Dahlia McAluney on Anti-Folk, and Her Non-Binary Identity

Dahlia McAluney (Flower Crown Me A Queen) is a pansexual non-binary trans-femme musician. You may have not heard of her music yet but she is definitely someone that should be on your radar as she is touring around the country playing shows with politically charged pissed off anti-folk music. Although she is based in Denver now she was born in Honolulu, HI. Shes been in Denver for about two and a half years serenading local venues with acoustic punk music. Her songs are marked by rapid, intense acoustic guitar and loud, angry lyrics that speak the truth about what is going on in our current society. Dahlia explains her band as A folk punk project about being trans, hating cops, surviving capitalism, and staying cute while doing it.

When did you start the project Flower Crown Me A Queen?

I started playing solo acoustic music under the moniker of my dead name around September of 2014, and when I came out in the summer of 2015, my old name wasn't something I wanted to be known under anymore. The first show that I played as Flower Crown Me A Queen was August 15th, 2015. It was with Days N Daze and Night Gaunts and was the best show for Flower Crown to begin.

What does Non-Binary mean to you?

Personally, I've come to adopt a non-binary identity as I've gotten into gender nihilism, or the idea that gender now should not have any intrinsic value. Not to say that it doesn't currently, as anyone who isn't a cis man is discriminated against in today's political and social climate, but I'd like to think that hopefully we can move past that.

Non-binary identities are pretty self-explanatory. They exist outside of the two boxes society has bestowed upon us, and to me, it offers more freedom to explore gender and its expression.

When I came out as a binary trans woman, part of me felt like I had I play a specific part, fit into a specific role to kind of prove myself. But as I realized that I still didn't fit into a completely female idea of gender, I started to move away from that. This non-binary identity that I've found for myself gives me more freedom to express and live how I want to. Plus, gender don't mean squat, and it shouldn't have any bearing over our lives. I think we need to move past that.

Can you identify as a trans man or trans woman and still identify as non-binary? Why or why not?

I believe that you can. Certain words come with certain connotations, and to be able to control those connotations is very powerful I think. Being non-binary and using the binary in your identity may seem contradictory, but I think it's just that we haven't come up with good enough words to describe what that specific gender is to mean, you know? We're using the language available to us, and sometimes it leads to wonderful words like demigirl or demiboy that give you a real idea of that person's identity and their idea of gender.

Some folks may think I'm too liberal when it comes to these ideas of gender. Everyone wants to put everything into a box. My take on gender nihilism has shown me that those boxes are hecking stupid, and you won't have enough for the vast amount of different identities out there for every different trans person.

Trans and woman and man and non-binary are just words used to describe ideas about intangible concepts. If someone wants to use certain combinations of those words to convey their own personal idea of their gender, I think they should be allowed to.

Whats next for Flower Crown Me A Queen?

Flower Crown Me A Queen used to be a 2-piece band, with Elliot Williams on percussion, but since their departure from the band, I'll be doing a solo tour this summer on the west coast and playing Compost Heap Fest in Denver.

TOUR DATES:

7/7 Denver, CO

7/8 Albuquerque, NM

7/9 Phoenix, AZ

7/10 Los Angeles, CA

7/11 San Fransisco, CA

7/12 Eugene, OR

7/13 -14 Seattle, WA

7/15 Portland, OR

7/16 Boise, ID

7/17 Salt Lake City, UT

LISTEN HERE: https://flowercrownmeaqueen.bandcamp.com/album/migraines-and-coffee-stains