Girlyman storms into Seattle’s Triple Door on February 3rd.

Girlyman is thrilled to be collaborating (again) with Coyote Grace at The Triple Door. Photo Credit: Stephanie Richardson and Jeff Steinmetz

Girlyman is an acoustic, Americana, rock, LGBT gender-bending band of songwriters and musicians, who are coming to play a show at The Triple Door on February 3 with acoustic-driven LGBT band, Coyote Grace. Girlyman formed in 2001 and has never stopped creating music since.

The Village Voice calls Girlyman, “really good, really unexpected, and really different.”  and Seattle Gay Scene has the answers to your inquisitive questions.

Seattle Gay Scene: Girlyman, who are you and why are you so fabulous?

Girlyman: Girlyman is made up of myself, Doris Muramatsu, Ty Greenstein, and JJ Jones.  We’re fabulous because we wear sparkly makeup and/or ties.

SGS: You guys formed in 2001, and your first rehearsal was initially scheduled for September 11th. What went through your minds when the terrorist attacks happened?

GM: Doris was stuck in Manhattan that day (she’d gone in for therapy), and Ty and I were at home, complaining about how hard the music business seemed to be and how no one seemed to respond to the music we were making up to that point.  Once we knew about the attacks, we were all just happy to all be alive.  The next couple months in New York were filled with fear of further attacks and anthrax outbreaks, so when we did get together, we said, “Fuck it.  Let’s be ourselves, make the music we wanted to make, and not worry about anyone else’s reaction.”

This past November, Doris was diagnosed with CML, a kind of Leukemia.  It’s treatable, but it’s been a huge scare for all of us, and we weren’t sure that we were going to be able to tour again.  It’s made us all take a good hard look at what we do.  In many ways, it feels similar to September 11 – we can sense that there’s a limited time we have to make music together, and we all want to make the absolute most of it while we can.

SGS: How is Doris doing with her treatment, and will she be at the show?

GM: Doris is thus far responding well to her treatment, and she will be at the show.  We couldn’t really play one without her.

SGS: What brought on the name of ‘Girlyman’?

GM: It came up in conversation, and we all just paused and looked at each other – Girlyman!  It was a perfect name for us, because it captured something about our not-quite-within-the-lines relationship to gender, and we could never really take ourselves TOO seriously with a name like that.

SGS: The Villiage Voice coined your group as “really good, really unexpected, and really different.” Do you feel that and do you think your fans truly feel that?

GM: We’ve never really set out to do much except be ourselves and make music we like to play and sing.  When we’re not on the road, we’re best friends – I imagine this is pretty much the music we’d be making even if no one else in the world liked what we did.  You’d probably have to ask some of our fans what their experiences have been – we’re fortunate to have found a lot of them who connect with what we do.

SGS: Recently, you’ve been working with Margaret Cho for her music album, what did you gain from that experience, while working with such a dynamic comedian?

GM: We were fans of Margaret’s before we ever met her, so it was a treat to get to collaborate on a song.  She was a “secret” opening act for us in Atlanta.  It was by far the most vulgar opening act we’ve ever had.  I’ll treasure it forever.

SGS: Will Margaret Cho make a special appearance, or cover the band for this show?

GM: Alas, no.  Not this time.

SGS: Who inspires you when songwriting individually and with the whole group?

GM: We tend to inspire each other a lot with songwriting.  I’m very lucky to be in a group with two of my favorite songwriters in the world.

SGS: What are your music idols and how have those idols shaped the musician you’ve become today?

GM: We’ve all been huge fans of groups that sang with harmonies in the 60’s and 70’s – Simon & Garfunkel, The Mama’s & the Papa’s, Fleetwood, Mac, etc.  Also, the Indigo Girls were a huge influence.  Harmony is the key element that ties all of the music we do together – both vocally and personally.

SGS: Your music is loved by many Americans, and a handful of those American’s are a part of the LGBT community. Do you consider yourself an LGBT-oriented band of muscians?

GM: Well, we consider ourselves LGBT as individuals, so sure.  The songs we write deal with a lot of things besides LGBT issues, so we’re not an LGBT niche band, necessarily.  Our niche is more people who like acoustic-sounding 3-part harmony.  That said, we are ourselves onstage – I wear makeup, Ty & JJ wear ties, and Doris happily describes which songs were written about her ex-girlfriends.

SGS: What can people in Seattle expect from your upcoming show on February 3rd at The Triple Door?

GM: We’ll be playing with Coyote Grace – another harmony-filled LGBT ensemble, so hopefully some musical collaboration will spontaneously erupt.  We’ll probably make up some songs on the spot (which happens whenever anyone takes too long to tune a guitar).  And as usual, we’ll do our absolute best to make each other laugh as much as possible, particularly with Doris’s being sick.

SGS: Is this the first collaboration with Coyote Grace?

GM: No.  They actually opened for us at our last Seattle show, in May 2010.  But we love them so much, we had to have them back a second time.

SGS: For any Seattle-based fans, is there any newly prepared songs for this upcoming show?

GM: We have a couple new ones we’ve been working on for the last couple months.  Hopefully they’ll be ready to share.

SGS: This September will mark your tenure in the music industry as ‘Girlman’. Do you have any special plans or a special tour or big announcement?

GM: That sounds like a great idea, but we might start to feel old if we admit how long we’ve been doing this. 🙂

SGS: If I gave you an elephant, what would you do with it?

GM: Trade in our tour van, and go safari-style.

“We are FABULOUS because we wear sparkly make-up and ties”

-Nate from Girlyman

Girlyman with Coyote Grace is a returning favorite at The Triple Door, with only one performance on February 3rd, 2011 starting at 7:30pm (doors open at 5:30pm and this is an all-ages event). Tickets are $18 in advance (purchase your Girlyman ticket) or only $20 at the door.

Girlyman prepares themselves as they storm into Seattle with new material.