Surprise! It’s a brand new music video. I’m sure we’ve all had enough of crazy gender reveal parties (especially considering they’re mostly over redundant baby showers), but Kat and the Hurricane perfectly call out this part of our culture with the “Sorry That I’m Like This” music video they released last November.
The first time I watched this music video was on Queerantine™️, an online queer music video showcase hosted by Kisos. I fell in love instantly not only with the song, but with the music video as well. (Find the episode “Sorry That I’m Like This” is featured on here or below)
The video starts of with the scene set for the gender reveal party, with gifts, the blue and pink aesthetic (and hints of the trans flag if you look closely), and a stage set up for a band. Sure enough, Kat and the Hurricane pull up a band, throw the keys in the grass, throw on a party hat, and start the song. We’re embraced with a warm party synth mixed with fast paced percussion, and then gifted with fun vocal melodies to go with everything. The beautiful lead vocals combined with the stacked backing vocals gave me chills at times because they were so smooth. The combined tenor and alto tones throughout the song give me life!
About halfway through the video, they start to pop the balloons, and colored smoke comes out. They tear down the colored decorative ribbons, and destroy the gifts with a baseball bat. We then see a cake where a trans flag and a bisexual flag are added to it, but then they start a cake fight between each other. They take a piñata and destroy it by a lakeside with baseball bats together, and then end the video eating some cake.
The contrast of the happy, bright, colorful, fun vibes from the video compared to the melancholic lyrics makes this video so much better. In a way, it felt very poetic. We’re all getting sick of gender reveal parties and lengths people actually go to celebrate it. Between wildfires and people literally dying, it’s just getting old. The visuals feel like a middle finger to this part of our culture, and also celebrates trans and non-binary identities through representation.
I got to ask the band some questions about the song and the video. Check out the interview below!
much for all you do!
Describe your video in 3 sentences.
Queer and non-binary band Kat and the Hurricane deliver their newest bundle of joy to the world with a gender reveal celebration. It’s a……..music video! Fun but self-deprecating, “Sorry That I’m Like This” is a synth-soaked queer anthem and an ode to anyone who has been made to feel the need to apologize for being themselves.
What was your favorite part about making this music video?
Alex: the fact that this entire video was conceived, planned, prepped, and executed in under 24 hours. We had originally planned a completely different concept for this music video and only decided the night before we’d planned to shoot it to commit to the gender reveal party, so the next day, we ran to the Dollar Tree to grab as many party supplies as we could and spent the whole morning and afternoon making a mess of our backyard and undoubtedly scaring our neighbors with the amount of smoke. It was such a blast, we were all having so much fun, and it all came together perfectly.
Ben: It was just SO FUN. We didn’t overthink it, we just danced around and destroyed things for a few hours! The energy of the video matches the song, but I’m also really glad we found a way to make the video a visual representation of our queerness and rejection of society’s gender norms. I’ve always thought gender reveal parties were the strangest phenomenon, so getting to incorporate that into the video was really entertaining.
What was the hardest part making this music video?
Alex – At the time, I remember us having a back and forth on whether or not the gender reveal party was going to be FOR anyone – like an actual person or character in the fictional video narrative who was having a baby or something. We quickly realized we didn’t know any pregnant people, nor did we really want more people to be involved in the in-person shoot due to COVID. We played around with the idea of playing both ourselves and secondary cis straight characters who would be throwing the party, but that seemed too complicated. Then we realized, we could just make the gender reveal about the long-awaited reveal of the song and video itself – hence the film clapper piñata and the “It’s a…..music video!” subtitle gag in the video description and promotions. Like, as opposed to the binary boy or girl nonsense.
Kat: I also remember personally feeling a little afraid that the majority of people watching the music video wouldn’t get the point of it because y’know, cisheterosexism generally speaking – and gender reveals being so common nowadays. But since the last major wildfire in California was caused by a dangerous form of gender reveal party involving fireworks, I remember that I do not care. I remember that recently, our music video was played on Queerantine (run by Kisos) for other queer people and they LOST IT, they were living for it and having so much fun. So now I’m a lot less concerned because the queer and trans people ALWAYS get it. That’s the only thing that matters.
Ben – One of our biggest hurdles, obviously, was COVID safety. I know people have varying boundaries about the level of social contact they are willing to have, but we are taking COVID very seriously and don’t want anyone to take any unnecessary risks. We haven’t even been playing shows, so we wanted to make sure we only had the three of us and our film crew there for the video. We had lots of other fun video ideas, but had to keep vetoing them because they would have required too many people to gather. In the end, I’m so happy with the way it turned out, but thinking about everyone’s safety and protection definitely requires an extra level of intentionality that we didn’t necessarily have to consider before.
Was this release cathartic for y’all?
Alex – oh my god yes! We’ve been sitting on this song and it’s been such a fan favorite at live gigs we’ve played for so long, it was incredible to have it finally be out and available to the whole world, along with a music video that we’re both so proud of, and one that I think makes a really important statement – eff your gender binary.
Ben – Absolutely! We had such a quiet spring and summer last year, because we weren’t able to play shows and were trying to be as safe as possible around COVID risks, so when we were finally able to release something new, it was just a huge celebration. This song is also our most upbeat and our most collaborative – I feel like it marks the entry into a new era for Kat and the Hurricane.
What keeps you all motivated?
Practicing with best friends, playing shows for people and feeling the energy of the crowd. Translating thoughts and feelings into this liminal space called music (so cathartic and healing). That feeling when you’re musically in the pocket – it’s intoxicating. Connecting with past Kat, Ben, & Alex and knowing how HUGE of a dream being in a queer non-binary band has always been for them. It’s easy to take for granted, especially since we can’t play in-person shows for people, but the representation of it all is so vitally important for other queer and trans folks – it’s such an honor to occupy that space. Even though we are disappointed that we can’t tour right now, we’ve been so humbled by how much love and support we have received over the past year. We have people consistently tuning in to our livestreams, engaging with our antics on social media, and a ton of great networking opportunities like interviews, podcasts, music competitions, and more. We are excited about the music we’re making and would do it even if our music never left the living room; these songs just mean so much to us. The fact that people are responding to the music and the fact that it means something to them, too, will always keep us going.
What can we expect next from y’all?
We just released two songs, Sorry That I’m Like This and Out of My Mind, and will be following these up with a brand new EP release, sometime later this spring or during summer. We hope to play as many livestreams as possible until it’s safe to start gigging out and about again. Once it’s safe, we plan to get back on tour and play as many shows as we can (COVID actually interrupted our very first 10-day midwest tour, so we’re itching to get back out there). Until then, we’re just using this time to write more music, network with other musicians and venues, and stay connected with our friends and fans however we can!
What other artists are y’all listening to right now?
Alex – Madeline Kenney’s new EP is gorgeous, lush, and evocative (no surprises there!). I’ve also been jamming a lot to Hospital Bracelet in between back-to-back Warpaint and Wye Oak drum practice sessions.
Ben – I’ve been discovering so much new music lately! Some artists I have on rotation right now are Future Teens, The Sonder Bombs, Meet Me @ The Altar, Jaden, and – of course- Phoebe Bridgers.
Kat – Rett Madison, Claud, Hayley Williams, Liza Anne, pronoun, Young the Giant, Japanese Breakfast, Death Cab, Phoebe, Julien, Lucy.
Thank y’all so much for your time answering these questions for us!
I certainly loved this song and music video, and think you will too! Be sure to watch the video here, and stream the song on all platforms now! Make sure to follow Kat and the Hurricane on social media below as well.
Written By: Bryce Quartz