Carole Pope is an agent provocateur, pushing the boundaries of sexuality, sexual politics, and the status quo, making you think and dance at the same time. Her work has been recognized with three Juno Awards, a shortlist for the Polaris Music prize, multiple independent music awards and a Genie Award, as well as four gold, one platinum, and one double platinum album certificartions. As one of the first openly gay Canadian pop stars, Pope was confident in her sexuality and pushed her provocativeness on stage and off, incorporating bondage and overt sexuality in live performances, and penning unapologetic lyrics with songwriting partner Kevan Staples. Infamous for Rough Trade’s trailblazing 1981 single “High School Confidential”, whose blunt, openly queer and sexually explicit lyrics set pop airwaves alight, as well as follow-up chartbuster “All Touch”, Pope has remained an elemental creative force. New singles “This is Not A Test”, “More Or Less”, “Play Fisty For Me” and “I Miss My Land” arrived in 2024 and are available everywhere. Pope has toured with David Bowie and performed at Roskilde, World Pride, AGO, MOCCA, Fashion Cares 25 with Elton John, The Brooklyn Museum of Art, The Art Gallery of Ontario, Luminato, Joe’s Pub, Largo, The Viper Room, The Roxy, and The Frostbite Festival, appearing at Pride Festivals in Reykjavik, Toronto, Los Angeles, Montreal, San Diego, and San Francisco, as well as the Michigan Womyn’s Festival. She appeared in 2009 vampire movie Suck alongside musician cameos from Moby, Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper, and Henry Rollins. Pope has contributed music to film and television, including Love Lies Bleeding, Purgatory Jack, Transparent, Love or Whatever, Pretty Hard Cases, The L Word, General Idea: Art, AIDS, and the fin de siècle, The Trailer Park Boys Movie, Queer As Folk, The Five Senses, and Cruising. Rough Trade was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters’ Hall of Fame in 2020, and the Canadian Music Week Indy Hall of Fame in 2007. A feature-length documentary on Carole’s life based on her autobiography, AntiDiva: The Confessions of Carole Pope (co-produced by CBC and Gay Agenda) is set to hit theatres in 2025. Guests include kd lang, Peaches, Sebastian Bach, Rufus Wainwright, Nona Hendyx, George Stroumboulopoulos, Jan Arden and more. Pope is currently looking for producers for Rough Trade: The Musical, co-written with Kate Rigg.
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Reminiscent of ’90s alt-icons like Fiona Apple and Alanis Morissette, Ash Molloy is vulnerable, raw, and unfiltered in her approach to writing music. A multi-instrumentalist with a degree in neuroscience, she’s full of surprises as she bares it all with her deep-cutting takes on sexuality, body-shame, and life as a woman. Not fitting the mold of her small town in St John’s, Newfoundland, Ash is an absolute force of an artist, making a name for herself with her mesmerizing live show, powerhouse vocals, poignant lyrics, and sheer tenacity to get her message out into the world. Saying all the things we’re afraid to say out loud, Ash Molloy bleeds authenticity and induces goosebumps for anyone lucky enough to see her live in these early days.
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