Are you folks searching for more queer musician girlies along the lines of Chappel Roan, Renee Rap, Towa, Etc.?
As Jojo Siwa once said, “it’s called gaypop!” and, the people want more of it!
‘Gaypop’ has been around for as long as pop music, resorting back to David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, and the popularization of Tegan and Sarah. However, with that in mind, that title has been much more publicized and accepted in the last two years. There is also a big uprising of underground artists gaining a platform with their music more recently.
That being said, let me introduce you to Devon Again: a local musician from Denver, Colorado starting her platform in LA.
Devon Again is a queer pop artist who conveys a variety of emotions to her audience. With inspirations like James Blake, Emawk, Portishead, Erykah Badu, and Paramore, Devon Again produces a very unique sound. Devon also had a pretty big hyperpop phase which had its way of sneaking into her songs.
“When I was a little kid I just wanted to be famous; I wanted people to know my name and recognize me as a successful singer,” Devon says.
In her pursuit to become a singer, Devon graduated from Denver School of the Arts High School, studying vocals as her major. Looking back on her high school experience, Devon feels that it wasn’t the theory in her studies that helped her. The environment did.
“I feel that if I hadn’t have gone to art school, I would have a similar base of knowledge when it comes to theory,” she says. “The thing about art school that was more helpful to me was singing in a choir! Something about singing with other people and collaborating to create something beautiful is what really pushed me. Never in my adult life have I had to look at a key signature.”
After graduating, Devon went to the Musicians Institute (MI) in LA for one semester, but it wasn’t the right fit for her. “When I got to college I had a moment where I thought maybe I would go into jazz performance because everyone was doing something in college. I felt a bit of pressure to make a decision right then and there about what I wanted to do with my music career because everyone around me seemed to have a grasp on what they wanted to do,” Devon says. “As I thought about it more, however, I realized that I knew I wanted to do music but I didn’t know where it would take me and I didn’t know how things would flow. So, I thought ‘Why put pressure on myself and why not enjoy what I’m doing?’”
Devon dropped out of MI after her first semester to start her professional career. Shortly after, she released her debut single, “Suburbia,“ in 2021, which has over 5 million streams on Spotify at the time of writing.
Many artists have incredibly differing ways of creating, and, for many, as people grow the way in which they create changes with them. “Suburbia” is an example of how she’s shifted in her writing process:
“The songs that are on my Soundcloud from high school are simply not as good. Everything I wrote in high school is a bit angsty … There was a switch in me where I was like ‘Wait I want to make pop music, I want people to have a good time’,” Devon says.
Still, within the pop realm, Devon finds new ways to grow: “My song ‘Suburbia’ was a silly shower thought. It was just a fun way to begin my professional music journey but I wouldn’t say I write like that anymore. I want there to be a lot of feeling when it comes to my writing. I want the listeners to feel something as well,” Devon says. “Pop music is something people view as ‘fun, party, exciting, etc.’ However, I think that within that genre, there is a lot of freedom to convey whatever feeling you are trying to get across.”
As for many artists, creating is a form of therapy for Devon, “I’ve realized that I tend to write about things that are deeply bothering me without even realizing it. That is very therapeutic to me, as sometimes I don’t know what I’m feeling until I listen back to the song I just made.” Given that Devon has been writing for most of her life, she’s gained greater clarity on her expression, and emotions through the years. “When I look back at the songs I made in high school, I often find myself realizing how damaging to myself I was phrasing the lyrics,” Devon says.
Moving forward in her writing, Devon is finding new ways to bring back this sort of expression in a new perspective. “Although I feel that there was an aspect of self-depreciation in my songs back then, I want to challenge myself to convey the feelings that I’m feeling and phrasing the lyrics in ways that I actually mean,” Devon says. “When I began writing music I was definitely writing out of necessity. That is how I think music should feel. I think that is the best form of art of any kind because it is as authentic as you can get.”
Queer culture, and the recognition and celebration of queer artists these past few years, have been a gift to the queer community. Many people in the community have been delightfully surprised to see the surge of rising queer artists and, thankfully, Devon Again is one of them.
“One of the biggest points of music for me is community, and it makes me feel very happy and safe knowing that a majority of my audience is queer solely because my music is queer! There is a level of comfort in the community I choose to surround myself with as well as the community of people that choose to listen to my music. There are also so many incredible openly queer musicians. It makes me feel like I am a part of something, and I am happy to live in a generation where I can be openly queer as a musician and feel safe in doing so. It’s cool to be a queer artist because being open about it is different than it ever has been,” Devon says.
Listen to Devon Again on all platforms. No matter the emotion she doesn’t know she’s feeling, Devon wants people to relate to her music, have a good time, and, occasionally cry.. a little bit.
Photo courtesy of Devon Again
