Australian-Filipino pop musician Chela has released the new single ‘Cool 2B Queer’. Chela – the project of Sydney/Eora based multi-disciplinary artist Chelsea Wheatley – said the idea for the song title came from an interaction with a former romantic partner whose attitude had changed somewhat.
“During the time of our romantic exchange, she wasn’t ready to acknowledge what was going on publicly,” Chela said in a statement. “Now suddenly, many years later, in 2019 when it’s feeling more acceptable and more in vogue to be queer, here she is ready to be open about it all.”
Chela – ‘Cool 2B Queer’
Chela returned to Australia during the pandemic after years spent in Los Angeles. She’s performed live at Coachella and South By Southwest and appeared on songs with Clubfeet and Seth Bogart.
Chela was recently a guest on triple j’s Hack, where she spoke about finding a new way for musicians to survive. The artist provided a statement to Music Feeds elaborating on the call for a musicians’ minimum wage:
Musicians are learning how to adapt to the continuous, rapid change of the music industry. Major income streams have shifted on a spectrum between record sales to merchandise and touring. As the market gets oversaturated due to the rise of technology and ease of creating music, musicians are finding new pathways and creating ecosystems for themselves that rely on engaging with specific communities. Lest we forget that true creatives are the best at thinking outside the box.
Creative musicians also possess great magic in having the ability to so brazenly express themselves, which is a commodity that will always be wanted and needed. And that commodity is what needs to be publicly and governmentally recognised and acknowledged as a service.
Musicians are art workers, social workers and at times health care workers, and there must be a minimum wage implemented to support this.
The onus is not only on venues and the government, but also on audiences and headlining bands who engage support acts to show the true value of a musician’s time and creative output, and to help normalise that. Imagine a world where musicians won’t need a backup hustle, leaving them with more time to create?
Chela’s ‘Cool 2B Queer’ is out now.
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