Above: Isabella Ballew
“Since I'm so used to feeling alienated I'm just louder about saying what I mean, and all the mean, homophobic shit just rolls off,” says Isabella. “Racism, homophobia, and transphobia are a daily part of life here. Living in it is great motivation to do something about it. What's important is direct community action. Music is an important avenue for social change, but it can't end there.”
That seems to be the underlying theme of the South's queer punk scene -- keep moving forward. At its heart, punk is progress, and while these musicians' surroundings may feel dangerous or hostile at times, they also provide a culture to react to. Trying to force change in a coastal bastion of liberal thought often seems like running in place, but to fight for freedom in a conservative hub is what punk is all about.
”Baby, I'm an anarchist,” says Isabella Ballew. “White people with dreads, yelling slurs is not punk. Punk is inclusion. Punk is not infringing on anyone's cultures. Punk is the right to exist and be who you are when the entire fucking world is telling you that you can't exist, and if you do, you shouldn't!”
“Being put into a box sucks,” says Yancey Ballard. “Representation is important. Punk is in the heart. Punk is whatever you need it to be. Doing what the fuck I want to do is my internalization of it. I hope that it can heal someone else as much as it healed me.”