Flexigender Hybrid Jenna Talia Lead Singer of Glitter Trash proves that being a fully fledged, card carrying member of the human race is more important than male, female, black or white: it’s downright glittermanity!
Saira Viola
For those who don’t know, are misinformed or confused about the whole trans thang how would you describe yourself to the world?
Jenna Talia
I’m a card carrying member of the human race, a very unique and varied species among earth’s animals. I am just one of 7.4 billion on this rotating ball of fun. In my little dust speck of the planet I roam on, I consider myself to be a “hybrid”, a more modern term in my opinion for a “non-op transsexual” or “transgender” person. My personal belief and truth is that genetically I am a male and, scientifically being impossible to change that, why not just go with that genetically correct tag to make things easier in legal, medical and reproductive sake? It doesn’t bother me, it’s just what I am.
My brain was cross wired during my build sequence and sat atop this male body controlling things so I had a bit of an internal, unseen personal battle in dealing with the gender confusion while growing up, especially since I was such a handsome devil, well-liked and a gifted athlete. Since I am sexually attracted to females that created even more confusion, so what you see today when you look at my physical being is my personal resolution to my internal battles.
Some transgender people have very costly plastic surgeries on their face and genitals to change their appearance drastically. I’ve only had my breasts done so you might see me as “Hybrid Light”. Personally, I’d have no issue to putting “TM”, or “transgender male” on my passport and drivers license so it reduces problems when I travel locally or internationally. The last thing I want to do is deceive people. I am proudly a transgender genetic male, just the hand of cards I was dealt at the table of life.
Saira Viola
Just briefly because the world seemed to stop still when Bruce crystallized as Caitlyn Jenner do you think it was a carefully orchestrated media stunt or are you a Caitlyn fan?
Jenna Talia
Anything the Kardashian clan does is well financed and orchestrated, Caitlyn Jenner being part of that “K” brand. They have the media by the nut sack and pull hard whenever they aren’t getting enough attention. I do not personally know Caitlyn, so whatever the world is presented with on her public image might be a very far galaxy away from the true Caitlyn. But on another angle, you really need to look at it this way: any person that is willing to be flogged, tar and feathered and crucified publicly is probably not doing it for the money or attention, there is just too much damn pain, shame and fear involved in transition. I think it just took Caitlyn a long damn time to get the strength to pull it off, and she did it in a big K way. My belief is that transgender people around the globe benefited from the attention brought forth by Caitlyn and the Kardashian’s power to manipulate the media, something I and most other public transgender people can only scratch the surface of, at best. I can relate to the Bruce/Caitlyn story as I ran a very close parallel to it. I’d like to sit down, have a couple drinks and find out one day who that person really is inside, not all the fluff and glam squad bullshit. And to answer your question, yes, I am a Caitlyn fan, because I’m a fan of any human being that breaks through society’s clamp down so they can wear their hearts on their sleeves and let the world see what is deep inside them. If you could understand the immense power of fear that lives inside and controls most transgender people, you’ve got to applaud any human being that breaks through those chains to personal freedom.
SV
Gender busting rock and roll stars aren’t new from the Lost Boys to David Bowie via Pattie Smith and the New York Dolls: guys rocking frocks, and girls sporting cropped locks and men’s DMs have always been part of the punk movement. How do you manage to steer clear of becoming a caricatured ‘Trannie,’ cut out?
JT
I grew up on the collapsed streets of Detroit, a city filled with murder, crime, prostitution and anger. If you were open LGBT, you got the shit beat out of you. I never had any transgender influences growing up, so what you see today is a leather clad, rough and tumble “don’t take no shit” human being. If there is another like me out there, I’d really like to meet them.
SV
Who was your greatest influence whilst growing up?
JT
My grandmother. A loving and hard working human being with a heart of gold. She was tough but she was also honest and straight forward She’d give the shirt off her back for another that needed it, and without question, probably the finest human being I personally knew that ever walked this planet.
SV
When did you feel that being male wasn’t working out for you and how did it affect your family and loved ones?
JT
It wasn’t working out for me since the earliest I could recall. Like Caitlyn Jenner, I grew up in the dark ages, psychologically speaking, of understanding and helping transgender people. Having a transgender person in your family was something you held in shame and kept quiet in the family, you didn’t talk about it. As I entered into an all boys high school, I can recall my mother coming to me and asking me if I wanted to talk to a priest about my “problem”… a fucking PRIEST of all people. The shock of that suggestion put me into permanent hiding for a good ten years after that incident that occurred when I was 13. As far as myself and my family are concerned, I’m still a male (as listed on my drivers license and passport), I’m still a dad…those things can never change, that’s my life, my history. My three kids, I am with them all the time, and things keep getting better, especially since their is growing acceptance to transgender people. As far as the others in my family, I haven’t seen nor heard from my mother since 2009, my father since 2010, my brother since 2010 and from my sister I’ll get an occasional text, probably to see if I am still alive for holiday amusement chatter.
SV
Although your family were deeply affected, you manage to brave these personal challenges with humour and fortitude. Do you have a seductively sleazy past? Any secrets in the closet you can tell us about?
JT
I used to be a corporate whore sucking off the teats of large corporations. Then I came clean about being transgender to the company I worked for so I could transition, lost my job quickly because of it and as my money ran out, I began working as a trans-escort to stop from going homeless in Detroit. Without question, that was the lowest point of my earthly existence. Being with dudes made my skin crawl, like eating a big, steaming pile of shit for dinner every day with nothing to wash it down. I felt filthy, even after taking a shower. To go from a $15 million dollar international sales territory, providing sales presentations to CEO’s in some of America’s largest companies then working as a prostitute at The Leland Hotel in Detroit was an about-face that brought me to the point of cracking.
I can recall letting my cell phone ring incessantly for two weeks, unanswered, after I posted my number on a trans-escort site, in complete fear of getting AIDS or being murdered. Two straight weeks of countless dudes seeing my ad and wanting some action, and finally after my eviction notice came, I had to answer it. I don’t remember much from that time, maybe on purpose, maybe because I stayed drunk at night to try to wash it from my memory. If I was servicing females, I’d probably still be doing it today since the money was so good. To get paid $300 for 30 minutes or less, hard to find that kind of work unless you are a corporate CEO.
SV
Thank you for your candour and speaking so openly about your past that takes enormous courage and leads me to another conversation: Many transgender artistes naturally gravitate towards activist roles because of the prejudice and inequality they may have suffered through their own experiences, or the challenges they face trying to get work and survive. Hailing from the once great, gold-tipped Motor City Detroit, now hit with a dystopian melt down that has culminated in the complete economic collapse of this once glitzy town: What are the kind of social reforms you’d like to see take shape there and how might these be achieved?
JT
Aside from the Midtown media buzz Detroit real estate developer and mogul Dan Gilbert has been sending out to the world in his advertising blitz to move to HOT Detroit, the city is gone. Like an EMS technician, checking heart rate and vitals, I can officially call this city as “dead” in 2016. Yes, downtown is being re-populated by rich assholes with expensive BMW’s and Versace wallets filled with dough, building up $7 a cup Starbucks and Whole-Fucking-Foods, but the bulk of the city’s housing is destroyed…stripped down, burned down crack houses or abandoned buildings. While the wealthy and wealthy-wannabe-hipsters populate the 10 miles of gentrified downtown section heavy with police protection and private security, the other 120 miles remain in complete unprotected destruction, populated by people living on the edge of extreme poverty.
The city’s response has been to knock down 10,000 plus homes a year. Imagine a major city, especially in the USA, where 10,000 homes are being raised annually. Insanity…complete embarrassment. This city is touting “urban agriculture” as a viable industry…fucking agriculture…this city is heading backwards to the 1800’s. Truthfully, I’d recommend making Downtown and Midtown as the official “City of Detroit” and selling off the other 120 miles to the all the billionaires out there that can pay to bulldoze down the remaining parcels, rebuild and rename the new cities “Trumpville”, “Walmart Farms” and “Elon Musk Acres.” The government is broke, so lets try private sector to get the job done. Am I joking? No.
SV
Well that sucker punched the corporate bigwigs. Back to the music now: would it be fair to say the sound of Glitter Trash Detroit is unpolished, raw, uncensored, and loud – overall, would you say your music is about self liberation or enfranchising a new generation of punk rebels?
JT
Like any art, the finished result is just a natural extension of the artist’s mind, soul and being. It’s up to the listeners or critics to file it, brand it and explain it. I never thought much about it, truthfully. It just comes out like the snot of a runny nose, your breath inhaling or exhaling, ejaculation or excrement.
SV
If we can turn to your live shows and your performance on stage ,you definitely go all the way. When Glitter Trash Detroit bomb the stage what can the audience expect.
JT
There is no pre-planned stage show. Whatever happens in Glitter Trash occurs naturally between the musicians and audience. Whatever picture we feel like painting that day is based on a number of factors that change from day to day. Those factors could be mood, alcohol or drug use, audience participation or lack of participation, sound man, club, audience size, etc…and that is the beauty of live entertainment, not knowing what is going to go down. Somehow, with Katy Perry, Pink, Taylor Swift and all the others participating in their Vegas-style, dance ensemble, super laser, pre-planned, pre-recorded stage shows, they have conveniently removed that dangerous element for a safe, cleanly packaged G rated show.
If I feel like getting naked, pulling out my cock or taking my top off during a song, I will.
SV
Expect the unexpected then! National stats released for global record sales show for the very first time older artists, and dead artists are outselling the new kids on the block. Why do you think more and more of the under 25s are turning retro to punk, rock, blues, and giving up on mainstream music?
JT
They discovered grandma and grandpa’s record collections and wonder why they had been getting ripped of all these years. They were being force fed shit music that started when they were toddlers, set down in front of a TV set and brainwashed by the Disney Channel as their parents listened to R Kelly and Snoop Dog while they made dinner. If you are a fan of Miley Cyrus (or Britney Spears), you were most likely following her since she was Hannah Montana on Disney, and that in itself is very scary.
As Wendy O said brilliantly backwards in her Coup d’Etat album is “the brainwashed do not know they are being brainwashed.” The kids today somehow are breaking free from the brainwashing and discovering true artists, not label concocted hand-selected groups meant to be mass marketed for your ease and pleasure. Back in the day, labels used to locate great artists. Now it is easier to control all of the money by creating it all themselves, then force feed it down the throat of the brainwashed on Clear Channel Radio as the same ten songs are played over-and-over.
As I say to the others that broke free about those that are participating in this brainwashing ritual used to steal their money: “Let them eat SHIT.” Let’s be honest about mainstream music…it’s now about control, and to me, rock and roll, especially punk, was about destroying control.
SV
What does punk power mean to you?
JT
Live and let live. Freedom to completely expose yourself inside and out and being carefree of social retribution by that exposure.
S.V.
What little nugget of advice can you offer to any trans wannabes hiding behind their hedge in the suburbs?
JT
You don’t need to be rich or have a glam squad, like Caitlyn Jenner, to be a social transgender person. Get out there, live your life, be smart and be strong…and always, and I mean always, look people directly in their eyes. It reminds others that you too are a member of the human race.
SV
And finally ending on a philosophical note what does ‘love,’ mean to you?
JT
Love is a moment in time in which two souls entwine mentally, emotionally and physically. The great philosophers Peter Wolf and Seth Justman from the J. Geils Band stated their feelings on love best: “Love Stinks.”
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