Picture this: PolyFizz is at 200 Degrees, a quaint coffeeshop in the middle of Cardiff that Casper James, frontman of aggro-glam band TELGATE, considers as one of his favourite spots to take a breather. 

The dim lighting and exposed brick walls of the locale (that would definitely receive the approval from anyone sporting a man bun) contrast the musician’s vibrant aquamarine mullet and love for thick leather chokers — yet, this provides James with yet another opportunity to stand out and, frankly, shine. Between sips of flat whites, James excitedly shares stories regarding his views on the struggles and delights of being a young, queer, and creative musician in South Wales.

 

[Dream sequence fades to grey]… And then we wake up from the dream. 

 

In reality, thanks to Covid-19, we’re all sat at home following the strict lockdown regulations that came to light last week. Instead, we both discuss these topics through our laptops in our comfiest pairs of flares, with the thought of eccentric eye-makeup being a distant memory: the not-so-glam side of fashion and music.

Despite the physical distance, Casper James’ electric personality shines through and manages to grab our attention nonetheless. His cheeky wit and clever use of sarcasm is generously mixed with a strong sense of self and a mature understanding of the world, resulting in one hell of a charming 19 year old. 

His determined nature means he struggles to relax and constantly feels the need to be creating music or working admin for the band, which takes up most of his time. However, on the odd occasion when James manages to grab 20 minutes to himself, you can find him binge-watching true crime documentaries or creating cubist-influenced art that he flaunts on his personal Instagram page.

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Casper James’s passion for

music surrounds him every

moment of the day and

especially motivates his

approach to fashion. A

concoction of musical

inspirations, ranging from post

punk to new wave to glam rock,

is used to give him the

presence of the lovechild of Siouxsie Sioux, David Bowie and The New York Dolls — a dream come true. 

Yet, for the musician, his choice in clothing means so much more than just creating absolutely banging looks: his 6-inch rainbow glitter lace-up platforms and iridescent jumpsuits allow him to express how he truly feels about society; and between you & I, he’s pissed off. 

Despite being a happy chappy who considers his special talent to be creating comical PowerPoints about unorthodox topics such as Yankee Candles, he easily identifies the injustice that pollutes our society, based on nationality, race, gender and class. Therefore, as a trans man, he uses his manic wardrobe ranging from canary yellow berets to leather body harnesses, to spark an open discussion around his defiance of conforming to cis-heteronormativite expectations. 

When it comes to TELGATE’s beliefs, the 4 members synthesise: they all use their strong visuals, composed of suits, dresses, crop tops and platforms — all in varying fabrics such as velvet and fishnet — to represent a new wave of queer liberation in the modern-day world. Social activism is echoed through their powerful latest single, Cherrytight, which outlines the injustice felt by the queer community during the 1980s AIDS crisis — a message that landed them a nomination

for ‘Best Breakthrough Act’ and ‘Best EP/Single’ in the Cardiff Music Awards.

 

Long before being declared as the UK’s first Music City in 2017, Cardiff and its surrounding areas were dripping in musical heritage based on their ability to produce influential bands such as Super Furry Animals, Stereophonics and Manic Street Preachers. However, even before the current lockdown, South Wales was struggling to keep the doors of its independent music venues open, something that the members of TELGATE feel passionately about. According to James, the blame can’t be entirely placed upon landlords; as members of the public we all have the duty to skip the Saturday cover band to support intimate and local gigs, which also gives us the chance to discover new music.

 

Nonetheless, Casper James also sees the anxiety of Cardiff’s struggling live music industry as an opportunity to create a tight knit community amongst the musicians, venue owners and local people that love and enjoy the culture. In particular, he reminisces on the beauty of the successful “Save Womanby Street” campaign in 2017, which joined thousands of loud and vibrant supporters together to march for change in laws to protect the local music scene — a familiar spirit that we are all beginning to experience during the Coronavirus pandemic.

 

While we could chat to the musician for hours about his personal hopes and dreams — including his ambition of opening up a unique vintage garment store in the future — PolyFizz takes this opportunity to unravel some more details about TELGATE.

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What does a typical day of rehearsals look like?

Rehearsals is chaos for TELGATE. We

generally run over and edit the set slightly and

then focus on writing new music. We’re

currently writing for our debut concept EP.

Writing music can start off being frustrating but

once we start getting onto something, it

becomes so exciting. And then, by the end of

our sessions we end up completely

degenerating, sometimes turning on The

Vengaboys and duelling with our guitars. 

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So, you’ve recently released Cherrytight; what’s next for TELGATE? 

We’re currently writing our debut EP. As soon as the Covid-19 crisis settles we’ll be in the studio. We can’t say too much but there’s a sneaky chance we may be performing a pride event this year and we are also looking to arrange our very own transgender liberation event in Cardiff. 

 

What’s your biggest dream in terms of the success of the band?

Our biggest dream would probably be to have a following who see meaning in what we do and have a platform to communicate our message on a larger scale. 

 

What’s the one piece of advice you would give to someone who is thinking about getting into the music industry?

My key piece of advice would be find a niche and have a message. If you can only describe yourself as an indie rock band then you need to develop what you are doing to individualise yourselves and stand out. Find something you believe in strongly and a part of your personality which you can emphasise and work from there. And most importantly, be patient but persistent with success and career development.