scout

Scout is all about DIY. From music to illustration, latte art to screen printing, not to mention, jewellery-making, costume creation and a host of traditional and less-traditional crafts, anything is a pretext for playful experimentation. Scout sees creation as an opportunity for sharing with the community, be it in the form of a craft fair, a friendly contest, or even line dancing at a local bar.

A Black transgender artist and singer/songwriter/musician from Northern California, Scout performs under the stage name Scout the Wise. Their career as a musician began with posting videos on YouTube as a high schooler and self-releasing the album Flowers, in 2013. Highly prolific, they went on to release a dozen albums and microalbums on Bandcamp. Scout draws inspiration from folk and indie pop, with a smattering of hip-hop and electro, to craft songs that combine banjo, mandolin and synth with thoughtfully choreographed vocal melodies. From ballads to beat-heavy mashups, they sing love songs about the world around them and the people they are grateful to know.

For Scout, music-making and hormonal transition are closely entwined, as evidenced in their album Transitioning, in which their voice can be heard to change as they pursue their gender-affirming hormone therapy. Having a deeper voice forced them to relearn how to sing in a new key. Today, they feel they are a better singer, but also a better person, one for whom the transition proved uniquely liberating. If, these days, Scout experiences less anxiety about their gender and body, being able to experience their transition through music is particularly meaningful. There’s still a ways to go on the road to self-acceptance, but Scout feels incredibly blessed to be able to count on such a strong and supportive network of family and friends.