queer

Rest + Reset Retreats – MARCH 2024

Embrace the spirit of Spring renewal while meeting like-minded people in an intentional space for rest, reset, and a refocus on personal growth and wellness. This retreat is not just a getaway; it’s an opportunity to set meaningful intentions for the season ahead, surrounded by a supportive and affirming community.

Each group will retreat for 4 days and 3 nights in a shared living space in Carolina Beach, North Carolina. There will be group activities with plenty of free time to explore. 

Activities may include: Facilitated Movement, Meditation / Reflection, Vernal Equinox / Spring Mindfulness Ritual & Workshops, Beach time, Sunrises / Sunsets, Crafts & Games, Communal Meals, Stand Up Paddleboard, Bike Rides, Kayak, Massage, Acupuncture, Tours

**All activities are optional. You’re welcome to participate in whatever capacity you’d like 🙂

Group 1 – March 17th-20th, 2024 (General Public)
The first group will retreat at the beginning of the week to honor the Vernal Equinox on the 18th and the start of spring: rebirth, renewing energy, planting the seeds. 

Group 2 – March 21st-24th, 2024 (LGBTQIA+)
The second retreat group is for people who identify as LGBTQIA+ with an emphasis on grounding ourselves, resetting our intentions while enjoying activities at the beach and making new friends.

There are 6 spots available!

Register by February 10th, 2024 to attend!

Curious? Have Questions? Want to meet the Facilitators?
We will be holding an interest meeting on Friday, February 9th at 7pm ET. Register here for the zoom link.

Pricing:
Registration ranges from $720 – $1900 depending on the lodging options you choose on the registration form. Activities and meals included are listed on the registration form.

Payment Options:

A). Make one payment in the full amount now to receive a 5% discount. 

B). Pay a $500 deposit now to secure your spot. The remainder of the payment must be made by January 1st, otherwise your spot will be relinquished. 

Deposit and payments are non-transferable and non-refundable, unless the event is canceled by organizers.

Interested in attending?

To secure your spot, please fill out this form. Once we receive your registration, we will email you the invoice to submit payment.

Questions? contact homoground@gmail.com

The Vernal Equinox Beach Retreat is organized by Samara Hubbard of Samara Holistic Massage and Lynn Casper of Homoground.

About Samara of Holistic Massage (She/Her)
Hey there!  I’m a licensed holistic massage and bodywork therapist with a private practice in Wilmington, NC.  I was raised in beautiful Chapel Hill, NC and have always loved Wilmington and the area beaches.  Connecting with and exploring my environment have always been important to me, and being close to the ocean has been a lifelong necessity.  Lucky for me, I was able to move to Wilmington permanently in 2012! After graduating massage school in 2019, I spent some time working in spas until I opened my private practice, Samara Holistic Massage, in early 2021. While I value the time I spent working in bigger spas, I found that I prefer the flexibility, and ability to build client relationships, that private practice provides.  When I’m not working I love to spend as much time outdoors as possible. Kayaking, cycling, swimming, eating amazing food, and taking in all that the islands have to offer occupies most of my free time.  A passion for service in my community drives me, and am always looking for more ways to get involved.  I believe that massage and bodywork should be accessible to all, and work diligently to always find more ways to make it so.  The amazing beauty and diversity in our world is part of what makes life interesting and fascinating, and I work hard to provide a space where everyone is welcome, safe, and affirmed in who they are.  I look forward to meeting you!

About Lynn Casper of Homoground (they/them)
Hi! I’m the creator of the queer focused project Homoground. Wilmington, North Carolina was my home for 25 years. It is where I grew up and discovered my identity as a queer, filipino kid existing in the South. During my time in Wilmington, I organized many events and projects that I saw in other cities that I wanted to see exist in my hometown. It’s where I started Homoground, a queer music podcast that uplifts independent LGBTQIA bands. Homoground serves as a platform to bring community together online and offline. It is my life mission to create spaces for LGBTQIA+ folks to thrive, exist as their most authentic selves and to feel empowered to create the things they want to see in their worlds. 

Questions? contact homoground@gmail.com

Queer deClutter Club – A virtual event!

Join us for the next Queer deClutter Club Event!

Wednesday, February 28th, 2024
7pm – 9pm ET

Get ready to tidy up your space, declutter your life, and connect with fellow queers who share your passion for organization. Whether it’s clearing out your closet, organizing your digital files, or decluttering your mind, we’ll declutter together.

Let’s come together, support each other, and make room for a fresh start in the new year. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to create a space that sparks joy and reflects your true self. See you there!

This event is FREE for Homoground Patreon supporters at the Virtual Queer Coworking Community level. See the Patreon blog for the promo code or send a message to Casper on the Homoground Slack.

Queer Joy Podcast Series [Episodes #273, #274, #275]

We are thrilled to finally introduce Queer Joy, a new podcast series by Homoground featuring queer-identified artists sharing what queer joy means to them through storytelling and songs. 

Queer Joy was created as a response to the lack of positive representation of the queer experience in popular media. Homoground asked artists to share their songs celebrating the things that bring them joy! We received beautiful, vulnerable, and thoughtful pieces from musicians all over the world.

In each episode, you’ll hear those songs along with anecdotes from the creators themselves.

Homoground is incredibly grateful to everyone who submitted. Your voices brought this Queer Joy series to life!

PART 1 – BE YOURSELF

We danced, we cried, and we’re honored to release Queer Joy Part One: Be Yourself.

Listen to anthems celebrating the process of being comfortable with who you are from Papa Molly, JayceJanae, Boy Bowser, and Kamerin. Stream the episode below or on whatever you listen to podcasts.

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“Lifetime” by Papa Molly (San Francisco, CA)
“Monologue” by JayceJanae (Norfolk, VA)
Abort Mission” by Boy Bowser (Fullerton, CA)
“To Finally See The Sun” by Kamerin (Northampton)
We are an independent podcast.
This podcast is available for free, but it is not free to make.
If you enjoyed this episode, please consider contributing to our Patreon to support our work.
http://patreon.com/join/homoground

Our wonderful Patreon supporters will have access to extra tracks submitted by the artists along with some extended interviews.

CREDITS

This episode was produced by D Orxata.
Our executive producer is Lynn Casper.
Artwork for this series was created by Morgan Diep.
Our social media coordinators are Morgan Dean and Rowan Blackwood.
The segment on Focus/Time was produced by Cheer up Charlye of Breakfast and Beats.

Major thanks to our sponsors SPACES, Workfrom and our Patreon Supporters 

PART 2 – LOVE CRUSH

This is part 2 of our Queer Joy series featuring songs and personal stories from LGBTQ musicians.

On this episode we’re celebrating Queer Joy with rose-colored lenses and songs about love and crushes from Giuliano from Worcester Massachusetts, Hana Katana from Austin Texas, Rascal Miles from Minneapolis Minnesota and Lucy Opazo from Brooklyn NY. ENJOY!

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Giuliano 
Worcester, MA
website | Instagram: @musicbygiuliano
Songs: “Joshua” and “The D”
Cover Design: Joshua Croke, Photo: Erika Sidor
Hana Katana 
Austin, Texas
website
Instagram: @TheHanaKatana
Songs: “Friends Don’t Make You Cry”
Photo credit: Nicole Lemberg
Rascal Miles 
Minneapolis, MN
website
Instagram: @rascalmiles 
Song: “Baby Baby”
Photo credit: Sam Gehrke
Lucy Opazo
Brooklyn, NY
Instagram: @lucyopazomusic
Song: “Isolation Station”
Photo Credit: Crisoula Lazaridis
We are an independent podcast.
This podcast is available for free, but it is not free to make.
If you enjoyed this episode, please consider contributing to our Patreon to support our work.
http://patreon.com/join/homoground

Our wonderful Patreon supporters will have access to extra tracks submitted by the artists along with some extended interviews.

CREDITS

This episode was produced, mixed and engineered by CheerUpCharlye, Breakfast & Beats.
Our executive producer is Lynn Casper.
Artwork for this series was created by Morgan Diep.
Our social media coordinators are Morgan Dean and Rowan Blackwood.
Major thanks to our sponsors SPACES, Workfrom and our Patreon Supporters.

PART 3 – THE FUTURE WAS ALWAYS QUEER

Four queer time travelers sent us records of queer joy from the past, the present, and several possible futures. If you’ve ever found yourself trapped inside of a moment, this episode is for you.

Part 3 of our Queer Joy series features songs and personal stories from Creatrx, Sara Renberg, Oxeye, and Carry The Branches.

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creatrx 
Instagram: @creatrx
Songs: “Baptism” and “Sunday”
Photo credit: Danika Karolinski

Sara Renberg 
Pittsburg, PA
sararenberg.com | Instagram: @sara.renberg
Songs: “It’s a Beautiful Day to be Gay”
Photo credit: Leah Brennan

Oxeye 
Stockholm, Sweden
Facebook| Instagram: @oxeye.music
Songs: “Standing Proud”, “Det Här Är För Oss”, “The Only Good Thing”
Photo credit: Clara Veneziano Coen

Carry The Branches
Brooklyn, NY
Instagram: @carrythebranches
Songs: “Zombie Telegram”

We are an independent podcast.
This podcast is available for free, but it is not free to make.
If you enjoyed this episode, please consider contributing to our Patreon to support our work.
http://patreon.com/join/homoground

Our wonderful Patreon supporters will have access to extra tracks submitted by the artists along with some extended interviews.

CREDITS

This episode was produced by D Orxata.
Our executive producer is Lynn Casper.
Artwork for this series was created by Morgan Diep.
Our social media coordinator is Rowan Blackwood.
Major thanks to our sponsors SPACES, Workfrom and our Patreon Supporters.

SPONSORS

This episode of Homoground and this Queer Joy series is sponsored by SPACES, an app that lets LGBTQ+ people find and build the communities we wish to exist. Initially conceived as a response to the shortcomings of heteronormative social platforms SPACES is designed by queer people, for queer people. You can create your own space about whatever topic you want, or you can search to join the many SPACEs that others from around the world have already created. It’s a cool way to connect with others, in a safe and like-minded atmosphere. Personally, for me,  joy is when I’m able to connect with people I can be my true authentic self around. 

How do you experience joy? 

Join us on the SPACES app and tell us your stories of queer joy! It’s easy! Download the app from the App Store, create an account and search for Queer Joy to join our space. Or visit homoground.com/queerspaces for more info.

Be Yourself. Find Your Space.

Focus/Time is a dedicated virtual space for LGBTQIA folks to work on their personal and/or work projects in an accepting environment. It’s the perfect place to work on projects you’ve been putting off or to start the projects that have been incubating in your mind. This is a space for you to focus on the things you want to do but struggle to do. Sign up to attend a guided session.

Homoground’s Virtual Cafe is powered by a platform called Workfrom that lets us customize the space so we have an inspirational mural as our background along with a killer playlist and some ASMR options like rain sounds.  It’s a cool online space that we use to bring the Homoground and Focus/Time community together. Folks pop in and out and we share updates about our lives and what we’re working on in the chat box. It’s a great place to socialize while working from home while also getting some chores and work tasks done.

Anyone can create their own virtual coworking space using Workfrom and you can control the privacy and customizations.To try out your own space visit homoground.com/workfrom.

Wynne Greenwood (Tracy + the Plastics) & Gina Young || [Episodes #269, #270, #271 & #272]

In Spring 2021, Homoground Producer Maia Macdonald recorded an interview with Wynne Greenwood (Tracy + The Plastics) & Gina Young. The episode has been editing into 4 episodes. Listen to the episodes below

[Episode #269 – Part 1 of 4]

[Episode #270 – Part 2 of 4]

[Episode #271 – Part 3 of 4]

[Episode #272 – Part 4 of 4]

Patreon supporters can listen to the full, uncut version of the interview.

Wynne Greenwood (Tracy + The Plastics) – Seattle, Washington

Wynne Greenwood is a video artist and song-maker who also often brings those things together with objects, installation, and performance. Her practice grows from making dialogues with versions of self and the worlds those versions live in/are of. It’s a practice of this time, built from talking back to the TV, now engaging those muscles to practice new culture. 

From 1999 – 2006, Greenwood created and performed the multimedia art-band Tracy + the Plastics. Tracy + the Plastics blurred the boundaries between the contemporary art and music worlds, crossing venues and contexts from house shows to art institutions.Greenwood took the form of all three band members, live on stage and in prerecorded video projections. She sang live as Tracy while interacting with the other band members (Greenwood as Cola, drums, and Nikki, keyboards) on the video screen behind her. Tracy + the Plastics ended in 2006.

Cruisin Records reissued the entire Tracy + the Plastics discography for the 20th anniversary of their first record “Muscler’s Guide to Videonics”.

Wynne has a new album in the works, Horizon.

Gina Young – Los Angeles, California

Gina Young (she/they) is an award-winning writer, director, songwriter and performer whose work blurs genres and forms. Her plays, musicals, videos, and curated events have been presented everywhere from The Hammer Museum and REDCAT to punk clubs and gay bars across the US and Europe.

​Interlacing music, movement and text, Gina queers content and form, bringing audiences together for intimate and transcendent experiences. She is the creator of SORORITY, Feminist Acting Class and throws a queer happy hour party in Los Angeles called DIVORCE.

We are an independent podcast. This podcast is available for free, but it is not free to make. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider contributing to our Patreon to support our work.
http://patreon.com/join/homoground

CREDITS

This interview was recorded and produced by Maia Macdonald
Executive Producer: Lynn Casper

SPONSORS

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Focus/Time is a dedicated virtual space for LGBTQIA folks to work on their personal and/or work projects in an accepting environment. It’s the perfect place to work on projects you’ve been putting off or to start the projects that have been incubating in your mind. This is a space for you to focus on the things you want to do but struggle to do. Sign up to attend a guided session.

Struggling with business financials? Homoground uses SusieQ Bookkeeping, a motley crew of queer bookkeepers and accountants who love the finances as much as you love your business. At SQB they know that entrepreneurs of all kinds need to spend their time doing what they love and growing, not worrying about payroll and taxes. SQB provides financial and administrative support to all industries tailored to your needs.
Schedule a consultation today!

Trumpet Wom – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania [Episode #268]

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Trumpet Wom is a Philadelphia-based musician who combines trumpet, keys, & singing into original and badass music.

In this episode, Trumpet Wom speaks with musician and Homoground Producer Maia Macdonald about music process, inspiration, living in a capitalist regime, our responsibility to understand and heal our ancestral trauma, and of course… trumpet!

Songs featured in this episode: Smooches, Your Fool, TY FY, Protons and Electrons

Support Trumpet Wom on Patreon, Bandcamp or get updates on her official website.

If you enjoyed this episode, please consider contributing to our Patreon to support this free podcast.
http://patreon.com/join/homoground

We do not have a transcription of this episode available. To help us create a transcription of this episode, please donate to our Patreon to support our transcription efforts.

CREDITS

This interview was recorded and produced by Maia Macdonald

Executive Producer: Lynn Casper

SPONSORS

Struggling with business financials? Homoground uses SusieQ Bookkeeping, a motley crew of queer bookkeepers and accountants who love the finances as much as you love your business. At SQB they know that entrepreneurs of all kinds need to spend their time doing what they love and growing, not worrying about payroll and taxes. SQB provides financial and administrative support to all industries tailored to your needs.
Schedule a consultation today!

COMMUNITY SUPPORT

RSVP to Homoground’s Queer Podcasters Meetup on Sunday, April 25th at 3pm ET.

Hey Homoground listeners! I’m Anna, co-creator of PB&Qs (professionals, business, and queers), an online community for queer women, trans, and gender-nonconforming entrepreneurs and business professionals.
In addition to our Slack group, we host a monthly discussion series called “Thinking Out Loud.” On the first Wednesday of every month we dive deep into a topic, creating a space where we can share our stories and learn from each other. On May 7th we’re exploring the feeling of not being queer enough—whether you don’t have an undercut, got married and had kids, don’t know the latest label or trending phrase, can’t name a celebrity to save your life, or have to day-in and day-out confront the continued erasure of bisexuality from queer culture.Join us, a group of LGBTQ+ women, trans, and gender-nonconforming folk, to hear stories, get ideas, and remind yourself you’re not alone. Go to https://pbandqs.ck.page/join to learn more.

Country Queers is an ongoing multimedia oral history project documenting the diverse experiences of rural, small town, and country LGBTQIA+ folks in the U.S. – across intersecting layers of identity such as race, class, age, ability, gender identity, and religion.

CHAV / Wildcard Characters / Powderpaint / Bebop Rocksteady / Danielle Grubb / Odd!Drey / Arami [Episode #263]

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If you enjoyed this episode, please consider contributing to our Patreon to support this free podcast.
http://patreon.com/join/homoground

Below are the artists featured in this episode in order of appearance. Their artist name, location and song featured is listed beneath their photo.

CHAV – Los Angeles, California – “Fashion Ho”

CHAV is a pop star from an alternate timeline who somehow found themselves in our today. They’ve come to remind us of who we are and who we could be, bringing with them a sweet and delicious taste of another world. CHAV currently chooses to communicate with this timeline through popular music, loading their verses with complex and nuanced ideas around race, gender, love and loss.

“As an artist with intersecting identities–black, queer, nonbinary, and someone who grew up with limited resources, I’m constantly having to prove how I’m viable in the music industry. Homoground using their platform to center the voices of people with marginalized identities is so in line with the community work that I do through Flat Pop Records, the label my partner and I started last year, as well as many of my other initiatives.”

Wildcard Characters – Worcester, Massachusetts – “Louder”

Music is dark matter. Magic is the stars. The future is x. Wildcard Characters is an unquestionably queer duo inspired by the nature of things that are fluid and ever changing. From gender and expression to exploration of things unknown, these characters leave things open to possibility and imagination.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has severely limited our ability to work as independent contractors. Between cancelled gigs and terminated projects, maintaining economic security has become a main concern. We believe that as queer artists, we are strongest when we raise our voices together. We grow and learn from sharing our experiences and our visions. Resources and community building platforms like Homoground are powerful avenues for the amplification of queer voices.”

Powderpaint – Brighton, East Sussex, England – “Fall Together”

“We want to be more visible as trans artists, celebrating queerness with big joyous tunes and danceable bangers. Particularly at a time when there is a national ‘debate’ in the UK orchestrated by high-profile TERFs who have set the agenda of every mainstream media outlet, we just want to be there to make our community feel like they can dance. If a few more queers out there get to hear us it’d be wonderful.”

Bebop Rocksteady – Brooklyn, New York – “Break in Case of Emergency”

Bebop Rocksteady is a radical nonbinary harm reductionist and drug policy reform advocate, activist, and philanthropist who DJs and makes music.

Danielle Grubb – Dallas, Texas – “Untitled”

The non-binary artist, Danielle Grubb, calls out to a lover in an attempt to deliver a message that they never sent. Their new song, Untitled, is an eclectic mix of classical piano motifs and pumping synths over house influenced rhythms. The song also presents the feeling of mourning in a less traditional sense.

“It’s the beginning of the loss of self into another person. I used to try to always paint the happy picture, and by doing so, left out the intricacies of what happens to a person’s identity when they fall in love,” says Danielle.

I just came out as trans masc, and it’s hard to get people to adjust to using my pronouns. I was recently misgendered on a radio show. And I thought to myself, this is probably no longer the platform for me. I’m having to navigate spaces all over again. It’s been a trip.

“I’m finally in the right emotional and mental state to make the music I’ve always wanted to be making, and I’m happy to be here,” Danielle says.

Odd!Drey – Jakarta, Indonesia – “Lofi”

“Just an 18 year old trying to put out my stories, and hoping that people will relate and find some semblance of comfort.

This track, Lofi, was inspired by my view on flings and passionate yet short-lived relationships and the word LoFi itself. The title itself is a wordplay. Lofi is the shortened form of Low Fidelity, a music genre that refers to music that is ‘low in quality or raw’. Fidelity itself means loyalty. I chose to use the word Lofi to imply low levels in loyalty. The song itself is slightly raw and lofi, in symbolism to those quick but passionate relationships I’m singing about. In this song, I let all my vulnerability be seen by the other person, and I hide nothing; but it’s because I have nothing else to lose since I won’t be with them for long. And thus with the music. It’s imperfect, but it’s real and authentic with nothing hidden.

I’d love to connect with people who I relate to, who are like myself, who are people I could look up to and want to grow with. I’d love to be heard by those very same people.”

Arami – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – “Whatcha Like”

“I am a singer/songwriter, producer, audio engineer, and poet from Philadelphia, PA. I’ve been making music for about 4 years give or take and I feel like my sound is Alternative Soul. I love all genres and take from them all so I try to implement that into my music. My influences come from everywhere but a couple of artist who have inspired me lately are Cleo Sol, REIYO, Alex Isley, and Victoria Monet.

I feel like I would be perfect for Homoground because I am a queer, non-conforming artist and I feel like we don’t get enough exposure in the media. Kids and teenagers only have “straight” music to listen to especially in the mainstream media and it sucks because not only is there better music out there but it’s really narrow minded and non-progressive.”

CREDITS

This episode was produced by D Orxata

Executive production and intro/outro by Lynn Casper

Homoground Theme Song by data.data.data

SPONSOR

Struggling with business financials? Homoground uses SusieQ Bookkeeping, a motley crew of queer bookkeepers and accountants who love the finances as much as you love your business. At SQB they know that entrepreneurs of all kinds need to spend their time doing what they love and growing, not worrying about payroll and taxes. SQB provides financial and administrative support to all industries tailored to your needs.
Schedule a consultation today!

Young Kaii – Providence, Rhode Island [Episode #262]

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Young Kaii is one of those rare artists that effortlessly brings raw emotions using just her talent and her powerful lyrics. In this episode, Homoground correspondent Maia Macdonald chats with Young Kaii about the life of being an artist, smoothies, swimming with dolphins and choosing happiness.

Songs featured: “Careless”, “Speechless” and “Memories”

You can stream the episode above, on homoground.com or via your favorite podcast app.

Connect with Young Kaii:
Official Website
Instagram @iamyoungkaii
Twitter @YoungKaii
Youtube

If you enjoyed this episode, please consider contributing to our Patreon to support this free podcast.
http://patreon.com/join/homoground

To help us create a transcription of this episode, please donate to our Patreon to support our transcription efforts.

CREDITS

This interview was recorded and produced by Maia Macdonald.

Executive Producer: Lynn Casper

Intro Jingle by data.data.data

SPONSORS

Struggling with business financials? Homoground uses SusieQ Bookkeeping, a motley crew of queer bookkeepers and accountants who love the finances as much as you love your business. At SQB they know that entrepreneurs of all kinds need to spend their time doing what they love and growing, not worrying about payroll and taxes. SQB provides financial and administrative support to all industries tailored to your needs.
Schedule a consultation today!

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