Thammarat, aka Brennan Connell, is a 22-year-old Thai American singer, songwriter, and musical activist from Maryland. His work lies at the intersection of music, politics, and queerness, and he is particularly interested in using his music as a tool for social change, radical love, and queer/AAPI visibility. He strives to embody a socially engaged practice that involves performing music and writing songs that not only showcase but also celebrate the incredible diversity and richness of the LGBTQ+ experience.
At the heart of his practice is a profound belief in the transformative power of musical expression. By offering alternative stories that center queer love, joy, excellence, and resilience, he seeks to challenge dominant narratives that would otherwise try and define his existence solely through oppression and trauma. His ultimate goal is to show people who believe the world is better off without his community—or who insist that change is unnecessary—that their lives are, in fact, more beautiful and more vibrant because communities like his exist in it.
His hope is for us all to one day inhabit a world that sees every individual member as important, beautiful, and critical to our survival; a world that treats people on all areas of the LGBTQ+ spectrum with respect and dignity and celebrates them because of their ‘differences’ (which in time may no longer be differences but simply normality); and a world where young aspiring AAPI musicians may see themselves represented in music and the cultural conversation.
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