GOchella: The Queer Festival Lineup Of Our Dreams
Meet these 10 queer artists who are changing the future of music.
The impact of LGBTQ+ artists on music and festival culture is undeniable—Queen at Live Aid, Gaga at Coachella, Tracy Chapman at Lilith Fair. Now, we’ve assembled our own fantasy festival lineup, so you can say you knew them when. Welcome to GOchella.
Xana @xanaofficial_
Xana wants her listeners to “feel,” she tells GO. “I want them to connect. I want them to listen to my music and think, ‘Oh, I found something I didn’t even know I’ve always been looking for. I found a piece of myself.’”
It’s hard not to feel something while listening to her most recent single, “GIRLSGIRL.” Her music transports you back to your moody teen years, walking through Hot Topic while you make your mom wait in the car. With tens of millions of streams to date, Xana is making a name for herself in the alt-pop scene.
“I feel very deeply, and it can be debilitating without a way to make sense of it all, and music is that for me. Especially when it comes to more negative life experiences, making music and worldbuilding through it is a very satisfying way to make something beautiful out of something ugly,” she says.
She hopes to be the queer role model that she didn’t have while growing up, exploring themes of her sexuality, romance, female empowerment, and
self-discovery. Looking back on her teen years as a young queer person, she is grateful for artists Troye Sivan and Halsey. “I remember watching [their] music videos and realizing how big my world was about to become. When you’re that age, you think you know everything, and then suddenly there are these undiscovered parts of yourself you never knew were there,” she says. She wants to do the same for her fans today.
August Ponthier @augustponthier
Hailing from the Lone Star State, August Ponthier first broke into the scene in 2021 with their EP Faking My Own Death, an ethereal collection of tracks chronicling their coming-out journey. “Being a queer person is everything to me,” they tell GO. Having recently come out as nonbinary in 2025, Ponthier feels their music resonates now more than ever. “Now that I’ve come out as who I truly am, I think my art makes so much more sense. Being able to perform as myself takes away a lot of the anxiety and confusion I had around how I should perform for other people,” they say.
The Brooklyn-based musician has toured with acts including Bleachers, Holly Humberstone, The Japanese House, and Hayley Kiyoko. They made an appearance in Elton John’s Oscar-nominated documentary, Elton John: Never Too Late, and performed at Brandi Carlile’s annual Girls Just Wanna Weekend.
Their most recent album, Everywhere Isn’t Texas, is a love letter to their home state while demanding better from it.
For Ponthier, this album is about loving something—whether that’s the state you live in or your relationship—so much that you want it to improve. They hope that their fans hear their own stories in the lyrics.
“I never thought I could find people who understood me until I started putting out music, and I hope they can experience the same by hearing it.”
Dope Saint Jude @dopesaintjude
Electronic hip-hop artist Dope Saint Jude launched her performance journey as a drag king and has continued to rise ever since. Her EPs Resilient, Higher Self, and her most recent release, I Said What I Said, explore themes of identity, empowerment, and liberation.
Her influences include Tracy Chapman, Janelle Monáe, and Angel Haze, and these inspirations are evident in her approach to music. Jude hopes her work helps listeners “feel a little braver,” she tells GO. She’s all about “reclaiming power and confidence by showing up as [her] full self even when it’s uncomfortable.”
“My identity is part of my lived experience and thus shows up quite strongly in my music. Being a Black queer woman, I have had to create a space for myself, so my music and performance naturally [carries] the energy of defiance,” she says.
Further reflecting her identity and influences, she treats her music like an auditory collage, mixing more traditional sounds with futuristic effects. “Sonically, I am drawn to gritty industrial sounds mixed with rhythms rooted in global and diasporic sounds,” she adds.
But for her, what sticks out most isn’t the music itself, but the relationships it fosters with her fans. “Connecting with people after the show is always incredible. It’s what I value about being a smaller artist. You get to meet your listeners,” she says.
Leith Ross @leith_ross
Born in a small town near Ottawa, Leith Ross fuses alternative, folk, and rock to lay their heart bare. After releasing their first EP, Motherwell, in 2020 via Birthday Cake Records, Ross has garnered the devotion of fans and music aficionados alike. In the following years, they harnessed the power of social media to put out viral singles “I’d Have To Think About It” and “We’ll Never Have Sex,” which took TikTok by storm.
In 2022, Ross signed with Republic Records and released their debut album, To Learn. The album explores themes of queerness, mental health, and romance. Ross wrapped up 2023 by releasing the deluxe version of the album entitled To Learn More, which included live recordings of a few fan-favorite tracks.
With over 450 million streams, their trajectory only continues upward. Last year, Ross released “Grieving” ahead of their new album, I Can See the Future, produced by Rostam (Vampire Weekend). This album focuses on self-exploration and how they belong. “I find myself obsessed with who I am, what my place is in a world with such horrid cruelty and apathy, and what my place is in the joy that resists it. This album attempts to answer some of those questions and is kind of an answer in itself,” they say
King Isis @itskingisis
Self-described “punk rock fairy,” and “baby poler,” King Isis is known for their grungy sound that blends equal parts punk, whimsy, and rock. They first gained attention in 2023 with their EP Scales and have since built an impressive catalog of work infused with moody chord progressions and expressive lyrics.
Their star is still on the rise, having opened for The Last Dinner Party and The Japanese House and releasing their most recent EP, SERENITY, last year. Now they’re reflecting on the art they’ve made and planning what’s next. “My next project is frank, raw, and weird. It explores trauma, relationships, identity, self. It’s very much a personal story, but just as much a shared experience for femmes,” they say.
The California-based artist uses their music almost as therapy, because for much of their life, they felt they had to hide their identity. Their work allows them to work out all the messy, complicated, and heart-wrenching parts of growing up as a queer Black femme.
“As a queer Black femme in a predominantly white male music scene, I think my identity fully routes my creative experience. I grew up hiding my queerness, not feeling fully comfortable and safe to express myself. The only place I felt comfortable to be vulnerable, experiment, and exist was music….I feel like I find it easier to hide behind metaphors, etc., but also my lyrics are the place where I feel the most free,” they tell GO.
Maude Latour @maudelstatus
Maude Latour is that girl. The Swedish-born pop star first graced listeners with her music at just 15. Her music employs space-age-y synth and electro-pop beats that feel otherworldly, while still hitting strangely close to home. But at its core, her music is a tool for self-discovery.
“I’m trying to be as honest as possible in my music. I always want to discover something about myself through a song, a truth I was too afraid of. I want the songs to feel scary to put into the world,” she says.
Her music feels undeniably raw, vulnerable, and playful all at once. It’s reminiscent of the moody indie pop of the 2010s, with an updated dose of existentialism driven by our current social climate. Latour knows queer representation is more vital now than ever.
“Recently, while I was on tour with Alex Warren, I met so many queer and trans kids around the USA. People would hug me after the show, telling me their parents had said horrible things to them, isolated them, or didn’t accept them. Our hugs meant more to both of us than I could have ever imagined,” she tells GO. “My queerness, my bi/pansexuality, reflects my relationship to the world. I love people.”
Latour’s latest album, Sugar Water, expands on her ability to enthrall audiences with catchy hooks and cosmic sound effects. The London/Hong Kong/New York City-raised performer just wrapped her Australia tour, leaving her fans eager for what she has in store next.
Joy Oladokun @joyoladokun
Joy Oladokun has “a surprising amount of socks,” and has met Dolly Parton at a dog fashion show, she tells GO. A woman of multitudes, Oladokun knits notes together like a cozy sweater you don’t want to take off. And it seems others are fans of this sweater, too, as she has collaborated with artists Chris Stapleton and Brandi Carlile and has toured with Hozier and Tyler Childers. She is also featured on Hayley Kiyoko’s upcoming album, Girls Like Girls.
But her artistry goes deeper than collaborations, reaching into her perspective on creativity and the world. Oladokun, the daughter of Nigerian immigrants, views today’s political climate as a unique opportunity for artistic creation. “The world as it exists in me and around me is what inspires my work. I feel like we’re living in the type of times that artists were born for. The more we push back against oppressive systems and mindsets, the more hope we have for building a better world,” she says.
How she exists in the world influences her creative process, but she wants every listener to be able to relate to her work. “I want my music to reflect who I am and then blossom out to a universal emotion or thought. That way, the music feels conversational and not confrontational for people who identify differently.”
Bronze Avery @bronzeavery
“My queerness and my Blackness are embedded in everything I do, whether it’s intentional or intuitive.” Bronze Avery is a DJ, producer, singer, and songwriter who is taking the internet by storm. In 2024, the Orlando-born, LA-based artist released his sophomore album HEATWAVE, a dip into his hot, colorful, pop persona with a strong, unabashed focus on queer themes. Citing inspirations like George Michael (“he’s the blueprint on how to be a queer popstar”), Bronze Avery’s discography is an ode to dance-pop that makes you feel like you’re soaking in the sun at the beach.
Not only did he write and produce each of the 14 tracks, he also directed, edited, and produced the title track’s music video. “Right now, I’m making dance music that’s high energy, but layered with meaning,” Bronze Avery tells GO. “I’m inspired by themes like collective freedom, sensuality, and queer nightlife. I like to build worlds that feel cinematic, euphoric, and a little bit rebellious.”
With his stellar fashion, relatable TikToks, consistent dreamy sound, and talent to spare—Bronze says he only hopes that listeners find some comfort and happiness in his music. “I know what it’s like to feel invisible in spaces, and music has helped me feel important,” he says. “I want people to feel like they’re not alone in their emotions. Even the most chaotic feelings can be beautiful, fun, or cathartic.”
Leyla Ebrahimi @leyla.eb.music
Just one year into her music career, Leyla Ebrahimi is already garnering the type of buzz well-established artists wait years for. The Persian-American singer-songwriter melds elements of synth-pop, indie, and dance-punk, resulting in poetic, deeply poignant bops. She uses her music to “feel everything,” she tells GO. At three years sober, she reflects on the role her music played in her journey.
I got sober because I wanted to experience life without this sort of numbness that followed me everywhere. I don’t want to deny myself a fully human experience. And a lot of that requires sitting and sifting through pain,” she says.
“I want my listeners to know that and know they aren’t alone. They can sit with this music and know that we are all connected through the universal experience that is love, and that is loss. I went from never feeling anything—thank you, Oxy—to feeling everything. And I hope I continue to feel it all forever,” she continues.
As a Brooklyn-based performer, she considers her first show at Union Pool in Williamsburg, a dive bar where she used to work, a career highlight.
“I’d watched so many amazing bands come through and play shows…Being up there with musicians I love so much, performing for the first time to a crowd that was basically just my friends and family, was the best feeling ever,” she says.
Ebrahimi released her latest single, “I Know You’re The Moon,” in May and is hard at work on her debut album with Deerfield Records / Interscope Records.
Siena Liggins @sienaliggins
Combine shiny lip-glossed 2000s pop with the edge of ’90s R&B, and you get someone like Siena Liggins. The pop icon in the making has garnered over seven million streams with her hits like “thicc” and “Girlfriend,” and she shows no sign of stopping any time soon.
“The thing that carries over most from my identity to my art is the fact that I get to be fluid and evolving. When I look back on the first songs I put out compared to the stuff I’m making now, I see a girl who’s just getting comfortable with herself,” she tells GO.
In 2024, she hit the road with her FLOOZY tour, stopping in eight cities across the East Coast and Midwest, and went on a cross-country tour with Xana. Her work has even been featured in Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin and a trailer for Nikki Glaser’s HBO Max special, Good Clean Filth.
“I hope people walk away feeling inspired to take their freedom seriously. I hope folks choose to dance instead of retreat. And I want folks to find creative ways to resist in their day-to-day,” she says.
Liggins wants her audience, especially women, to feel empowered when they listen to her music. “I feel super inspired by the complexity that comes with being a woman. I really appreciate the way girls reclaim their power amidst worldly chaos and fight for that same world reimagined— all while remaining sexy and desirable,” she says.
Ellie Rudy is a Brooklyn-based journalist specializing in the LGBTQ+community, fashion, skincare, and lifestyle. When she’s not reporting, she is writing sketch comedy with her comedy group and making people laugh (hard) on TikTok. Follow her @sweatygirl_3000 on Instagram.
