Dream Girl (alternate cover + lore)

This photo was taken on the day of my name-change ceremony, from Claire to Clear. I was living in a communal house just South of DTLA, early 2019, with a beautiful group of activists, artists, healers + their dogs. I lived here for the duration of the writing and recording of the Qleer album; this was the beautiful backyard.

On this day, I felt so nauseas I couldn't handle the feeling of clothes on my skin, so when it was my time to go out, I pulled the curtain off the curtain rod, tied it around my waist, and hobbled out to the ceremony. After eloquently orating, Nabiro pricked my skin to draw blood (as an offering to the earth to seal the ceremony) but no blood came out. They tried again and again - I did not bleed. Moments later, my body offered vomit instead, to the base of the tree. My DNA was cast. Here I stand beside it, glowing in the sun just afterwards, basking in the relief of purging what I was no longer meant to hold.

This song, Dream Girl, is about a non-binary artist who lived upstairs at this house, who I had a maaassive crush on - Tigre "Bailando" Mashaal-Lively. They stick-and-poked the trans symbol tattoo onto my right hand after our whole household went out to this queer rave, and I decided I wanted it spur of the moment the next morning. Tigre left this world of their own accord a couple years ago, and I'm grateful to always carry them with me, both on my skin and in this song <3

This is another piece of my story - thank you C.Y. Lee for Executive Producing this album, and for encouraging me to take this space to share my narratives and create these time-capsules around my life and art.