khattieQ - COTFG Interview Series

khattieQ is a performer from Puerto Rico.
Co-creator of 2020 Fringe New Play Prize winner ‘Catalina La O Presenta: Ahora Conmigo’ which features original music. khattieQ was the guitarist and vocalist for punk band BLXPLTN. khattieQ has played as a professional musician with over twenty bands, cutting their teeth on the famous Austin, Texas live music scene. Most notably, they toured as drummer for queer femme core band The Tuna Helpers. Professional credits include Denim Doves and Casta for Salvage Vanguard Theater in Austin, TX, Heaven Born Wind at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and Frank Theater’s  Be-Longing.

COTFG - What are some of the influences on your recent work? Musical or otherwise?
khattieQ - My most recent work has been writing music for the show Catalina La O Presenta Ahora Conmigo, most of my influences for those songs are Puerto Rican artist like Ruth Fernandez, Myrta Silva and Lucecita Benitez.

What have you been listening to lately?
Lately I have been listening to a lot of Billie Holiday and Sia. They are both powerful singers but so different from one another. Billie is powerful and raw, and Sia a belting pop diva but what they have in common is the emotion they put behind their voice.

What does "avant-garde" or "experimental" mean to you?
For me experimental means not the norm. An experimental artist takes risks and wants their music and art to be much different that what we are all used to. Artists like Bjork and Yoko Ono are not afraid to make art that is unusual. For many years I played in a band called The TunaHelpers, we were often called avant-garde, we wrote songs that were different, sort of lullabies but they were definitely not for children.

You can find out more about khattieQ at jkjklol.org