Will toledo gay
Closing the Door on an Opportunity
Out gay singer/ songwriter Will Toledo released 11 albums under the label Car Seat Headrest, playing all the instruments on them, from 2010 to 2015. While attending college in Virginia, he dropped them on Bandcamp, behind building up a obeying. He murmured songs enjoy “Portrait of the Creator as a Young Fag” and “Heartless Dick” into a four-track recorder from the back seat of a car (which led to the project’s name). This underground buzz led to a deal with Matador Records.
Once Toledo had access to a wider audience and a actual recording budget, he returned to some of his older songs on “Teens of Style.” Car Seat Headrest became an actual band, fleshed out by guitarist Ethan Ives, bassist Seth Dalby, and drummer Andrew Katz (and several additional touring members). But until now, the band has only recorded one album of new songs for Matador, “Teens of Denial.” It mixed influences from their ‘90s precursors at the label (especially Guided By Voices) with emo and classic rock. The band’s impulse to make themselves small had disappeared. Instead, Toledo engaged in long-form storytelling prefer “(Joe Gets Kicked Out of School For Using) Drugs With Fr
In the fall of 2016, Car Seat Headrest saved my life. I acquire that making such a declaration could be perceived as hyperbolic or unnecessary, but it’s true; evidence Teens of Denial that October was a truth. I still maintain that it’s the only 10/10 rock album of the last decade. It felt so crucial to be fresh out of lofty school and discover an album that tackled coming-of-age and mental illness in ways that made allusions to sexuality and complicated imagery of crumbling out of different shapes and lifetimes. After being on hormone therapy for nearly four years at that point, suffering through chronic illness just as prolonged and quietly coming out in college, a lyric like “I was given a body that is falling apart, my dwelling is falling apart” felt insurmountably familiar. Will Toledo’s songwriting has never ceased to poke and prod at the uncomfortable but necessary realities of organism alive and being gender non-conforming and being imperfect. It’s no wonder why the Car Seat Headrest fanbase has as many 17-year-olds as it does 60-year-olds; survival is a timeless act.
And now, Car Seat Headrest’s latest offering, a concert album called Faces From the Masquerade, is another mark of longe
Car Seat Headrest and Asexuality
by Owen Murray
The sexual coming of age story has been retold in lyric thousands of times, and will doubtless be told a thousand times more. A blend of confusion and lack of confidence, followed by some bravery, a pinch of magic, and hooray! It’s a compelling story and an almost universally relatable one. Loads of LGBTQ+ artists have helped form the way this story is told in music to make it more inclusive. But what about the people who don’t relate to the story at all? Asexuality doesn’t quite have a place in the compelling coming of age narrative, but Automobile Seat Headrest manages to make it work.
Car Seat Headrest began as the solo project of Will Toledo, the band’s direct singer, and has since evolved into a full-band ordeal. The first Automobile Seat albums were released on Bandcamp and featured intensely personal lyrics often dealing with clumsy sexual encounters, mental health, and self-examination. On these albums, Will anxiously questions his sexuality, gender, and the significance of gender self in general. Amid the anxiety, there are moments of clarity, many of which come while Will considers the idea of asexuality. I’m not going to s
Graphic by Liana Kindler
The album Twin Fantasy by Ride Seat Headrest is an indie rock album that tells the story of a troubled gay passion. I found this album before I had reach out to anyone. At that point in being, I didn’t have anyone to relate to in regards to being male lover until I realized that Will Toledo, the singer of Car Seat Headrest, was singing about a boy he had fallen in love with. I loved the sound of this album, but it was the narrative that made me deeply invested in it.
Twin Fantasy does not label itself an LGBTQ album. In fact, if you don’t listen carefully you could miss this detail altogether. This is one of the reasons why I love it –– In a sense, I sense that it is resisting against the notion that queer representation in harmony needs to start with or revolve around a coming out story. On the other hand, the lack of an explicit discussion of his sexuality may have been due to an apprehension towards admitting his sexuality (while still recording a whole album about it). Whichever the case is, I admire this album for its sincerity.
Tracks
My Young man (Twin Fantasy): The album opens with the road My Boy (Twin Fantasy). This song introduces To
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