At 4zzz, we acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we broadcast. We pay our respects to the elders past, present and emerging of the Turbul and Jagera people. We acknowledge that their sovereignty over this land was never ceded and we stand in solidarity with them.

You're listening to transm on 4zzz, amplifying the trans and gender non conforming voices of Brisbane and beyond.

Hello.

Hello.

You're listening to Transmission on 4zzz. My name is EZ, I use he.

Him pronouns and I'm Heidi and I use she her pronouns.

And we've got a pretty cool guest in studio today. I'm not turning his mic on yet because we're gonna tease you. Audience. We've got a musician who's moved up from NAAM who will be having a chat to today. But before we get into that, we're gonna cover off on just some week in community news and events that are happening. So first up, there's Horrorboros and Queerbait performing live in the arcade, which is 186 Brunswick street in Fortitude Valley this Thursday from 8pm It's a completely free gig. All are welcome. Come check it out. The little blurb is join us for two badass bands from Meange in Brisbane. Horrorboroughs and Queerbait are both three piece riot girl acts drawing influence from bands like Bikini Kill and Hole. Focused on empowering women to speak their minds and rebel against a male dominated scene. Their music acts both as protest and catharsis. I can vouch for that. I always feel very relaxed and less angry after I see either either Horrorboros or Queerbaits. So it's great that they're teaming up. Go check that out. This Thursday, 8:00pm yeah. Also some news, Heidi.

Yeah. So Western Australia's changes to gender recognition laws come into effect. So the Births Deaths and Marriages Registration Amendment, Sex or Gender changes act of 2024 now allows individuals in Western Australia to change their sex or gender on legal documents without undergoing surgery or reassignment procedures. Instead of invasive procedures, applicants need a statement from a doctor or psychologist confirming they received appropriate clinical treatment. The law also introduces a non binary option and abolishes the Gender Reassignment Board, aligning Western Australia with other jurisdictions. However, people under 18 will still need parental consent or a family court order in certain cases. While the reforms are a significant step towards inclusion and equality, LGBTIQA advocacy groups have called for further changes. Many celebrated the end of the Gender Reassignment Board, but activists argue that the process still involves unnecessary bureaucracy and medical evidence. Despite these concerns, the reforms are seen as life changing for trans and gender diverse individuals in Western Australia, although there is ongoing push for additional changes to ensure full self identification and to further improve access to gender recognition.

Yeah. Damn. Congratulations. Wa.

Go Wa.

Yeah. It's big. Also, and some other positive news Jack Ball wins 100,000 dollary do's from Ramsey Art Prize at Art Gallery of South Australia Jack Bull has won the nation's richest prize for young artists for an immersive, photographic and sculptural installation inspired by a scrapbook collection in the Australian queer archives. Ball, 39, was announced as the winner of the Ramsey Art Prize at a ceremony at the Art Gallery of South Australia on Friday. The trans man was among 22 finalists selected from a record field of more than 500 entries for the $100,000 biannual prize awarded to a contemporary artist aged under 40. Ball, who worked on Heavy Grit Intensity intensively for more than a year, said they had a huge emotional response to scrapbooks being held by the Australian Queer Archives. Also said, I had so many dilemmas, so many curiosities, so many things to grapple with in the 1950s-60s. Seeing different references to trans experiences was incredibly meaningful and complex. I had a lot of big feelings to process through the experience of engaging with that content. The work includes fragments and glimpses of queer histories, layering archival materials with personal images and soft form sculptures, and creating an interplay between the past and the present. Finalists are on display at the Gallery of South Australia from Saturday. Yeah. Until August 31st. So if you're in South Australia, go check that out. Sounds great.

We'd love to see more representation.

We do, we do.

Artists, trans artists. Also touching on our history. That's something I've been fascinated with lately. I've been deep diving, so this is great to see.

Yeah. And yeah, all in states that we're not in currently. Yeah, but you just gotta bring it here. Exactly. Exactly. Trans people doing wonderful things all over the country. So grateful. So, so grateful. See, you'd miss us if we weren't here. Keep us on the air. Make a tax deductible donation this end of financial year. Head to support.4zzz.org au you're listening to Transmi. Trans words. You're listening to Transmission on 4zzz. My name is Ez. I use he, him pronouns.

I'm Heidi. I use she, her pronouns.

And we have someone else in studio.

I'm Acton. I use he, him pronouns.

Hey, what's up?

How we going Guys, lovely to be here.

Glad to have you.

Thank you.

So we've got Acton in studio, local artist, and Melbourne expat.

Yep. Like many Melbourne people, I came north for the sunshine.

Yeah. I kind of defrost people.

Yeah. Straight up. And then I get here and the rain comes with me.

And you brought it.

Well, see, normally, it's. We're all going. We end up in Melbourne. We end up losing crew to Melbourne.

Yeah.

I think Melbourne is, like. It's still a beautiful place, but I think it's, like, lost some of its original authenticity after the COVID years. I think the COVID years scared a lot of us. Like, north.

Yeah.

We don't want this to happen again.

They're like, don't talk about the war.

Yeah. Straight up. We're inside for so long, you guys didn't even know.

And how long you've been up here now in Brisland, Brisney land.

It's been like, 18 months. Maybe, like 19 months.

Oh, wow.

Yeah.

Yeah. That's definitely enough time to get a sense of whether you like it.

Yeah, definitely. I was kind of, like, on the brink for, like, quite a while of, like, do I stay up here? Do I go back to Melbourne? Like, let's see how things go. And, yeah, I've just, like, landed my own place. And I'm like, no, I'm in Queensland, person now.

You're like, I'm here. The humidity. I'm into it.

I got used to the tan, and I was like, I lost a little bit of. I stayed inside for a few weeks because I got sick, and I got a little bit wider, and I was like, no, no, I gotta stay up here. I can't go back to that. Lack of vitamin D down there.

Did you, like, leave your north. Was it North Key? What's the name of all those puffer jackets that everyone wears?

North Face, North Face.

Did you leave that there? Did you?

I never had a north face, but before I left, I literally gave every jacket that I owned, besides my one leather jacket, to the op shop. And I had, like, an extensive jacket collection.

Oh, my goodness.

I gave them all to op shop. I was like, I don't need these anymore. They're not a part of my life anymore. Don't use jackets in Queensland.

Yeah, you're not wrong. You're.

I, like, wake up in the middle of the night and, like, have moments of panic thinking about them sometimes and, like, wondering where they ended up.

Hopefully on the backs of some other trans people who need to be warm.

Yeah. Some cool People I like, got most of them at Savers, like the option, and so I gave them back to Savers.

The cycle continues.

Yeah, they end up in the right hands.

And so you've been here, like, 18, 19 months, you've been making music. Did you. Were you born down there? Have you come up this way or have you.

I was born in Sydney.

Yeah.

And I moved to Melbourne when I was around five.

Yeah. Right.

And then I kind of zigzagged between Melbourne and Sydney a lot throughout my life. One parent in each state. And then. Yeah. Grew up mostly in Melbourne. Did like, almost all my schooling in Melbourne and that's probably for the best. Yeah. I moved back to Sydney when I was, like, discovering my trans self because I wanted to, like, get away from everything that I knew and just see if that was, like, actually my path. So I moved, like, in my gap year after high school back to Sydney and that was where I first kind of dived into a quick queer community. I met somebody at. At a Tegan and Sarah concert back when I thought I was a lesbian. And we. They also met somebody else there that day. And then they had two other friends that kind of. We created a little, like, high five. Cool group. And four out of five of us became trans men.

Yeah.

Wow.

Yeah, that's how it happens.

Yeah.

Let's see. I was the first, and then they were all like, wow, man, you're blowing our minds here. Like, we can do this. I was like, yeah, apparently we can do this.

And then you open. You open your leather jacket and on the inside is all the. All the Re and drain injection files.

Have you heard of pretesting? Yeah, I think everybody else is on Re Andron. I'm like a prima testing guy. I was like, early days. And they were like, yeah, try this. Try this stuff out. Honest. Oh, Schwarzenegger's on it. It's really good. We're building your muscles up.

This is what you want to look like, right? Schwarzenegger.

But it was like, that was. That was the option I got offered. And it was. It's been good for me most of the time. Got taken off the market for a little while. And I tried Re Andron, but I wasn't a big fan of Re Andron. So I went back to. Back to the test and.

Yeah, yeah, I've heard it's kind of love it or leave it.

Yeah. Oh, I just hit and miss. Yeah. I had. Had ups and downs with it and so just, yeah. Went back to primates and when I could, when they bought it back on the market.

I was like, hook me up.

Give it to me now.

That's my man juice.

That's it. That's it. The boy juice. That's what I call it, a boy juice. People are like, what did you just say? My boy juice.

It's like, boys, this makes me smell as you're holding it, like, this is. This is it.

That's it. Straight up.

Smelly boy juice.

The stinky juice.

It's like, you know, people be like, oh, you know, what's affirming for your gender and whatever. And it's like just the things that irritate you about men being hairy. Stinky.

Yeah, yeah.

Having to shave often sucks. These are the things that I wanted. Yeah.

I've ticked off the pocket.

Yeah, I'm going bald. Yep. That's a man thing. Enjoy that.

Yeah, knock on wood. That doesn't. It doesn't happen. I like my head of hair, but.

Well, look, I am. I am a. A seasoned wig stylist.

So.

Yeah, look, I've got the hookup in case.

All right, all right, well, I'll keep your number on file.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I used like the. The balding growth hormones that people get for.

Oh, yeah.

I used that to help my beard come along. Oh, yeah, and it's. Yeah, I used to have like the Craig David beard where it's like just like. Just that real thin. Like, I had nothing on my chin. It was like under my chin for years. You get like a side. And it was like chin. And the beard would start. I look like some weird, like cartoon.

Character or like Amish, you know, when the beard is like, not really on the face, but it's just kind of the neck in the. And the. And the chops.

Yeah, it was solid neck beard. Like, that was it like. I literally had like started under my chin and that's the only came up on my chin in the last couple of years. I was at a pub in. On Chapel street one time and some guy, like, turned around and looked at me and he was like, whoa, man. Like, why do you shave down so far? I was like, oh, it hasn't grown in yet. He was like, that's really weird, bro. That's really weird. Sorry to be scaring you.

Maybe avert your eyes.

Sounds like maybe like. I don't know. It's pretty impressive when you find out that I have a vagina or.

Anyway, what.

If you think this shocks you?

Take a look at this. That could get more shocking.

Have you seen these apples?

The hair's all south. Yeah.

I regularly talk about how trans men migrate south because they just get a nice pelt over their chest or their back or everywhere. And they're like, it's too hot to be at Queensland now. Get out of here.

They probably will have happen eventually. I keep telling people my Austin Powers, like, bodysuit is coming in. It's been three winters now, and I've been predicting it's like this winter, it's gonna hit hard. It's like, it's still just, like, dribbling in. It's gonna be there one day.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just mourning the loss of what my. I was like, I don't know what my skin looks like under this hair now, but, you know, I picture it's.

Gonna be like, I'll try to do, like, a shirtless photo and some AI is gonna, like, generate me into, like, a floor rug. Like a bear rug on the floor with a face. Yeah. That's how sad I'm gonna be. The bear. Yeah. That's the story. It's gonna end up one day. Aya's gonna be like, we don't know what to do with this.

My trans rug.

Yeah.

Okay. Okay. All right. We do have. Do have some points I'd like to.

Get to this morning.

No, we don't.

No, no. This is far more fun. How does these experiences shape your music accent?

Well, it's.

It's.

Music has definitely been my outlet for processing everything that I've gone through as a trans person. And it's like the song we're gonna play first this morning off my upcoming album. And it's a song about meeting somebody that kind of helped me to, like, love that, like, inner child that I kind of pushed down for a long time. And it's. Yeah, like, discovering myself, my true self is helping me, like, tap back into that, like, childlike energy and, like, be happy and, like, not be scared of the. The little person that went through so much hardship. So, yeah, it's definitely. Definitely been a good way to unleash the beauty again.

Yeah.

Do you.

Let's play it. Let's. Let's push play on this track. It is. Do you wanna. Do you wanna announce this track?

Yeah, it's called Might Love. It's the second track of my upcoming Al.

Spend all my money on you. Money is just time and when it comes to time, girl wanna give you all of mine I love sitting talking to you. You tell stories Real vine. And the stories that we made so far have already blown my mind Gotta stop sometimes and ask Myself, I'm here, I end up here. It's like I dreamed you into being. But I'm holding you so near that I've met and love all the people from my youth. Hold elements in you which keep me rooted to my truth. You give me that child light. Love got my heart beating so loud. Just wanna stare at the sky. Make friends with the clouds. I wanna tell every living thing about this girl that I found. She's magical, theatrical. She's real and she's open. She's seen some things crack her own tears she don't down broken. She showed me the side of the world I thought I might not see. She's making me feel like maybe I might love me I might love me. Really want to know the workings of your mind. I know you been places that maybe weren't so kind. Till I bear some scars too. Let me show you all of my. Through sharing stories we may see that all things heal with time. I've gotta stop sometimes and pause myself. Cause I'm learning about boundaries. It's like I finally understand what all my exes said to me. What I got with you so much Wanna keep it just friendly. Don't wanna risk that this somehow. Loses all the magic.

Loses all the magic. Loses all the magic.

You give me that shout like love got my heart beating so loud. Just wanna stare at the sky. Make friends with the clouds. I wanna tell every living thing about this girl that I found. She's magical, theatrical. She's real and she's open. She's seen some things, cried her own tears. She don't care that I'm broken. She's shown me a side of the world I thought I might not see. She's making me I feel like maybe I might love me. She's magical, theatrical. She's real and she's open. She's seen some things, cried her own tears. She don't care that I'm broken. She showed me the side of the world I thought I might not see. She's making me feel like maybe I might love me.

I'm not a little me.

You're listening to transmission on 4 triple Z and we're chatting music. You're listening to Might Love by Acton Wickens, who's in the studio with us.

How we doing? So happy to be here. It's been a fun morning so far.

Yeah. Just talking about, you know, relatable trans experiences on the mic and how they relate to music and the things that you create. I'm gonna continue to ask you questions and Go on tangents with you.

So I'm an open book with many, many tangible chapters.

Great.

How long have you. How long have you making music?

Making music probably last like, three years, like, recording and stuff. I've been playing guitar since I was 11, singing since, like, late teens, writing songs since I was. Yeah, like, preteen busking is like, my main gig, and I've been doing that for, like, I said, like, seven, eight years now. But I've been doing it full time as, like, my income, my occupation, for, like, three and a half years.

Yeah. Wow. Yeah, that's great.

Yeah. Been living off of busking.

And how do you find. Do you busk here in Meanjin, Brisbane, or.

A little bit. I kind of go more on the outskirts. Like, more like. I've been doing a lot of, like, Morayfield, Burpengary, Caboolture kind of end of the end of the line, but it's like Narangba kind of out. I've been living out there for the last little while. I just moved into Meanjin recently, so I've done the valley once in the last couple of months, and that was an experience. I was gonna say.

How did you find that?

Yeah, it was a guy got king hit next to me, like, 20 minutes into it, and I was like, whoa, this is intense. There's like, an indigenous older fellow that, like, came up and would, like, try to kiss me after every song that I played. This is really sweet.

You got fans.

Yeah. Maybe less. Like, PDA would be great. We just met.

Ask my number first thing.

Buy me breakf. But, yeah, that was good. I was. I went out to, like, a. The Sasha, Colby and Anitra gig at the Bright side, and I just had already paid for parking and the instruments were in the car, and I was like, I'm just gonna try it. I'm just gonna see how it goes. And, yeah, it went. I made some money. It was all right. It got a lot better after the guy got king hit. That was kind of like. Yeah, that was. That was the, like the, like, kind of the start of chaos. And then it calmed down after that and I was like, all right, we like. We like a wave.

Yeah.

How does the scene here compare to Melbourne?

I like the scene up here. Like, I think it's a bit more chill Melbourne. I. I'm not really like a big scene person. Like, I've kind of. I'm more of a bit of like a inside introvert. Like, in my own personal time. I can be. Can be an extrovert. When it's needed. But yeah, I haven't. I'm an old man now, so I haven't really done going out on the scene for a while.

I think I hear that.

Yeah, I think you're experiencing someone get king hit and chill out. That's pretty much.

That's the scene.

Sums it up nicely.

No, definitely. I got heckled less here than I did in Melbourne. I didn't used to busk much in Melbourne City because every time I did I'd just get heckled and people be like, you're too for city.

No, you're fair.

Yeah, yeah. It's like.

Yeah, that's so strange to me. I'm. That just. Yeah. And also like people telling you that you.

Yes, I definitely like, hello. It was by a guy that like was wearing a cowboy hat and he was like Greek. And I was like. He's like telling me I was like confused about myself and about the culture of like what I was trying to sing and I was just like, I think you need to take a look in the mirror, sir.

You play then. Go on.

Yeah, that's it. But I got heckled a lot in playing in Melbourne, so I was always like a Outskirts kind of busker in Melbourne as well. Like, I grew up Frankston, like down the Mornington Peninsula, end of the line, and I had a lot of great places down there that I could play. And like, I'm more of like a daytime busker than a nighttime busker. I like being in the sunshine and like taking my shoes off and feeling the sun between my toes and. Yeah, just having a little dance outside Woollies or Coles or Igaldi and just greeting people as they're doing their day to day things and just trying to be like a nice little surprise or like a turnaround for how they thought the day was gonna go.

He's got a little surprise vibe.

Yeah, that's. Yeah, that's it. That's the same. I like to try to be.

Oh, I love that. Oh, that's great.

Such a good energy to have.

Yeah, I like, like seeing the tiny babies dance from their prams and stuff. You know, it's like, that's, that's that's what gets me high and happy.

This is why I do what I do.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I don't, I don't get out to the nighttime scene much, but when I do, it's. Yeah, it's usually a little bit like chaotic and scary for me. Then I try to like make it something out of it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And you've got an album coming up.

I do, I do. It comes out this Friday on all major streaming platforms, Spotify and Apple Music and Amazon. I eventually will get it onto Bandcamp and Soundcloud and all the little ones. Yeah, it's called Recall, Receive, Release. And it's. Yeah. Been in the works for nearly a year. I've wrote the songs over the course of the last five years.

Wow.

Yeah.

And it's. Yeah, it's a story of my last major relationship from, like, meeting the person and then falling into a friendship and then that friendship falling into something else and then that's something else falling into something else entirely and realising this probably doesn't work.

Yeah.

And then working on myself afterwards. Yeah, it's kind of the whole journey.

The journey of. Of love and loss and self realisation, growth.

Yeah.

Wow.

Exactly that. Yeah.

Wow, that sounds great. And we're gonna listen to another song from that album. What's this one about?

This one is the title track. So it's called Recall, Receive, Release. And it is kind of that point in the relationship where you realise that things like, I was stuck in, like, a really kind of bad cycle and you needed to become, like, self aware of it and, like, recall it, receive the message and kind of release myself from what was going on and just the little loop I was stuck in. So, yeah, it's a bit of a. It's a bit of a dark, like, angsty kind of song and I sound a little bit English while singing it.

But great pulling on all the tones and energies you can.

Yeah, that's it.

Great. Well, this is Recall, Receive, Release by Acton Wickens. You're listening to transmission on 4 triple Z.

Take a breath step by step Phoebe Ground bearing free Breathe with feast Moment of peace Recall, Receive, Release Recall Receive Release Recall Receive Release Recall Receive, Release make some goals Smoke the bow Achieve none Feel my soul going down to my depths by my mind Talks of death must play Deaf mother F Take a breath step by step feed me ground 33 breathe of ease Moment of peace I let myself down Took it for the ride Now I strive to make things right all unfindings all that's left are these thoughts in my head are the memories or distress Where I'd neglect all that you said Repeat replies Can't meet your eyes My interns in the sky My mind's just flying eyes Receive, release the call Receive, release Need that Red Bull to give me wings I'm the ball and you're the red in the ring Ring of Fire it's got me trapped but can't keep me tame going insane Always the same flags are flying. You're waving the pole, you're straight up lying.

And I'm the need some rewiring to survive the fall.

Take me in your arms, that's all I ask. If there's still too much you must become my past. I cannot go and see you as.

My friend when I'm getting the heart.

This was one of them, Gave you my all, including my legs. And now I find I cannot stand.

Stand on my own or the side of myself.

And it's my friends that I'll call for help. Recall, receive, release. Recall, receive release. Recall, receive release. Recall, receive release. Recall, receive release. Recall, receive release. Recall, receive release. Recall, receive release. Make some goals, Smoke the bow. Achieve no Feel my soul calm down to my depths. Where my mind, mind talks of death, must play death Mother F. Take a breath step by step. Feed me ground, burn free, Breathe a cease moment Peace. Recall, receive release. Recall, receive release. Recall, receive, release. Recall, receive, release. Recall, receive, release. The call receives. Release. The call. Receive, release. Recall, receive, release.

You're listening to Transmission on for zzz. My name is EZ and I use he, him. Pronouns.

I'm Heidi, I use she her.

I'm Acton, I use he him.

And we've been chatting music this morning with Acton about new album coming out and his gig that's coming up soon.

Yep, on Friday. Got a little album launch happening on the day of my release. It's going to be at Rat Planet Studios which is on Gregory Terrace in Spring Hill. It's an awesome little music studio rehearsal space, but also like a gig venue. It's alcohol free venue so like all ages are welcome, which is really cool. So you can bring the kids somewhere for like the parents to come and have a fun time with the little ones.

Is it a like a ticketed event or.

It is a ticketed event. So there are tickets available through the link on Human Ticks or you can search Rap Planet Studios and it's on their website. It's also a ticket link available on my Instagram bio, which is at Action Chickens.

Action Chickens.

Action Chickens. Yeah. It's a lot easier for people to remember than Acton Wiccans. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Same, same, but different. I also travelled the country with a chicken in my camper van. So it's not a lie. We were chickens on the go.

Wow.

Yeah. But yeah, we got the. The gig happens at 7pm this Friday night and we've got two lovely female support acts. We've got one of them just changed their name. Olive Rose and Phoebe Patel, who will be opening up for us with some of their own original songs.

Great.

It should be a lovely little night of original music for people to come and experience. There's a little cafe that's being set up with some fruity drinks. So there's no alcohol but there is like tasty beverages available.

Tasty fruits and a queer music thing.

Yeah.

Wow. Who would thought fruity, fruity drinks.

So I said it's gotta have some fruity drinks if it's gonna. Yeah. Gonna be a good night.

Yeah. Awesome. Well, you should definitely go check that out. I will pop the link to that event on the Transmission Socials as well at Trans Radio. Trans with a Z. Because you're listening to us on board Triple Z And yeah, so I can also vouch for Acton being quite great performance. I first saw him at the Trans Community Awards performing there and I was like, damn, damn, this guy's great. I'm gonna tell him to come on the show.

So I appreciate it.

Awesome. So glad to have you here. And did you want to give any shout outs to anyone or anything while we're. We're on the airwaves?

Yeah, I'll give a big shout out to my producers, Charlotte and Leo, who helped me put this album together. They found me when I was busking one day and they've done this entire work as just a passion project for themselves entirely free. So it's just a labour of love of artists, helping artists to put our thing, put our noggins together and come up with some beautiful music. So big, big love to Charlotte and Leo if you're listening out there.

Awesome. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for tuning into Transmission this morning. It's been absolute awesome time and we'll see you all next week. Yeah, bye.

Thanks for having me.

Bye. Thank you so much for listening to Transmission. See you next Tuesday 9 to 10am on 4zzz.

It.