Have you ever had the craving for a podcast that brings music and comedy together in the most beautiful way? Well, Tampon Rock is here to satisfy that craving and many more. From creators Alysia Brown, Sarah Aument and Sophie Dinicol comes the genre-bending and brilliant new podcast Tampon Rock. This scripted podcast series follows the two lead lesbian characters, Deja and Chloe, as they explore the dating, love and music scene of Oakland. Oh and they’re also in a band called The G.O.A.L (The Greatest Of All Lesbians).
Alysia, Sarah and Sophie made it their priority to create an inclusive series that would entertain the masses. Authentic representation of Queer POC in mainstream media is a rarity. In the expansive world of podcasting, a show like Tampon Rock is the first of its kind. With lead characters who are a part of the LGBTQ+ community as well as a queer Black character, the show looks to not only bend genres but break barriers.
Tampon Rock is in a league of its own. With a score of all original music, creators and characters from the LGBTQ+ community, and hilarious storylines, this series is guaranteed to keep you entertained. We caught up with Alysia, Sarah and Sophie to discuss their vision for the show and much more! Make sure to stream episodes of Tampon Rock on iHeart Media!
Cliché: Tell us about your new podcast, Tampon Rock.
Alysia: Tampon Rock is a Black, Queer, female driven podcast about friendship, dating and life!
Sophie: What Alysia said! It’s funny and ridiculous and has great music.
Sarah: And as Sophie once said “Tampon Rock is us.”
Why did you feel that this show would be best suited as a podcast?
Alysia: At the time it was really just access. We had the opportunity to create a podcast and we felt like for us, the best way to get the story out in the public was through a podcast.
Sophie – We had the ability to make a podcast through our own expertise and the support and resources at our company. I also think that by being audio only, this enhances the musical part of the show; our listeners really get to take in the music.
Sarah – In some ways, making a podcast was an easier way to get in the door. I’m sure the show will morph as it evolves but I think the best parts of it were developed because of the audio only experience. I feel like if we make a derivative production we would be able to bring something new to TV or film because podcasting pushed us into creative territories that aren’t intuitive when making TV/film.
The show is so unique and genre-bending. What inspired you to mix comedy and musicals together to tell this story?
Alysia: We all work at a production music library company, and I’ve been doing comedy in NYC for a few years, so honestly it came naturally. I think we felt it was the best way to really tell the story.
Sophie: Yeah, I think given our work, and the fact that Sarah is a brilliant composer and Alysia is an amazing comedian, it felt like the natural fit to combine those worlds.
Sarah: It just kind of came out that way! Tampon Rock is the amalgamation of our shared interests and skills.
Are the characters of Deja and Chloe influenced by your own personalities?
Alysia – I’d say so a little bit. They’re definitely a version of ourselves when we were younger, but way more exaggerated!
Sophie – I think we took parts of all of our personalities when we wrote them, but also added other traits as well. The whole show is inspired by our lives and personalities in some way, but it’s not directly autobiographical by any means.
Sarah – I feel like I know them or knew them; does that make sense?
What inspired the decision to have all original music as the score to your show?
Alysia: It was the easiest decision! Sarah is an amazing composer, and again, Tampon Rock wouldn’t be Tampon Rock without our own music!
Sophie: Sarah is so talented and she’s truly the engine that drives the music in the show, so it just made sense to have original music throughout.
Sarah: I’m blushing, love you guys. I just wanted women to be in charge of everything and that included music!
The diverse portrayal of characters in Tampon Rock is rarely seen in mainstream media today. How do you hope your show will impact underrepresented communities?
Alysia – I’m hoping that this representation will inspire Black, Queer, and POC communities, AND production companies, studios. I think the fact that so many films, podcasts, TV shows, are predominantly cis white narratives, it’s time to break that mold and make stories for Black, QPOC’s, normalized.
Sophie – It’s time to see and hear Black, POC, Queer voices in the mainstream so I think we made the show that’d we’d want to listen to.
Sarah – I always want to watch anything queer and womxn centric, and honestly the more diverse the better. QPOC people in general deserve more content and I’m just glad to be adding to that.
Read more Interviews at ClicheMag.com
Images Provided by Sanika Phawde
