We caught up to discuss the straight gentrification of queer bars, why leather is the butch version of drag, and growing up gay in a small town.
Find out more about Drake at his website.
TranscriptDrake Jensen 00:00
But the Saturday night, all of that disappeared, I was no longer a victim. I was a star. You know I was a star and whether it was in my own mind or not, that’s really all that mattered because I think that that taught me to be the person that I am today.
K Anderson 00:19
I am K Anderson and you are listening to lost spaces, the podcast that mourns the death of queer nightlife. Every episode I talk to a different person about a venue from their past, the memories they created there and the people that they used to know. Drake Jensen is a Canadian country singer, who was born and grew up in the tiny Cape Breton Island, which is on the eastern coast of Canada. After coming out, he moved to the nearby city of moncton, where he discovered triangles, the only gay bar in town, which closed in 2018. After 25 years of business, we caught up to discuss the strange gentrification of queer bars. Why leather is the butcher version of drag and growing up in a small town.
Drake Jensen 01:35
So him and I were basically the were moncton’s Premier leather couple. And so we were like the, the leather kings of Moncton and, you know, when we went to the club in leather, I mean, everybody noticed, that’s who we were. And on the outside, it was a great relationship on the inside, it was absolutely horrific. You know, but that’s, that was the personal side of it. But the club side of it, you know, we spent a lot of time in that club. And it was just such a good time in my life. I mean, every weekend was a was a party and I you know, I’m not saying I was a drunk or a drug addict. By far, I was not, I never have been but I enjoyed myself back then. Let’s put it that way. And, you know, I was never never been into drugs, but it was my first time experiencing marijuana and I was 36 years old. I’d never smoked a joint in my life. I’ve never done any drugs, eight, you know, I drank a bit but so I discovered marijuana at 36 years old, and I partied a lot. You know, it was, it was a lot of fun. It was nice being the leather superstar of, of, of the, of the town. So we went there, that was my first experience being in a bar where people were completely accepting you could completely Be yourself, you could wear your leather and nobody really even Well, people gave you a second look was that was the best part of it. But you know, so I, I really, really, it literally intoxicated me, the guy, I had been so long that I’ve been waiting for something, a place that I could go and be myself. I think that was the first time that I ever really felt comfortable in public because I’m, I’m very strange. And as I’ve gotten older, I’m getting more strange. But I’m an introverted extrovert. So when I’m in public, I’m very extroverted. And when I put myself in that frame of mind, I can be that very fun person. And, but basically, 90% of me is very introverted. So for me to find a place where I felt safe, it gave me It gave me a creative licence to be the expressive person that I always wanted to be outwardly. And once I found that it was an addiction, you know, it was just such a fun place. I mean, it was a mixed crowd, like we’re talking. It was, it was the way the gay community, I always pictured the gay community. I mean, we’re so segregated right now, or the gay community has subcategorised itself so deeply, and sub labelled itself so deeply at the moment that we’re all fighting about who’s more relevant at this time. And I really long for it here I am, like, I’m an old man, I’m 50 years old next month. And I’m sitting here saying, wow, you know, I wish I was back in the olden days when everybody was at the bar, and it didn’t matter whether you were trans or you didn’t matter whether you were a drag queen, or you were a leather guy, or you were a lesbian, or you were just that quiet gay guy in the corner, everybody just kind of functioned together and respected each other. That’s the kind of bar that triangles was and I long for that and even after I moved to Ottawa, so I moved to Ottawa and then you know, the there was a couple of small bars here. I have never been able to find the the acceptance and the comfort level that I did find in that small club underground. Basically, it was in a basement in moncton, New Brunswick.
K Anderson 05:15
And so can we talk about Moncton? Because you’re gonna give me kind of like an idea of, like how big it is like what the
Drake Jensen 05:23
mountain was socially disconnected. Mountain has a population of 86,000 people right now. The city is not big, but it had a very, very robust gay community. And there was a lot of outlying areas. Nova Scotia, of course, was very close. So a lot of gay people from the part of Nova Scotia that’s very close to the mountain would migrate and then there would be people from Northern New Brunswick that would migrate down to to Moncton, so it was kind of like Moncton was the hub city, I would say for a lot of people to come and go to the club, because triangles was one of the one of the most popular clubs in moncton. There was, I think there might have been one other. I don’t even think there was at the time, I don’t I think triangles was the only gay club in moncton.
K Anderson 06:14
Okay. So there is that thing that they get that small town kind of bar where there’s there’s no choice but to get along? There’s no choice but for everyone to go there because there’s not enough of a segregate?
Drake Jensen 06:28
Yeah, there was no Black Eagle. You know, like we didn’t we didn’t because in Canada, the US they have I don’t know whether you’re familiar, but for leather people, they had the Black Eagle. I find some black Eagles have been straight gentrified. Oh, yeah. Oh, that’s it. Yeah.
K Anderson 06:45
So hang on. So the Black Eagle is like a chain of leather bars. Is that right?
Drake Jensen 06:51
Yeah, you can. Yeah, you can Google that. They’re everywhere. They’re from all across North America, basically.
K Anderson 06:57
So they like the McDonald’s of leather bars.
Drake Jensen 06:59
They are. Oh, wow. Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, I think you guys had like in London, the equivalent of what would have been in London will be called a bar called hoist. I don’t know whether you’ve ever heard of a Yeah. Okay, so hoist would be the Black Eagle that I would go to when I first when I came to Ottawa, Michael and I used to go to Montreal, and Montreal is a has a very big, gay district. And the bar, there would be the Black Eagle, and we will go to Black Eagle, and it will be comparable to the hoist in London. And I know that, you know, the hoist is probably pretty shady. I have never been there. And I’ve heard some things. But the Black Eagle, what have you heard? Oh, God, I’ve actually seen a couple of videos. But anyway. But But the thing you know that Black Eagle was very, very, it was a pretty raw bar back then. I mean that you could go upstairs and watch guys performing sex sex on each other, sitting having a beer. I mean, and now it’s become like I say straight gentrified, where you go to the Black Eagle now and you’ve got a bachelorette party with a bunch of girls there. So Oh, yeah, that’s all so it’s all changed. Like I would never go to the Black Eagle and leather. Like I don’t feel comfortable anymore. So you’ve got this straight gentrification happening. All across but you know, back to triangles. I mean, triangles went on for years after I left, Moncton. And just recently, actually, it was last year, it just it closed. Because there was actually a lesbian couple. Ed and Stella were their names, and they owned it and managed it for years. And they were great to the community. I really liked them both. And it was unfortunate, but they wanted to retire. I don’t think there was a lack of business because I, somebody bought it and it’s still open under a different name. But they wanted to get out of the business because it’s you know, it’s the bar business is a very difficult business these days. With the advent of people not being able to know the drinking and driving, nobody does that anymore. And people are doing, you know, the young gay people are doing E and things like that, and going out and drinking water and a not so that nobody’s drinking beer anymore. So it’s difficult to make money as a bar owner, and I understand that. But it was really sad to hear that it was gone. That was probably the best club culture that I experienced in my life over over being like, you know, I came out when I was 27. And of course, I’ve been, you know, been in gay bars. I was never a big gay bar person. I didn’t, you know, until I went to mountain because it was just like, the bar and mountain which is such a it was so cultural. And there was so many different types of people there and everything was accepted. So, it was fun to do that. And I spent basically three years going to the club every weekend, almost I think, you know, so it was a lot of fun.
K Anderson 09:57
So let’s just let me get make sure I have all this this correct. So you lived in Cape Breton until you were 34. Yeah, yes. And then, but you came out when you were 27? Yes. So what what is that length then living in a really isolated area?
Drake Jensen 10:22
And coming out? Well, there’s, there’s not much and you got to remember back then. I mean, so I’m 50. So that’s 25 years ago, almost. The Internet had not been developed to the point where it’s at today, we didn’t have the connectivity we had. So it was still at this very primitive messenger system. It was just mostly website based stuff that you could search. I mean, I used to search for a lot of things on the internet, and this is how I started to get in contact. This is how I ended up in Monkton. So I started to search for leather. Because I was always interested in leather. So I always search for stuff on the internet. And I came across this group that Mr. Atlantic Canada leather group. And that’s how I got to compete in the competition. I went to Moncton to compete in the competition actually was on TV. There’s a big TV series here that call kink. And they filmed three seasons. And I was in, I think, the second season in that competition. And that’s how I got to Moncton. So being in that very primitive space, I mean, basically, put me into the internet put me onto the internet to search for things that that I wasn’t really experiencing. Like, I would go to the once a month dances and there was only one other leather guy there, which kind of inspired me to do the same thing. So I you know, I got the Sears catalogue and Sears catalogue used to have a biker section at that time. And you could, I mean, you could order a pair of chaps, you could get a pair of leather pants, you could get a vest. And that was about it. I mean, I didn’t know there was leather stores that existed, I had no idea. So it was, um, it was one of those things. So we basically, the internet was my portal to the gateway to getting off the island. And eventually, you know, I was with somebody on the island for a guy for eight years. And the relationship wasn’t really going anywhere. And we both kind of basically came to a point where he was going one way and I was going the other and I don’t mean sexually, I just mean emotionally. Because I was looking to experience different things like the leather community, and he wasn’t interested. So we broke up. And that’s when I met somebody, I met somebody at that leather competition. And, interestingly enough, it’s funny. So that brought me to mountain. So it was a very difficult time for me. So I was still very, very naive. And I had no idea what I was doing. If I look back on it, I probably never do it again. But I’m glad I’m glad I did it. Like I’m not so outwardly public anymore. Like I wouldn’t go on stage and a jockstrap anymore. That’s not my thing. But in my, you know, 30s it was fine. I really, I’m glad I experienced that. I’m glad I was on a TV show. I mean, I remember getting calls. The next day after that competition, people are saying, You’re on kink. I’m like, Yeah, what were you doing watching it? You know, it’s it’s kind of funny that, you know, people are like, Oh, you were on a dirty TV show? And I’m like, Yeah, well, you were watching it. So how did you find me? You know, I? Because everybody’s so inquisitive. But living in that very? I was like, being in a cage, you know? I’m
K Anderson 13:29
sorry. So the, I mean, the image that people have of Canada, anyone who lives outside, that it’s very kind of open and liberal kind of community? Oh, no, no, no, yeah, no, no. And so then what was it like coming out at 27? horrific.
Drake Jensen 13:50
Like really, I come out to my mother when I was 15 years old. And she just totally rejected the idea and shut me down. Because she didn’t want my father to know when she told said you could never tell your father. So I went on for years. And, you know, I got married to a woman, I have a very sordid past when it comes to relationships. And so I got married to a woman and it wasn’t till I hit like, 26 that I started to realise I can’t do this anymore. Because everybody at home got married. All the gay people got married at home, because it was so oppressive. There was no such thing. I mean, they called the gay cruising area, the fruit loop, that’s what they call it, because it was basically a loop that you could drive around. And that was the only place that people would go and they would make fun of people that went down there. And, you know, you were just blacklisted as a as a homosexual. If you weren’t, we had another gay guy in our family and he was completely the black sheep of our family. So I was the second one to come out in our family. So I, you know, by the time I came out, the blow had been softened a little bit. Pardon the pun. But But yeah, it’s just you know, it’s it’s you just feel really trapped. And there’s, it’s not right now it’s liberal. So Cape Breton has a very big gay community, it has an active drag community. It still has those dances and they have a massive pride every year, but none of that existed. stuff, we had no resources, no support at all.
K Anderson 15:23
So then why so this might come out the wrong way. So apologies. But why did you then take so long to leave after you came out?
Drake Jensen 15:32
So at 2026, at 26, I came out. And I met somebody six months after that, I was always a very relationship oriented person. So by this time, so I was 26, this is when the dances started, things, were starting to change a little bit on the island. And like I said, I was one of the two leather people that were on the island was only another guy, me and another guy. And so we’re quite the anomaly really. So I was with this guy for eight years. And I was constantly looking for something in the relationship that he wasn’t interested in having. Which was the more leather, you know, not so vanilla relationship, and he just didn’t want it. And for years that I kind of, you know, went along my merry way. And I was never one to veer outside of relationship. That’s not who I am. So it just got to a point basically, where him and I just grew up completely apart. And that’s what motivated me to literally, I packed the car one day, and I just left. I just couldn’t, I couldn’t do it anymore. It’s, I’ve left all the demons behind I thought I did anyway, a lot of times you can pack your physical stuff, but your mental baggage comes with you. That’s the problem. Oh, yeah. You know, so and I still It took me years to basically deal with all of the oppression and the self loathing that I had for myself for years. And I don’t have any sexual shame or anything. I don’t know whether you’ve noticed or any of my media, but, you know, I did a bear magazine cover and complete, you know, leather and for me, a lot of people in the music community, where I’m in country, kind of sort of country now and more rock country now. But, you know, kind of a poll people and it kind of, again, it caused people to veer away from me because they didn’t accept that. I’ve always been pretty sexually open. So I believe that we’re all inherently sexual people and everybody, you know, this is how we function whether they acknowledge it or not, I’ve just always been one to acknowledge it. I’m not ashamed of it. For why I’m sexually and so it was it was very difficult again, when I came out and country music, I kind of set myself up for another, you know, good dose of oppression, it seems like I’m a sucker for punishment.
K Anderson 18:04
So so when you before you left did had you been to the mountain? Like, had you been on the scene in Moncton? Or was this like a brand new world
Drake Jensen 18:14
you moved there? Well, literally, I went for the competition. And I was still living in Cape Breton. I went for the competition. And that basically was a game changer. For me, I met a whole bunch of people that were just like me. So suddenly, I met my tribe, and I come back home, and I’m still with my partner. And I just fell into a depression. Because I had such a great weekend with all of them. And I felt like I had found my basically found my tribe. And now I was removed six hours away from them again. And like I said, we didn’t have WhatsApp. We didn’t have Facebook Messenger back then there was none of that. So keeping in contact with people was email. And I just made the decision that I wanted to change. And that’s basically when I fled, and I’ll call it fleeing, because that’s what I did.
K Anderson 19:07
Like, middle of the night, packing up everything.
Drake Jensen 19:10
Well, I remember I had a Toyota Echo, I bought a Toyota echo. And I don’t know whether you know what that is, but it’s a very small, subcompact compact car. And I jammed everything I possibly could into that car that I owned, and I left and I looking back on it, it was probably the most courageous thing I’ve ever done. And inevitably, it’s what brought me to where I am today. It got me to Ottawa, it brought Michael and I together, it spawned my music career. It was all meant to happen. It was just all part of a very large plan, really, when I look back on
K Anderson 19:46
so let us get back to triangles. I’m taking you every every which way and tell me about a typical Saturday night.
Drake Jensen 19:57
Oh god. So we would So my boyfriend and I would usually have a couple of our other leather friends over, we will get dressed and we would roll a joint, smoke a joint and have a beer. And then we would, you know, get a cab downtown It was like 10 minutes away from where we lived. And, you know, go down over the stairs and I remember going down over the stairs and my boyfriend was very well built. And you know, he was very well known in the community as one of the premier leather people in the community. Of course, I was I was I was like Princess Diana, I was by by kind of by file type I married into that so I married into the leather royalty and so I would follow him down over the stairs and people would just everybody would turn and look. It was it was one of those things it was it was the biggest embellishment of vanity that I think I ever partook in. And I you know, and I enjoyed every minute of it, minute of it, because you have to remember coming from a press community where everybody hated who you were. Hmm, suddenly I was like, the shit. Yeah, like I was just saying, Yeah, you know, and then and then I went on to win the Mr. Moncton leather competition and then I went on to win the Mr. Atlantic Canada leather competition and then everybody knew who I was. And so that was a very big thing but the typical Saturday I get down over the stairs, you know, of course, it was no coat check for us because we weren’t wearing very much as it was. And we would you know, go to the bar and talk to everybody that was there because all of our friends will be there. And you know, then we proceed to the dance where we dance the whole night. You know? That was that was the typical I call it small town big city kind of Saturday Night. Until what what music
K Anderson 21:55
could you expect to hear?
Drake Jensen 21:57
Oh, God, you know, like, at that time it was c&c music factory and black box and, and all of those things. I mean, it was I it’s the Roland TR 808 reprisal if you know what I mean, like everything was based around the Roland TR 808 drum machine at that time, and every beat was like, carried away drum machine. synthesiser bass. I mean, it was it was all kinds of, you know, that stuff. And I was always one more for the, you know, Human League and I loved Stevie Nicks and Duran Duran and I was a huge British wave, fan, Culture Club and things like that. I, I always wanted to hear that stuff. And I’d go ask the DJ, and she’d look at me, she’s too slow. I can’t play that. But I but I remember, you know, one night I finally convinced her to play Stevie Nicks to stand back and everybody danced. I mean, it just, I think, you know, musical trends sometimes set themselves so so they solidify themselves in decades of we can print you know, basically follow musical trends as though this was the electrode. And this is was this was a British invasion and, but at that time, it was all dance music. c&c Music factory, black box, Milli Vanilli. You know, all of that stuff. Vanilla Ice. I mean, that’s what they were playing back then. And I actually couldn’t stand it. So I go, and I danced anyway. I mean, I wasn’t going to be you know, the old guy standing on the side, that’s for sure. Because I was still young. But yeah, I had I had a blast. I mean, it didn’t matter. I mean, there was, there was a beat and everybody was having fun. And there was no animosity. I mean, those were literally the good old days,
K Anderson 23:41
and so on, on other nights, like so. Was it always dance music? Or was there other things?
Drake Jensen 23:46
No, I mean, she, Stella Navy would have shows there. They would bring in the occasional musician. They had a great karaoke night. A really, really great karaoke night, and that’s where I started singing again.
K Anderson 24:04
And your karaoke song of choice is,
Drake Jensen 24:07
um, so I would karaoke with this girl and she could have been a professional singer. I his her name escapes me. It’s been he got it’s been 1516 years now. But her and I would do Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. I mean, I would do Barry Manilow because I loved Barry Manilow. My music tastes as if I have a very broad spectrum when I when you’re when somebody talks Music To me, it’s either music that I like your music that I don’t like I don’t have I don’t have I’m not genre based. I don’t have genre based affection syndrome is what I call it. I I like everything. And so her and I would do country and or I would do Barry Manilow and I, I just loved music and I started to sing again. Because I’d stopped singing I used to play in bands and Cape Breton Island I was, you know, I was in a club band. So we would do like You know, current radio covers and I played in all the bars in Cape Breton straight bars, of course. And, you know, I stopped doing that eventually. And that’s when I moved off the island. But I stopped singing. And the karaoke I triangles kind of, in a strange way helped me reinvent myself. And I started singing more country at that time. And it was very well received. So this kind of spawned my music career again, also. So I, as you know, I Oh, that’s why me You asked me about talking about this. I’m like, Yeah, absolutely. Because there’s so much of my, the triangle triangles was my Blitz club. Hmm. That’s what it was. So if you could really parallel it to something. It was my Blitz club, that I have that same exact same experience. You know, what that as like, Princess Julia described at the Blitz, right. So I’m, I can totally identify. Because triangles meant so much to me. It was so much a part of who I was socially. And so much a part of who identified who I identified myself with as a gay man.
K Anderson 26:19
I see you talked about the owners before. Yeah, D ed. And all I got a stellar, stellar. stellar. Yeah, describe them to me.
Drake Jensen 26:30
They were your typical. Oh, my God, I’m gonna sound terrible. They were your typical lesbian couple. Cats, dungarees. They were very normal. Like, that’s what I find about. That’s a I’m gonna be terrible. That’s what I find about lesbians. lesbians are like, so much more level headed sometimes I don’t know. They were just very, very laid back. And normal people just trying to make a living, you know, and it was probably tough for them at times, because, you know, people stopped drinking a lot because they couldn’t drink and drive. And of course, people came from outer lying areas that would drive down. And you know, they couldn’t do that anymore. So I know that there was one point that they were losing a lot of money, and I’m sure we struggled, but they always kept it open. They always had events, they always were inclusive to everybody. They always had the nicest bartenders. I mean, you know, there were people you could identify with, you know, it’s it, they were very normal people. And there was nothing over the top with either one of them. You know, they were just really nice people, I’ve very good memories of that time. And they were pillars in the community, because that bar was the infrastructure of who we were socially. I, in a strange way, I owe an awful lot to sell an E Av. Because of them having that bar. Hmm. And so do you remember your first time going there? My first time go, I remember walking in there. And it was probably was right after the leather competition. Yeah. And I went in leather, and of course, walking, you would walk down the stairs. And as soon as you hit the downstairs, there was somebody always in the coat booth there. And you would, on the right side, there was a huge bar. And beyond that there was like a patio that you could go outside. And then on the left side was a very kind of dark area in the back where everybody would sit down. And then there was a huge dance floor on the left side and a big DJ booth. And there was a huge stage also because he used to have karaoke there. And I actually started singing again, a triangle. So it kind of spawned me back into singing because I had stopped singing for a long time. Yeah, so I would do karaoke there on Thursday nights and go there on Saturday nights for the big night, they would have a leather night, once a month. So we would always get you know, decked out in our gear and go and it was a big thing. He was like getting ready for the ball. You know, I’ve often compared leather to the male Butch version of drag, and I still feel that way about it. And, you know, I was just a real fun time. It was a great time. The relationship I was in at that time in Moncton wasn’t great, but my social life and my friends I had and the how I became cultured as an as a gay man was invaluable.
K Anderson 29:37
Hmm, can we just Can we just talk about what you’ve just said about dressing in leather as being the Butch version of drag? What What does it feel like when you’re dressing that way?
Drake Jensen 29:54
Um, so a lot of people have asked me because I one of my music videos I made a very interesting choice. And you can go back and watch it if you haven’t already. But I did a song about bullying. And it was the song was called scars. And I did the video decked in that full leather that I would basically wear to The Club. And a lot of people, when they watch the video had a very negative reaction to it. Number one, I kind of looked like, you know, this massive leather soldier, evil leather soldier. But, but when you if you read into it, and you listen to the words of the song, I mean, I was had a really rough time in small town, Cape Breton and I grew up battered as a child because I was, you know, called a fag and a queer and beat up at school and picked on by teachers it was, it was really a nightmare. So leather for me, wasn’t when I discovered leather, leather was a, a representation of strength for me. So let’s get serious for a moment. And I know a lot of people associate leather with kink and sex and of course 50 Shades of Grey has, you know, exasperated that. But But the thing is, is that, for me, it meant something completely different. If you look into the leather community, you’ll probably find a lot of people that were bullied like me that were picked on and made to feel a little when you discover leather. And you discovered I discovered this tribe of people that were like me, there was an empowerment in it. It’s kind of like being in a biker club. And it’s interesting because that’s where the leather community actually did spawn from was from from the post war veterans that got bikes and of course, we’re gay. And that’s where the whole thing spawn from. But so when I wore leather, that experience of embellishing myself with, with with, you know, leather clothing, and I was never one to be a next complete exhibitionist. I always, you know, wore leather jackets and leather pants, and I was I wasn’t wanting to go to the bar in my underwear. That’s not who I was. So I was always dressed in leather, I love their shirts. And, you know, I was that’s, that’s just what I did. I was into denim and leather. But when I did that, there was a sense of empowerment to it, because it was like I was joining with all of the other people that experience things that were much the same as what I experienced. So there was a, it was kind of a show of strength. And it was a feeling of empowerment. So when I created the scars video about bullying, it was only natural for me to dress like that, because that is what liberated me. It helped liberate my soul from that oppression. So that was a very big part of my life. And even today still is I mean, I don’t go out to the club every weekend anymore. I’m not that person anymore. very private, stay home, work on music. You know, I have a very small social circle of friends. Some of them are into leather, most of my leather interaction is online now with other leather men and leather women. But you know, it’s, it’s still good. It’s it’s just, it’s still it’s a different. It’s a different stage of life. You know, I still have all of my leather in my closet. And when we go to Montreal all decked out in leather, and I’ll go to the club in Montreal go there’s a club called a stud, which is our French name, of course. But it’s a very masculine, heavy club and I and I still enjoy that.
K Anderson 33:47
Do you remember hearing that it was closing?
Drake Jensen 33:50
Yeah, so I still I follower of course, were friends online. Stella and I were the ones we talked a little more and she was involved with pride. And of course she knew my partner. And yeah, when she put it up I remember like it really touching me that she was closing it that they were closing it they were tired. I think they wanted to retire I I couldn’t it because it remained open. It’s under a different name, which is blasphemous to me. But, but, but yeah, remained open. I mean, when when they and another friend of mine that I used to see there all the time, he sent me a message and said, Oh, you know, they’re closing the club. I’m like, Oh, God, you know, it was like a death. I remember feeling like it was some type of death, that it would be always something that you could never go back to. I mean, I’d be interesting to go back. It’s never the same when somebody takes over a club. I think I think things change. Inevitably if it’s the same space, I think ownership and I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. I mean negatively changes. It’s change or die, but I mean it inevitably it never ever is the same. I will be interesting Why? You know once in a while I stopped in Moncton sometime I’d like to go and spend a night and, and go back there and just see what what what’s less there and what it what what it is become. I mean, I’m always open to new things. I think that’s, that’s how you stay young and I would like to see you know what’s happening there now it’s been years since I’ve been back there but like I said it’s been responsible for so much of who I’ve become as an artist and inspired my music career again, and I owe it so much. I’ve had I had such a bad childhood growing up in small town glace Bay back on Cape Breton Island, that by the time I had gotten to mountain and basically the wild child, the one that you know, you still embellish himself in the bathroom with the Sears catalogue catalogue with the Leatherman once he got loose. I think there could have been nothing that could have ever spoiled no matter what came up. And there was some drama of course, there always is drama. I mean, what is the gay community without drama? I mean, we we are we are literally one of the most best living soap operas on the face of the planet. But even the small things that will come up or the bad relationship I was in, none of that could could overshadow the fact that I was free. Like none of it. It was just such a positive experience for me despite the negative. So I I think that I can only tell you that it was probably one of the best times in my life.
K Anderson 36:38
Did you ever go to triangles? Well, if you did, I would love to hear from you. Tell me your stories and share any of the photos or anecdotes that you have through social media. You can reach me through Instagram and Twitter and all those other places with the username K Anderson music. Last spaces is not only a podcast, but a concept record as well. I’ve been writing songs about queer venues and the people who live their lives there. And we’ll be releasing songs over the coming year. You can hear the first single from the set, well groomed boys, which is also playing underneath my talking right now on all streaming platforms. If you liked this episode, I would really appreciate if you subscribed, left a review on Apple podcasts or just told someone who you think might be interested about its very existence. I am K Anderson and you have been listening to lost spaces.