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You're listening to transm on 4zzz, amplifying.

The trans and gender non conforming voices of Brisbane and beyond.

Good morning, Meanjin. You're listening to Transmission on 4ZZZ. My name is EZ. I use HE, him pronouns.

My name is Ray. I use they, them pronouns.

Oh, and my name is Key.

I use any pronouns and put you on the spot.

Yeah, I'm talking now.

Okay, no warning, Community radio for you. Your list of Transmission. All about amplifying the voices of the trans community here in Meanjin, Brisbane and around the country and beyond. Even so. And today, Ray, what are we talking about with our wonderful guest?

Oh my gosh, I'm so excited. We are talking about Echoes from the Cave in, which is an open mic hosted the first Tuesday of the month at the Cave Inn. And yeah, we're going to be chatting about Echoes, which is run by the amazing Key. And we're also going to be chatting about poetry. Like some very good trans poetry. Very good queer poetry.

Hell yeah.

Open mic poetry, feelings.

I'm keen, I'm keen to hear about it. And how are you today, Key? How you been?

I'm all right, I'm okay. It's great to be back in this studio again. Yeah, I've been here once before when we just started and so now being like, this is our third anniversary of Echoes from the Cave in the. This October, so it's nice to be back three years later, which is really fun.

Yeah. And I think you said that you chatted to the crew on Queer Radio that time. Yeah, that's lovely. And like, honestly, I'm. I cannot believe it's been three years. I'm not sure if I've gone for the full three years, but I'm like, seriously, have I gotten up every month to read a silly poem for like three years? Every dang month. I guess. I guess it's incredible. Did we want to get into some community events first and then we'll have a bit of a. More of a chat about.

Yeah. Before we dive too deep.

Yeah, I was like, before we get too excited.

All right, well, first up, there's a Sparkle Saloon from Open Doors Youth Service, which is coming up on Sunday 2nd November from 2 to 6pm at the Brisbane Powerhouse. Yee haw. It's time to sparkle. Join us for Sparkle Saloon, a family friendly all ages event celebrating 25 fabulous years of open doors, you service, supporting LGBTQIA SB young people, we're throwing a party packed with queer line dancing led by the iconic Saddle Club Drag magic from Henny Spaghetti and friends. A whole lot more of glittery surprises as well. Whether you're dusting off your boots or donning your best rhinestones, this is an afternoon for community and unapologetic pride, Proudly presented in partnership with Saddle Club, Melt and Brisbane Powerhouse. Let's dance, laugh and celebrate a quarter century of queer joy and trans pride.

That's so delightful. I love that so much. Yeah, Queer line dancing is just. It's actually on my bucket list. So I was like, is there an age, age limit?

No. You can come along, you can purchase a ticket. That is beautiful. Yeah, you can, you can head to the Open Door Zoo service, Instagram or socials page and you can click on the link up there and there'll be. You can purchase a ticket.

Incredible. And I was going to say when you say purchase, they are free, which is great.

Yes, it's wonderful. What a beautiful community event as well as I believe. Yeah, there you go. Free tickets. And it's also an afternoon, so it's a Sunday afternoon, so it's not too late. It'd be nice cruisy time.

Things I like is events that are not too late. Like, honestly, I respect, I respect any event where it's just like you're going to be in bed by nine or earlier.

Yeah, good.

I was going to say that is one of the appeals of echoes. I'll be. When we talk about it later. That is one of the appropriate times. It's really good. I'm very tired. We also have make a scene fashioning queer identity and club culture in the 90s, which is happening at the Queensland Museum Coralpa up until the 19th of July. And I had the incredible pleasure of going to the opening of this event and it was absolutely amazing. So in the 1990s, a vibrant and creative underground nightclub and dance party scene emerged in Brisbane for LGBTQIA people and their allies. Safe places to wear fabulous fashions and celebrate community diversity. And it's incredible to see the amount of like, iconic fashion that has been a part of this exhibition. And it coincides with the 35th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality. And they've got hairy dog, they've got glamour pussy, they've got. Oh, they've. They've got Darren Hayes's like this incredible pink suit. They've got some Kylie Minogue outfits. It's gorgeous. It look, it's amazing. I. They did like a vox pop with me and I. They were like, you know, what's your favourite outfit? And I'm like, I'm sorry, what? All of them? I have to pick one?

No, I pick this one. This one. This one.

I pick all of them. And it set. Some of the way that they've displayed it is set out like as a club and a dance scene. There's like a disco ball and stuff. It's. And like music playing. And this is at the museum. So you've got dinosaurs on one side and this incredibly gay exhibition on the other side.

Sounds like a queer trans joy dreamscape.

It's honestly phenomenal. And I mean like my pitch to them is dinosaurs and dragons, why not? That could be the next step. But honestly it's a beautiful exhibition. I had a really great time and to see it somewhere so, I don't know, so iconic and so like public is really beautiful. So yeah, go to the Queensland Museum, see some dinosaurs. See some gay fashion.

Yeah. See some gay dinosaurs too, why don't you? Oh my God.

I was like, aren't all dinosaurs gay?

They're all, they're all prehistoric.

They're all gay. On autistic specifically.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I think I'd be pretty annoyed if I had tiny hands like a T.

Rex though, you know, like I wouldn't be thrilled.

I'd be mildly livid, to be honest. Yeah. I'm like, is this the way we want to be? I was going to say, is this the start of a poem about being like feeling dysphoric about your tiny T Rex hands? What do you. I was like, what do you think, Key?

You could absolutely do a poem about being dysphoric about your tiny. You would write that poem.

I would write that glitter.

So my poem would be my tiny T Rex.

My tiny T Rex.

It would also probably have something to do with disability as well, I would imagine based on just not having the ability to do things other people are because of the way you're born and like. Yeah. And your body and stuff.

So I really like that.

Amplifying the voices of the trans and gender non conforming community of Meanjin, Brisbane and Beyond.

Transmission on 4, ZZZ brings you the latest in trans community news, music and events.

Every Tuesday from 9am till 10am Join.

Our team of hosts for an hour of celebrating the unique perspectives of the trans community.

Transmission Tuesday mornings from 9am till 10am on 4zzz. You're listening to Transmission on 4zzz. My name is EZ and I use he him pronouns.

My name is Ray, I use they, them pronouns.

And my name is Key and I use any pronouns.

Woo. We are so pumped to have you in the studio and I'm so excited to talk about Echoes from the Cave In. And if people have just like switched on their radio and they don't know what Echoes from the Cave in is, give us a rundown.

Oh, well, it is a open open mic, spoken word and poetry night run on the first Tuesday of every month. At Echo. Nope. At the Cave Inn, which is in Woolloongabba. We've been running for about three years now. So it's our third birthday on the seventh. Which is the next event. Yeah, that's the rundown.

Yeah. So if next Tuesday, 7th from 6pm, if you want to go to the Cave Inn and read some poetry or.

Just listen, you can also just listen. You don't have to read.

Yeah, yeah, that's true. We don't want to intimidate people.

Get on the mic.

Get on the mic. Everybody has to. If you're here, you have to be on there. No, you don't. Don't worry about it.

Seven ginger beers later.

I mean, to be honest, I feel like that does happen and I think the more people see other people perform, it's such a beautiful community space that, like, people are really feel encouraged.

Yeah, no, we've got. We've had a lot of people who've been like regulars watching for a long time actually recently just start saying some poetry and I'm like, yes, because it takes a while to warm up, I think, because the space is actually really welcoming and the crowd is genuinely the best. But you don't know that until you're there for a bit. So. Yeah, yeah.

And I think, like, as you like, I've said, it's not a space that's like exclusively queer, but it's one of the queerest spaces I've ever been to and one of the transist spaces I've ever been to, if that's a word.

It's a transient place to be.

It's a transient, transient place to be. That would be, like, definitely us, but also the Cave in being a place where queer people do like to hang out. Yeah, yeah.

I was like, it is, it is. You know, we are. We do like to frequent the Cave In.

Yeah.

And I think it is, you know, it is definitely a testament to, like, you and Drew who run Echoes is that it is such a welcoming space and I think a lot of people, you know, who are queer or like even people who are like discovering themselves and discovering poetry, you know, feel comfortable there and it's really. It's really important.

Yeah.

So yeah. How did Echoes start? Because I realised I don't know this story and I've know I've been going for approx. 3 years.

Yeah, well, it is the brainchild of Drew, my co host. They are the one who started it by themselves. It originally started as a poetry night and also a trans life drawing. Oh, that's right.

I remember this.

We used to have trans life drawing upstairs. Unfortunately the Cave in cannot stay open that late on a Tuesday, so we currently don't have life drawing. But yeah, it started as that. And we were doing it every fortnight.

Yes, that is huge undertaking.

It was a huge undertaking, which is why I arrived because I was at every poetry night from the beginning it opened. I'd never written anything, any poetry ever before until Echoes and I did not perform sober for a couple months. But yeah, yeah. So just withdrew because they worked at the Cave in. Still work at the Cave In. So they were just like, we need something on a Tuesday. Why don't I do this? And then. Yeah. And the rest is. Rest is kind of history. We stopped doing our. We got a lot of people when it first came out and then people stopped turning up to the fortnightly stuff, so we moved it to once a month. And I also can pick. There's two spikes of like when people have like come. When I opened the Echoes from the Cave in Instagram, so many people started showing up. And also after you arrived. Yeah, after Ray arrived, I definitely. Because I think you were also putting us in your newsletter and stuff. So. But like. And it was so funny because I met you at a queer like event in West End. Yeah. And I was like terrified. I was like, oh, there's this cool poet, someone speaking poetry. I should like talk to them. They're like, you know, maybe invite them to my event. And I sat, I stood there and then I went, hi, hi. Could you maybe poetry. And then. And then they. You rocked up to like everyone.

Since I literally have. And I think like, at the time, like, like as you said, like I run like Uplift Poetry. So like a poetry newsletter. And I also like, at the time I was kind of going through like a transitional period of like having like a bunch of life stuff happen as well as like a bunch of poetry rejections. And I was Like, I need community so badly. And then Echoes came along and I was like, oh, this is it. This is good. I found it because I think there's, like, a lot of spaces in. In mean to perform poetry and to do, like, open mic and slam and stuff. But, like, I think the. The space of Echoes, I don't know, it's just. It's just quite different. And I think it is that queer vibe. And it's also that kind of. There's a DIY zine kind of culture. I don't know how to describe it, but it's very. It's like, get up and, you know, do the poetry that maybe, like, you know, is about your shitty ex or the poetry that you've had rejected from a magazine or whatever. Like, it. It's very. It's good vibes.

Yeah, it's. It's specifically designed to be baby's first poetry night. Like, yes, you have to come. That's it. Yeah, exactly. You gotta. You gotta. But, yeah, we have, like, a range of people who have been doing poetry for a very long time. People who started and then stopped, and the people who have just started and then the regulars who have been doing this for three years. But, yeah.

Have you. Can you think of a particular moment that was quite special or memorable? Someone getting on the mic and being like, maybe their first time or.

There is quite a few of those. It's funny because it's memorable now, and it was memorable because I remembered it. I have a friend named Ari who is probably listening. They went to the. They are now, like, housemates with people who go to poetry night. Met them there, and Ari, like, a couple years ago, went on the mic and it was like, never hadn't written anything before. They'd just written a poem for their roommate at the time and who made them get on and say it. And I remember that one really well and. But we didn't talk until a couple years later when they moved in with my friends, and I was like, oh, shit. You were that person. I remember that. I remember because I was like, oh, you. That's really sweet. You're writing for. You're writing for someone that's made you say it. So there's that. Yeah.

And I honestly, like, I really love that because I think, like, often people are like, oh, I want to write poetry for. Specifically for performance or for publication. But then it's like, what about the poems that are like love letters to your friends, to your. To your family, to your, you know, like, queer fam. Like, it's oh, that's. That makes me so happy. And I think, like, one of my favourite things about Echoes is the. Not only the open mic component, but the speed poetry round at the end, which is just crackers, if you want to.

Speed poetry. Yes. So at the end of the night, after we've done all of our lineup of poets, we have a speed poetry game. So I set up a bowl at the side of the cave encounter, and there's pieces of paper that people can write prompts on. And at the end of the night, we'll get everyone who wants to to come up on stage and we'll pick out three prompts. You can do all three of the prompts. Two of them or just one of them. And then you will have five minutes to write a poem.

Holy.

Everybody races to write a poem in five minutes on the stage. Yeah. We have our poetry assistant. Robin is always the one timing it, but, yeah.

Wow, that sounds like fun and terrifying.

Yes. It's actually a lot less scary than it sounds. But also, for the first one we did, I didn't get much done, and then I've learned to just write the first word that comes into your head. You'll get there. You'll make something. It's fine, I promise you.

But, yeah, good exercise, you know, it's.

Just for your brain. And I feel like it's some of the best poetry that I hear on the night. No shade to, like, the more polished stuff, but, like, some of that kind of raw poetry that people have just, like, smashed out in five minutes is some of the highlights for me. And I'm just like, y' all are incredible.

It's essentially improv. Improv reads creativity.

Yeah, yeah. Under the pressure. Under the. Under the pump, you know, under the.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then, like, there were some times when I would take all of the prompts in the bowl and it was, like, about 50 of them, and then write a poem with all of them words. Those days are gone because I got, like. I'm less underemployed now, but it was. It was fun at the time. Like, it was. Would not recommend. I mean, I don't know unless you.

If you want to, but there's so many prompts.

There's so many. And I think now that there's more people coming along. It's wonderful.

Thanks, Dorothy, for asking me along. I love bushwalking after the rain.

No worries, Todd.

I don't think we're in Brisbane anymore. All this croaking and barking and ble. Oh, my.

Why, Todd? Those are frogs. Isn't it beautiful? I'll just take out my trusty frog ID phone app and record some frog calls to the scientists and provide them with some valuable data to better understand and conserve frogs. There, done. And off goes my unique timestamped and GPS audio recording. Just like that. Easy peasy.

Wow. Where do I get that frog idea?

Just download the Frog ID app and help crowdsource frog data right from your phone. It's free. Together we can better help understand and conserve Australia's frogs. Even the frogs in your backyard.

Frog ID is the Australian Museum's national citizen science project. I've got a frog in my throat right now. 4zzz cares about our communities.

The Frog ID app. Love that. Here's your transmission on 4zzz. My name is Ez. I use he, him, pronouns.

My name is Ray. I use they, them, pronouns.

And my name is Key. And I use any pronouns.

I'm so excited to. I'm so excited to still have you in the studio. We were just talking before about Echoes from the Cave in, which is a monthly poetry and spoken word night. And you were saying that Echoes was, I think, the first time you'd written poetry.

Yes, yes. It was good heaven.

I was like, tell me about your poetry journey, because that's incredible. I love that so much.

Yeah, well, I. I've been a vague creative, but I've never really had the attention span to really dig into that. I would. I've written before, like, creative works, but, like, nothing. Like, nothing like poetry or nothing like songs. And I just. I. I don't know. Drew was like, yeah, we're doing this. And like, it had been so long since I performed because I. I grew up as an actor and I was like, I need to do something. And I have all these feelings because, like, oh, God, the life I was in when this started, very interesting life. I'd had all these feelings and I was like. I had all these feelings about, like, my friends and also about, like, a specific person because. Yeah, get yearning. Yeah, it's. It's in there. It's all the time. It's in there. And. Yeah. And so I would just write, like, when I couldn't sleep at night for a while, I was just very early in the morning just typing on your notes app. And I've moved from my notes app now to a different notes app, but it's still the same.

Different notes app. Still the same key.

Yeah, cool. Cool. And, yeah, as I said, I couldn't perform sober for the longest time, but then I Did. And that was fine. But, yeah, and I ended up hosting Poetry because I was always there. And Drew couldn't make it one night because there was a concert. And I was like, oh, shit. And he was like, can you do this for me? And I went, fuck it. I guess I am. And then I just didn't stop. I'm here forever now.

I do feel like that is a thing. There's a lot of people who come to Echoes, and it's like, yeah, we're here now and we're staying. It does have that kind of vibe. And I love that. Yeah, that Echoes was kind of like, we know one of the things that kickstarted your poetry because, like, you are an incredible poet and you've got. And I know that. I don't know if this is public knowledge, but I know you've got work coming out in two journals.

Just one.

Just one. Just one at the moment. Okay, okay. Good, good, good. But see, that's very exciting. Like, that's. That's awesome.

Yes.

And do you have ambitions to, I don't know, get more of your work?

I think so.

In other spheres. Yeah. Published or whatever.

Yeah. I've floated the idea with you before about potentially publishing a book. Yes. But I would have to. I have, like, an idea. Cause I write a lot about grief, and so it'll be like. It'll be something to do with, like, the through line will be grief. Like, that sort of, like, story, possibly in, like, the five stages. I once performed at the Cave Inn some poetry, but at a different event. And I had everything set up in the five stages of grief, so.

Oh, that's gorgeous.

That is something that I potentially might.

Do at some point. And I feel like, you know, I guess from an editor's perspective, to have that structure for, you know, your collection of poetry, you know, that's like. That's a. I think that's a really great start. Like, that's really. That's beautiful. And I think that there needs to be more trans poets out there, either getting published or self publishing, because, I don't know, like, I see more of us, but there's never enough. Like, I think there should be more. You know, personally, I have a lot of feelings about it, but, yeah, I'm like, yeah, definitely, 100% publish. Do it. Zines.

Zines. Do a. Zines. Yeah. Many people have passing around zines at the Cave in. It's a zine place.

It is a very zine place. I was thinking of doing a zine before next Echo. So, yeah.

It's a zine scene out there.

It's a zine scene. Would you like to share some of your poetry with us?

Yes, I will. I've just changed what I was gonna read, but. So I'm gonna read something that I.

Didn'T plan and I was like, feel free to let us know any trigger warnings or swears or whatever.

Yeah, yeah. I don't believe there's any swearing in this, but this one I wrote last month and I haven't really had the chance to edit it, but it's fine.

Yes.

In this period of echoes from the cave in, raw, unfiltered, this one, either perfection will never come or pollack trigger warnings for negative self image. Not everything you write has to be a masterpiece. You don't have to bleed yourself dry for ink and acrylic. Wring out the words from still beating heart, put myself in the kiln and crack under the pressure. Art just has to exist. That is all we ever ask of it. So why can't I? Why can't I? I carry expectations that will never be filled. Dreams of lives I was not built to live. There is something wrong with my foundations. A mind too fragile, A body brittle, broken and bitter. Before my first word. I have spent all this time trying to unmake reality. Sticking my fingers into the seams of it, twisting my hands inside this half stitch creature, pulling at the threads and tearing the stuffing out. I have taken scissors to the fabric of my existence, cutting it down to the right shape, holding who I want to be in place with safety pins, Determined to replace it all with something better, something good. It does not take. You must make peace with what you are. I'm coming to realise this. This attempt to erase the blemished and order the unorderly, straighten the misshapen is futile. It's painful and it's pointless. I stretch a different skin over calcium monuments and I am left with a hollow shell. I have torn to shreds the soul of my creation. Now it lies bleeding out on the bathroom tiles, its feathers of gold turning red with my carelessness. All that I have attempted to discard hanging suspended in the air around me, plain for all to see. I am creating a person out of paper mache and used gum. Taking the pieces of myself I cannot bear to look at, sticking them together in a mosaic. See my own beauty reflected back at me, cracked and vibrant. It will not be perfect. It need not be good. It simply will be.

Yes. Oh, I was like. I have so many feelings about not only that poem and Your reading of it. But the. The message of, like, I think that is. I mean, that pretty much sums up Echoes, but I think it also sums up open mic nights. And it sums up for me, like, queer and Trans Poetics is like, you don't. Your art doesn't have to be perfect. Because I feel like to be perfect, to be polished is. I don't know, like. Well, it comes back to, like, you know, to be capitalism, to be a commodity kind of.

Yeah, yeah.

Makes me think of a bit of, am I queer enough? Am I poet enough?

Right.

Yeah.

And it's like, no, if you have written a poem or you wish to write a poem, you are poet enough. Done.

Yeah.

If you, you know, feel you're queer, you're queer enough.

Exactly.

Yeah.

Yeah. You should come down to the Cave in for Echoes from the cave in on the 7th of October. There's. It's the first Tuesday of every month, so even if you miss an out this month, you can come to another one. And yeah, don't be afraid to be an un. A Not perfect poet.

Yeah. A not perfect. Oh, that's a great bad name.

Not Perfect Poet.

Not Perfect poet. And honestly. Yeah. 100. Thank you so much for sharing your work. That was just so beautiful. Yeah, I'm so thrilled.

Yeah. It's weird to do it without using the hand gestures.

I was going to say. It's also weird to, like, not, like, aggressively applaud and, like, be clicking. Like, I was just here being like, okay, I'm just going to. We're in studio. It's fine.

Yeah. Well, thank you so much.

Thank you so much. And honestly, yeah, if anyone's listening and you want to do some poetry, come to Echoes or just like. Yeah, as you said, like, write poetry when you can't sleep in your notes app and that can be your poem.

Yeah.

That's all it has to be.

It's all it has to be. And, like, don't be afraid to share it either, because you will only if.

You want to get.

If you want to get better or if you want to better at expressing yourself. You have to express yourself to begin with.

Yeah. Vulnerability is power.

Yeah. Also we have an Instagram, which is where I post all of the. All of the graphics for each month, which is Echoes from the Cave In. That's it. We also have a Facebook event every month that will pop up. But yeah, I share that on the Instagram as well, so.

Awesome.

Yeah.

Oh, Echo.

Sorry. It's Echoes from the Cave, not the inn part, just Echoes from the cave.

Oh, I feel. Yeah. Echoes from the cave. Echoes from the cave.

That makes sense. Echoes in a Cave makes sense.

Yeah. It's a great name as well.

Yeah.

Thank you. Thank you, Drew.

Thank you so much, Drew.

Thank you.

And thank you so much, listeners, for tuning in to another episode of Transmission. We're gonna head off now.

I cannot believe it's gone so fast.

You just blink, just like that. Yeah.

That's what poetry and radio does to ya.

It does. Thank you so much and see you all next week. Bye.

Bye.

Thank you so much for listening to Transmission.

See you next Tuesday, 9 to 10am on 4. It.