Future Twin
Few folks have offered the narratives of truths & people’s histories that exist behind & well above the headline chronicles documenting San Francisco & the Bay Area’s trials & testaments of it’s citizens, their arts, challenges, struggles & triumphs in the face of numerous changes than the radical pop phenomenon Future Twin. Lead by the wide-eyed Jean Jeanie, the Future Twin musical platform is one that embodies a wealth of aesthetic disciplines that was originally founded upon the conceptual notion of embracing the individual that you want to become in the future NOW where those desired inward evolution for the better occurs in a constructive & inspired instant.
Unveiling the world premiere for the James Goode filmed video for “Mary” directed & edited by Jean Jeanie at San Francisco’s The Lab gallery featuring artwork by Xara Thustra & the dance ensemble of Bochay Drum, Ivy Jeanne McClelland, Femme as Fuck, Jason Storm along with Jean further illustrate & demonstrate the exaltation & infinite power of le femme above all binary codes & patriarchal rule of oppressive conformity in manners of spirit, body, talents & mind. The visual & visceral manifestation of Jean & her collective cadre of collaborators produced by Reto Peter via Berkeley’s Fantasy Studios arises from the speakers into a resounding & howling call to arms to embrace each other in a humanist manner of respect & love that our world is deficient of.
Future Twin dedicates the video for “Mary” to Marlo, LGBTQ peoples and two spirits where the camera lens from James Goode captures the kinetic installation of expressive motions & inclusive gestures that graciously move under Jeanie’s directorial auspices & Xara Thustra’s own creative & colorful aesthetics that are seen throughout The Lab. The momentum seen & felt in the visuals for “Mary” matches Jean’s lyrically delivery that revolves around a sayer, seer & speaker of truths without hesitation. The character of “Mary” can be heard elevated above the epithets & onslaughts of oppressive forces that shines with an enduring identity of power & purpose in the material world, reclaimed as Mary’s own lyrically described magical realm. Even the double entendre found in the song’s moniker of name play provides a new radical take on the Catholic/Protestant character/icon associated with the ancient notion of immaculate conception turns the eschatological subject of shaming women upside down by advocating human rights over outdated & obsolete ideologies. Future Twin’s anthem & artistic conception for the mega-single “Mary” praises the inifinite power of women, the power in choosing one’s identity accompanied with the resolve to not giving up in the face of persecution (in all forms) with the courage to call out the abuses of men & others holding on to the failed states of the phallocentric patriarchy’s sinking ship. Jean Jeanie with Future Twin, artists of all multidisciplinary mediums, dancers, writers, poetics, activists & more can be heard & seen here in real time making the future of their worlds & ours a better, brighter & more beautiful one for all to inhabit. “Mary” charges with realized rhythms & illustrious, ascending synths that elevates everything seen & heard in a femme forward fashion where the curtain of silence is torn with a torrent of harmonious vocals & song that seeks to restore the silenced with a voice that is loud & clear.
Read a transcript of our latest insightful interview with Future Twin’s own Jean Jeanie:
Future Twin over the years to now embraces something of a fearless adventurism that has seen a wealth of evolution & states of perpetual growth. How do you describe your own creative & passionate path thus far?
My creative path is to innovate and experiment. I believe that’s what the best art is supposed to do, and by art I simply mean the process of group or self-reflection. I wouldn’t describe myself as fearless, but I definitely try to live my life with courage.
What for you have been some of the biggest local social/political/aesthetic causes that have caught your heart & spirit lately?
Certainly the #MeToo movement is interesting and triggering because also me too, but it’s nice to see some good old social justice being served in terms of powerful people not getting away with treating other people like shit, despite #45 admitting sexual assault then being elected to 45th president, hopefully he’s the next one.
Interested in hearing more too about the inspirations that informed the shimmering & twinkling synth pop odyssey “Mary”.
People having the guts to speak and live their truth is mainly what inspired “Mary”. It’s named after someone who does just that. That kind of spirit can take many forms, from speaking up against injustice when it’s scary or dangerous to do so, to knowing yourself and living authentically, but also being true and able to admit fault. I call it courageous vulnerability. As an adult socially conditioned under patriarchy, it takes courage to cry.
Give us some behind the scenes look at the making of the visuals for “Mary” at SF’s The Lab with Xara Thustra’s art work & your dance moves alongside Bochay Drum, Ivy Jeanne McClelland, Femme as Fuck & Jason Storm that you personally dedicated to Marlo, LGBTQ peoples and two spirits.
Nothing was scripted or rehearsed [laughs], I’m sure you can tell. The mega talented visual artist Xara Thustra gave a 10-year retrospective show at The Lab gallery in San Francisco. Xara was gracious enough to let me come back after the opening and film a music video. So I invited some friends to join me, and others spontaneously joined after visiting the show and finding us twirling about in a rainbow prism dancing and kissing each other, that’s basically all we did for an afternoon, laughed danced and kissed. In a way I just wanted this video to be a document of a group of artists in a certain time and place, who are friends, enjoying themselves and feeling free to be affectionate.
Also I’d like to add that this video coming out today is relevant to #MeToo in that Xara makes and writes #StopMen on tons of artwork and clothing and I’m so inspired by people advocating and creating opportunities for more justice in this world and I sincerely hope that people everywhere start to hear more women, hear our stories, and back us up. I’ve been strangled by past boyfriends for wanting to go out without them, for not being submissive and doing what they want me to do. “Mary” is the name given by, probably, white Christian men to a woman who was supposed to have a baby without ever losing her virginity it’s absolutely ludicrous this double standard maybe I’m ranting a bit but this is a dignified rage; #MeToo is a wave and Mary was not a virgin.
To all men everywhere I want to say this: we are all socially conditioned under patriarchy. We all have an obligation, a duty, to recognize this toxic aspect of this society and actively do everything we can to subvert it and dispel it. Hold space for women. Listen and respect them. Don’t talk over them. Don’t make assumptions about what they think or feel. Ask women. A lot of these issues of power and dominance also stems from body size and being small, as many women are smaller than men. So it’s not entirely a gender issue, but also a body size issue. #StopMen Thanks Xara.
And the worst part about being abused is when your friends witness it in various capacities and do nothing, especially don’t back you up. It’s like collective gaslighting. So I hope more and more of us are waking up to the reality that this kind of behavior is crazy normalized at this point and so many women have been silenced because of it. Part of why I make music is to give women a voice, and I happen to be one, but also to observe what is happening and try to be a conduit of stories that don’t often get heard. It’s important to amplify these things, both for diversity’s sake but also for our collective imagination. A crisis of the imagination occurs when one homogeneous group dominates the narrative. In terms of music and media and storytelling in general, it’s been way dominated by men for way too long, and when a woman puts forward a narrative that she would like told, far too often men threaten, both physically and emotionally, to get said woman to bow to him, to go along with what he wants, instead of respecting women or smaller people and giving them space. Enough is enough. Truth be told, tell it truth seekers. I am under no illusions. And so I dance.
And people who abuse their power, body size, economic, racial or otherwise privilege to exploit, control or dominate, let it be known, we’re coming for you.
Identity is honored in good time. I don’t give up.
Other non-binary, femme artists locally & internationally that are currently inspiring you?
Thea Matthews, a poetivist in SF, and I have been collaborating and she’s teaching me a lot. We recently performed at Clarion Alley Block Party, a free DIY music festival put on for the people by the people of San Francisco, to create more public art in the city. My friend Marlo just helped open a radical bookshop in SF, 34 Trinity Arts & News, and is one of those people with dripping with integrity. Ivy Jeanne McClelland and Femme as Fuck inspire me to be me, ’cause that’s exactly what they are doing. I recently played an art museum for international artist SWOON, who is a contemporary of Xara, and asked to do a music video inside her two floor 20-year retrospective show. She said yes! That one’s gonna be massive. SWOON’s incredible. I absolutely love how she honors people who don’t often get the respect or attention they deserve. Another Ivy, Ivy Anderson, and another fellow San Franciscan, writer and musician, encourages me to always challenge my assumptions and to call out bull shit when I see it, to recognize my own bullshit too.
What are some of the challenges right now for the Bay Area DIY progressive art scenes from your perspectives?
Artists not being able to afford to fail is definitely a problem that perpetuates this current crisis of imagination. As the commodification of space continues, and bad systems continue to drive up cost of housing, people and artists have a more tenuous grasp on stability and less free time, so they cannot afford to fail, and thus then they cannot afford to experiment. So more and more of the art is safe, commercial, essentially meaningless, just another precious object or pat on the back performance. Art that expresses nothing really, just kind of making fluff…
Future Twin is always on the move, tell us about your current NYC tour & what/who you are excited about seeing/hearing/experience.
Well I’m very fortunate to have some dear friends currently in NYC, many of whom are SF expats. My buddy Mike G is touring with me out here, playing guitar with Future Twin, thanks Mikey! Another dear friend, Leif Anders, his band BLED is touring with us as well, and Leif is a total crooner. Thanks for hooking it up Leif! I’m always stoked to see what the artists at Superchief Gallery are up to, especially in terms of experimentation, Ed Zipco never stops. I’ve never been to DC but apparently we’re playing this spot called the Bathtub Republic. I don’t have a bathtub in my tiny shoebox appointment so I’m hoping to just walk into a sea of tubs and start splashing in no time. The Philly show is at a fest called “Great how’ve you been” and is apparently in the woods I don’t know what to expect but I’m looking forward to exploring.
Also stoked to see what my buddy Billy Alletzhauser and I come up with for filming this video in SWOON’s art show, We’re filming in Cincinnati, and playing a show together while I’m in town. Cincinnati has always maintained this kind of tragic beauty to me and I’m hoping I can do her and her people some justice in documenting the place. I lived there for about 10 years before coming to San Francisco.
The future for Future Twin?
Definitely more free-stlye dancing, I’ll be doing that until the day I die if I’m able. Next music video will probably be for a song “Calling All the Lost Boys” (as yet unreleased) with photographer and director Ivory Serra, and art directed by my friend and dopple-ganger Marta. My buddy from San Francisco Suicide Club, Miles DeIaco, played bass on that tune and helped produce it. I’m excited about this leg of the trip, the filming part. I’m inspired by the film Dreamstates directed by Anisia Uzeyman starring Saul Williams. It was a combination of tour documentary and augmented fantastical reality. Nothing was scripted there either, but rather culled and caressed from the given moment. I’m still hoping to get my hands on a short-throw projector (they are $$$) so that I can make more guerrilla films and show them during performances. Film is such a fantastic medium for expression, at least that’s how I’m feeling about it right now.
Meditations & mantras for 2018?
Have courage.
Take care of each other, that one’s from my Mom.
And if I may, I’d like to offer up a little tidbit from my friend and fellow artist Scott Fryxell, that I feel aptly describes a lot of people’s justification these days for spouting hate speech masked as free speech—Just because your life is hard doesn’t mean you get to be ignorant.
Catch Future Twin via the following east coast tour dates:
November
09 Brooklyn, NY @ Union Pool*
10 Philly, PA @ Great how’ve you been FEST
11 D.C. @ Bathtub Republic*
21 Cincinnati @ Listing Loon
*w/ BLED
Full details at www.futuretwin.com/tour.
Listen to more from Future Twin via Spotify.
