[insert] boy
who is he?
I’ve never quite found my voice by fitting into one category. I’ve been playing the violin for as long as I can remember—first performing at Carnegie Hall at age 5 (and trying to get back there ever since). Throughout my professional life, I’ve been chasing new ways to stretch the instrument’s possibilities, always searching for a sound that feels fully my own.
My way out of classical music and into folk music started from my love of the blues and wanting to play the fiddle like a blues guitar. My journey has taken me from touring Eastern Europe with philharmonic orchestras to festival circuits in Western Europe, India, and China with global folk ensembles. I’ve learned from a Hungarian folk fiddle master, Hindustani classical virtuosos, Scottish folk fiddlers, weaving age-old techniques and traditions into a voice that feels uniquely mine.
Over time, I have felt a pull beyond tradition—I wanted to bend, distort, and electrify the violin into something… else.
Through my exposure and study of free jazz and improvisation, I started to explore the power of spontaneity and sonic risk. That same spirit carries into my work now, where I fuse folk and classical roots with club sensibilities, ambient electronic textures, and queer camp. My violin is often the lead voice, but sometimes it’s unrecognizable—a warped, processed force driving sweaty dancefloor euphoria or dissolving into a cavernous electronic soundscape.
I love transformation. My vision of music is always reaching—for the untouchable, erotic, and free magic just beyond the instrument.
[insert] boy is my first solo project. It is a celebration of queer masculinities, erotica, transness in expansive form. I felt called to make this project to embrace the overtly gay campy music of my heart and soul, the aesthetics of queer erotica, and do it with the violin at my side. I was challenged to use my voice, my speaking voice and wanted to make the music of my dreams. Through the creative process, I found myself building a testosterone-fueled gym anthem, a fiddle-driven Line Dancing banger, and two raw, ambient and vulnerable tracks. I want to create music that feels like it has a place and a use in our current world: in a humid dance club, a line dance hoedown, on the internet, at a picnic, or in your headphones on the subway.
cowboy is the first single from [insert] boy. It is a song for queer Line Dancing spaces (and beyond!) that have been reviving in recent years all over the states. I wondered how I could put a folk fiddle tune into an electronic record and hve it be music for the dance floor. This is a genre blur and ode to the American Southwest, a place I have called home for many years
Queer line dancing has long been a part of American LGBTQ+ culture, with dedicated spaces flourishing in the last 50+ years. Recently, there’s been a massive resurgence among younger generations—with millennials and Gen Z creating new spaces or revitalizing existing ones. These events are intergenerational, friendly, and inclusive—happening mostly in local gay bars—making them ideal spaces for connection and the kind of spirit of teaching and learning that I loved from my folk music circles..
We have choreographed a line dance to "cowboy" with The Albuquerque Outlaws - a queer line dancing community.
Preview the track here and follow me on Instagram/Bandcamp/Spotify to stay in the loop!
about the other tracks
gym boy is a celebration of transboys, testosterone, masculinities and the conundrum of internet gym culture. I love this world and I wanted to show my affection for all different boys' experiencing dysmorphia or euphoria. It's a club song meant for the gay dance floor, the circuit party, and the endless lifting culture of TikTok.
honey boy is an experiment in string interlude, an experimentation in being stripped raw. This one contrasts the extroversion of gym boy and cowboy and focuses on my interest in ambient music.
nice boi is an internal, ambient driven song. It uses layered strings, spring reverb, and manipulated piano to create a massive, emotional sound. This is my reflective moment for the subway or the drive on the way to work.
[insert] boy was produced and recorded by Jack Boaz and Niko O'Brien of Upcycled Sounds in London UK.
Songwriting by Jack Boaz and Niko O'Brien.
Production by Jack Boaz and Niko O'Brien.
Violin, piano, synths and vocals performed by Jack.
Guitars, synths and drums performed by Niko.
Mixed by Niko O'Brien at Upcycled Sounds Studio, London.
Mastering by Katie Tavini at Weird Jungle Mastering Collective.
release strategy (TLDR)
[insert] boy EP release strategy is imagined as multi-faceted and niche—touching both online viral and real-world community connection.
Rolling Release Strategy: each single (3 singles + the bonus track “honey boy”) will drop 6-8 weeks apart, allowing for sustained promotion and visibility. The EP’s concept is deeply intentional and community-focused, speaking to specific queer subcultures with dedicated activations and collaborations designed for internet and real-world impact.
I’m seeking creative collaborators, label support, distribution and industry partners who are excited about genre-pushing music with multi-platform marketability—music designed for the internet, the club, and beyond.
