Interview: On Tour with Yama Uba

Oakland post-punk/new wave icons Yama Uba cast a dark purple glow across the Bay Area, lending a gothic shimmer to our independent music scene. Their darkwave sound is melodic, moody, and deeply inclusive, inviting the LGBTQ+ community and their allies to swim in echoes of 80s goth clubs.

Consisting of Akiko Sampson and Winter Zora, the duo has just returned from a tour through the Midwest, bringing a bit of Bay Area magic to communities across the country. I was lucky enough to catch up with them as they returned home with a message of trans and queer resilience, joy, and of course, Pride.

Welcome back from tour! How are you feeling/doing?

Winter: Thank you so much! Feeling and doing good! Excited to be back in the beautiful Bay Area!

Akiko: We’re happy and appreciating all the fun music and culture we have in the Bay Area. I just attended the 143rd Dimension Fest and got to see The Breathing Light and a lot of other artists I love, which was a treat.

What inspired the tour? How did it fall into place?

Akiko: We had Los Angeles’ Lesbian Goth Pride night booked for a year. Later we were invited to play in South Dakota at their Goth Pride, so we made a tour of it, and the rest of the cities came together naturally.

Winter: We had the pleasure of being invited to play at Pride events in a lot of major cities. So we were really happy to celebrate Pride with lots of new friends!

The tour included stops in red states like South Dakota, Arizona, and Nebraska. How did it feel to visit these places as trans/queer artists?

Winter: We really enjoyed the music scene in all of those places! There are cool people doing things everywhere. We had the pleasure of playing at a gay bar in South Dakota, so we had a lot of fun. Communities of trans and queer people become stronger especially in red states, so there’s generally good things happening within them.

Akiko: We were nervous about the long drives, having heard accounts of trans and queer people being apprehended lately in public bathrooms by police with rifles, and forced to do gender checks. We were judicious about where we took our chances, and if facilities felt safe, we saved them on a google map for the way back. I’ve never had to reach this level of detail with tour planning before.

But I also read Tina Turner’s autobiography just before we left, where she discussed the dangers of traveling as a Black band in her early days. The danger of travel has always been part of rock music. If artists didn’t do it anyway, our music history would not be what it is. When we finally got to the shows, we had an amazing time because it was Pride every night!

Were there any surprises on tour?

Akiko: I was somehow surprised to see how much our world view is curated by social media, and how much our information varies by region. Some people didn’t even seem aware that Los Angeles is being held hostage right now, just like we knew nothing about what’s happening in their region. Seeing ICE vehicles in rural Arizona hiding on the freeway like traffic cops, waiting to stop anyone who drove by, was sad and scary. It reminded me how important it is to get off our phones as a main information source and just talk to other people.

Winter: We saw so many cute feral cats roaming around in packs, and fireflies, in lots of cities. I also saw 2 baby moose running around on a hill. It was the cutest thing!

Any favorite memories or highlights?

Winter: Everything! We made so many new friends, met lots of wonderful people, and we’re grateful to have finally played in a lot of cities we’ve never been to before!

Akiko: Every show was an incredible opportunity to meet new people and check out what’s going on in another place, and find out what’s important to the people who live there. Meeting someone who has bought almost every release from my record label, Psychic Eye Records, was really cool. I’ve shipped them so many records over the years that it felt like a meeting pen pal! Getting to witness the Denver alternative drag scene was really fun. Seeing people creating joy everywhere was inspiring.

How can we show up and support trans/queer artists in this particularly scary time?

Akiko: Going out to see artists, especially trans artists and especially touring trans artists, helps sustain us not just financially, but spiritually as well. If you can’t do that, I’d say buying the art you consume is important. And if you can’t afford that, this is free: If you appreciate an artist’s work, just tell them. Hearing that your work meant something to someone can be the difference between an artist giving up or continuing to grow. By just expressing appreciation, we create a world where everyone feels they can make art, and all perspectives have value.

Also, there are a lot of barriers to trans art and music, including industry exclusion. As a music fan, if you see a heavily promoted all-cis, all-white, or all-male bill, ask yourself what marginalized bands might also be great to appear in that space, and say so out loud.

Winter: You can support the trans and queer artist community by sharing their art and music, go to see them perform, loudly celebrate them, buy their art and music and merch. Give money, give flowers, listen, provide space and share the resources you have so you can help us all grow and thrive. And not all trans and queer people are exclusively part of this community. We are everywhere.

What other bands should we be listening to?

Winter: I made a playlist for all of you! Saehsaiyah - Paranoid, Delores Galore - Ring Around the Rose, Scary Black - Fallacy of Worth, La Pregunta - Trains, Quaaludes - Incoming Liberation, Tiffadelic - I Tried, Diavol Strain - En La Eternidad, Boyswitch - Queer Without Fear, The Breathing Light - Down (Polezie), Ruiness- Queer As In Fuck U(SA), Maya Songbird - She Wants to Dance

Anything else?

Akiko: We’re living in a time of increasing isolation and fear-mongering. Making and appreciating art puts our focus back on the human spirit, which defies authoritarian thinking, and frees our minds to imagine better ways of being. I hope everyone who reads this makes some kind of art today.

Winter: FCK ICE. Free Palestine. Free Congo. Free Sudan. Loudly support local artists, bands, performers and businesses! Go to shows! Share your skills! Organize gatherings! Share with your friends, neighbors, and community. Avoid supporting corporate as much as you can. Any small change you can make in your community and for the world makes a difference!