Interview with Frances McKevitt

Frances McKevitt is a British transgender singer-songwriter, musician and performer from Liverpool whose life has followed an unusually independent path. She discovered Elvis Presley at the age of ten and, at sixteen, was inspired by the hippie counterculture to pursue music herself. On her seventeenth birthday, she joined a commune and subsequently spent around ten years travelling around the world with her guitar, earning her living as a troubadour. Eventually settling in London, Frances continued to build a life around music, performing both as a solo artist and with bands including The Frantastics, whose distinctive style combines country, rock 'n' roll, humour and theatricality in what they describe as "Frockabilly." Alongside performing and songwriting, Frances has also worked as a gardener in London. Her own musical philosophy emphasizes creativity and the joy of making music rather than fame or commercial success. Her journey offers an intriguing perspective on music, independence, counterculture, creativity and life as a transgender woman.

 

Monika: Today I would like to present to you Frances McKevitt, an inspirational British woman, transgender artist, and leader of the band "The Frantastics". Frances was born in Liverpool, which probably explains her love for music. She is also a gardener, providing gardening services around London. Hello Frances!

Frances: Hello Monika!

Monika: So, what does life look like for you these days?

Frances: Very much what I have always been doing, traveling and performing in London and around the country, performing both solo and with the band. I’m also doing a lot of gardening, not very rock ‘n’ roll I know, but I seem to have caught the gardening bug real bad. I have a beautiful summerhouse at the end of my garden, where I like to spend time reading and writing new songs.

 

"I have always been doing, traveling and
performing in London and around the country."

Monika: How would you describe your music, and are there other artists you draw inspiration from?

Frances: Well, I’ve got two styles, one the solo material and the other what I do with the band. The band’s style is straight-up rock ‘n’ roll and country, a collision we like to call Frockabilly. We dress in those big 50’s frocks with the wonderful petticoats.

When performing on my own, the style is a crossover folk/country thing, think Art Garfunkel and Neil Young meet Carly Simon; people have often compared it to that of David Gates from the band Bread, which is quite flattering.

Monika: Being transgender, does that shape the way you see and write about the world as an artist?

Frances: I really live in a day-to-day mainstream world. I’m not aware of trying to work any other angle.

Having said that, as I’m bisexual, I can write about my affairs with both men and women. For my own amusement, when introducing a song I’ll say, ‘I wrote this song about a man I was in a relationship with,’ and I’ll follow that with, ‘and this next song is about a woman I was involved with... Y es, I like my toast buttered both sides.’

This usually brings a roar of laughter from the audience, so perhaps it’s afforded me a bit more leeway in my songwriting. However, some songs are non gender-specific; both emotion and love are universal, as indeed is music.

"We’ve moved leaps and bounds in
the 20 odd years since I started out."

Monika: Do you know of any other transgender musicians or artists out there?

Frances: Less than a handful, otherwise I can’t say I am. I’m sure they’re out there, I’m just not aware of them. Most seem to be either drag queen lip-syncers, or vocalists slavishly imitating their pop idol or diva, sung over the usual backing track; I find it all a bit discouraging really.

Monika: How do you see the situation for transgender women in British society today?

Frances: We’ve moved leaps and bounds in the 20 odd years since I started out. Certainly in the world that I move in, the arts and Bohemia, it’s embraced. I would say the climate is more than favorable. There’s always going to be some bigot, but they’re the same people who’d dislike you for supporting a different football team, the way you wear your clothes, or the color of your skin, i.e. simply ignorant people.

Brits are, on the whole, a tolerant and accepting bunch, thus the reason so many outsiders come here to live, and more so to London. We’re a part of the culturally rich tapestry that makes this country what it is. 

Monika: Passing is such a harsh test that so many transgender women face. It doesn't seem to trouble you, but what would you say to those who struggle with it?

Frances: Less is more. Realize your strong points, play down what you think are your weaker ones. Choose your role models carefully if you’re wishing to live a mainstream life and not be seen as some oddity. Truth is, we should be able to be whoever we want to be, in an ideal world, but if you want to live below the radar, well...

"Truth is, we should be able to
be whoever we want to be."

Monika: Modern cosmetic surgery has made transitioning in your 50s or 60s seem possible for many women these days. Do you think that's realistic, and what would you say to someone transitioning at that age?

Frances: Be realistic. A subtle tweak here and there, but avoid anything drastic. They may be able to take 10 years off, but if they promise 20, well, I’d be skeptical. I never did like my nose, even after 30 years, so I did something about it, I feminized it.

Cosmetic surgery isn’t dissimilar to getting the builders in; find someone who’s had work done and which looks good, and get the name of their surgeon. I was lucky to have found an objective and conscientious surgeon 20 years ago.

Monika: Looking back to when you transitioned, did you have any transgender role models, and how much did you actually know about being transgender at the time?

Frances: I admired April Ashley for both her journey and her style. Women of culture, grace, and style I admire such as Audrey Hepburn, not the big-screen image, but the woman herself; Catherine Deneuve would be another.

When I started out 20 years ago, there was no Internet. The only advice we could get was from books, if you could find one, and makeup and dressing was a trial and error affair. Now, you just click on a link and up pops someone giving step-by-step on-screen tutorials on how to apply makeup, for men! Wow, I wish I’d had that, it would have saved me an awful lot of time, grief, and expense.

"My family have been a consistent
love and support in my life."

Monika: What was the hardest part of coming out for you?

Frances: Nothing really. I took it very slowly, a little bit here, a little bit there. It was so gradual that over several years I’d not quite realized how far I had come along.

My children were very accepting, as they never had it thrust upon them; we went on this journey together. It’s when you try to change everything overnight that it usually breaks down and falls apart. 

Monika: Has love played a big role in your life? Have you ever been married?

Frances: Yes, I got married at 18 and remained so for 17 years, until my wife died; I’ve 5 wonderful grown-up children.

My family has been a consistent love and support in my life; other loves have come and gone, they were right for as long as they lasted; perhaps the future holds another great love?

Monika: And what do you enjoy most about being a woman?

Frances: Certainly the empowerment, which I didn’t have when I was a male, and as a dedicated life-long Dandy, it afforded me a wider palette of clothing with which to play. Otherwise, after 20 years, it’s what it is, just getting on with life. I don’t wake up in the morning and declare, ‘Oooh, I’m a woman,’ this is a normal everyday thing that I live, I can’t say I get any kind of kick out of it.

"I’m a guerrilla activist through my art."

Monika: Politics, lobbying, campaigns, are you involved in any of that, and do you think transgender women can really change things there?

Frances: I’ve been invited to Parliament a few times, and asked to contribute my opinions and views on various matters.

I’m a guerrilla activist through my art, performing gigs out in the mainstream world; I’m not confined to playing gay clubs or ghettoized. So yes, I’m educating people, but in a subtler and more seductive way than say ‘Pride’ does.

Monika: And transgender beauty pageants, what's your take on those?

Frances: A bit silly really, but if one doesn't take them too seriously and you’re happy to enter and are prepared to come last, well... beauty is more than skin deep.

There’s a massive amount of negative body image within the trans community, regarding how one looks or passes, etc. Many people forget just how attractive confidence is, it can carry you far.

Monika: What about fashion? Do you enjoy it, what do you usually wear, and are there any particular designs, colors, or trends you go for?

Frances: No, individuals don’t follow fashion, we have a style, and can notice it a mile away. Fashion is fickle fun for the young, one shouldn’t become enslaved to it, just enjoy it. My wardrobe consists of equestrian clothing, a few Chanel pieces, 50’s big frocks with pinched waists, well-cut women’s suits, cashmere dresses and skirts, just above or below the knee. I’m no club kid in mini-skirts anymore.

I do, however, still wear my leather catsuit, which I had made over 14 years ago. Being pale and blonde, if I do wear jewelry it’s usually silver, which is more flattering for my skin than gold. I’m not a big jewelry person; most of what I have has been bought for me. The only pieces I do buy for myself are Hermes bracelets.

Monika: And your local LGBT community, are you involved there at all?

Frances: No, I’m involved in my own subversive espionage.

Monika: Plenty of transgender women end up writing memoirs. Has the idea of putting your own story into a book ever crossed your mind?

Frances: Ah, that book within us all, perhaps one day.

Monika: After everything, would you call yourself a happy woman now?

Frances: Content, not always happy, rarely sad, but almost always content, the other two are imposters.

Monika: Frances, thank you for the interview!

All the photos: courtesy of Frances McKevitt.

© 2013 - Monika Kowalska

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