Ahead of her performance at the DIVA Music Festival, the rock star talks sexuality, epiphanies and why her guitar is like a giant strap-on
I still remember what I thought the first time I heard KT Tunstall’s Suddenly I See – “Well, this all seems very gay.” For chick flick fanatics it’s the opening song in The Devil Wears Prada, for politicos it’s the soundtrack to Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign, but for me it will always be the ultimate coming out anthem.
Admittedly, as a queer woman you’re so desperate for representation you fine-tune a kind of sapphic spidey sense, constantly on low-level lookout for anything even vaguely homoerotic. Those soaring lyrics seemed, to my queer ears, to capture the overwhelming sensation of realising exactly who you are and who you want to be with, namely that “beautiful girl” who “holds you captivated in her palm”. As if that wasn’t enough to register on my queer Richter scale, KT appears on the cover of her debut album, Eye To The Telescope, staring the camera down, a gutsy rebel, one hand tousling her bedhead, her low-slung jeans held up by a pair of – wait for it – rainbow striped braces.
Read the rest of this interview in the December issue of DIVA to find out what KT says about her sexuality, feminism and performing at the DIVA Music Festival. Available now at divadirect.info and the links below.
Only reading DIVA online? You’re missing out. For more news, reviews and commentary, check out the latest issue. It’s pretty badass, if we do say so ourselves.
