Festival Interview: OutMusikFest Is Coming Out! Are You Ready?
We are living in a world that feels on the cusp of either finally going for the healing it has always claimed to want or giving into the darkness it has always refused to claim but acted upon. Hence, now more that ever, we need festivals like OutMusik Fest; aimed at bringing disenfranchised, oppressed communities, like the LGBTQ, to remind the “unseen” they are represented and respected. On October 11, NATIONAL COMING OUT DAY, Raymix and Georgel are heading a list of phenomenal artists that ARE either out or known allies of the LGBTQIIA. The day promises to be filled with great music, raw chats, and a look-back on a community’s history that is not often enough recorded or valued.
Diandra: How are you in these times?
Georgel: We are good. This catastrophe has pushed us into a time of reflection. We are just getting ready all the performers, and on outmusik.com, you can see all the great perfumers coming like, Karol G and Esteman. It is going to be a great time for spreading consciousness.
Georgel, Nanpa Básico – Adrenalina (Official Video)
Diandra: Do you think the pandemic has made people more sensitive?
Georgel: Yeah! I think people are more sensitive, and this is a festival to reflect what is happening to us as a world and what has happened to us as a community. We want to create a platform for the artist and the audience to grow; this is a perfect time, even though a tragic one, for reflection.
Raymix: I think that there has not always been too much clarity on how people who are different live and how mistreated they can be, and, now more than ever, we are, as a collective, reflecting and seeing how “the other” lives. So, we, as a community, have really fought to show the world that we exist, and tell them that there are artists that are LGBT. A lot of artists aren’t out or outspoken about being a member, and we want this festival to show the world we exist.
Diandra: is there something you wish the industry said more about LGBTQ community?
Raymix: I wish that the industry said that we are as important and valued as heterosexuals. I wish what we have to offer and give was more appreciated and respected. I think in genres like Regional Mexican music or Urban, it is a known that it is a very patriarchal world and could be very homophobic; so there is a hesitance to collaborate with LGBT artists. I wish there was a Reggaeton track that sang to lesbians falling in love or a Cumbia that involved two men kissing. I wish we were more reflective of all forms of love.
Georgel: Agreed! I think that our community is fighting to participate and open a world that is closed to us. I think that this festival opens people, from all different camps and industries, to see that that LGBT community is apart of the world. People still have so many prejudices, and I feel this festival and its work shows everyone that we can work and be apart of this world.
Raymix, Paulina Rubio – Tú Y Yo
Diandra: Do you have a message that has stuck with you that empowered the LGBTQ community?
Georgel: The day I got married, we have a 4 year old daughter now, and my husband told me that the love between two men is so important and powerful and strong and beautiful and that it can even be even truer than someone of another sexuality or identity. That stayed in my mind because I felt what he said was not only in love but in activism. In my work, I am always trying to maintain that: a level of activism and love that invites people to our world.
Raymix: I think the biggest message I ever realized, in my life, is when I fell in love with my best friend. Falling for him, showed me I was gay. But I have had so many experiences where I have received a message from life.
Georgel: A massive inspiration in my music has been my experiences, and pushing our community to celebrate life and love without fear. I think that Outmusik Fest is bringing the stories of love and the pains that we have suffered for our love to the forefront. I think that, growing up, Raymix and I never had that. We didn’t have the stories or a space or moment where we could hear and tell them. I want the new generations to feel represented.
Diandra: So do you see this festival like a beacon of optimism for the LGBTQ community?
Georgel: Definitely! I think it represents the world we want to see. Where members and allies are uniting to hold and lift each other up, and I think that optimism in and of itself.
Raymix: I think is about visibility of both our members and our allies. Showing the world that we can unite and rise each other. I can’t wait for October 11 to see all of us express ourselves.
Diandra: Any artists of the LGBTQ community that you really admire?
Raymix: Juan Gabriel! Although he never came out, specifically, as a member, I just think his force and energy to be so loving and compassionate, and then how he transferred it unto the stage was so impressive.
Georgel: I got the opportunity to meet him, and beyond the marvel that he was as an artist, it was wonderful to see his elegance as a person. He was so graceful and commanding as a spirit. Truly Divine! Also, I really admire Jonathan Van Ness from Queer Eye. He doesn’t mold to any gender or identity, and he has completely manifested his own way of looking and talking and being, which is admirable. He really breaks stereotypes even within our own community.
Georgel – Demasiado Bueno (Official Video)
OutMusikFest is ABSOLUTELY FREE! All you have to do is go to outmusik.com, subscribe/RSVP, and a link will be sent to you to join the festival on the day of, and you will get the opportunity to donate to two foundations that mean so much to Georgel and Raymix: It Gets Better Project and The Trevor Project. It Gets Better promotes coming out stories, and The Trevor Project fights to end the suicide in the LGBTQ community. For a community that has been and is being so beaten down, it is nice to know that there is a festival, OutMusik Fest, that reminds being a member of the LGBTQ community is something to be proud of because not many communities can say they have been so brave for love.
