Few can balance the duel energies of “sexual dynamo” and “intimate crooner” quite like Trev Handsome. Watching him straddle the piano in a harness and jockstrap while singing soulful renditions of self-penned sentiment is something that must be both seen and heard to be fully appreciated. And this summer on Fire Island, you can do just that! [Cover photo: Rico Kinnard]
Thotyssey: Trev, hello! I know this is a busy time for you. Lots to talk about, but are you excited for this season?
Trev Handsome: Hi! Hello! I am so excited to get out onto Fire Island and start my weekly residency at Ice Palace where I’ll be performing my music. Oh, and to spend more time in nature.
I got to hear a wonderful session of your music at the Svetlana Stoli-hosted show “Five Senses Sex-Tacular” at the Laurie Beechman Theatre. You played some intro music on the piano, and performed two original songs. Gorgeous!
Oh my goodness, thank you so much! That night was very magical; I feel like I’m slowly stepping more and more into my own on stage, and as a musician… so that night was a continued pillar of reminding myself I’m on the right path. It felt electric to perform, especially knowing their were some notable queer performers in the audience (Miz Cracker).
Your music is very melodic and personal, but you’re also unafraid to infuse some playful sexiness and fun with your attire (or lack thereof, etc.) while performing! Are you very conscious of these two energies happening at once while on stage?
Extremely. I think humans all tend to have a bit of polarization inside of us; it can take shape in many forms. But I have noticed my “two wolves” are one of extreme passivity and gentle sensuality, opposing a raunchy, leather, in-charge type of energy. I want to hold them both together during my shows as a way to honor my personal polarity… and also to show people it’s okay, and actually amazing, to hold space for multiple truths existing simultaneously.
It’s also something I tend to struggle with in the day and age of algorithms. I’ve noticed I’m rewarded by streams and likes when I play up my sexuality, so combining it with my ephemeral feelings and sonic landscapes seems a very essential use of my time in order to catch attention–and then hopefully sustain interest.
It’s not that it’s not genuine–it is. I’m totally a little leather piggy boy. However, it’s interesting to see people’s reactions when you combine it with the energy of the solitary writer and introvert.
Can you tell us a bit of your origin story? Where are you from originally… and were music, performance and queerness always a big part of your identity growing up?
I grew up in a small town called Mount Vernon, Washington–known for its annual Tulip Festival (we actually supply a good majority of the world with tulip bulbs). I started training in classical ballet, tap and jazz at the age of seven, and I was always doing musicals and competitions and choirs and any sort of performance art.
Queerness was always there, but had to be adjusted for the environment to keep me safe. I was, of course, outed anyway… because I was so obviously a flower. I taught myself piano during a particularly dark period of my youth, when people would throw backpacks at my head and chase me around calling me gay. I would find solace in libraries and practice rooms, and that’s sort of where the musician in me was born… on solitude.
That’s so sad! But I guess a lot of artists have similar stories.
I think, all things considered, I had it relatively easy–which is maybe not saying much. I remember seeing kids who were trans (though we didn’t have the language or understanding yet), and they were essentially social pariahs.
What brought you to New York, and to the nightlife scene?
I was, like many, growing up on films and music and culture that all had the same thread–they were coming from New York. I was able to visit about three years before I moved here, and I went home and wrote in my journal: if you’re still 23 living in Seattle, you are doing something wrong. Needless to say I got my ass a cruise line job as a dancer, saved some money, and within a year I got myself a small room in Bed Stuy. It was the scariest and best moment of my life, stepping off the airplane and coming here by myself.
Were you gogo dancing, fetish modeling etc. when you were here before you started performing music live?
Oh, absolutely! My first ever dancing job was at 19, doing a burlesque dinner theatre in Seattle called “Can Can Cabaret.” So me and sexy dancing go way back! [When I got to NYC] I did a little bit of everything, as everyone learns to do in this city. I was gogo dancing, doing BDSM performances in bars, and art modeling gigs. It was a great way to connect to these spaces, and understand what kinds of communities and people come to what bars. I think it was also a way for me to connect to the people in the bars before I just threw myself into singing my very personal work in front of strangers.
I bet people who first met you as this sexual “fuqboi” must’ve been floored when they first heard your angelic voice and lyricism! It must be interesting to have world collision moments of nightlife kink and indie music.
Yeah, its been sort of weird I guess. I always felt like I never really belonged to any world. Its like I’m too slutty to belong to the indie darlings, but then I’m not really making “pop” music to fully be one of the nightlife superstars. I used to feel really frustrated by this, but now I realize my space is the one I create for myself–and it’s going to have a little bit of everything I know and love. The fuqbois, art hos, back alley fucks with the high drama and theatre of the stage… that’s where I feel most at home.
Can you tell us a bit about what sort of things inspire your music, and maybe summarize what you’ve recorded and what’s out there?
Yes, of course. So I write and arrange my music, and I come from the school of Regina Spektor, Fiona Apple, Imogen Heap, Florence Welch, Bjork, and Tori Amos. I love these sort of narrative storytelling that takes mythical archetypes and arranges them as a way to understand your current reality, or parse through some emotional or mental situation.
My first album, released in 2022 called High Hopes, is my sort of bleeding heart hyper romantic piece. Everything is piano, vocal and string. I wanted to just lean in completely to this character of the lover who lays everything on the line, for better or worse. This was largely written during the pandemic, when I met my producer Jim Morgan who has been recording all my arrangements.
I’ve also gotten to work with Nightfeelings on a track called “Sweettalker.” He produces for artists like Kelela and Lafawndah, and is a long time collaborator with one of my favorite visual artists Jacolby Satterwhite. I have a feature on Jacolby’s upcoming album, though I’m not sure when it’s supposed to be released. But I was able to perform some of that work at the Format Festival around two years ago.
Have you had a favorite on stage experience?
Ooh, that’s a great question. I think so far, I had this moment recently at Club Cumming where I was performing an acoustic set of my music on the piano. During a cover of Bjork’s “Unison” I just became overwhelmed with this sense of disruption, hate, aggression and cancer that seems to be dividing humanity, and how I long for us to not lose our ability to connect. I then felt something that I can only consider a religious experience–a rod of lightning connecting from my crown through every muscle in my
body, blasting energy from my vocal chords and through my fingers, onto the piano. It was the biggest high I’ve ever felt in my life. I think it was just, like, the most present I’ve ever felt in my whole life.
That sounds like quite a moment! Let’s talk about a few upcoming gigs where such a moment might happen again. First off, on Tuesday, May 14th you’ll have a show at C’mon Everybody in Brooklyn. You’ve performed there before, right?
Oh yes, C’mon Everybody has sort of become my home base when it comes to performing. I’ve done probably three or four solo shows there now, and every time I get to sing there is a very special time.
And as mentioned earlier, you have a regular presence at Club Cumming. When might you be there next?
I’ll be performing there on May 17th with Noah Avidan for a queer folk music night.
And Wednesday the 22nd (8pm, no cover), you’ll begin your weekly residence at the Ice Palace on Fire Island for the spring and summer!
Yes, I am so excited about that! This has been a goal of mine for some time; I was waiting until I had enough solid material of my own and was ready for this step. I will be hosting an evening called “Leather Songs” where all patrons will be encouraged to come wearing their leather regalia… although you can honestly wear whatever you like. Just know I’ll be playing the piano in platform shoes and assless leather chaps. So if you’re feeling modest, just know I wont be!
Speaking of material… I understand that we’re gonna get to hear some brand new music from you very soon!
Yes! My second full length album entitled Ultramarine will be available on all streaming platforms July, 9th 2024. I have all the singles released: “Ultramarine,” “Lightyears,” “The Fool” and “Chaser.”
This album is about finding yourself. I’m 28, so I’m right in the middle of my Saturn Return. And as I was going through it, my whole life fell apart. I separated from my partner of three years, and I felt like I was going to emotionally and physically die. Every song was like a little life buoy to keep me alive.
This album is about someone who is ready to face themselves–all of themselves. But also not be so heavy about it… to find a sort of mythical hero’s journey approach to accepting the very humbling realities of what it takes to be a person, and live a life that is meaningful. Ultramarine was a pigment of color that was reserved for Cleopatra’s eye makeup, and paintings of the Virgin Mary… so it’s also about finding your divinity and spirituality through all the mess of life.
Is there anything else coming up for you?
I have one of my tracks from the album, a piece called “The Tree Song” which will be featured in a queer horror film coming out sometime next year. I’m also currently already working hard in the studio on a third album, and conceptualizing a couple of other music projects that have been sitting in my mind’s back closet.
Oh, and I will also be doing a solo show at the Beechman Theatre, hopefully to be premiered sometime in this coming fall.
All amazing! Let’s end with: what might your best advice be for someone with a unique sound who wants to “make it” as a queer recording artist?
Don’t worry about what anyone else is doing. Just go with yourself, focus on your craft and what makes your work speak. None of these constraints or comparisons we put ourselves to really help. Go with yourself, and you will go far.
Thank you, Trev!
Check Thotyssey’s calendar for Trev Handsome’s upcoming appearances, follow him on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, and stream his music on all available platforms.
Thotyssey 