Neocamp Examines the Queer Artist's Role in Today's Media-Driven Culture

For Neocamp's debut album, Content, the queer Irish performer wrestled with the artist's role in today's media-driven climate, where everyone is a content creator and must package their identities as desirable objects to be digitally consumed. In 2017, the idea of the artist is almost as, if not more important, than the art itself, forcing independent musicians, such as Neocamp, to engage in a roundabout system of self-branding and unpaid exposure.

This online phenomena forces artists to change their natural selves in order to have their work placed on relevant media outlets--the contemporary "currency of cool," as Neocamp describes it. "Independent artists are becoming content providers for platforms in a barter system of 'exposure' for the artist in exchange for 'diversity' and renewable content for the platform to sell advertising," he says. "As I was working [on Content], I began thinking about the detached process of branding yourself."

For queer artists, specifically, Neocamp says this process is especially draining. "These ideas can be such a hurdle when you're thinking about the confluence of [Jean] Baudrillard and contemporary club music, but you're also a crossdresser," he says. "People get very distracted by things queer people do just to exist," which is why being LGBTQ and viewed as a "serious artist" is a significant challenge. Finding that balance is also a branding exercise, Neocamp says; you end up honing your novel queerness for media interest, while navigating public criticial perception and still creating authentic work.

On Content, Neocamp explores that cynical, cyclical mentality, breaking the self into an image, object and asset. This dense existential concept is fused with Neocamp's longtime love for electronic music, making for a project that's designed to simultaneously spark dialogue and dancing. Sonically, there's a sense of foreboding and isolation throughout Content, with raw vocals influenced by Sean Nos' traditional Irish lilting. Neocamp merged elements of trap, house, post-punk and ambient techno onto the album, allowing for an atmospheric experience where his vocals are more exposed and vulnerable.

Consume Neocamp's queer Content, below.