I think the earnestness of what we're saying and what other bands like us are totally saying - or other queer bands - is 'We exist.' Ben Hopkins More Quotes by Ben Hopkins More Quotes From Ben Hopkins You can't deny who you are, so you might as well be yourself in the most authentic way. Ben Hopkins be-yourself yourself you way I'm a freewheeling flower-child falling down the stairs constantly. Ben Hopkins constantly falling down stairs I think that our work and our music stands on its own without this knowledge about our identity around it. But I also think that we very consciously decided not to hold back that part of ourselves, but to be very vocal about who we are, kind of what experiences we've had in life, and how we identify. Ben Hopkins music work life knowledge I'd say, at the end of the day, you know, from a songwriting practice standpoint, you write songs to make yourself feel something true and validating, and cathartic, maybe, and then whoever responds to it is, like, out of your control. Ben Hopkins yourself feel day you When you're a queer person put in the spotlight, you're supposed to have all the answers. Ben Hopkins person you spotlight answers We're not writing songs to solve a cultural problem. The goal for us is to express what we're going through, and it's great if people find commonality in that. Ben Hopkins great problem writing people I'm in a car so much on tour that I often just ask my friends to DJ and ask them what they like. That's the best way I discover music. Ben Hopkins best friends car music Ben Hopkins is a very nervous, neurotic kind of person who is afraid of not being liked by people all the time. But, Monster-Me doesn't know who those people even are. Ben Hopkins person know time people If you listen to PWR BTTM, or to Gloss, If you look at me on stage, it can make you feel less alone. It makes you feel like you're a queer person and you have this singular power, but it's not like we're a brand. We're just real. Ben Hopkins alone me you power When fringe groups gather, there is power in that. Ben Hopkins gather fringe groups power There is power in organization. There is power in a community. People have always wanted to destroy communities. Ben Hopkins community organization power people Queer is invincible because people have tried everything - haven't they? What haven't they tried to do to queer people? And horrible things happened. But you never stop, because it's the truth of who you are. Ben Hopkins never you truth people The most radical thing about our lives is getting to be in a visibly filled-out queer crowd every night. Ben Hopkins crowd every about night Is punk dressing up in leather jackets? No. It's having a counter-cultural perspective. Ben Hopkins dressing leather punk perspective PWR BTTM fans dress up better than we do. Ben Hopkins dress better up fans Creating a safe space at our shows isn't encouraging anything. It's just saying thank you. Ben Hopkins saying you space thank-you For me, choosing to perform in drag, because of all the things I enjoy about it, is a political act. Ben Hopkins things me enjoy political What we do is provide a suggestion. We say, 'We're queer. We're going to do this; we're going to open up the space to queer thought.' People don't have to show up, but they do. Ben Hopkins say thought space people People who pigeonhole us for our queerness are not people I'm interested in knowing. They're so boring. How dare you be so boring? Grow up. Get some Ray-Bans. Ben Hopkins grow you boring people Rather than writing about my experiences with other people, 'Ugly Cherries' is the first song I've ever written about myself. It's a confrontation: an attempt to unpack my own queerness with humor and self care. Ben Hopkins myself self song people
