‘Metal makes a point of my transness, more than transness makes a point of my metal’: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of Australian trans metal performers

Metal music has long been associated with societal outcasts, providing a community and an outlet for individuals disenfranchised by the mainstream. Often considered in terms of cisgender and heterosexual men, metal has notably appropriated queer culture as well as platformed queer performers, including transgender ones. Nevertheless, in metal music studies, trans performers have received minimal acknowledgement and, in instances of their inclusion, only high-profile examples are used to form overarching judgements for all trans experiences within the genre. In this article, I draw on an interpretative phenomenological analysis study of Australia’s metal scenes, highlighting two trans women musicians, to examine the current status of trans participation in metal. Additionally, I trace each performer’s process of becoming a metal performer and capture each contributor’s gender exploration and process of coming out within the metal subculture. Each narrative demonstrates a complex intermingling of one’s transness and their metalhead status, as well as the codes underpinning scene construction in Australian metal, resulting in either the facilitation of free expression of trans performers or blatant discrimination against them.