The New York Times called Hercules and Love Affair “alt-disco” and Pitchfork Media wrote the band has “some of the best new music going around.” If the mainstream media and snobby music blogs agree, there has to be something to this band – and there is. One of H&LA’s key members is out lesbian Kim Ann Foxman, who sings and spins on some of the best tracks on their debut self-titled album.
Foxman finds her groove alongside band members Andy Butler, Nomi and special guest star Antony (of Antony and the Johnsons), and her contributions make the album rich with feminine vocals, offsetting and at the same time complementing her partner’s falsettos.
Butler is admittedly the ringleader of the band, as he started to create the songs for the studio album on his own before bringing in Foxman to be “the guinea pig,” as she put it. The two had been friends for several years and met in the club scene; Foxman has been into “club culture” for a long time.
“It was my passion,” she told AfterEllen.com via email while on tour in Europe. “I was into the rave scene in San Francisco [and] while I was there, I was in an indie electronic band called Toobit. When I moved to [New York], I started DJing out. I play dance music: a lot of classic house, techno, acid and disco.”
All of these influences can be found on the H&LA album, which came out on both DFA and Mute Records. Originally intended to be a fun studio project, it has since grown into something much bigger for all involved.
Kim Ann Foxman (left) with Andy Butler
“I wasn’t involved in songwriting process,” Foxman wrote. “I was around for the growth of the songs though – just naturally because I’m always hanging with Andy while he is working. It was always fun for me. He’s one of my best friends.”
Foxman and Butler are New Yorkers who used to DJ parties together, including a night at the now-defunct Brooklyn gay club The Hole.
“We used to hang out and work on silly songs together for our party,” she recalled. “That started our working relationship. It was our idea of fun.”
Besides her DJing duties, Foxman was – and still is – a jeweler who sells her sterling silver and gold items to select boutiques in New York, San Francisco and Miami. She describes her style as “classic aesthetic things, antique things, timeless things, unisex things.” But “music comes first right now. … My life as a jeweler I’m happy with the way it is. It’s how I’ve always wanted it.”
She also seems happy with how her music career is going, even in its early stages. The band’s debut was just released at the end of June, but the buzz about Hercules and Love Affair has been mounting since the spring, when the band’s first single, “Blind,” was released.
A subsequent video release has given Foxman and her bandmates even more exposure, especially since the vocals on the track are from Antony Hegarty, a transgender indie performer whose 2005 album I Am a Bird Now was a huge critical success. He has since worked with Lou Reed, CocoRosie, Joan as Police Woman and Rufus Wainwright.
Hercules and Love Affair’s next single will be the Foxman-sung tune, “Athene”; they are also shooting a video for the song. “I’m excited to start” filming the video, she reported. “That will be fun!”
Her enthusiasm carries over into their current first-ever tour, which is in Europe through July. According to Foxman: “Touring is amazing and of course at times exhausting, but I really love it. I get to travel to places I’ve never been and it’s very rewarding to feel like you made people happy, and see them singing along. It’s all new to me, so it’s so exciting and we are learning so much with every show, and getting tighter and tighter. The personal growth as a band feels so good.”
The band made the decision to start playing live in Europe (after a one-gig stint in their hometown, New York City, at Studio B) because “it’s the best place for dance music.” Foxman explained: “They have more of an open mind for that kind of music there. It reaches a bigger audience.”
From left to right: Nomi, Butler, Foxman
Perhaps what resonates with Europeans (and those Americans who have gotten into the band so far) is the revitalization of pop disco. Hercules and Love Affair has a distinct upbeat, transient sound that isn’t too jumpy or quick, like the soundtrack to Queer as Folk. The songs are just as much about the lyrics – which address rising above modern-day trials through Greek mythological analogies – as they are about hand claps and head bobs (though you will certainly appreciate both.
But if their first show in the U.S. was any indication of how well the band will do upon their return to the States, Hercules and Love Affair will likely be booking shows very soon.
“It was sold out,” Foxman wrote. “I was so nervous, but it felt good to finally play our first show after so much press. It was a big weight lifted.”
Being a “buzz band” does put on a lot of pressure, especially for performers new to performing at all. But one thing that the band also has managed to escape is the “gay music” cannon. Despite the entire group being queer (and much of their music being based upon Greek mythology and its queer content and subtext), they’ve managed to transcend that specific label that can sometimes pigeonhole a band.
“Some people are going for that ‘queer’ band thing,” Foxman stated. “We just never set out to do that – we never made it a point. It isn’t the point. Of course I’m proud to be a part of queer culture, we just happen to be very colorful group in the band that are all coming together for one reason: to play music that we love. That has nothing to do with our sexual preferences.”
Foxman and Butler being stylish and cool queers is just an added bonus for gay fans of Hercules and Love Affair, who get to watch the group parade around in matching tank tops on stage. Foxman has soft features but a butch demeanor that gives her a certain kind of mystique, especially when she’s softly singing lines such as “With her hands she could give/through the battles of her life/she showed me how to live.”
The video for “Blind” doesn’t feature any of the band members, but it would only be right for the upcoming video for “Athene” to have Foxman front and center. The band is currently touring Europe, but will make a few West Coast and New York stops in late July.
“We are having so much fun working on our show,” Foxman wrote. ” I feel really good about it all. I still get nervous but that is part of the fun.”
For more on Hercules and Love Affair, visit their MySpace page. Find out more about Kim Ann Foxman and her jewelry at her official site.
