LCD Soundsystem, the recently reunited New York rock ‘n’ roll band has been keeping busy since their reunion. The band already announced an album for later this year, they recently performed on Saturday Night Live, and have also been touring extensively in their home city, but these aren’t the only notable actions from the groups since they’ve reconnected. Most recently, Gavin Russom, the band’s synth electrician (who joined the group officially during the recording process for This is Happening) publicly came out, telling Pitchfork and Grindr, in two separate interviews, she identifies as a transgender woman.
Russom explains she has been attempting to publicly come out for much of her adult life, yet she didn’t feel fully comfortable doing so until now.
“A lot of that felt like what happened to me. Over the last year and a half, I went from my trans identity being something I was in touch with and worked through in one way or another, to suddenly this shift where it’s on the front burner. Now it’s time to become a whole person,” she says in her interview with Pitchfork.
Although most of us in the music world weren’t privy to this information, during the band’s most recent SNL performance two months earlier, it already seemed as if she was hinting at her eventual announcement and was feeling more comfortable in her own skin. Skip to the 28:00 mark and watch Russom dance her heart out over James Murphy’s shoulder.
https://www.hulu.com/watch/1075856
Russom has developed a name for herself outside LCD Soundsystem, either under her solo act, Black Meteoric Star, or as a member of The Crystal Ark, a Detroit influenced electronic act. She told Pitchfork that she’s tried and failed to come out as trans many times throughout her musical career.
“I’m 43 and I can identify that once a decade, I made a concerted effort to make my trans identity known. That includes a period of time when I was a child in the ’70s, when I was going through puberty in the ’80s, and then several periods throughout my twenties, thirties, and forties. What makes this time different is that I’m in a stable moment in my life. Working with LCD Soundsystem all last year and then having a solid block of time off to focus on self-care was really important for me. This is what came out of that. I don’t like coming out so much as a term, but sometimes it’s the only way to say it.”
Russom is no different than others who have tried to come out to friends, family and the public as transgender. She has had fears about letting the world know, as the electronic scene can be close-minded at times, but the niche she’s found herself in is 100% ready to let her be herself. Besides talk of coming out, there’s a lot of interesting dialog in her interview, reaching from her childhood and our culture’s preconceived notions of just about anything we see as different. Through all this she hopes she can help silence some of the prejudices projected on the LGBTQ+ community and empower others to feel comfortable in their own skin like she now does.
We highly recommend you read the full interview. Russom shares her experience better than we ever could.
