“The world probably isn’t ready for a guy like me,” says trans singer Joshua Klipp, who made musical history on his self released EP Patience by singing in both his pre- and post-transition voices on the R&B track “Little Girl.” Klipp says he was terrified that his transition would destroy his voice and he searched for medial studies about the effects of testosterone on female-to-male vocal chords. Finding none, he enlisted the help of Dr. Edward Damrose, a throat specialist at Stanford University, who monitored Klipp’s physiological changes and its effects on his voice. Dr. Damrose plans to publish his findings.
“It’s funny because now everyone says, ‘You’ve got a great voice.’” Klipp says. “[But] I [used to have] this perfect pitch. I had a pitch in my head and it would just happen… and all of a sudden that muscle memory was just shot... I’m still working with how that actually feels… and I’m still getting used to it.”
Klipp is a bit of a Renaissance man. In addition to his musical endeavors, the trans man holds a degree in law, teaches dance, directs the San Francisco Bay Area hip hop dance company Freeplay, provides promotional photography for local artists, sits on the board of directors for Youth Speaks and he founded San Francisco Bay Area Artist Development and Support (www.myspace. com/cutelittlewhiteguy) to help artists develop business infrastructure.
The San Francisco singer, who is in his early thirties, says the latter project is something he devoted a great deal of time to during the initial part of his transition. “I didn’t know if I would be able to be the artist. So I made a commitment to myself that if I can’t be it…I’m going to take all that energy and put it towards getting other people out there and…supporting their art in whatever way I can.”
Klipp originally recorded “Little Girl” about five years ago, but recently enlisted songwriter Kristopher Cloud in pairing those female vocals with Klipp’s masculine verses, so that the song becomes a soothing lullaby from his male self to the girl he was.
“The whole process of letting go of that voice that I used to have was such a hugely emotional experience for me, that singing along with it with my current voice kind of felt like a resolution.”
Klipp says openly gay African-American producer Cloud and his studio engineer Ashley Moore—who founded the all transgender gospel choir Transcendence—made the emotionally draining experience of recording “Little Girl” possible.
“[It’s critical] to know that I’m in the recording booth but the people who are in the other room are not judging me. And I just wish that it got out there more [about] this really talented, awesome team because it’s not just me putting this together. [They’ve] made all this possible.”
Klipp doesn’t expect mainstream success, but says maybe in 20 years the world will be ready for a trans rock star. “And then,” he says, “I can say I paved the road.” In the meantime, Klipp says, he’s just thrilled that trans guys around the world have expressed gratitude for his song.
“Just getting that kind of response from people is awesome. Ever since I was a kid—ever since I could speak, I wanted to be a singer and maybe it’s not the perfect situation but I’m doing it. I’m making the best situation with what I have and I’m changing people’s lives and making a positive impact.”
Klipp believes that trans musicians are changing the music industry by challenging notions about “what a female singer is supposed to be like or what a males singer is supposed to do or how he’s supposed to behave or what he’s supposed to sing about.”
“I didn’t go into music largely because of gender stuff…[because] there’s real stereotypes around what female singers are supposed to do and sound like and look like and I just didn’t fit any of those and it made me miserable. I tried doing school musicals in high school…and I hated it. You know, you’d have to be some airheaded chick, you know, singing about how much you’re in love with some dude, which was so wrong on so many levels.”
Trans writer Jacob Anderson-Minshall can be reached at jake@trans-nation.org
