Interview with Robyn-Jane

There are some women whose voices carry more than melody, they carry the echoes of struggle, resilience, and hard-earned joy. Robyn-Jane is one such woman. A soulful transgender artist, blues singer, blogger, and the vibrant frontwoman of the band that bears her name, she has lived her truth with disarming honesty and unwavering grace. Having undergone her gender reassignment surgery in the spring of last year, Robyn-Jane now stands fully in her light, creating music that speaks not only to heartbreak but to the deep well of strength within every woman who has ever been misunderstood, misjudged, or made to feel invisible. With a musical style she calls Cabaret Blues, Robyn-Jane weaves folk chanson, torch-song sensuality, and biting lyrical truths into every performance.

 

Her songs, both intimate and defiant, reflect a journey shaped by early trauma, schoolyard cruelty, and the long shadow of societal rejection, but also by art, sisterhood, and the saving grace of music. On her blog, Retrobassgirl, she writes with fearless vulnerability, offering readers a rare, unfiltered glimpse into her transition, her healing, and her power reclaimed. Robyn-Jane is not only a storyteller in sound, but a testament to the joy of becoming. From her working-class roots in Northern England to her place now as a beacon of inspiration within the transgender and wider LGBTQ+ community, she embodies the message that it is never too late to be who you are. In her music, her writing, and her life, Robyn-Jane challenges us to listen, not just with our ears, but with our hearts. It’s an honor to sit down with her for this conversation.

 

Monika: Today I’m joined by the wonderful Robyn-Jane, an inspirational woman, talented blogger, transgender artist, and frontwoman of the band Robyn-Jane. Welcome, Robyn! It’s such a pleasure to have you here.

Robyn: Hi Monika! Thank you so much for having me, I’m really excited to be part of this conversation. I’ve followed your interviews for a while, and I love how you spotlight voices from our community with such empathy and humor. It’s not every day that I get to talk about both my art and my journey in a space that feels so safe and authentic. So yes, I’m absolutely thrilled, let’s dive in!

Monika: What have you been up to lately? Any exciting projects or milestones you'd like to share?

Robyn: Having undergone my gender reassignment surgery last year on April 10, I’m finally getting the chance to be the woman I was always meant to be. It has meant that work on our new album Bitter Honey has been somewhat delayed, but it has been a beautiful and life-changing experience.

Monika: Your band, Robyn-Jane, has such a distinctive sound. How did the group first come together and start performing?

Robyn: We started playing together some years ago to back another artist who has since become part of our lineup. Our sound evolved from playing straight blues and country into the more sassy cabaret blues style we have today.

"We call our style 'Cabaret Blues'."

Monika: Your music has such a unique and bold identity. How do you define your sound, and what influences have helped shape it?

Robyn: We call our style "Cabaret Blues"; we like to play small venues and get close to our audiences. It isn't straight blues or cabaret, it's an eclectic mix of the two. Our lyrics are a challenging mix of hard talk about the way T-girls are treated, and sassy, hard breakup blues. If guys have ever been mean to me or dumped me, they're in my songs! I also work as an acoustic solo artist, playing folk chanson tunes with a transgender flavor.

Monika: In what ways has your experience as a transgender woman shaped your creative voice and the messages in your music?

Robyn: I started out feeling that I had to speak out musically about the way society treats transgendered individuals. The blues was always a vehicle for kicking back at the way individuals were treated; it also makes a fine vehicle for challenging the negative attitudes I've encountered in my fairly tempestuous love life so far. Guys treat you as an exotic novelty. I'm a woman like any other; my music insists on respect and tolerance through pain and suffering. I guess in that way I fit into a long line of female jazz/blues artists from Bessie Smith through Billie Holiday and Etta James to Amy Winehouse. Blues has always been an outlet for deeply feminine suffering; I've chosen to add my own viewpoint as a trans woman to all of that.

Monika: Are there any fellow transgender artists whose work has particularly influenced or resonated with you?
Robyn: There are so many great transgender artists out there now. I have always been incredibly inspired by the work of Namoli Brennet and trans man Joe Stevens of the country/Americana band Coyote Grace.

Monika: What inspired you to start your blog Retrobassgirl, and what do you enjoy most about sharing your journey online?

Robyn: I really do. Blogging gives your audience, your fans, and anybody who cares to listen, an insight into what your life is really like. I feel that it is no good if you are simply a name on a concert billing or a figure on a stage. Those are facets of a person but hardly ever the whole story. My blog offers an insight into what it meant to grow up transgender and how it feels to transition. In my blog, I am incredibly open and honest. I give the naked truth. I feel that it is important for non-trans people to understand what we go through and to offer inspiration to others.

Monika: In recent years, we’ve seen a growing number of transgender women gaining visibility in the U.S., not just coming out, but becoming prominent figures in various fields, like Lana Wachowski in film, Jenna Talackova in modeling, Kate Bornstein in academia, Laura Jane Grace in music, and Candis Cayne in acting. Are you seeing a similar rise in trans visibility and recognition in the UK?

Robyn: Yes, I do. It is beginning to happen here in the UK. There are a number of well-known figures who spring to mind: Paris Lees, for example, an outspoken journalist and blogger. Last year, Paris topped The Independent's 'Pink List' and is one incredible role model for the trans community. She is now a well-known broadcaster and contributor to popular media coverage. It is also worth noting how official attitudes have changed to the point where the Museum of Liverpool is currently holding a major exhibition celebrating the life of trans woman and model, April Ashley.

 

"I have had a difficult life with
two separate identities."

 

Monika: How would you assess the current legal and social landscape for transgender women in the UK?

Robyn: On the surface, things are pretty positive for transgender women in the UK. The current law means that there is government support officially recognizing transition and the chance to have your ID documents and birth certificate changed.

Monika: Despite these legal protections, do you feel society has truly caught up in terms of everyday acceptance?

Robyn: In spite of all that, attitudes among the public and in the tabloid press are bad. I fear that there is still a high level of ignorance and misunderstanding about what it means to be trans. None of that is good. It still leads to trans women being abused, attacked, and victimized. It also led last year to the highly publicized suicide of British primary teacher Lucy Meadows after she was vilified in the tabloid press and victimized in her local community. Laws will not change people's attitudes; it is up to us all in the LGBT community to tell the real story in order to change hearts and minds.

Monika: Shifting gears a bit, can you tell me about your upbringing and where you grew up?

Robyn: I grew up in the industrial heart of Northern England near Leeds. It was not exactly the easiest environment for a transgender child and teenager! In a predominantly working-class environment, transgender children were not well received or tolerated. It was a tough period for me, with bullying and intolerance dominating what should have been a happy young life.

Monika: What was your childhood like? Can you recall the first moment you felt disconnected from being perceived as a boy?

Robyn: I think my first warning that things weren't right was when I went to school for the first time. I was so nervous, I held my mother's hand and that of my best friend Julie. We had spent our first four years together playing happily. I loved playing dress-up and sharing her dolls. At the school gate, Julie was introduced to some other girls and ran off to play skipping and Double Dutch in the yard. I was told that boys didn't do things like that and I couldn't join the girls. I had to play with the boys. I was so upset I played with neither. I will never forget that day; it was a harsh introduction to being forced into a role I hated.

Monika: Many transgender girls describe school or university as one of the most painful chapters in their lives due to bullying and exclusion. What was your experience like during those years?

Robyn: Yes, school was particularly difficult. Institutions can be so intolerant of difference, and it's not only the students. I learned quickly to keep a low profile. Teachers can also be incredibly insensitive and cruel to transgender kids. I rapidly found out that if a teacher made a comment about my high voice or the way I walked or acted, it became open season for those who liked bullying me. It was as though they had been given official sanction. If my mum complained, the reply was always, "Well, boys will be boys"... particularly cruel, as I knew that I wasn’t one. What saved me and got me through was music and songwriting. On stage, I could be me, or something approaching it. Without music, I don’t think I would have made it into adulthood.

"Surround yourself with others who understand you."

Monika: When did you first begin your transition to living as a woman?

Robyn: I have had a difficult life with two separate identities: a public one and the real me. All that ended eight years ago when I came out to my best friend. She persuaded me that it was futile to keep hiding. It was a watershed moment. The following day, I started living full time as a woman... it was like moving from living a monochrome life to one of full color.

Monika: How did your wider circle of friends and family react to your transition? Did it affect your work life?

Robyn: As I came out to other close friends, I rapidly realized that they were far more accepting than I had ever hoped. The observation that “I knew there was something different about you” was very frequent. The family was a different matter; it took a long time for them to accept. I understand now that you are seen as having carried out deception, and mistrust or disbelief becomes the predominant emotion. Eight years later, most family members now accept that this was not a choice and offer more respect, yet only friends have apologized for any unkindness they expressed when I first came out.

Monika: How has your transition affected your professional life? Have you faced any challenges or support at work?

Robyn: My working relationships have been much easier. I work in an industry where there is a lot of tolerance of gender diversity and respect for it. I realize that I have been incredibly lucky. Of course, there have been haters and critics, but when you have built up a level of respect before transition, that does not evaporate as easily at work as it can in a family. Proving that I could move forward into independence and self-assurance as a female, both as a songwriter/performer and an educator, has won me respect and many new friends in the LGBT community.

Monika: How has completing your transition influenced your personal life?

Robyn: Last year, on April 10th, I was finally able to undergo gender reassignment surgery and complete the final stage of my journey. It changed so much more than I imagined. It gave me the courage to go out and date for the first time in my life, the empowerment to flirt and be social, and to go out and meet guys. In summer 2013, I met and dated my boyfriend Martin, who now lives with me and shares my life.

Monika: Passing as a woman is often a difficult and stressful challenge for many transgender ladies. Since you don’t struggle with this as much, what advice would you give to those who face this daily pressure?

Robyn: For any transgender woman, being “read” and then singled out for ridicule is a huge fear, and quite rightly so. It is not easy to offer advice; I have been so fortunate myself. I would say this: there is no amount of surgery, makeup, or clothing that can make you a woman unless you feel confident in yourself and your femininity.

Monika: How can transgender women build that confidence and express their femininity authentically?

Robyn: Surround yourself with others who understand you; make friends in the LGBT community, go to dancing classes, get vocal training, read women’s magazines and novels, find other cisgender women to go out and be with, eat, sleep, play, and love as the woman you truly are. Most people look at the way you move and walk, your posture, the way you behave and speak and act, not at your clothes. Learn from other women around you the way a little girl does. A woman who dresses like a man but moves like a woman is still read as female. Be that woman and you will create enough doubt in onlookers’ minds about who you are. They will go on their way unsuspecting.

 

"I firmly believe that it is never
too late to transition."

 

Monika: With advances in modern cosmetic surgery, many transgender women are considering transitioning later in life, even in their 50s or 60s. Do you think it’s truly possible to make a successful transition at that age, and what advice would you offer to those thinking about it?

Robyn: I firmly believe that it is never too late to transition. Late transition can be hard but not impossible. Surgical methods have improved so much I feel that it is now a realistic option to transition well and gracefully even for older transgender women. What is much harder, I feel, to shake off later in life is that accumulated compliance with society’s norms about what a male should be. 

Monika: What challenges do older transgender women face beyond surgery, and how can they adapt to their new lives?

Robyn: For an older trans woman, the work you put into changing who you are, the way you act, move, talk, live, and love, is a much longer process than the surgery itself. Be prepared to devote much time and energy to it. Equality is a much-discussed topic but despite that, the world of being a woman is very different from that of being a man. You will need to accept a new position in society and work it to your advantage. You will need to learn how to flirt, dance, captivate, and engage others in a way very different from the way men do.

Monika: During your transition, did you have any transgender role models who inspired or guided you? What was your understanding of transgender identity back then?

Robyn: My role models are so diverse but all inspirational. Sylvia Rivera and her role in the Stonewall riots always inspired me. As I began to think about coming out and in the early years of my transition, Lynn Conway provided much-needed help and advice. There are others, far too numerous to mention, but particular respect goes to Namoli Brennet, who gave me the confidence that I could put my music back out there as a woman. Paris Lees too, I greatly admire her tenacity as a journalist and her willingness to confront issues head-on and in public. I cannot, however, forget those other trans role models in my local community; unsung heroines who inspired me, reassured me, supported, advised, and guided me. Without them, I would not be here now.

END OF PART 1

PART 2

 

All the photos: courtesy of Robyn-Jane.

© 2014 - Monika Kowalska

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