includes Big DipperLogan Lynn, and Rica Shay to name a few–and that’s a very good thing for lovers of music everywhere. (You can check out the entire lineup here.) We had a chance to chat with local music-maker Logan Lynn, who also helps head up Q Center, just before he headed out on tour–we talked un-retiring retirement, tour preparation, the mass of talent assembled for this very good cause, and queer mental health services.

PQ Monthly: You’ve talked lots about the tour prep–and the rigorous schedule involved. Aside from working your ass off, what’s been the best, most rewarding thing about all this so far?

Logan Lynn: Yeah, it’s a lot of work to make a tour happen, and I have definitely never put one together with so much already on my plate…but the whole thing is absolutely rewarding, which is why I decided to sign on to begin with.

I’m really lucky to have purged all of the negative hangers-on in 2010 when I very publicly freaked out in the press, canceled my tour mid-way through, fired my band, fired my publicist, told my label (Caroline/EMI) to go screw, and dove headfirst into full-time queer community work.  I took a year away from music all together, then started writing and recording in 2011 and things have organically fallen into place in the years since.  One major piece of my leaving was the battle to get away from the folks who were controlling my career before.  As of February of this year, I finally own the rights to my own words and likeness again–which is relieving, and makes for a much more creative space to operate from.

I think the most rewarding thing these days is the way I have been able to blend the two worlds.  The tour is a fundraiser for 5 beloved organizations doing really important work that I believe in, so to be able to put on a show I dig and flex my creative muscles while also enriching these community programs and services is a pretty magical thing- and it felt worthy of ending my 3 year hiatus from playing shows.

PQ: This is your first tour since your hiatus, correct? Are you nervous? Ready to conquer the world?

LL: Nah, I’m not nervous.  We’re absolutely ready–and I guess I’d say that I would like to change the world, rather than conquer it.  Last weekend we had 2 back to back secret shows in town which Hippodrome Media filmed and we released this week, and I am really excited for people to see what we’ve been up to!  It’s quite a production this time around, which is exciting.  I love these songs, I love this new show, and I could not have dreamed up a better re-entry onto the stage if I tried…which probably has everything to do with my having co-dreamed this re-entry up in the first place.  Being in charge of myself is a lot easier than having some out of touch, money-grubbing suit at a major label force me into doing things I’m not comfortable with, so…the foundation my involvement with this tour was built on, as well as my current position in the music industry, feels better.

PQ: Do you get any shit from people who thought you “retired”?

LL: None from anyone I give a shit about.  You know, people love to talk–they always have–and they like to pretend they know me–and I’m used to all of that at this point.  Frankly, local gossip-hound townies just aren’t on my radar.  If the only thing you can think to do is talk shit about me or my work on the internet or be divisive in the community, more power to you.  In the end, people will grow tired of that on their own.  It must be nice to have so much free time, though.   The only opinions about me that I listen to are from people who actually know me.  At this stage in the game, I’m not at all invested in the opinions of strangers.

PQ: Tell me something everyone should know–but might not–about a) your new album and b) your touring mates. What are you most looking forward to? (And you don’t have to say playing Portland.)

LL: Well, last time I toured I was in a very dark place so the shows were dark and aggressive.  I mean, I wore an executioner’s hood to some of those Pride festival shows we played in 2010–ha, so crazy.

I guess the main thing to know is that I am done with that post-punk bit that I was in the midst of last time people may have seen me on stage, and I am firmly rooted in pop music once again, both on the record and in my live show.  These are dance parties we’re throwing.  I will not be screaming or breaking anything this time around…unless I do…but these days when I scream and break things it’s for fun instead of my wanting to scare the living shit out of people and piss off my label. As for my tour mates, I don’t actually know any of them–but I’ve bonded with Alex Antebi (Conquistador) through the (sometimes rough) process of tour organizing and I think Big Dipper is awesome, so I’m excited to be on the road with those guys for sure.  There is a documentary film crew following us around the whole month shooting the shows and behind the scenes, so…in the end, everyone will get to find out all the things they might not know about all of us (as well as some things they might not want to know, I’m guessing) by way of the movie when it comes out next year.

PQ: And, the cause–one that I don’t think we can talk about enough. How special is it to be able to make music and have it benefit queer youth?

LL: Yes!  Special is the word for it for sure.  I find myself called repeatedly to use my platform or voice or skillset to help further the work of queer community centers, particularly around addiction and mental health issues, having experienced both over the years, as a result of my own traumatic queer youth experience.  I am absolutely moved to make this world better for all of us, and would encourage anyone else out there to do the same.  If we all give a little, the world changes.  Period.  The more we give, the faster change comes.

PQ: How did this delightful motley crew come to be? Is this purely the brainchild of the Accidental Bear folks?

LL: The tour was born from a conversation between me and Mike Enders (Accidental Bear) back in January just after my new record was released and he had just thrown a couple of big parties in LA and SF and was wanting to do something in Portland.   That original idea has morphed over the past year into what we are launching in SF this Friday and bringing to Mississippi Studios in Portland on the 11th.  It’s a mix of all different kinds of queer acts, some well known, some undiscovered – but the thing we all have in common is that we are all on board for the same cause:  We don’t want queer people killing themselves.

There was an initial crowd-funded element to get things going, then Manhunt.com and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Inc. both came on as our official tour sponsors to help with covering some of the costs.  The diversity in bands and performers was intentional, and the mission is to bring visibility to all types of queer music while reducing the stigma around issues of mental health in the LGBTQ community and raising money for organizations which are doing this work.

The show goes down in just a few days–this coming Thursday. You can buy advance tickets or pay at the door–there are some VIP packages outlined here on the Facebook invite. And the money, as we pointed out above, goes to a very good cause.

Check out some earlier stories we did on Big Dipper and Rica Shay here and here, respectively. And check out this delightful, not safe for work classic from Big Dipper:

…and check out the incredibly catchy tunes of Conquistador:

Category: Accidental Bear Queer Music Summer Tour 2013, Community, LGBT, Logan Lynn, Music, News, Oregon, Parties and Events, Portland, Press, Queer, Shows, Tour, Uncategorized, Video

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