narrator
Heather Pighetti currently lives in her hometown of Westfield, Massachusetts, where she grew up in the 1970s and 80s in an Italian family. Growing up as a lesbian in Westfield, she found community in the BMX scene and with other gay people at Westfield High School. Music was a big part of her upbringing and when she was in college at Westfield State studying English she explored her personal style and formed the band Pangloss. Pangloss played locally in Northampton for a significant part of the 1990s and early 2000s along with bands like Pirate Jenny and Tizzy in venues like the Bay State Hotel and Katina’s. They were featured in lineups for festivals such as the Loud Music Festival and on compilation albums, like the Hotel Massachusetts compilation album out of the Bay State. Pighetti has been an educator for most of her adult life, spending many years working with at-risk kids in transitional and inclusion programs. She has been working at Ludlow High School for around 10 years, where she advises the school’s GSA as well as teaching multiple classes.
abstract
In this interview, Heather Pighetti reflects on the many different eras that she has witnessed as a Western Mass native. She talked about her time in gymnastics, BMX, and track as well as her musical upbringing with her audiophile father. She fondly remembers her time as the lead singer of Pangloss and the alternative music scene in Northampton over the years. She has valuable reflections on queerness as both a student and as an educator and verbally depicts her experiences with queer nightlife in the Pioneer Valley.