The New Orleans band, ‘all actively practising homosexuals’, evoke the chaos of today in their whirl of punk, techno and melody – and resist the commodification of queerness
![Special Interest: the DIY noise-poppers calling for reparations](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/d56675bb66b58c33700ac2dc77bd9510c08a2640/159_505_5349_3209/master/5349.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=42ce648bfadd01a929053bef01d1105d)
‘I poured a daiquiri on myself, it was so hot,” says Alli Logout, remembering Special Interest’s first basement gig six years ago. Since then, DIY shows in sweaty confinement have become the natural habitat of the New Orleans-based group, which evolved from an initial lineup of Logout and Maria Elena on guitars and electric drills to include Nathan Cassiani on bass and Ruth Mascelli (found at a back-yard show wearing Minnie Mouse ears and playing a pump organ) wrangling an old drum machine.
All four had been drawn to the city for its fertile DIY and punk scene, and the freedom it gave them to create. “It’s cultivated a very intriguing sound that Special Interest can thrive in,” Logout says. “People were ready for this.” Word soon spread, with their debut EP Spiralling and 2020 album The Passion Of finding a transatlantic home on Glasgow’s Night School Records; 2022 will bring an album on Rough Trade.