Growing up gay in the early 2000s, I often felt like I did not belong. The real world seemed hostile, dangerous, and unloving towards people like me, and thus, I turned to the worlds of fantasy, magic, and music for security and comfort. I found shelter in the lyricism of the Barbie Cinematic Universe and the narratives of young protagonists searching for their place in the world. I sought to embody the confidence I saw in those heroes and heard in the songs they sang, yet never believed in my ability to carry forth their ideals into the world. 

My decision to try and make a career out of my music crystallized following a series of performances I did honoring Matthew Shepard, a young man from Wyoming who, in 1998, was brutally murdered by two men for being gay. In 2018, the LGBTQ+ youth choir I was singing with, GenOUT, performed at the interment ceremony where Matthew’s ashes were officially laid to rest. A year later, I sang the entirety of Craig Hella Johnson’s Considering Matthew Shepard alongside the Interlochen World Youth Honors Choir. Then, on December 2, 2019, I returned to the National Cathedral to honor Matthew’s life and legacy as a soloist at the official plaque dedication ceremony. 

Representing my communities and raising my voice on an international stage was the catalyst I needed to take the next step in my music journey. Even during the COVID pandemic, when everyone went into lockdown, I found ways to make music and hone my craft. 

My mission is to create music where people like me get to be the hero. As a gender expansive, Gaysian American who once escaped into fantasy to survive, I know how it feels to live in a world that discourages you from expressing yourself. I want the experience of my music to be the opposite. When people listen to my music, I hope they can experience whatever they need to feel in the most authentic way possible.