Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Out at the Fair

Nick and Mel bring their satirical song stylings to the Del Mar Fair this year

Confused about transgenderism? Nick and Mel want to sing you some songs, this Saturday at the Fair.
Confused about transgenderism? Nick and Mel want to sing you some songs, this Saturday at the Fair.

While the Bruce Jenner story leaves many confused, Nick & Mel, a music and comedy duo, try to demystify transgenderism by breaking it down into song.

Video:

"Androgyny"

Nick & Mel live video

Nick & Mel live video

“Our music is unapologetic acerbic androgyny,” says Nick Walker, a transplanted transgender San Diegan from Brooklyn who used to identify as female.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Walker is currently reassigning as a male. And talking (or singing) about it is not off the table.

“Yes, you do hear more about male-to-female than female-to-male, which is what I’m doing. And yes, it is easier to make a hole than to make a pole, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Partner Mel Peters, “is a super-tall, super-nice lesbian.” They both play guitars, sing, tell jokes, and do skits.

The duo was invited to be part of the San Diego County Fair’s “Out at the Fair Day” on Saturday, June 13, a day’s worth of entertainment by and for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community.

Nick and Mel released an album, Live in the Key of Divorce, that makes light of gay divorce.

“When we wrote it, Mel was in the middle of a bitter break up and I was in the middle of a divorce. We wanted to take things that were serious to the LGBTQ community and inject some humor into it.”

The songs move from the dramatic (“Drain Me,” “Come and Get Your Stuff”) to the more camp (“Weiner Fight,” “Fanny Pack”).

Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner makes the cover of Vanity Fair

The duo are not to be confused with the fabulous fellas at Lips who dress up in sequins and boas and sing like Tina Turner and Christina Aguilera. “That is more performance based. They have lots of hair. We have T-shirts and jeans. They have lots of hours in the chair... I think that type of performance harkens back to the early Stonewall days.”

Echoing Olympic gold-medalist Jenner — this month gracing the cover of Vanity Fair magazine as a woman — Walker says, “This is who I have always been... It’s beautiful for Bruce that at 65 he can finally be himself. I know lots of people who do this later on in life,” says Walker, 38.

Walker says the trans community is much smaller than the LGBTQ community as a whole. “I know of about six or seven in San Diego who are transitioning right now... Hopefully what Bruce did will save lives.”

Nick and Mel appear at the Fair this Saturday at 3 p.m. on the Paddock Stage.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Reader writer Chris Ahrens tells the story of Windansea

The shack is a landmark declaring, “The best break in the area is out there.”
Confused about transgenderism? Nick and Mel want to sing you some songs, this Saturday at the Fair.
Confused about transgenderism? Nick and Mel want to sing you some songs, this Saturday at the Fair.

While the Bruce Jenner story leaves many confused, Nick & Mel, a music and comedy duo, try to demystify transgenderism by breaking it down into song.

Video:

"Androgyny"

Nick & Mel live video

Nick & Mel live video

“Our music is unapologetic acerbic androgyny,” says Nick Walker, a transplanted transgender San Diegan from Brooklyn who used to identify as female.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Walker is currently reassigning as a male. And talking (or singing) about it is not off the table.

“Yes, you do hear more about male-to-female than female-to-male, which is what I’m doing. And yes, it is easier to make a hole than to make a pole, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Partner Mel Peters, “is a super-tall, super-nice lesbian.” They both play guitars, sing, tell jokes, and do skits.

The duo was invited to be part of the San Diego County Fair’s “Out at the Fair Day” on Saturday, June 13, a day’s worth of entertainment by and for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community.

Nick and Mel released an album, Live in the Key of Divorce, that makes light of gay divorce.

“When we wrote it, Mel was in the middle of a bitter break up and I was in the middle of a divorce. We wanted to take things that were serious to the LGBTQ community and inject some humor into it.”

The songs move from the dramatic (“Drain Me,” “Come and Get Your Stuff”) to the more camp (“Weiner Fight,” “Fanny Pack”).

Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner makes the cover of Vanity Fair

The duo are not to be confused with the fabulous fellas at Lips who dress up in sequins and boas and sing like Tina Turner and Christina Aguilera. “That is more performance based. They have lots of hair. We have T-shirts and jeans. They have lots of hours in the chair... I think that type of performance harkens back to the early Stonewall days.”

Echoing Olympic gold-medalist Jenner — this month gracing the cover of Vanity Fair magazine as a woman — Walker says, “This is who I have always been... It’s beautiful for Bruce that at 65 he can finally be himself. I know lots of people who do this later on in life,” says Walker, 38.

Walker says the trans community is much smaller than the LGBTQ community as a whole. “I know of about six or seven in San Diego who are transitioning right now... Hopefully what Bruce did will save lives.”

Nick and Mel appear at the Fair this Saturday at 3 p.m. on the Paddock Stage.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Hockey Dad brings UCSD vets and Australians to the Quartyard

Bending the stage barriers in East Village
Next Article

Operatic Gender Wars

Are there any operas with all-female choruses?
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader