AL SPEERS
Al Speers is an alt-folk musician working on Wurundjeri Land in Naarm. Their lyrically-charged songwriting explores change in its many forms. Joined by their band, their live performances are at once introspective and explorative, moving the listener through themes of love, loss, and identity.
Their work explores the intersections between their various cultural identities: they are queer, non-binary, and a face-out sex worker. They aim to represent these identities in their visuals and performances, normalising and exploring their positionality through their songwriting, stage shows, and visual worldbuilding.
Their visual worldbuilding is camp, queer, and sex-positive. Their unique standpoint paints a contemporary picture of what folk music can look like and who can play it. Their sound moves across the genres of folk, country, and alternative, drawing inspiration from artists like Jessica Pratt, Bedoine, and Adrianne Lenker.
Their first single, ‘Cowboy’ was released in April 2024, with a music video exploring gender identity in suburban Naarm starring folk musician and drag queen Edgar Hurley. Their second, ‘Changes’ was released in August 2024 with a second music video, expanding the world of Edgar Hurley’s drag queen into country Victoria with a story surrounding a one-night romance in a highway motel. The final single, released before their forthcoming album ‘Walking Alone Down Streets You Don’t Know’, is called ‘I’ll Learn To Leave You’. It completes the triptych of stories, this time focusing on how our queer elders have paved the way for our freedom today.