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A Femme Force in the Denver Music Scene: Jen Korte

A Femme Force in the Denver Music Scene: Jen Korte

Jen Korte is a singer-songwriter who has been a major presence in the Denver music scene for more than a decade. Known to us as both a solo artist as well as a champion collaborator, Korte has performed at all major venues throughout the city. She may have a career rooted in both indie rock and hip-hop, but she is well-versed in all music genres. 

From her band Jen Korte & The Loss to her experimental, hip-hop-inspired looping project Lady Gang, Korte artfully steps outside of the familiar and moves toward the discomfort of a good idea. She has opened for national acts like The Pharcyde, Mac Lethal and Wax, Shamar Allen of Galactic, and Nappy Roots, and has been nominated for “Best Singer-Songwriter” by Denver Westword in 2018, winning the title for 2019.

Fans have taken note of Korte’s ability to take listeners for a ride that demands our attention. In February, we can expect Lady Gang’s debut, full-length album, Full Throttle. 

OFM had the opportunity to chat more with Korte about the album and her music, how she has been coping during times of COVID and quarantine, and what she hopes will happen once music venues start opening back up.

What are you looking forward to the most about 2021?
I am releasing a couple albums. My first, full-length, Lady Gang album will be out in February, and I spent two years making that album. Recording, engineering, producing, mixing, playing everything, so I am really looking forward to that. I am also recording with my other band, my Americana, Latin band, so I am looking forward to releasing music from that. On a personal level, I am looking forward to going to the beach at some point. That is all I want to do!

I think we can all agree that 2020 was an absolute shit-show. What were some of the biggest challenges and hurdles you faced?
I think I have really been questioning my identity with music being taken away. Somebody asked me what the difference is between me as a person and me as an artist, and they are so intertwined that I don’t think I can separate them. So, for me, and this sounds very privileged that I can sit here and think about my existential crisis as a human. Like, who am I if I am not a musician? That is something I have been struggling with. 

Also, just the entire breakdown of the music situation. Losing venues, losing everything, basically feeling, even though I may not be lost, but feeling like I have lost everything I have worked for over 15 years and not having skill sets that can go across the board to try and start a new career. That has been very difficult. I am a 38-year-old woman who has spent 15 to 20 years building up this massive amount of skill set that only pertains to one thing. Thinking about finding a new job, career, or avenue is overwhelming and really sad and depressing. 

What happened in 2020 that you are most grateful for?
I have a lot to be grateful for. I truly do. I have a beautiful home, a beautiful wife, and we have a wonderful relationship. I read something the other day that said 2020 was supposed to be the year you got everything you wanted, and it turned out to be the year that showed you everything you have. 

I have an incredible, supportive community around me. I have been trying to continue my education in terms of learning broadcasting software and making videos. Whether they are fun or silly videos, I made a bunch of videos about the election to get people to go vote. Just thinking about other avenues to express myself, other than just hitting “go live” in my dirty bedroom on my cell phone. 

You are involved with several musical groups and projects like Lady Gang, Jen Korte & The Loss, The Dirty Femmes, and Def Knocks. Can you give us a brief history of how each one began?
Jen Korte & The Loss was the first band I started here in 2007. I came to Denver to see an ex-girlfriend, and I ended up staying. I found it was easier to get gigs here versus Austin. Jen Korte & The Loss is my first love, my true love, and that has been a band since 2007 or 2008. Then, I started The Dirty Femmes in 2012.

We opened for the Violent Femmes at the Botanic Gardens a couple years ago, I traveled to the Caribbean and Chicago, all kinds of bizarre moments in time from this one-off project. 

Def Knocks is a nine-or-10-piece hip-hop group that I play guitar and sing vocals in.  

Then, Lady Gang is my solo project, and that has only been around three years now. I started that because somebody left a loop pedal at my house. I learned how to play and started writing with it. 

Can you tell us more about your debut Lady Gang album?
It is called Full Throttle. Since I am self-taught with everything, including engineering and recording, I felt like I have finally come to the table with a pretty serious set of skills. So, I call it Full Throttle because now is the time to apply those skills, even when you want to quit. That is the title track of the album, and that is exactly what it is about. Like, ‘Hey, can somebody push up my chin, fix my shirt, and push me back onstage?’ I do not quit.

This is also a very personal album. I am half Latinx, and I have been thinking a lot about the immigration crisis and understanding how detrimental it is right now. I have been talking with my grandparents about their experience with racism, redlining, and all the things they went through in their life. So, there is a lot of reflection, but also, a lot of fun. 

Musicians and artists have been using the pandemic and these times of quarantine as a source of inspiration. Have you?
It has inspired me, and I have written a lot. I have written a lot of music about the pandemic, Black Lives Matter, and the civil unrest that we are feeling these days, as well as the helplessness and defenselessness of it all. Feeling like, if you have a voice, how do you use it? Even if you feel like your voice is small.

How have you stayed connected and engaged with your fans during quarantine?
I have been making silly videos and did some livestreams. I did a whole photo series of me and my weird, paper-mache birds, just things to entertain people so they do not feel as isolated. I have stayed connected more on my personal accounts than my music accounts. As a musician, you spend so much of your life on the hustle and on the computer emailing and begging people to listen to your work. It has been kind of nice not having to do that. 

There are periods where I go weeks without posting anything, or I don’t want to say anything because I don’t have to. I constantly go back and forth between the idea of deleting everything or coming up with new concepts. 

Once the pandemic dies down, how do you think we can get back out there and do live music again?
That is such a huge unknown. I think the reason why venues are not open right now is just because, when alcohol is involved, your ability to rationalize your behavior goes out the window. So, keeping people safe at music venues has been hard. People have a couple drinks; they feel super comfortable; they start hugging others, and it becomes a thing. It feels good to be reunited with everybody, but we have to remember that this is not an existential, emotional thing that we are going through. We are fighting a physical thing. 

So, I do not know what the safest way is. I do hope it will be a renaissance of sorts on the venue’s ability to take better care of musicians than it did before. I think there was a great disparity in pay, and some genres were not represented or booked as often. If we lose companies like Live Nation, I hope that those venues can become independent again. Pay structures can be renegotiated so musicians are more taken care of.

What do you hope audiences and listeners take away from your music?
I haven’t been asked a question like that in a long time [laughs]. I want to say comfort. A lot of times, we write music for us because we have something we have to get out. I have something I have to get out, or an idea I have to get out. Then, when I perform, I think about this statistic. I don’t know if it’s true anymore, but way back in the day, 84 percent of people would rather be dead than have to get onstage and speak to people, nonetheless sing. 

Part of my job is to express emotions, words, feelings, or comfort. I listened to so much sad music when I was a kid, still to this day because it is comforting. It tells a story that I relate to and holds me. That is truly what I hope listeners get from my music. Comfort can also be a happy feeling. It can be like, ‘Oh, I love this song; I just want to jam out and take a drive.’ Anything as simple as that to a very dark, sad song that is also comforting. Comfort can look like a lot of different things. 

How is the Denver music scene unique? How does it stand out from other cities?
I think it is very supportive and not cutthroat. I remember growing up in Austin, even the first few gigs I played when I was young and not knowing what I was doing, it was so competitive. The competitiveness here in Denver is healthy, and nobody is dragging anyone to get ahead. I have been here for 15 years and have done all the things, so it is more or less how I stay connected to the community and music.

Overall, it is a supportive scene. I do think that hip-hop and Black artists in general definitely need more support from venues and booking agents in the city. Hip-hop is a $2 billion industry, the biggest industry in the world, and venues are hesitant to book hip-hop and Black performers. That is something that needs to be rectified. 

Before we wrap up, are there any other upcoming projects you would like to mention or plug?
I do have some big news coming out with Sarah Slaton, and before the pandemic hit, I started a queer music showcase. I am looking for a new venue for it. Also, I am going to continue to try to keep uplifting queer, Black and Brown Indigenous people of color, and believe it or not, it is very hard to find them. If you are BIPOC, please hit me up. I would love to showcase your art. I really hope to get that showcase rolling again. We were entering our third or fourth month, and it was starting to get some legs. I am constantly searching for people to showcase on that. 

To stay up-to-date with Korte, follow her on Instagram @jenkorte, or visit ladygangmusic.com.

Photos Courtesy of Nikki Rae Photography

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