Interview LooveX and Gum Disease

“Queerannosaurus Gex” is a chaotic, heartfelt, and defiant queer anthem. We spoke with LooveX and Gum Disease about creative freedom, dinosaurs, and turning resistance into rebellious joy.

1. LooveX, you initiated this collaboration—what drew you to Gum Disease’s music back in 2022, and why did you feel now was the right time to reach out?

LooveX: I feel like 2022 was a very influential year for me where all the music I listened to kinda left like a permanent mark on me. I had been listening a lot to queer punk, and stumbled upon Gum Disease one day. I got hooked instantly by their sound and so I checked out the rest of their discography and they ended up becoming one of my favorite bands. Back then, I wasn't focusing too much on my music and so I didn't really have like an audience. But yeah, as I became more dedicated to my music and started growing a following over the years, and seeing the rise of rightwing views in the world, I thought that Gum Disease was the perfect fit for the track when I first got the idea for it.

2. The track title “queerannosaurus gex” is both playful and politically sharp. Can you tell us more about how this username-turned-anthem took shape?

GUM DISEASE: LooveX contacted us back in November of 2024 asking if we wanted to be a part of a track and we were super excited to say yes. We didn’t have a part in the naming process but have absolutely zero complaints as we love both dinosaurs and queer rights!!

LooveX: Yeah so, the name came from one of my discord friend's username, like you said, and so I asked him if I could use that name for a song and he said yes. After that I just kinda spiraled into a gay dinosaur madness and came up with an idea for the instrumentation and some parts of the lyrics. I knew that I wanted the song to be silly but also have like a deeper meaning at the same time, and so I ended up finding out that calling somebody a dinosaur is like calling them old fashioned, so I decided that use that. Once I came up with that metaphor I basically finished all my parts of the lyrics pretty instantly. I recorded the song in my bedroom, like all my other songs, and after I had a rough mix done, I sent it to Gum Disease and asked if they wanted to be part of the project. Also, I had left an open spot for them to do whatever they wanted over the instrumental. We love creative freedom >:3

3. The song critiques homophobia by portraying bigots as “dinosaurs.” How did you balance humor and serious critique in the lyrics and sound?

LooveX: Personally I feel like that mixture describes me as a person pretty perfectly, so from my part it kinda just happened naturally. It was like taking my personality and putting it in a song. I'm a chaotic mess, but I can also be serious, and I'm a very political person, which kinda shows in my music I'd say. It's kinda weird for me, because sometimes I just come up with the stupidest thing ever, and go through with it, and it results in like one of the best things I’ve ever done, which was kinda what happened here from my perspective. But yeah, obviously the overall message is that queer people have the same right as everyone else to exist.

GUM DISEASE: When we first started working on the song, we discussed the themes and main metaphors we wanted to portray throughout. The song itself is full of energy which meant that we had room to be more serious lyrically without making the song too sad or direct, so that definitely helped with the balance. All in all, the main message of the song is that queer rights are human rights, queer folks will always exist and we deserve to not just survive, but flourish and i think that the amalgamation of dinosaurs with such a serious message ended up working perfectly and resulted in the final product spreading a mix of queer joy and rebellion. 

4. Gum Disease, this is your first release in over a year. What about this project made it feel like the right one for your return?

GUM DISEASE: Since we released our last single (DNR - January 2024) we’ve been having a break, recharging and recording lots of new music, so when LooveX contacted us in November of 2024 we were finally ready to actually get some new stuff out into the world, and what better place to start than a song about queer dinosaurs?

5. LooveX, how did your mental health break influence your creative process or message in this track?

LooveX: Well we started working on the song before my mental health break, but I feel like it definitely played a part in shaping the final product. After the break, I did some final adjustments in the mix and that I probably wouldn't have done without the break. I'm usually a perfectionist when it comes to my art, so if I start taking ages to finish one single song then you know it's gonna be good, and I feel like you can kinda hear the hard work pay off.

6. How did the two of you manage the production process across countries—was it all done remotely, or did you find ways to make it feel collaborative despite the distance?

GUM DISEASE: It was all done remotely, however the distance didn’t stop us from communicating and being involved. LooveX was absolutely amazing to work with and kept us updated on everything, we have a huge shared folder of all of the important information regarding the song and we were given so much creative freedom, which is rare for a collaborative track. This meant that we could add a lot of layers and really make the song feel intertwined, as opposed to two separate halves.

LooveX: Yeah like I said earlier, I'm a perfectionist when it comes to music, and especially with collaborations. I made sure to write down every single detail and piece of information that might be necessary and put it all in a folder that I shared with Gum Disease. One of my main mottos is that communication is key, so I always try to be as thorough and detailed as possible when working with other artists, because I've learned that usually, a lot of people take it for granted which impacts both parties negatively I'd say. So yeah even though the whole process was done remotely, it kinda feels like it wasn't in a way. Gum Disease and I just matched instantly because we kinda have a similar style of working as well.

7. The harmonies in the song are quite rich. How intentional was that element, and what emotional tone were you trying to convey through them?

LooveX: Honestly I'm a sucker for harmonies. I know that with the style of music I'm currently making, it doesn't always fit if you have tons of harmonies. It definitely fits this song though. I feel like it gives the track a more epic tone in a way which I absolutely love. It kinda helps strengthen the connection within the song but also with the people listening to it, bringing a sense of unity and affinity in my opinion.

GUM DISEASE: As mentioned earlier, LooveX gave us a lot of creative freedom on the song to add whatever we wanted, so when it came down to recording vocals we wanted to add as much backing as physically possible so the song really feels collaborative. All of our vocals are layered so even in our respective verses, there’s still vocals from the other person and it’s made the song feel so much fuller in our opinion.

8. The music video is full of heart—LooveX handing out rainbow flags in Kungshamn is such a wholesome image. What inspired that visual approach, especially given the absence of a local Pride?

LooveX: Honestly it was mainly just that. There used to be a community group called GIS here, but it had to shut down due to insufficient funding. I used to be part of the organizing team when we arranged local pride festivals, so it was obviously very disheartening for all of us in the group when it shut down. Now, most people that used to participate are busy doing other stuff from what I know, and I've been missing having some sort of local queer energy still thriving. It was kinda like a “someone has to do it” situation, and since I alone don't have the funds to do anything super big like we used to do, I just saved up some money so I could buy a bunch of pride flags and then we just went out and recorded when I handed them out. We did all of this in early June as a way to spread some love for the start of pride month, and it turns out that a lot of people had been missing the local Pride festivals too, so the reaction we got was just pure positivity and support, which I'm really grateful for.

9. Gum Disease, you've recently played shows in unconventional spaces like cinemas. How does the setting influence the energy and message of your performances?

GUM DISEASE: Regardless of where we play and who we’re playing to, we always aim to bring exactly the same energy on stage, spread the same message and create the same safe space, whether that’s in a bookstore, a skatepark, a cinema or a tiny basement venue. We absolutely love performing live, so no matter what the location is, our dynamic remains the same. We start all of our sets with “we are Gum Disease and we’re gonna make your teeth fall out!!!” so that will always be the goal. (Metaphorically of course, we don’t encourage dental injury.)

10. Both of you have spoken out against shadowbanning of queer content. What can fans or fellow artists do to support queer creators facing these platform restrictions?

LooveX: Yes, being shadowbanned is horrible. Recently #femboy got shadowbanned on some platforms and I wanted to punch a wall. I mean, the reason why creators and artists ask their fans to interact with their posts by liking, commenting and sharing, is because that's kinda like the only way to fight it. The internet is supposed to make it accessible for people to find and support what they like. Other than that I feel like any direct support towards your favorite artist or creator is also very appreciated.

GUM DISEASE: Shadowbanning is such a frustrating experience as a queer independent artist and it’s so hard to navigate but there’s definitely a couple of things that people can do to help. The main one is just interacting with posts, e.g liking, commenting and sharing, it makes so much difference because even if your stuff gets buried in the algorithm, it’s nice seeing people engaging still. It’s so easy to lose hope when something you work hard on gets hidden, but encouraging words absolutely help, all in all just spread some love to your favourite independent artists, whether that’s by going to their live shows, pressing buttons on their social media or buying their merchandise.

11. What does “queerannosaurus gex” mean to you personally, and what do you hope it means to listeners, especially young queer people discovering your music?

LooveX: It's my new favorite animal :3 Honestly it means a lot of things. I see it as a very needed symbol of our resilience and strength, and something that hopefully will inspire others to not give up on fighting against injustices. It’s a symbol of solidarity. Queer people are targeted daily by dickheads, but the community still stands strong. At the end of the day, we're all human and we need to be there for each other. If this song brings people even closer together, I'd say we succeeded. No matter what, I always want my listeners to know that they are not alone in what they're going through. 

GUM DISEASE: Queerannosaurus Gex means multiple things to us, some more obvious than others. We want this song to highlight the oppression that queer people face daily but still encapsulate positivity and hope, so for us, this song is an embodiment of our hope for the future regarding queer rights. We will keep fighting until we have equality and nobody is afraid to be themselves because of their identity. We want young queer people who stumble across this song (and our music in general), to know that they’re not alone and things will get better. Nobody deserves to feel like they’re worthless and if our silly dinosaur anthem makes someone feel even a little bit less scared of existing, then we will be eternally proud. It’s also such an important song as it’s our first release of a new era and we couldn’t be more excited.

12. Finally, can we expect more collaborations between the two of you in the future? Or was this a once-in-a-lifetime queer dino moment?

GUM DISEASE: Not to keep repeating ourselves, but we absolutely loved working with LooveX (pun intended, kind of) and it’d be amazing to work with them again in the future. As a band we’ve been trying to organise a mini European tour for a while now and when we eventually do, we will do everything in our power to make sure that we get to play a show alongside LooveX and hopefully, perform Queerannosaurus Gex live together.

LooveX: I mean considering how this collaboration led to us becoming friends, I don't see why not. I'd love to work with Gum Disease again, and performing the song live would be such a cool thing too.

LooveX

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