Dorian Electra Brings an Edgy New Tour to H-Town This Month

Since making a splash on the indie pop scene, the gender-fluid Dorian Electra has combined an outlandish persona with lyrical musical messages to gain national attention over the last decade. Local fans will get the chance to see them in person this month at the avant pop star’s My Agenda tour stop. 

The singer will perform in Houston on February 19 to promote their new album, My Agenda, which touches on a variety of themes including politics, gender fluidity, masculinity, and LGBTQ rights. 

Electra believes music should always strive to have a deeper message. “I think these topics come naturally to me. I find them fascinating on a personal level, but also on a larger cultural scale,” they explain. “It has been really cool to see larger conversations happening about these topics. More and more people are starting to become open to the idea of gender fluidity and fluid sexual orientation. It feels very natural to me to combine these things with pop music—a genre that already deals with sexuality and identity so often.” 

Electra’s new release is a concept album about toxic masculinity, as seen through the lenses of the LGBTQ community. In an interview with Document Journal, Electra described the album title as a sly reference to the right wing’s dire warnings about “the gay agenda.” 

“The idea that gays are organizing to tear down the traditional family, and all that, is so funny to me,” Electra says. “The title track was written from the viewpoint of “a conspiracy theorist who is watching the country being taken over by a gay dictator.”

Exploring themes through music has always interested Electra as a natural conduit for expressing oneself. “For me, making music began as a means to an end. [I wanted to] communicate ideas that I was interested in studying, and music seemed like a way to make those ideas accessible. I would do book reports in school as songs, and I loved combining my academic interests with music and videos. Even though my music is no longer strictly educational, I still feel like my brain is inclined to approach music that way sometimes. I think if a career in music had not worked out for me, I would probably be doing educational videos or something of that nature.”

Electra’s February 19 show will be a full-circle moment for the Houston-based singer. “I am really excited to be playing in Houston, especially since I am performing at Warehouse Live where I saw a bunch of formative concerts in my youth. I saw bands such as Of Montreal, Bloc Party, Deerhoof, The Rapture, and more. Sometimes bands would skip Houston and just play Austin, so I was always really excited and grateful when they would make it down to Houston. I’ll be really excited to see both fans and friends and family.” 

Electra is eager to go back on tour because meeting fans is such a special experience—something that cannot be replaced by talking to people online.  

“Like most people [during COVID], I definitely became more ‘online’ in general, which I think has been cool for getting to connect with fans and other artists in new ways,” they note. “Of course it also has its downsides, like anything.”

Whether or not fans can make it to the concert, Electra hopes the music can continue to lift people’s spirits. “I just want people to have an absolutely epic time.”

And as for the artist’s plans for new music going forward, Electra hopes to continue expanding their brand. Recently, the indie musician worked with Charli XCX, as well as with Lady Gaga on her Dawn of Chromatica remix album. Electra says it’s been inspiring to work with more mainstream musicians—experiences that will surely impact Electra’s future projects. 

“Those are two of my favorite and most inspirational artists,” Electra says. “It was a dream come true to get to work with both. I am ecstatic to see larger artists like them use their platform to support other musicians. After those experiences, I want to collaborate with more rock and rap artists, as well as jazz artists, and just explore more genres of music. That would be dope!” 

What: Dorian Electra’s My Agenda Tour
When: 10 p.m. on February 19
Where: Warehouse Live, 813 Emanuel St. 
Info: dorianelectra.com

This article appears in the February 2022 edition of OutSmart magazine.