Caroline Polachek is Furious to be Included on All-Female and Gender Non-Binary Moogfest Lineup

The former Chairlift vocalist equates lineup announcement to a "sympathy pedestal"

Music News Chairlift
Caroline Polachek is Furious to be Included on All-Female and Gender Non-Binary Moogfest Lineup

Moogfest announced Phase One of its artist lineup yesterday morning. It includes Jenny Hval, Jamila Woods, LCD Soundsystem’s Gavin Rayna Russom, SOPHIE, Fatima Al Qadiri, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and Japanese ambient musician Midori Takada, who will perform her debut U.S. set. Privacy rights activist Chelsea Manning will give a sure-to-be awesome presentation on “The Future of Creativity.”

It would have also included Caroline Polachek (formerly of Chairlift), but upon seeing the lineup she took to Twitter full-speed ahead: “furious to be (without approval) on an all-female & non-gender-binary announcement list,” read the first tweet. She added that “gender is not a genre,” which is true, and that she would rather “be in the pit with the boys” than onstage performing on what is surely a “sympathy pedestal” with a “male curator” at the helm. Moogfest issued a response, which you can read below clarifying that it is not, in fact, a “male curator” but a “diverse group of people that work together as a team.”

The second tweet withdrew Polachek from the Moog, whose lineup arrived with a 50-hour electronic music livestream performed by a series of women, transgender, and nonbinary artists called Always On. You can purchase your tickets to Moogfest, which will take place May 17-20 in Durham, right here.

Dear Caroline,

apologize for reframing you in a way that takes focus off of your artistry and talent and we regret that you will no longer be taking part in Moogfest 2018.

Today’s lineup announcement was inspired by and coincided with Always On, a celebration of voices that are traditionally underrepresented. Our intention is to showcase an initial lineup that further amplifies those voices while supporting others in a way that challenges the manner in which festival lineups are typically presented.

We believe that using our platform to center women, non-binary and transgender people is an important tool to combat the erasure and invisibility that can occur when these identities are kept on the periphery. Please know that no musician was booked for Moogfest for any reason other than their own unique artistry, and today’s announcement is just phase one of our 2018 lineup. As always, the full Moogfest artist roster will be a diverse lineup of talented performers across a wide spectrum of gender, culture and politics.

Thank you for your honest expression. Thank you for your willingness to hold us to a higher standard. Thank you for starting this conversation.

PS. Moogfest is not curated by a man, it’s curated by a diverse group of people that work together as a team. There is not a single person, nor a single man that’s in charge of curating this event.

Love, Team Moogfest

Moogfest – 2018 Initial Lineup

Amber Mark
Annie Hart
Armen Ra
Aurora Hall
Bonaventure
Carla Dal Forno
CEP (Caroline Polachek)
Caterina Barbieri
Chelsea Manning
DJ Haram
Ellen Allien
Emily Sprague
Fatima Al Qadiri
Fawkes
Ravin Rayna Russom
Helen Money
Honey Dijon
Jamila Woods
Jenny Hval
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith
Karyn
Katie Gately
Kristin Kontrol
Kyoka
Lawrence Rothman
Madame Ghandi
Malibu Miitch
Midori Takada
Nadia Sirota
Micole Mitchell
Noncompliant
Pamelia Stickney
Sassy Black
Shanti Celeste
Sophie
Stud1nt
Umfang
Upper Glossa

Share Tweet Submit Pin