As a trans teenager, indie musician Box Head felt that he didn’t have trans role models to look up to—So he became one.
Adam Lincoln—a Fort Collins-based singer, music producer, and audio engineer—began releasing music as Box Head in 2019 when he was just 16 years old. That same year, he created a Tiktok account to share his music and his personal experiences as a trans teenager. He has amassed a loyal following on Tiktok who have watched him grow up online over the last five years. Fans frequently leave comments on his videos thanking him for helping them feel less alone while growing up in a world that offers little trans representation in popular media.
Since 2019, Box Head has released three self-produced albums and many singles. His song “Nothing New” has been streamed almost 30,000 times on Spotify. On September 1st, he released his newest album, “Spit Me Out,” which explores themes of mental health, the trans experience, and growing up.
OFM sat down with Box Head to discuss his experience as a queer and trans musician and how his identities show up in his new album.
I got more serious about making music when I was 13 or 14, but before that, I was writing songs and playing guitar since I was 7. Box Head started when I was 7, actually. I would draw and write comics and at first it was “Box Head Comics.” Then, I was 13 and starting to figure out that I’m trans and queer, and I was trying to figure out what my name should be when I was starting to make music, so “Box Head” just kind of stuck.
I also started transitioning at 13, and at first my dad was very not OK with it … which made me want to do it more. I wanted to put music out about it because I knew there were other people going through that, and I wanted them to have something to relate to. Especially with being in middle school, I was trying to find music that would help me cope, and there just wasn’t any, at least not that I could find. So I thought, “Hey, what if I did that?. And a little bit of it was like, “I’m making music for me,” so that I can have something to listen to, to help cope with life and transitioning.
In what ways do your queer and trans identities impact your music?
I definitely feel like I have like a different lens on everything that I write about because I’m queer and trans, and it’s just a different perspective. I know what it’s like to be discriminated against in transphobic ways, like to not be called Adam, and to not be called ”he.”
My newest album is about a lot of things, but it’s mainly about being trans and growing up that way, and about being queer and how those two things kind of intersect. It’s also about how … normal it can be to grow up being queer and trans. Like, it can be difficult, and it can be discriminatory and terrible and this and that, but it can also be just normal. I can have normal experiences like everybody else. In one of my songs, I wanted to show that I was in high school and making music, and I had friends and I was just hanging out, kind of like everybody else. You don’t see that in media either: trans people just being normal. But at the same time, there were also all these other things going on that other people don’t have to deal with, like taking testosterone and constant doctors appointments and taking medications and being bullied. Can you describe your songwriting or creative process?
A lot of the time, it’s stuff that’s happening in my real life. It’s very, very personal and very real for me. Just recently, the whole reason I wanted to write this album was because a distant family member of mine has been posting all this transphobic stuff online. And I’m like, “How can you call me family when you literally hate me?” A lot of the time, I’m in the car thinking about “XYZ” that happened the other day, and then I think, “I gotta write something about that.”
Other times, it’s very methodical and planned out. Like me thinking, “Hey, I haven’t heard about this kind of song about this specifically,” and I really want to make something for queer youth to be able to listen to and relate to.
Who are some queer musicians or celebrities who inspire you?
Definitely Cave Town and Sasha Allen. Both of them are my idols. I love their songwriting. I love how they are both unapologetically queer and trans and open about that. They’re just visible—like, they’re there, and they’re just living as adult trans people. And it’s nice to see that. You’re very interactive with your followers on Tiktok and Instagram. What kind of reactions have you received from the queer community on social media?
I’ve gotten a little bit of hate, not much though. About 99% of my comments and messages are really, really nice. I get a lot of messages from young people telling me that they really relate to my music, and that they wanna grow up to be like me. I also get a lot of messages saying, “Hey, I’m in high school, and I don’t know who I am, but I’m trying to figure it out, and your music has helped me.” Just being able to see a queer person who is living and isn’t … dead is impactful from what I’ve heard from Tiktok. Most people have been really supportive. What do you hope people take away from your new album?
I hope that people feel seen and heard by it. I hope that they know that they’re not alone and that’s it’s OK and that it will be okay eventually. Shit sucks, but at the same time, it can get better, and they can do it. And that they can be themselves, unapologetically.
Box Head’s newest album,Spit Me Out, was released on September 1 and is available to stream everywhere.
