Melanie Speaks

Swan Real is in this week for Roman Mars, asking: “What makes you sound the way you do? Maybe you’ve been told that you speak like your mom, or that you laugh like your uncle. Maybe you sometimes slip back into an accent that reveals something about your past. Maybe you have a habit of matching the ways other people speak when you wanna make them comfortable. Maybe you haven’t thought about your voice. Or maybe you think about it all the time (because you have to).”

The way a person’s voice changes over time feels like a simple, and overlooked act of magic. Whether intentionally or subconsciously, our voices are products of our environments as much as they are part of us. Today we’re featuring an episode about voices from a series called Sounds Gay, a show about queer culture, community and music.

More about the show: “In this mixtape of documentaries, host Sarah Esocoff takes you to rap battles, mosh pits, and songwriting sessions. We’ll explore non-binary identity through emo music and trans history through a lost VHS tape. Sounds Gay tells stories of queer people whose lives have been transformed by music.”