Dreams are manifesting quickly for San Francisco’s Joshua Klipp. On the eve of his first tour, the openly transgendered Klipp spoke with The Windy City Times enthusiastically about coming to Chicago, working with Margaret Cho and being on The Tyra Banks Show. He also reflected that, by being true to himself, he risked losing the gift of his singing voice.
Windy City Times: Your album, Won’t Stop Now, is out now via cdbaby and iTunes. This is a successor to your EP, Patience.
Joshua Klipp: The reason I titled my EP Patience is because of the experience I had with my voice during transition. I had to let go of everything I had learned about singing. It took a while for me to get in front of a microphone again. For almost one and a half years, my voice just sounded like hell. I spent my entire life with this instrument that I was able to manipulate, now it was dropping and out of control. It is like learning how to walk again.
WCT: Your song, Little Girl, was honored as the duet of the year in The Windy City Times [in the interviewer’s Pop Making Sense Dec. 27 column]. How historical it was to use your pre- and post-transition voices!
JK: Thank you! I have been fortunate to work with the same co-writer for 7 years, Kristopher Cloud. Prior to transition, we laid down tracks and had this whole bank of songs. Post transition, when my voice settled down, we looked at those tracks, since I do not have that voice anymore. I really liked Little Girl’s message in the hook, so I rewrote the verses and rerecorded it. I say it is Natalie Cole and Nat King Cole style because it was done with a voice that no longer walks the earth. The song is very much about hitting that low point in my own life, realizing that I needed to make a change in my life, then finding affirmation and hope. It is a universal theme. It was a cathartic experience – letting go of my voice, going through the transition and wondering if I was going to be able to sing again. There is no medical research on this. I did what I could to keep my voice strong throughout the process. When I am singing ‘it’s going to be OK,’ I am singing to my pre-transition self.
WCT: I love the song L1FE as heard on your myspace page.
JK: That song is my pet project on the album. I started writing it at a memorial service for a transgendered woman I had a pleasure of singing with in The Transcendence Gospel Choir. All of these people were talking about her incredibly hard life, yet she made life something beautiful despite how hard it was for her. A lot of people do that, I wanted to write something to honor our ability to make something beautiful out of something painful.
WCT: The material on Won’t Stop Now ranges from dance to soul to jazz. Who are some of your musical idols?
JK: It is complicated answer, since I always looked up to the male singers I never could sing like. There is D’Angelo, Brian McKnight, even Ella Fitzgerald, on the dance tip Justin Timberlake.
WCT: You’re dubbed as the ‘one-man boy band.’ What can we expect at your show?
JK: I am the only vocalist in the group, doing my own harmonies, thus the moniker. Expect good music, great singing and lots of dancing. It is non-stop. With my show, I have a different approach than the typical musician has, for me it is not just a set of songs.
WCT: Are you excited about your tour?
JK: It is going to be crazy with 6 shows in 8 nights, on top of doing some TV and radio spots. 2 weeks from today I will be in L.A. doing a music video with Margaret Cho, then the Tyra Banks Show will air and then there will be a launch party on gay.com. We are rehearsing 4 or 5 days a week, mixing the music, working on videos and costumes and tying up loose ends. I still need a rental car!
WCT: What kind of video are you doing with the ‘Notorious Cho?’
JK: It is for the first song on album, Rescue Me. Apparently Margaret is into shooting musical videos. Comedian Ian Harvey invited me to be on The Ian Harvey Show, and then he talked with Margaret. Now she is going to direct the clip and be in it too.
WCT: Didn’t I hear one of your songs on The L Word?
JK: Yes, Little Girl was playing as two characters (Kit and Papi) on the show had a drunk hook-up. When I first heard about the scene for which the song was going to be used, I thought it would be disappointing. Then I realized everybody will be paying attention to it. It was bizarre hearing my song on TV.
WCT: You were also on the Tyra Banks Show?
JK: Yes, the theme was transpeople in relationships. I have a girlfriend of several years, but the interview ended up being about my music.
WCT: Have you performed in Chicago before?
JK: I have not performed in Chicago before. It is going to be my closing gig of my tour and it is going to be the best one! I wanted to kick off tour in Chicago, but this will be better. Also, my dad lives there with his partner. Even their church is throwing a post-mass ceremony for us.
Klipp’s show is on May 20 at 9 p.m. at Spin, 800 W. Belmont. His debut album, Won’t Stop Now, is available now via CDBaby and iTunes.