MicahTron
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MicahTron

San Francisco, California, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2005 | INDIE

San Francisco, California, United States | INDIE
Established on Jan, 2005
Solo Hip Hop New Wave

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"Rapper MicahTron Is Making Space for Queer Women of Color"

It was love almost immediately when rapper MicahTron met her girlfriend, go-go dancer Zoe Bynum, at a gig two years ago. The 29-year-old MC's upbeat, sex-positive party rap has made her a favorite at local queer parties such as Swagger Like Us, and for years she's held it down as one of the region's few visible female MCs — and one of the only queer ones. Now, she and Bynum are teaming up for their own party, Joie De Vivre (or "The Joy of Living" in French) at OMG, a club in San Francisco's SoMa district. With MicahTron on the mic and Bynum dancing — and two female DJs, Andre and Ms. Jackson, behind the decks — the party celebrates a broad spectrum of queer femininity beyond the butch and femme binary, though the event aims to be inclusive to the entire LGBTQ community.

"[My girlfriend] has been go-go dancing in the queer scene for some years now, and then I've been performing for ten years. We kind of both have a following so we thought, why not do something ourselves?" said the rapper in a recent interview. "I had been previously throwing house parties where I would ... tattoo [people] and play new music, but my house is kind of limited on space. ... So we were like, 'Yeah, let's do it at a club, make it different, and see how it turns out.'" - East Bay Express


"San Francisco Chronicle"

When hip-hop artist MicahTron returned to Oakland after spending much of 2014 performing abroad, the conditions in the United States were ripe for her to embrace both an artistic and political awakening.
“It was right in the middle of the Ferguson demonstrations when I got home in February,” the one-named artist (pronounced Mee-kah-tron) says over a Jack and Coke at Oakland’s New Parish, where she frequently performs. “Having initially watched it from another place, I felt disconnected. Once I was back, it made me re-evaluate things and think about who was speaking for the community.” She steps into that role on her new album.
Over the past five years, the 27-year-old artist has built a dedicated fan base in the West Coast queer music scene with her dance-friendly tracks and take-no-prisoners raps. Among the most frequent adjectives used to describe the MicahTron sound (a mix of old-school rap and new-school beats) is “clubby,” one she hasn’t shied away from while booking festival and nightspot gigs. But now, the SF Pride fixture is ready to take her sound in a new direction.
Inspired during her months performing in Berlin, she’s created 40 new beats that have become the foundation for her self-produced new album, “Haven,” which the artist hopes to release in early fall. The thumping bass has been lowered and frenetic tempos of past songs slowed, all the better to focus on the lyrics in her raps. The performer has never shied away from potentially controversial subject matter in her work, but these new themes are some of her most overtly social and political yet.
“There’s one song I’ve been working on,” MicahTron says, breaking into hip-hop cadence. “I’m from a country where justice is killing kids/ and they wonder why we got no sense to give./ A belly of f— coppers cocking their guns/ and we forever on the run like the earth chasing the sun.” The new direction owes as much to current events in the United States as it does to her personal history.

MicahTron (originally named Tramicah Dempsey) was born in San Francisco to Pamla Moseley and grew up “all over the city.”
“We lived in Potrero Hill when I was really young, parts of the Haight. There was a lot of moving while Mom tried to make it work for my sister and brother and me.”
The family eventually ended up in the Hunters Point projects, where they were frequent targets of break-ins and stalking.

“It got so bad my mentor at the time, Shelly Erceg from the Hamilton homeless shelter, took my mom and I to a big banquet that President Bill Clinton was at. I was 10, wearing a white dress,” the butch-identified artist laughs, “and Shelly had me give this letter to him talking about our situation.”
Within a month, the family received a letter from the White House letting them know they would be relocated to a new community just opening on Treasure Island. “It changed our lives for the better, no question. Going from a place like the projects to somewhere so peaceful let me pursue art.”
Aside from presidential intervention, the other positive force that guided MicahTron during those years was her music. She names NWA, Snoop Dogg, reggae music and other artists and genres favored by her mother as the cornerstones of her early taste.
“I know I’m a West Coast rapper, but there’s a lot of East Coast guys that really got me,” she says. “I love the Southern thing of Jermaine Dupri and his crew. Jay Z was really big, I even listened to a lot of Bow Wow.” In junior high, MicahTron’s mother bought her a karaoke machine (“the kind with cassettes”) and almost instantly, the adolescent was laying beats, telling stories and creating mix tracks.
The grounding that music gave MicahTron also coincided with her coming to terms with her queer identity. As a junior high student she had her first crush on a girl and began to experiment with a masculine presentation.
“Baggy jerseys, big shorts, but then maybe a tight top or something that accentuated my curves,” she remembers. “I definitely took a lot of flack for it at first, especially from guys.” Although her family is now supportive, she admits there was initially some obstacles to full acceptance.
“Whether black or white, in highly religious families, being a queer person can be an issue,” she says. “Generally, black families are pretty religious. It was a process,”
From 18 to 21, she went by the stage name LadyNerd, playing small clubs in San Francisco and as far south as San Jose. It wasn’t until she performed on the main stage at San Francisco Pride in 2010 under the name MicahTron that her career began to gain traction.
“I was put in an early slot around 1 p.m. so the crowd wasn’t as big as it would be for the headliner at 6,” she remembers. “I booked it all myself. I never had a manager until last summer in Germany.” Nonetheless, early in the festivities, she remembers the response from the crowd as being overwhelmingly positive. “Pride was my ultimate moment to know I had to stick to it.”
For the next few years she played Gay Prides and clubs up and down the West Coast. When she was offered a chance to play a festival in Verona, Italy, that branded itself as Lesbian Woodstock in summer 2014, she jumped at it, even though she would have to pay her own airfare.
“We had it all arranged. I’d fly into Germany, then take the train from Berlin into Italy.” But a month before the planned festival, Lesbian Woodstock was canceled, leaving her with an open-ended plane ticket. After reaching out to a few club promoters and contacts in Europe, she was opening for the band the Internet in Berlin. From there, she steadily found work in the city, and was able to turn her Berlin popularity into a trip to Australia.
Although she describes her months abroad as a particularly fertile time creatively and professionally, she was troubled by events back in the United States, particularly the epidemic of police shootings. When asked to recall which shooting incident initially raised her consciousness, she struggles to remember.
“And that’s the problem,” she says pointedly. “There’s so many, who can keep track?”
Part of the focus with “Haven” is creating tracks (there are seven total in the works) that can be performed live, “so people can see inside my process, see I’m really creating original pieces,” she says, and also because she views her performances as her contribution to the protest dialogue.
“As a queer woman, I’ve already endured a lot of harassment for my masculine presentation. I’ve dealt with queer bashing, even in Oakland,” she says. “It’s usually when I’m out with a pretty girl and a guy feels threatened, but knowing that, I’m not going to make myself a target,” by joining the front lines of the anti-police violence protests.
While finishing work on “Haven,” MicahTron is also taking a temporary break from touring, with her next scheduled gig at the Pink Party on Saturday night in the Castro during Pride. She has plans to debut some material from the album at the performance, and once “Haven“ is completed, there’s a follow-up set of European engagements in the fall.
Among the tracks MicahTron shared from the album-in-progress is one tentatively titled “Distraction,” which contain the lyrics “Distracted by the money, distracted by the fame, living for more than just my Instagram name,” which she says isn’t just a commentary on the contemporary recording world, but contemporary life in general.
“‘Haven’ is going to have a lot of factual, real s— in it, so get ready,” she says. “What I’ve been through as a queer person and as a queer artist is going to be a big part of the subject matter. How I’ve been treated as an artist in America versus Australia or Europe. How I haven’t been treated as an artist. A lot of my music has had a club-derivative sound, but I’m ready to step away from that. I’m ready to be me.”
Tony Bravo is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: tbravo@sfchronicle.com - Tony Bravo!


"Micahtron @ Hugs and Kisses, Hamburg"

Micahtron LIVE @ Hugs and kisses!
Hamburg, Germany - Esshar Graphics


"Micahtron LIVE: Le Lieu Unique in Nantes France"

Wonder ground Invites Micahtron, Mc hors-paire de la scene hip-hop de San Francisco. - Wonderground


"Fusion Tv"

As with any music genre, hip-hop is constantly evolving to keep up with the values of its audience. The current struggle is how to incorporate more diverse and inclusive stories and themes in a culture that is infused with sexist and oftentimes homophobic lyrics.

In the last two years, Frank Ocean, Angel Haze and Macklemore have brought a positive LGBTQ presence to hip-hop music. In fact, even though hip-hop is notorious for being one of the most homophobic genres in music, doors are beginning to open for up and coming queer artists like San Francisco-based rapper MicahTron. - Amy Stretten


"Best of Culture 2014: Literary Lore, Public Works, Remastered Classics, and More"

Rap-tastic: MICAHTRON

The self-managed underground rapper—think Santigold meets Missy Elliott—is known for her fiercely electric live shows. In February, MicahTron opened for Girl Talk, and she is currently recording an EP with multi-platinum producer Anthony Resta, who’s worked with Elton John, Duran Duran, and Blondie. Check her out at the Elbo Room on June 28 for the Dyke March after-party and at El Rio on June 29 for Queerly Beloved.


Read more at http://www.7x7.com/arts-culture/best-culture-2014-literary-lore-public-works-remastered-classics-and-more#ezcXvuR8Fcwqzksg.99 - 7x7 Magazine


"MicahTron x KALW!"

Bay Area Beats: Micah Tron

By Chris Hoff

Listen
Micah Tron is a rapper born and raised in San Francisco. She’s a queer woman of color, but the hurdles she has faced go even beyond her race, sexual preference, and gender. She lived in a shelter after being displaced by Hurricane Katrina and a few years into her twenties, she was diagnosed with epilepsy. But she hasn’t let this stop her from pursuing her music career – she says it actually motivates her. After her nephew was born deaf, she learned sign language, and her latest dream is to make music for the deaf community. She spoke with reporter Lo Benichou about her story.

MICAHTRON:

When I was younger, my mom got me a karaoke machine for Christmas and I had been dying for it, too, and I got it and I was juiced and so I started…downloaded instrumentals from the internet, put them on CDs, and putting them into the karaoke machine and then rapping in my beats and making little cassette tapes.

I was trying to dabble into poetry because I was into the whole Def Jam on HBO thing. I was also thinking about journalism at the same time that’s why I went to New Orleans for, to study journalism – I wanted to be a writer, but music was really my passion.

So it was me and my sister and my other brother, and it was just us three, and my mom, she raised us all, by herself. I felt like she is the strongest woman I’ve ever known. She worked two or three jobs but we always stay fresh. We lived in the projects, but we always stay fresh!

“The Sky is Falling Down” was a song I wrote awhile back. Three characters, coming together – and they all have these trials and tribulations. People who come from that kind of background – the kind of background I came from, really – but, you know, there is a way to make it. I feel like I am the odd bird in my family.

There was one point we stayed in a shelter and I had a mentor who they assigned to me. And I feel like she opened up the whole world to me, because I lived in the projects and my family was so closed minded. I didn’t really get to see a lot of the city and so she took me to places like the DeYoung Museum, she took me to Crissy Field. I had never seen Crissy Field before in my life.

We did a lot of stuff – it was so mind-blowing. It opened my whole eyes to the city. I had never known, you know. Then she disappeared, I never saw her again. And I know that she was a lesbian and I think that may have impacted me somehow, too. I felt like I came out at two different times, one to my family was the most recent because my family is kind of small-minded and bias against a lot of kind of people. But before that, I was just doing me – everybody pretty much knew.

I always thought it was an opportunity. There’s not many lesbian rappers trying to really get out there. I moved around a lot. I actually stayed at my dad’s house for a while in Georgia. He came and got me before the hurricane hit. I was going to Dillard University and it was a week before the hurricane and I got displaced. It set me back so far.

I think I just now caught up to where I need to be, but as far as school-wise, they lost all of my information, my scholarship, my records and all of this so I was starting over really. I was with a friend and we were in my room and I just blanked out. And I blacked out. My friend said you know you really just had a seizure and you need to go get some help.

I saw the doctors and they put me on medication and I went from medication to medication and I felt like the medication made me sicker, so I stopped taking medicine. I am lucky that it hasn’t happened yet on stage. I am afraid it will happen but I try not to think about it. It was the Lil Kim show. That was my like, big boom of the year. I had been doing small club events and little stuff here and there for like non-profits and stuff like that, but when I got the opportunity to do that, I was stoked! I felt like I was priority. He called me for the opportunity – it was not something I applied for or that I tried to get, I was called up and I was her opener. I was the last person to go on before she did, so that was really cool. I’m working at a school called CEID, it’s a school for deaf toddlers and infants.

That’s one of my new ideas – I’m feeling like I want to make music for deaf people. They feel the tempo of the music and they feel the punch of the music but the sounds are different. It’s something they feel and internalize differently than other people because I feel like people who hear music don't really listen to music – they just hear it. They feel it, they boppin’ to it, but they don't really internalize the sounds, instruments, words everything that's inside the songs.

I feel like I want to do something like that to bring out the music in a song so people can see it from a different - KALW


"Broke-Ass of the Week: MicahTron + FREE Passes to Her & RYE RYE Sat. 8/3 @ Hard French!"

This week we sit down with local queer, hip hop/ rap artist par excellence, MicahTron, who is opening for RYE RYE this Saturday at the Public Works in Hard French’s all day, two-parter music/dance marathon. SF born and bred, she honed her craft in creative writing and music production. Now, however, she focuses her energies on raising the bar in music during some tenuous times for female rap artists. Check out more about her here.

Read more at http://brokeassstuart.com/blog/2013/08/01/broke-ass-of-the-week-micahtron-free-passes-to-her-rye-rye-sat-83-hard-french/#jhdfI6G0BSpE2sLq.99 - Broke-Ass Stuart


""Taking the Rap For Homophobia""

For many years it seemed hip hop was dominated by macho, gay-hating artists. There was no place for alternative sexual identities. Thanks to a more diverse range of artists working in the genre, that seems to be changing now.

Macklemore, Angel Haze, SIYA and Frank Ocean are part of the new generation of LGBT rappers whose lyrics deal explicitly with gay and lesbian themes. San Francisco-based rapper MichaTron is openly lesbian and has this to say about her oeuvre: - Kitschmix


"Cowboys in Silicone: Avant Couture w/ Bay Area Rapper Micahtron"

Cowboys in Silicone: Avant Couture w/ Bay Area Rapper Micahtron
Posted by ahdm4u in Issue 3 : ALL THE LADIES


AHDM4U celebrated the release of Bay Area rapper Micahtron’s newest single and video “Use it Like a Bumper” a few weeks back in one of our Wknd Updates — now we are hella stoked to feature Micah in her role as muse for Jim Zormeir’s meticulously crafted silicone fashion clothing line Company Cubed, or as he nicknames it, C3.

Michatron in Company Cubed

C3 lives somewhere between this world and a cybernetic universe of flowers inspired by Walter Van Beirendonck, Margiela and Michael Jackson. Zormeir also finds fuel for his molded creations from the Internet’s most creative young people — performance artist boychild, self proclaimed dark-wave avant-pop artist Metal Mother and LA rapper Brooke Candy.

AHDM4U and C3 joined forces to transform Micah into our futuristic space cowboy ready for a lyrical battle, obvs in neon green silicone chaps. This shoot also features model Carleigh Wamburg in a mask piece that Darth Vader’s club-going offspring would die for. It’s the future people. Plus, it all happened on a country Western themed saloon set in the Mission’s kink.com Armory.

Micah is currently in the works of writing and arranging a new EP, and looking to release her single “Bumper” on the local label Lé Heat by Sept 1st. But before we let you get to the photos, check out what Micah had to say about her fashion inspirations, and what can make being a female rapper in our current culture difficult. - AHDM4U


"MICAHTRON & SKYLAR – BLOOD, SWEAT & QUEERS TOUR"

MC artist MicahTron from San Francisco became popular with her fresh “old school soul and new school flow” in the international underground Hip Hop scene. Together with Canadian DJ Skylar aka Lisa Delux, they are now coming to Europe to spreading the BSQ movement and empower queer people around the globe. - EveWithoutAdam


"Rye Rye x Hard French + MicahTron !"

For her opening act on August 3rd, Hard French has tapped Bay Area queer rapper Micahtron, who has held down party cyphers for years on the strength of her dope, lyrics-forward stage presence. The two are joined by DJ sets from Hard French (Carnita, Brown Amy), queer hip-hop monthly up-and-comers Swagger Like Us (Boyfriend, davO), and long-running dance party Mango’s Olga T. - Amoeblog


"Changing The Game: 17 Female Rappers Who Should Have Your FULL Attention"

Micah Tron is a hip hop artist based in San Francisco and has already been playing over 200 shows, mostly around the Bay Area. In autumn we have posted the video for her grooving track “Bumper” which was shot in San Francisco and Oakland during the SF dyke march and the Santa Cruz pride, and it’s still one of my favorite posts from last year. During my research I found hout that Micah Tron just started a Kickstarter campaign for the recording and promotion of her debut EP, a 3-track-record that is yet untitled. A great opportunity to support an artist who has managed her career completely on her own from the beginning and deserves a push from the community. - Catch Fire


"San Francisco Bay Guardian "Hot Pink List" 2013!"

"In the Bay (site of many early LGBT hip-hop pioneers), queer rap shines: Monthly El Rio twerkfest Swagger Like Us and new party-on-the-block R U That Somebody spin vogue circles with 2 Chainz, and strong female rappers like Raw-G, Aima the Dreamer, and Micah Tron bang out sharp lyrics and catchy hooks." - San Francisco Bay Guardian


"J-Matic and Micahtron in the Studio"

Watch up and coming Bay Area artists, J-Matic and Micahtron, work on some new tracks in the following video. - Strictly Slaps


"BarTabSF x MicahTron!!"

It’s a Saturday, almost midnight, and the stacked speakers nearly scrape the ceiling at the Mission’s hottest new venue, Public Works. DJ Rapidfire makes a decibel-splitting introduction, and moments later the crowd twitches to cranking beats like a pulsating beefed-up muscle on Melky Cabrera’s backside as lesbian rapper Micah Tron (pronounced Mee-kah Trawn) instructs the packed room of hipsters to “back it up and use it like a bumper” while her larger-than-life artistic accomplice, Jocquese Whitfield, performs cartilage-defying vogue dips smack flat to the alcohol-sticky stage floor.
A San Francisco native in a city of transients, Tron grew up on the music of Snoop Dogg, The Gap Band, Missy Elliott and MC Lyte. Bouncing between neighborhoods and homes (sometimes no home at all), Tron eventually landed a scholarship and a mentor who introduced her to the world of artistic options. In ninth grade she inherited a karaoke machine with a microphone, and started filling in her own lyrics over popular hip hop beats – she recalls the first being Lil’ John’s “Get Low.” - BarTabSF


"YOTV! x MIcahTron!"

MicahTron's interview with YoTv! - YOTV


"Oh Blimey (San Francisco, CA) – “BassFace” feat. MicahTron (SINGLE + REMIXES)"

DJs!!! Download the entire pack of WAV’s for free here –> bit.ly/QqgeSs
A collaboration between two of San Francisco’s finest mc’s makes for a summertime smash on a bassed up banger produced by Ear Jerker. - Undergroundhiphop Blog


"Thank God it's Friday"

02. Mit ihrer “Blood, Sweat & Queers Tour“ ist die Rapperin MicahTron derzeit im Zeichen einer Queer Bewegung auf Tour, die am Freitag in Berlin Station macht. “Blood, Sweat & Queers is a musical experience & inviting space where people of all genders, nationalities & sexualities come together to promote freedom of self expression. Our goal is to create a global movement that embraces the queer culture and inspires us to stand for who we are.“ In diesem Sinne wird die Sissy Party in der Loftus Hall diesmal von MicahTron und der kanadischen Djane SKYLAR aka DJ Lisa Delux gerockt. Sissy Party: MicahTron & SKYLAR, 19. September 2014, ab 23 Uhr, Loftus Hall, Maybachufer 48, 12045 Berlin. - See more at: http://www.artschoolvets.com/news/2014/09/19/thank-god-its-friday-40/#sthash.hknkm24L.dpuf - Art School Vets


"Oakland Pride 2012 x MicahTron!"

“Pride (Main) Stage Located on 20th Street between Franklin & Webster Producer: Oakland Pride/John Eric Henry The Main Stage is the largest stage all of the stages and severs as a centerpiece for the Oakland Pride Event. The main stage features the most diverse performance, featuring local and international artist such as the rock band The Bruisers, the mallow sounds of Kinfolk Rhythm, and the soft Latin Jazz sounds of Caravanserai. Performance artists from The Oakland Ballet, San Francisco Cheer, and harmonics from such artists as Oakland’s Gay Men’s Choirs help to add seasoning to the afternoon event. The pacing and the journey of the main stage is perfect – with local DJs such as Micahtron, Blondie, and Mathew Baker bring the best blend of Old Skol, Urban, and Billboards top House and Club blends to the stage. Our headliner and International artist and performer Ce Ce Peniston will drive us home with an assortment of her well known and current sensational tracks.” - Oakland Pride


"Black Female Rappers"

Try not to move to this. We dare you. - Superselected


"San Francisco Bay Guardian Hot Pink List 2011 x MicahTron!"

Super-sharp MC Micah Tron has been rising through the Bay's hip-hop ranks with a deep electric sound and sexy come-ons. Check her out at www.soundcloud.com/Micahtron and peep her forthcoming EP "Jungle Music," produced by the HOTTUB crew. She'll be performing at the Crooked party at the Showdown on Friday, June 24 and on the Pride celebration main stage (www.sfpride.org) on Sunday, June 26 at 11:50 a.m. with her DJ Jeanine Da Feen. "Walking the streets of San Francisco inspire me, there's nothing like being surrounded by people who aren't afraid to be themselves. Our community could use more self-acceptance — we're beautiful people!" - San Francisco Bay Gaurdian


"PolaroidSf x MicahTron!"

If you haven’t yet heard of rising hip-hop artist MicahTron, listen up. This San Francisco MC is doing the Bay Area proud with her unique brand of queer-positive hip hop. And while her songs may have a queer bend to them, MicahTron’s infectious sound is all-inclusive. We recently caught up with MicahTron on her home turf of Treasure Island. - PolaroidSF


"YOTV! x MIcahTron!"

MicahTron's interview with YoTv! - YOTV


"Indie spirit: 6 female musicians keeping the flame alive"

Photography by Henny Garfunkel Text by Tony BravoSeptember 15, 2017 Updated: September 15, 2017 5:19pm

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Dulcinea Gonzalez (guitar) and Camylle Reynolds (bass), members of the punk band Midnite Snaxxx photographed by Henny Garfunkel at Amado’s record store and performance venue on Valencia St. Photo: Henny Garfunkel, Special To The Chronicle
Photo: Henny Garfunkel, Special To The Chronicle
IMAGE 1 OF 10 Dulcinea Gonzalez (guitar) and Camylle Reynolds (bass), members of the punk band Midnite Snaxxx photographed by Henny Garfunkel at Amado’s record store and performance venue on Valencia St.
The Bay Area has long been home to a vibrant music scene. Over the years, it has produced female artists like Janis Joplin, Grace Slick and Stevie Nicks and women-led musical groups ranging from the Pointer Sisters and En Vogue to the Donnas. Then as now, these women developed highly personal and sometimes outrageous style onstage and off. Photographer Henny Garfunkel captured six diverse Bay Area musicians amid the eclectic rock ’n’ roll decor at Amado’s (998 Valencia St.), a record store and venue with a mission to keep live performance alive in the ever-changing neighborhood. Meet Style’s women who rock.

Monica Pasqual, Temescal (Oakland)

Music has been a constant in Monica Pasqual’s life since the very beginning. “My earliest memories were of lying underneath a Chickering grand piano, and listening to my father play,” says the 56-year-old singer songwriter. The front woman for Blame Sally and Monica Pasqual and the Handsome Brunettesdescribes her musical style “as heavily vocal-based-Americana” and “indie-folk with a classical bent.” A six-time Emmy Award winner for music and five time Independent Music Award winner, Pasqual recently released a

remix of her song “You Can’t Kill Light,” which she wrote in response to the presidential election. She describes her stage style as “colorful, romantic, maybe someone might say a little tough, but definitely eclectic.”

Find her: Blame Sally is playing the Freight and Salvage in Oakland on Saturday, Sept. 16. www.blamesally.com. Monica Pasqual and the Handsome Brunettes are touring Europe in 2018. www.monicapasqual.com.

Hazel English, Pill Hill (Oakland)

After four years of living and performing in the Bay Area, Australian Hazel English has developed a dedicated following with her dreamy pop sounds. The 26-year-old musician says she finds much of her songwriting inspiration in poetry; Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes are favorites. “When I first came here, I really responded to the openness of the Bay Area,” says English. “I felt I could be myself here.” English, who looks for strong color combinations when she’s putting together looks for performing, also feels like the Bay Area music scene “has a strong community and a tangible sense of support. Other places can feel very competitive; I feel like people here want each other to succeed.”

Find her: English just released the video for her new song “That Thing” and is currently working on her next album. www.hazelenglish.com.

Lily Holbrook,

the Castro (S.F.)

Garfunkel knew she wanted to photograph Lily Holbrook after watching her busk on the sidewalk in the Mission District. The 40-year-old singer-songwriter’s music is influenced both by the greats of the ’60s and ’70s and contemporary alternative female artists like Tori Amos and Bjork. “I feel uncomfortable singing without my guitar,” Holbrook says. “It’s a 1970s Aria from Sears that belonged to my brother. He passed away when I was 16. It was something that shaped my life and my music a lot.” Wardrobe-wise, she describes herself as “a mixture of the Victorian era, the roaring ’20s and the ’60s and ’70s.”

Find her: Holbrook performs regularly at the Stanford Park Hotel in Menlo Park and is currently crowd-funding her next album. www.lilyholbrook.vpweb.com.

Micahtron, Fruitvale (Oakland)

Bay Area-born hip-hop artist Micahtron is not shy about expressing her queerness in her politically charged music (like her 2016 album “Haven”) or in her dapper-meets-street sense of style. “Everything I wear is more on the masculine side of the scale,” says the singularly named performer, who seeks out local designers for custom collaborations. “But I’m always trying to switch it up, especially for shows. I never want people to see me and think I look the same.” Micahtron is one of the few artists to have performed at the San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Salinas, Hayward and Sacramento LGBT Pride celebrations. “My look is definitely Bay Area and ’80s- and ’90s-inspired,” she says. “And jumpsuits are really my thing. Last year, I had a friend sew a Levi’s jean suit into a one-piece for me.”

Find her: Hosting “Bold” at Stud Bar in San Francisco every second Saturday. www.micahtronsf.com. - San Francisco Chronicle Style


Discography

Singles: Do Me, Use It Like a Bumper, Get Em'.

Mixtapes:
Phoenix: Rise From The Ashes (2012)
Paper Mache (2011)
The Invasion of MicahTron (2010)
The Artist Unknown (2009)
Experience Nerdizm (2008)

Photos

Bio

Queer artist born and raised in San Francisco, with not only a unique style but also a creative approach to music. Having gone from homeless, to low income housing to more recently traveling overseas. This artist has a old school soul, and a new school flow! MicahTron is always looking to push her image further and her sound to new heights.

With influences such as Janet Jackson, Missy Elliot, M.I.A, Nas, Common, Andre 3000, Digable Planets, Cee Lo Green and her all time favorite Santigold. She takes the core qualities of these artists and blends them into what she'd like to call Art in forms of music."I'm looking to empower people of who share a similar background, to simply be themselves. Set goals and fight to reach them no matter what gender, racial or religious obstacles you face." She states. Using her strongly art influenced background as a gateway to standing out, she takes the matter of her music into her own hands. Spending tons of time writing, recording, networking, and booking her own shows. She is her own team. 

Show Highlights: 
  • Unicorn Festival, Melbourne Australia. (2019) 
  • The Red Rattler, Sydney Australia. (2019) 
  • Main stage Oakland Pride. (2018) 
  • Future Sound Nightclub, Vancouver Canada. (2018) 
  • Opening Act: MIA @ The Fox Theater, Oakland. (2017)
  • Opening Act: Mykki Blanco Cakes Da Killa, Oakland. (2017)
  • Women's March on Washington, San Francisco. (2017)
  • Future Sound Nightclub, Vancouver Canada. (2016) 
  • Opening Act: LE1F, Oakland. (2016)
  • Opening Act: Kate Tempest in San Francisco@ The Independent (2015)
  • CryBabyCry in Veina, Austria (2015) 
  • New Years Eve & New Year Day: Red Rattler, Sydney Australia (2015) 
  • Opening Act: Shabazz Palaces in Munich, Germany (2014) 
  • Hugs & Kisses Magazine Party: Hamburg, Germany (2014)
  • Le Lieu Unique in Nantes, France (2014) 
  • Schwuz Berlin, Germany (2014)
  • Opening Act: The Internet in Berlin, Germany (2014)
  • Opening Act: Brenmar & Le1f in San Francisco (2014)
  • Opening Act: Cakes Da Killa in Oakland, CA (2014)
  • Opening Act: Girl Talk at The Independent SF. 
  • Best of The Bay: San Francisco Bay Guardian  (2013) 
  • Blow Pony: Portland & Vancouver, Canada (2013)
  • Opening Act: RYE RYE in San Francsico (2013)
  • SF Pride Dyke March : Castro & Market stage (2013)
  • Santa Cruz Pride (2013)
  • Oakland Pride Main Stage (2012)
  • Opening Act: LIL KIM in San Francisco (2012)
  • SnowGlobe Festival in Tahoe with HOTTUB (2011)
  • Opening Act: JEAN GRAE in Oakland (2011)
  • San Francisco Pride Main Stage (2010)

Band Members