Spoken-word artist brings Southern charm

By Larry Nichols
PGN Staff Writer
© 2008 Philadelphia Gay News

The name Athens Boys Choir might seem a little bit deceiving considering the “group” consists of lone transgender performance artist Harvey Katz, but it’s a fitting title for his entertaining blend of spoken-word, pop-culture and homo-hop movement.

“It sort of came to me,” Katz, 28, said of how he got into performance art. “I’ve always loved Digable Planets, Jurassic 5, Blackalicious and Ani DiFranco. I love Macy Gray’s style of music and old Dolly Parton. I used to write all the time, but I didn’t really do much in college. All of a sudden, at the end of college, I started writing in a spoken-word style, but I hadn’t really heard much spoken-word yet. All of a sudden, I found this awesome community of writers, and I loved it so much. It just felt so addictive and exhilarating to me. It turned out another good buddy of mine had started this process as well, and we started performing together. One thing led to another, and really fast we were on the road doing it.”

Fast indeed. Since he began touring in 2003, the Athens, Ga.-based Katz has released three CDs and shared the stage with such artists as Ani Difranco, Indigo Girls, Bitch, The Butchies, Danielle Howle and Michelle Malone. Katz’s varied touring opportunities means that his show has to work equally well whether he’s working a large club or someone’s living room.

“It’s not so much the venue,” he said. “I find that it sort of works anywhere. It’s pretty awesome because I have a lot of different styles of pieces. Some of it is more a hip-hop style, and it has video in the background. So if I’m in a dance club space I can hold my own. But if I’m in a quiet bookstore I can hold my own. It’s pretty versatile like that.”

There won’t be a need for audiences to be bookstore quiet when Katz performs at Fuse’s X.O. Lounge Aug. 16, as he promises to pull out all the stops.

“The show I’m doing in Philly comes with a party atmosphere,” he said. “I’m going to stick to a really fun set. I put video behind me for a lot of the pieces, and it’s everything from images from the movies ‘Breakin’ 2’ and ‘Roller Boogie.’ They’re all really fun videos.”

Katz’s show, while geared to be wildly entertaining, isn’t without a message. He said his shows also function as a platform for education and activism.

“I don’t think you can be an artist with politics touching your life,” he said. “I talk about relationships. A lot of times I talk about loving yourself and loving other people. It’s kind of a hard thing to do. Some stuff is like ‘Baby Got Back’ turns into ‘Tranny Got Pack.’ There are lots of ’80s reference pieces and generational pieces. A lot of it is having fun with it and not focusing on the bad parts of it.”

Aside from his upcoming shows, Katz is particularly excited about his upcoming fourth CD, which he said should be out soon.

“When I have a nice collection of work that I’m ready to put out, I’m like, ‘alright, let’s do another one,’” he said. “I just got a hold of my new one. It’ll have an official release on Sept. 2. I put a little studio in my house, and I did everything there, which is great because I am high-energy in the middle of the night. At 3 o’clock in the morning, I can sit up in my attic and just go for it. This CD has got a lot of music with it. Over half of the tracks have beats or orchestra music behind them.”

Athens Boys Choir performs at Fuse along with the Philly Roller Girls at 10 p.m. Aug. 16 at X.O. Lounge, 1439 South St. For more information, call (215) 735-2220 or visit www.athensboyschoir.com.

Larry Nichols can be reached at larry@epgn.com.