The song of the outsider: ‘THE ONLY QUEER IN THE VAN’
‘THE ONLY QUEER IN THE VAN’ is the new single from G.H. FRANCIS, available on his ‘Why Does Anyone’ EP, released June 14th.
The vibrant, guitar driven track, tells of a difficult coming-out while touring in a rock band.
“This song is kind of a homage to all the previous bands I played with, and the touring involved, from the point of view of always being, ‘The Only Queer In The Van,’ which has never been an issue for my bandmates as far as I can tell, but it was for me during the years when I hadn’t come out yet,” explains Gregory Hoepffner.
“The early 2000’s were not a time where being gay was considered ‘cool,’ at least not where I lived, and many years later when I finally decided to stop eluding the question, I was still outside of many situations and ‘interests’ that the other guys had.
“The chorus line, “Wanted to come out to my friends, instead I made my face bleed,” refers to a gig that happened with my band ‘Time To Burn,’ where I literally smashed my bass into my head while playing, as a very stupid way to say, “Look how much I hate myself.”
“Of course, the anger quickly went away as the stage floor was filled with blood, and I thought I might die for a minute. Let this be a reminder that an act of violence only leaves space for ridicule. All this could have been avoided with a discussion, and the story would have been very different.”
Hoepffner’s ‘G.H. Francis’ project bloomed from a life journey of releasing records and touring the world with multifaceted projects like Almeeva, Sure, Ghoster, Kid North, and Time To Burn, and his new ‘Why Does Anyone?’ EP is a collection of wonderful, synthetic pop songs.
CONNECT: G.H.Francis (g-h-francis.com)
