Sydney-based DJ Paisley Heart has just released their debut single, Lavender Scented Gentlemxn, an experimental electronic track which draws inspiration from both 18th century gender benders and the queer kinksters of today.
It’s a daring debut by the artist—one which incorporates their skills as an accomplished DJ with their experiences hosting sex-positive parties across the country.
“It was a really fun, experimental journey,” Paisley Heart tells Not Safe For Queers. “Through DJing, I really got obsessed with editing songs to make them sound a bit more unique so that people aren’t just hearing the same old songs all the time. And as time went on, they were slowly getting more and more quote, unquote ‘original’.”
After three years of mixing music, Paisley’s opportunity to make their own original track presented itself. “A friend of mine who’s a well-known music artist in Australia owed me a really big favour, and I was like, get me in the studio for a day. And it was such a fun, edgy day, you know, to commit to making music with someone who is a properly established artist,” they explain.
The end result is a track which very distinctly approaches a taboo topic from the artist’s playful perspective—a move which was inspired in part by the likes of Tyler, The Creator (and others) who craft entire worlds within their releases, and in part by Paisley’s position within Sydney’s kink scene.
“I love artists like Tyler, The Creator and Kendrick Lamar, and how in each album cycle, they bring in a new character, a new archetype. And I saw Tyler when was doing his whole Igor thing with, like, the blonde bob, and suits and pastel colours, and I was just admiring the world that he created. And I was like, oh I would love to do that,” Paisley says.
“Then, when I first heard the term lavender scented gentleman (a slur from the 18th century for gay men), I was like, oh I want to embody that. Like, I love the idea of these very faggy looking men wearing all these suits and frocks and whatnot. And when I was thinking about it, I was like, well that’s one half of who I am—this more flowery, soft lover.”
They continue, “But I loved the idea of these men having, like, fetish outfits on underneath. So that was the visual world. And given that I run these sorts of parties [Rave Temple], I wanted to create a sound that really represent what happens at them. I wanted to bring in the real-life experiences that we have that are usually quite behind the veil and give them airspace in the world.”
Yet, this window into the kink scene that Lavender Scented Gentlemxn provides is merely a glimpse of the ever-growing desire that many queer subcultures have for such parties. “It feels like we’re currently in a renaissance. The queer scene is oozing with creativity and expression, and a hunger for these sex-positive queer experiences—and it is truly queer: all genders, all bodies, all ethnicities.”
Ultimately, through Paisley’s work—whether that be as a DJ, an event coordinator, or a newfound recording artist—they’re able to provide a platform for queer expression in a society that often condemns it.
Paisley Heart’s debut single, Lavender Scented Gentlemxn is out now.