With a glittering promise to take down the patriarchy, WA feminist pop choir Hengequeens is making its debut at Fringe World with Feminist Anthems.

Exploring and celebrating the lives of women and non-binary people, the set-list includes newly commissioned songs by Mama Kin, Lucy Peach, Addison Axe, Della Rae Morrison, ABRYNZ, Mei Saraswati and P Gardner.

Ahead of the gig, the 25-voice choir – self described as cute rock stars – chose to speak as one “hivemind” to answer Greg McFerran’s questions about what to expect from Feminist Anthems (besides glitter).

Greg McFerran: For Seesaw Mag readers who aren’t familiar with Hengequeens, can you tell us a bit about yourselves? 

Hengequeens: We are Hengequeens! We are a 25-voice, feminist pop choir.

What is a feminist pop choir, you ask?

It’s a choir that amplifies and promotes voices, experiences and creative expressions that are sometimes squashed under the crushing weight of the patriarchy. At least, that’s how we’re interpreting “feminist pop choir” at the moment.

A pox on set lists full of white dudes!

Glitter bomb the patriarchy!

GM: Tell us about a bit about your Fringe World show, Feminist Anthems.

HQ: Feminist Anthems is the debut performance of brand new songs written especially for us by some of our favourite WA singer-songwriters.

Our fearless leader Claire Coleman secured a grant from the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries (DLGSC) in 2021 to commission new works from WA female and non-binary artists. Claire then arranged these songs for Hengequeens.

We are fan-girling daily over the artists who have come on board for this project. We get to sing incredible feminist anthems by Mama Kin, P Gardner, Addison Axe, Della Rae Morrison, ABRYNZ, Mei Saraswati and Lucy Peach. Audiences who come along will get to see everything from folk, to rock, to pop, to electronica, and even see us (attempt to) do some body percussion. We also have a killer live band accompanying us for the show.

GM: What inspired you all to perform in the show?

HQ: Apart from the fact that singing in a gang is awesome, Feminist Anthems is a show that champions women’s perspectives and showcases local talent in the WA songwriters we’ve commissioned.

The lyrics and themes of the songs we are performing are powerful and important to us, and we feel like we are part of something bigger than ourselves.

Also Claire has promised us a glitter budget.

GM: What makes Feminist Anthems different to all the other shows on offer at Fringe World?

HQ: In which other Fringe show, will there be 25 feminists on stage who look and sound like rock stars? Cute rock stars, though; we self-identify as the cutest choir at Fringe (sorry to any other choirs).

Cuteness aside, we’re really proud that there is a theme of political activism behind this show, as well as a unifying thread of community, both within the hive mind of the choir and extending out to our commissioned artists, our live band of local musicians, and our audience.

Another part of this project we are excited about is that these new choir arrangements will be made available for other choirs in the WA community to use for free. Bargain! Thanks DLGSC, please give us more money in the future.

GM: What do you hope audiences will take away from Feminist Anthems?

HQ: We like to think we disrupt people’s expectations of choirs!

We’re here to make fun, relatable music that will make you think. We hope everyone who comes to a show hears a song that makes them say, “Wowee, wahoo what a tune,” and then goes home and explores that songwriter’s other work. And we can’t wait to hear other choirs singing these tunes in the future!

GM: Take us behind the scenes of Hengequeens – what happens backstage?

HQ: We have to practise before rehearsals which a lot of us do in the car on the way (we are queens at fitting in choir prep around all the other things we have going on in our lives after all! But probably don’t tell Claire.) Before we sing, though, we must eat tacos and have a catch-up and a beverage to lubricate our vocal cords.

Our rehearsals are where all the magic happens. Getting together each week to sing, laugh, and eat delicious treats that choir members may have paid in “biscuit tax”is a huge part of why we enjoy being Hengequeens.

Any performances we do are the cherries on top of the cake because we get so much satisfaction from the opportunity to work as a team and make beautiful music on a weekly basis. Some of us also like to make beautiful, interpretive, lyrical, dance moves, but that’s an optional extra.

GM: What is your favourite part of the playground?

HQ: At a recent rehearsal we conducted a poll on the rehearsal room’s whiteboard. The results were a win for the swings, with the flying fox coming in second, and the slide and “frog-on-a-spring” tied for third place. A highlight of doing this poll was getting to see an incredible whiteboard-marker depiction of a “frog-on-a-spring” by one choir member who obviously moonlights as an artistic genius.

Feminist Anthems is at the Court, 1-4 February 2023

Pictured top: The members of Hengequeens. Photo: Bridget Turner

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