The first time I wrote about Chicago singer-songwriter Scott Free was in 1998, for my old column Spot Check. He’d just released his first album, Getting Off, and was sharing a bill with lesbian punk greats Tribe 8, but even then he was no newbie to the music scene. Free had already been a house-music producer, a drag performer for Michael Hyacinth’s Tuck series at Foxy’s, and a staple booking at Joanna Brown and Mark Freitas’s Homocore shows. In 2000 he founded an LGBTQ+ performance series called Grinder; it’s since evolved into Homolatte, and it was still going strong at Big Chicks this spring until the ’rona put it on temporary hold. In 2018 he released an LGBTQ+ family album (as “the Diesel Tykes”) full of collaborators and guest stars, and he’s also written songs for two musicals, Witches Among Us (2014) and Zombie Bathhouse (2017). You can listen to his queer indie radio station, Alt Q Radio, via the Live365 app.
Scott Free: Yes—2008 was my last (The Pink Album). I’ve done two original cast recordings for two musicals I wrote—Witches Among Us and Zombie Bathhouse—and an LGBT family album by a pretend group called the Diesel Tykes.
Now really feels like a tipping point of so many injustices that have been building up for years. Was that what made you decide to focus on social-justice songs especially?
To any songwriter starting out, I would say that when you are creating—dig deep. Think hard about what you want to say. These are the absolute best times for independent musicians, because there are no restrictions anymore—you can create whatever you want to, and put it out there. There is nothing to keep you from being honest and true to yourself—so go for it. You will create your best work that way. v
