The Glasshouse

Liza Bec and Chaines (who refer to themselves as Cee) are the two artists behind Crystal Queer, a project commissioned by The Glasshouse. Months of work has led up to their forthcoming performance at one of our regular From The Glasshouse events.  

The two artists, who identify as non-binary, met at Summer Studios, a free six-day residency run by The Glasshouse’s Artist Development team.  

So how did the two of you meet? 

Cee – We bumped into each other in the break room during Summer Studios 2022.  

Liza – I was looking for a willing volunteer to perform with me at a blackboard that when people wrote on it, different sounds were created. We just got up on the stage in front of everyone who’d been there that week and good things happened. 

We kept in touch and then we were both speaking to Rianne at The Glasshouse because they were looking to commission something. She’d seen us perform together that time and so it seemed like a good combination. 

Cee- We’re a similar kind of dork! 

Can you tell us a bit about your collaboration on this project? 

Cee – We decided to draw on our shared experience of non-binary existence. I have a note here that says, “Trapped in a 2D world and the struggle to evolve beyond those dimensional boundaries.” 

Liza – Also, I was obsessed with the geometry of the building. I knew this was the end of a chapter and the start of a new one for the venue with the name change. I did some research and discovered Sage 2 (where Crystal Queer will be performed) is the only 10-sided concert hall.  I was able to link this back to non-binary existence and dimensionality.  

We’ve incorporated the story of the area from being a medieval salt meadow, through the industrial revolution, through the great fire of Gateshead, and into the modern era building, one of the architectural icons along the Gateshead quays. 

What makes Crystal Queer personal to you? 

Cee – I feel like this piece is a window into the kinds of friendships I value – queer, nerdy friendships, the uniting of misfits, the opportunity to learn about things you didn’t think you would. 

Liza – I spent several years walking up extremely steep hills in the pouring rain to collect muddy rocks, bash them with hammers, carve them into slices and in some cases, even fire lasers at them, to acquire a degree in Geology. For some reason I was often told at this age that I ‘look like a woman but think like a man’. This never made a lot of sense to me, but I assumed it was just an occupational hazard of studying geophysics. 

As an agender person it often feels like non-binary identity is such a foreign concept to many people that you might as well be living in another dimension. 

Working in electronic music, a space where around 99% of producers are cis males it seems important to challenge gender assumptions explicitly in our creative work. 

(cisgender refers to a person whose gender identity corresponds to their sex assigned at birth). 

What does it mean to you as artists to be commissioned by The Glasshouse? 

Liza – I only really defined myself as a “composer” a couple of years ago. For me this is huge because this is my first commission. Financially it makes a huge difference but more than that it’s the vote of confidence in me that this represents.  

In this case we’ve also been given a venue and an event to perform the piece at.  

Cee –Being able to rehearse here in the building is really important, and that’s not always understood when I’ve received commissions. I think The Glasshouse are really leading the way in understanding that whole process. 

What are “queer crystals” and how does your non-binary identity influence this project? 

Cee – It’s about the idea of seeing different dimensions within things that can initially look like they’re one thing. 

Liza – People are very comfortable with a rock looking one way on the outside and another on the inside. But the idea of a person looking like a woman but actually being a man, or a non-binary person, can be challenging. This concept inspired Crystal Queer.  

Why is it that we are so much more comfortable with transformation in objects, whether those be rocks or buildings, than we are in human beings? 

Cee – Also, it’s easy to think of history as kind of a relatively straight line from absence of progress to more progress. But we wanted to think of it as more of a rich set of events, with more dimensions.  

Liza – As a non-binary person it can often feel like you are from another dimension, a space which some people say is ‘imaginary’. But we have a concert hall for an evening, and that is a space where you can make the imaginary real. Even the venue has a secret- it looks like a circle but it’s actually a ten-sided polygon. 

What can audiences expect from Crystal Queer? 

Cee – Surprises.  

Liza –It’s not going to be a song, then a song, then a song. It’s going to be more of an atmospheric piece. 

Cee- I think we’re going to transform one space into many kinds of spaces. We have audio-reactive visuals in real time. It ends up being very hypnotizing. 

Liza – I think it will be psychedelic. Like some sort of dream. In this show we are going to take the audience on a journey, starting completely acoustic, transforming a single recorder into a powerful electronic chorus surrounded by pulsing synthesisers.  

Cee and Liza were talking with Ross McCall. 

Want to know more? 

Crystal Queer is the latest in our series of From The Glasshouse events for anyone who loves discovering new artists, and meeting other music lovers. Audiences decide what to pay for their tickets for all From The Glasshouse events.  

Watch past performances, read other interviews and get a taste of what to expect when you come along to From The Glasshouse. 

Liza Bec has previously performed with RNS Moves. RNS Moves brings together top-notch musicians with and without disabilities, boldly carving out a space for unconventional ways of making brilliant, beautiful, imaginative music.