Buzzing to bring you the UK premiere of ‘Buzz Cut Blues’ by Desert Mambas! Out today on Kill Rock Stars Nashville. Settle in for warm ode telling a tender tale of the absurdity of transphobia in public – a triumphant response to the jeers and comments of the clueless and the ignorant, the ones who cannot see their incidental affirmations when they cannot properly put gender into a little box
Haircuts can play such a crucial role in queer identity. Buzz Cut Blues is an ode to that pivotal first queer haircut – a moment that can be equal parts liberating and absolutely terrifying.
The track Buzz Cut Blues means a lot to me because it was the catalyst to finally releasing music as Desert Mambas. I had been toying with this project for years but was too afraid to show people songs featuring my own voice. I was always more comfortable writing songs for other people.
Desert Mambas
The past few years I’d really given myself space to explore my trans identity, and with that more space to explore my voice and what it was like to sing songs about my own lived experience. Buzz Cut Blues was the first song that I didn’t want someone else to sing because it felt too personal and specific to what I was experiencing.
For the music video, I worked with my wonderful partner Penelope. We drove around LA and tried to capture stereotypically masculine imagery –– cowboys, barber buzz cuts, lumberjack statues, etc. The song and video are supposed to play with the idea of masculinity and what it means to be a “man.”
Desert Mambas’ is the nom-de-plume of Foxx Bodies guitarist Bailey Moses. ‘Buzz Cut Blues is a nod in name and spirit to the classic Leslie Feniberg book “Stone Butch Blues”, a history felt deep in the bones of the song.
LOUD WOMEN 