Review Fix Exclusive: Athens Boys Choir Interview

You couldn’t tell by looking at him, with his sleek black hair and flat chest, but Harvey Katz is not your typical male. A little more than a decade ago, he was actually a she.

Katz, better known by his stage name, Athens Boy Choir, is a transgender spoken word performer. Standing at an average height with an ear piercing, he drops words in a soft voice that jumps with passion. In his performances he speaks of the challenges he faced being different.

“Actually I call myself a transsexual because I’ve altered my body sex. The internal identity is transgender,” Katz said. “I didn’t even know Transgender men existed until I was around 20. This was before Google so there wasn’t a ton of places online to find resources about transgender identity.”

Growing up in Miami, FL. In a conservative Jewish family, Katz wasn’t exposed to the different people of the world. He went on to college at the University of Georgia, where his realization about who he was happened. This is where his writing and performing began and where he felt that he was accepted.

“I began to write spoken word poetry when I was around 21 and that was when my performances began. I found the mixture of rhythm and words therapeutic,” Katz said. “I played rugby and found a new family in my teammates. They were the first people I could trust enough to tell them I was transgender.”

Katz has performed all over the country. His “Saturn’s Poem” speaks of the hardships that every person faces between the ages of 27-32 when Saturn returns to the original position of the birth of the person. “Erasing to hard” talks about the struggle that a person goes through trying to erase a part of them.

“One of the coolest perks to traveling and performing is that you really get to fall in love with this country,” Katz said. “It’s a beautiful and vast space with multiple personalities and amazing people.”

When he performs you can see the enthusiasm behind his words. It’s like a light goes off and a person is standing reciting the words from their heart. His body moves to the beat of what he is saying. Spoken word is a way for anyone to express their feelings and connect with the audience in a way that reading regular poetry does not.

Katz currently works with youth groups. His partner is supportive of his difficult and ever-changing career. Traveling the country is not easy nor understanding a person like Katz. Katz’s family is a little out of touch with what he does, but that doesn’t stop him from doing what he wants.

“My favorite place to perform at is youth centers. I really like working with youth,” Katz said. “They are cleverer than what people give them credit for and they open for me in a talent show style program which is awesome.”

Athens Boys Choir has had five spoken word CDs released. His rhythmic beat can bring you to tears one line and make you laugh on the next. “Usually a line just pops into my head and I try to run with it. If it’s not impulsive, then it’s usually forced and not good,” Kats said about his style.

Katz’s fagette video had become a hit in the gay and trans community. The video makes light of sex change and choice of partners in a funny and artistic way. Gays, lesbians and trans people are getting more press coverage and rights than before.

“I think we are working on it. I’m so old-school that I can’t believe people are using the word ‘transgender’ properly,” Katz said. “Obviously there is work to be done but it is nice to see forward progress.”