cutsleeve: band members
amanda
cutsleeve's rhythm guitarist and back-up vocalist.
She is the newest member of the band. Like Chanel and Hannah, she is not out to her family. She was "in denial for so many years," regarding her sexuality.
And she explained she had to take steps in order to feel "validated," and "try not repress shit all the time." But "the point of being a part of this band, was a big step for me in terms of being, 'Yeah, I'm not going to hide anymore.'"
hannah
cutsleeve's lead guitarist.
Hannah joined around the same time as Chanel. Like Amanda and Chanel, she hasn't come out to her family and some of her worries about coming out stem from her Asian heritage, "On the one hand, of course I want to be true to myself and be happy.
But at the same time there's always this worry or feeling of shame, and disappointing my parents and worrying about the repercussions they would face of me being a queer daughter of theirs." This band gives her a space where she can feel "comfortable," and have a "creative outlet."
lian
cutsleeve's drummer and founding member of the band.
As a long-time musician, she struggled when she noticed the lack of representation for individuals like herself in the music industry - especially with bands.
She never knew, "any bands that were like us... if it was a band, it was mainly white guys, so I thought it was a really cool idea for us to show people who might be interested in music, that aren't necessarily white guys that there is a band they can look up to," she says.
chanel
cutsleeve's lead vocalist, keyboardist and plays the tambourine.
She is one of the youngest members of the group. Inspired by cutsleeve's branding and representation, growing up in Canada - she contrasted the band to Western representations of queer individuals.
“It’s very different when you’re Asian because at least for me, I grew up in Canada. I’ve been exposed to Western media and when there was queer representation, it was almost always white. And you don’t even get Asian representation period. And add on top of that, queer Asian representation? That is just so rare.”
hillary
cutsleeve's bassist and one of the founding members of the band. Similar to Elisha Lim's understanding of how the concept of coming out is a western ideology, Hillary believes that, "No one should feel like they have to come out. Like at all.
There are a lot of narratives that spread in Western queer communities especially." She understands that these Western perceptions can make people believe that, "if you don't come out you're not being authentic. But why would you want to make people feel shit and shamed that way?"