I caught my first glimpse of Trannysaurus Rox at their very first show, an evening of wonder and debauchery at The Josephine. At the time all I saw was a horsewhip held high above the crowd and later pieced that recollection together with another of a bearded-girl in assless chaps. I didn’t know who they were and neither did anyone else, but I knew they were worth looking into, so I got in touch with the lead guitarist and asked about meeting him at their next show… ASAP. He got back to me ASAP, saying that they were playing a show “TONIGHT” at The Georgetown Liquor Company.

Georgetown is like a post-apocalyptic version of Capitol Hill, if Capitol Hill had been nuked by communists during The Cold War. The bar suited it’s surroundings and had the feel of a small cantina on the edge of demilitarized zone. The walls were blue & orange and even though no one was smoking, somehow there was a din of black shadow hanging in the air. It had two TV’s, each showing the movie Jurassic Park and I walked in just as Jeff Goldblum was saying “That is one big pile of shit-” an auspicious beginning.

Unless they were dead-ringers for horsewhips, I had no idea what anybody in the band looked like, but I figured that with a name like Trannysaurus Rox it’d make sense to look for some sign of gender-bending. It wasn’t long before I spotted a platinum-blond in a white wedding dress & matching fur coat, I knew she was the blond for me when I spotted her five-o’clock shadow.

The platinum-blond walked in with the bearded-girl in assless chaps and the two of them were setting down guitars and other equipment on the small stage (decorated with records from Manticore Stencil Art). I approached the blond and introduced myself “Hello, I’m from The Monarch… We might’ve exchanged e-mails earlier? I have a booth over there and would love to talk whenever you’re ready-” she followed me to a quiet corner of the bar, candle-lit and nestled beneath a display of venetian masks. I felt like I was on a blind date.

She could’ve taken a seat on the other side of the table, but instead sat on the bench next to me, resting her cheek on the back of her hand and smiling. Maybe it was because I’d just finished a pitcher of PBR and was already working on another, or maybe it was due to her great big eyes staring at me without any judgement or expectation, but I felt instantly at ease and immediately began asking questions.

“What’s your name?” seemed liked an appropriate place to start. “Kiyan Fox.” I managed to do a bit of research just before the show and followed with “Would that be the same Kiyan Fox who teaches Geomancy and is into the occult?” “Yes.”

Kiyan has been playing guitar for years in bands like Samara, a darkwave/metal band with an interest in Egyptology… While performing with T-Rox he becomes a character named Kinkita Trannimal, but off stage he’s a regular feature at Resurrection Sundays or Edge Of The Circle Books, providing tarot readings to the arcanely curious. Being a student of the occult myself I thought it prudent to ask “Are you familiar with Genesis P-Orridge?” Kiyan beamed and said simply “I love Genesis.”

I wasn’t really interviewing Kiyan, I was talking to Kinkita, an alter-ego separate from Kiyan, with a sensuality all her own. It made sense that she was a Genesis fan, in the mid 1970’s Genesis Breyer P-Orridge was a performance artist and sexual pioneer. When copycats like David Bowie were capitalizing on the notion of androgyny, Genesis was transforming into an openly hermaphroditic being. Not androgynous, not possibly a man or maybe a woman, but a true combination of man and woman as defined by the alchemical ideal. Kinkita is also pushing that boundary. I felt almost guilty thinking of her as a “she” so I asked what the appropriate pronoun would be “I prefer the term ‘heesh-‘” spelled “heshe.” The term is fitting, it accurately describes the concept of he+she… But I’ll be damned if I know how to conjugate it, so I apologize to both Kiyan and Kinkita for using non-gender-neutral prose.

The boundaries between sexes are at the heart of the band’s philosophy: “fuck more.” They’re a self described butt-glam band but when the mascara is stripped away their sound and soul are punk. I asked Kinkita what “fuck more” meant and she described it as a destruction of taboos… the establishment is fucked, so you might as well fuck shit up and when you think you’ve run out of shit to fuck, it’s time to think harder and fuck more. T-Rox wants to butcher, maim and ravage the standardized concepts of sexuality. No more taboos, no more boundaries and no more neatly defined roles of masculine versus feminine. The members of the band aren’t really drag-queens (or kings) in the traditional sense. They’re people, shattering the restrictions of gender and inviting their audience to do the same.

Which brings me to the band’s bass-player… the bearded-girl in assless chaps. Her given name is Ursula Stuart and like Kiyan she comes from a metal background. She works with T-Rox as Bruno Pterod (as in pterodactyl) and doesn’t really have a beard, but Bruno had one drawn-on his face with eyeliner. The show was free but performers were encouraging donations and Bruno was turning an empty pitcher into a tip-jar, decorating it with a long straw, topped by a tiny black schlong. “I found it in the street, it’s a casualty from a bachelorette party-” she said. “It needs a sign-” said a passing fan. Bruno settled on the phrase JUST THE TIP and was then encouraged by the passing fan to draw spooge coming out of the “I” in “TIP.”

As an artist I can’t help but leap at the chance to draw something risqué, so with Bruno’s permission I replaced the “I” with a spooging penis. It was too small to see, but that didn’t make it any less valuable. On the other hand, Bruno’s penis is not only visible, but on display. She was wearing a black strap-on dildo and it was with that same dildo that she made her first acquaintance with Nozomi Momo, the band’s 2nd-set drummer.

T-Rox works with two drummers, one for each half of the show, the 1st-set drummer introduced himself only as “Saint Dickless” and didn’t spend a lot of time talking to me. To be honest I can barely remember what he looked like; what color his eyes were, his hair color, or if he had hair at all. All I do remember is that he was wearing a denim jacket, had an insanely thick beard and that he seemed to have a warm & saint-like glow. I’m sure I can take it for granted that he had no dick.

Their 2nd-set drummer is Nozomi Momo (AKA Acid Panda, formerly of the band Anarchistwood) a gorgeous, exotic and incredibly savvy young woman from the hippest parts of swinging London. She hasn’t been in Seattle long, but has already managed to make front page news. She met Bruno at The Josephine show and made an impression by performing fellatio instead of offering the usual, informal handshake. The band fell in love with her and insisted she join. She’s a fire-dancer, a post-punk drummer, half Japanese, 1/4 Turkish, 1/4 Persian and 100% aspiring model.

Considering her eclectic background, I asked Nozomi about the character she plays on stage and I was particularly interested in her views on sexuality. “It’s not so much about sex as it is about freedom-” she said. I understood completely. Despite her seemingly promiscuous persona, Nozomi was as down to earth as the proverbial girl next-door. Her mother grew up in a Muslim country, where sex was virtually regulated by the state, the act of performing topless isn’t an invitation, but it sends a message to prudes everywhere… “Grow up.”

The show had already begun and it was time for Trannysaurus Rox to play.

30 years ago people were talking about Divine, but the sexual embodiment of today’s gestalt is Tony James, T-Rox’s lead singer. He’s a TV star, MC and auteur of international acclaim, performing with T-Rox (ostensibly) as Morgan Le Gay, Freckles Riverside and/or Gaydolf Hitler. I’m not sure if Gaydolf and Morgan get along, but that night it was Le Gay’s turn in the spotlight.