#fleabite

photo by Joe McCann

QPOC Artist of the Month is a monthly spotlight on queer and LGBT+ artists of color, run by the Queer Platform for Social Justice in Pittsburgh. It publishes on the last Sunday of every month. If you have suggestions for a QPOC artist you want spotlighted, or want to write an article yourself, contact us via asks or messaging.

Aye Nako are a Brooklyn-based punk band co-fronted by Mars Dixon, a Black trans musician, model, and YouTuber, and Jade Payne, a Black Queer sound engineer and musician, also of the incredible band Fleabite. They sing “sad songs about being queer, trans, and black,” with a fuzzy emo sound reminicient of Superchunk and Cap’n Jazz. 

After forming in 2010, Aye Nako’s first full-length album Unleash Yourself made a splash in the DIY scene when it was self-released in 2013, before Payne’s introduction to the band. Since then, and with a new frontwoman, they released an EP and a second full-length project, Silver Haze, which after it’s 2017 release on Don Giovanni Records, garnered more acclaim and recognition both among audiences and critics.

In all likelihood, Aye Nako are no longer active- their social media is largely dormant and they haven’t toured or released music since 2017. However, their catalog of fuzzy punk songs centering around themes of societal navigation, personal trauma, Black and Queer identity, and anticapitalism still holds up beautifully. While the band’s sound certainly takes heavy inspiration from the 1990s punk and emo catalogs of Yoyo, Matador, and Jade Tree Records, their songs themselves are incredibly current, resonating just as well as- if not better than they did at their release. 

Listen to Aye Nako on Bandcamp

fleabite | Glasgow Anarchist Federation | March 4th 2018 Hello everyone! Hope you’ve all survived the snowpocalypse and are desperate to get out of the house and do some stuff. International Women’s Day on Thursday is also International Women’s Strike, and there are events happening throughout the day. Please … Continue reading →

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