In Bed with Leroy | Pop-Electro Band Dragonette (Martina Sorbara & Joel Stouffer)

Written by Leroy Wan

Dear Readers,

Every Thursday, Yours Truly, goes out into our own vast Vancouver and hand-picks you a hungry unlicked cub starving for stardom. Maybe a pack of potential pop-stars in the making, ready to pounce on any stage, once they get a chance.

Well, this Thursday, what I just said was a huge understatement. So for such a statement, Mama Leroy’s going to have to take you to two places: the Official Vancouver Outgames at the Plaza of Nations and last Summer.

Last Summer, was everything you thought it was when you start hearing people beginning to reminesce about their past with the words “Last Summer”.

Yours Truly, was interning for a little radio station called 101.9 Queer FM Vancouver. This station of not just diverse and beautiful music but equally diverse and equally beautiful people actually took me under their wing. With the help of memorable Radio DJ Personalities like Aedan Saint and Samantha Mack, I got to dive head first into the world of radio-broadcasting. Apparently, that landed me straight, or I guess in this situation, gay, into Canadian band Dragonette’s lap.

Little did I know, if I was going to gain the opportunity to meet the mistresses of massive DJ celebrity Martin Solveig / the singing swans of the Canadian electro scene / Juno winning, casual confidantes of Jean Paul Gaultier AND INTERVIEW THEM!!! I would have worn my Calvin Klein.

But far from sweet and simple; there I was flying solo at the Official Vancouver Outgames in my blonde weave and an 80′s patterned one piece. I left the nest of 101.9 Queer FM station and wandered around the crowded outdoor arena, breathing in the warm by-the-sea air, looking for my “lucky star”.

Armed with the little media pass in my hand that would probably not get me in much more a Jello-Wrestle at a T.G.I. Fridays and a hidden agenda, I knew my musical idols were going to play at this venue. If I was going to be the best Mama Leroy for Queer FM and feel the wind underneath my wings as an exciting full-fledged reporter, I would have to sneak by this bodyguard. Go backstage. And be the Anderson Cooper I knew was inside of me.

I powdered my nose. And I walked confidently passed the bodyguard, as if I was Martina, or Martina’s flamboyant, confident Phillipino stylist.

I waited backstage for 3 hours, which I assumed is nothing for a dedicated reporter who got to also drink lukewarm bottled Dasani with local legends, queens and also half the original cast of the band “Ace of Base”, the female members now replaced with the 20 year old Swedish Barbies that never sold at Toys’R'Us.

Then, it was time. A white unmarked van pulls up behind the stage. The “mothers” of the hit “Hello”, dash to the stage, fashionably late, play their fantastic set. Then, with my mic in hand, a New York friendly but in-you-face attitude; I budge in front of all the other reporters that weren’t waiting backstage as long as I have to walk towards a Joel and the giggly Martina of Dragonette. This is what we said:

L: So, to start this off, I probably shouldn’t say this on-air. But I skipped work because I had to come here.
M: Aww, we love you. *giggles

L: You are honestly my favourite band. I love your. Music so much. I was wondering who some of your musical influences are?
M: We all come from such different backgrounds. But mostly, we just love really well crafted pop music. Any genre whatsoever, like electro or folky. Anything to motivate us to write good pop songs. *giggles
So we try to do that.
J: And it goes back as far as even Gershwin, for instance. As long as its GOOD pop.

L: Your set was amazing! When you played songs like “Pick Up The Phone”, that’s my song, and it took me back to this place of … euphoria. How do you write a song like that?
M: It takes a long time to write songs for me. But when a song is done, I don’t even know where it came from. I can’t trace it, even. Like, I know what it’s about and I know what I was feeling. But it’s like giving birth… and I know that’s been used a lot and I don’t even -
J: Little known fact that Martina’s given birth a lot.
M: *giggles
J: So she, she definitely knows how that feels.

M: *giggles
No! Like the process! The process of birth! Like, if you’re a parent, you don’t remember all the pain and the work! It’s like the child falls out of your vagina, and it’s there!

J: If you listen really closely -
M: *giggles
J: It’s in there. It’s really faint right now. But when it comes out, it’s quite loud -
L: And talented. *giggles

L: Now, I am an aspiring performer. And I want to be as amazing as you are. If another artist, out there, would want to be at your level, what advice would you give them?

M: Don’t give up after 4 years of SLOGGING it!
J: Yes.
M: Stick to your guns, and always make the music that you want to make instead of the music you should be making.
J: And hopefully people come around.

After a couple more pointers and a kiss on the cheek from Martina, a Summer later, here I am reminiscing about “last summer”. Maybe I fell in that infamous Summer Love. But as the last of Summer goes away, I just really wanted to share this memory with the VFW community in hopes that you will look back at this summer and reminisce about your Summer Loves.

With Summer Love and style,

@leroywan

Here is a link of the live interview!