Heather Mae performs on Saturday at 9:30 Club as part of Phazefest (Photo via Facebook).
By DCist Contributor Helena Okolicsanyi
A D.C.-area native who once thought she’d never be able to sing again will perform at this year’s iconic Phazefest this Saturday at 9:30 Club.
It’s Heather Mae’s debut at Phazefest, a festival dedicated to showcasing queer and queer-allied artists. It used to be the marquee event at the legendary Phase 1 bar, the oldest continually operated lesbian bar in the United States, which closed in 2016. This year’s event at 9:30 Club is hoping to revive some of that queer magic as it brings Phazefest to the celebrated space. Mae calls being asked to play for Phazefest and 9:30 Club a “massive” honor.
“I love being queer,” Mae told DCist in a recent interview. Mae uses pop music to challenge listeners by asking them to grapple with topics of homophobia, mental illness, self-acceptance, body image, and social justice.
Mae has been pursuing music for a decade, dating back to when she wrote her first song on her parent’s front stoop in the suburbs of D.C. Yet it is in the making of Mae’s recent EP, I Am Enough—which was named a Kickstarter Staff favorite and made the iTunes top 100 chart—where Mae truly found her audience. On I Am Enough, Mae gained a renewal of purpose, taking listeners on a journey of resilience, triumph, and joy. For Mae, performing at Phazefest is more than just another performance—it’s an opportunity to continue her journey of self-acceptance in being queer.
“I came out when I was 25, but a lot of my queer friends had already come out and had been out since college,” Mae says. “And it was years later that I realized that I myself I wasn’t just an ally, but that I was queer.”
Mae describes I Am Enough as her coming out. She talks about her relationship with her female partner on the song, “Wanderer”, which was re-purposed from a song originally written for a male ex.
“The fact of the matter is that we still live in a very queer-phobic world and there are still spaces in our country that are really homophobic,” says Mae. “Had I just stayed silent about being queer and not talking about it, I’m just perpetuating that silence, and I don’t want to be part of that.”
Addressing these issues has become central to Mae’s performances.
“When I started writing the record for I Am Enough, I wanted to write something that was mission-based and about the issues I had never written about,” Mae explains. “But I think something changed and it was that I wanted to write music that made you feel.”
Mae’s music doesn’t only tackle issues of self-acceptance for being queer, but also the difficult emotional journey she faced when damage to her vocal chords prevented her from singing for eight months. During that time, Mae began coming to grips with her own mental health demons, the nagging voice that said she wasn’t talented enough for the career she wanted to pursue. This, in turn, made her re-define success.
When she received the “okay” to sing again, she went on a road trip and had an epiphany.
“I asked myself ‘What would make it worth it?’ besides the pure love and joy of making music, what would make all of that crap worth it?”, she says. “And for me, it was knowing that there are people who are listening to my music and it is literally saving their lives, coming out of the closet, not feeling alone.”
Phazefest takes place on Saturday, July 1, at 9:30 Club. 8 p.m. doors. $15. Heather Mae is scheduled to perform from 8:50-9:20 p.m.
