Narrator
José Ayerve was born in Bogota, Colombia, on April 28th, 1974. Shortly after his birth in Bogeta, he and his parents and older sister moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, where he lived throughout his childhood. Ayerve was raised in a socially conservative Catholic home and regularly participated in Catholic youth groups. Later in life, he would step away from his faith as it no longer squared with his queerness, he now identifies as agnostic. Ayerve attended Bowdoin College from 1992 to 1996, receiving a bachelor’s degree in Latin American Studies. After his time at Bowdoin, he relocated to Portland, Maine and to then Northampton, Massachusetts. Ayerve has been studying music since the age of nine, and as he entered adulthood, that interest only grew. In 1995, Ayerve formed his most popular band, SPOUSE, which still plays today. Beyond SPOUSE, Ayerve has played, fronted, written, and produced for a number of other bands and artists, including I11 Ease and Peyton Pinkerton. Starting in the mid-90s, Ayerve regularly played shows in Northampton, and he still returns to the area to play. Today, Ayerve lives with his husband in Fort Lauderdale, Florida but has lived in a number of other places including Catalina Island, California, Quito, Ecuador, and Oahu, Hawai’i. For the past several years he has worked as an interpreter, using his fluency in Spanish and English to assist clients. In his free time, Ayerve maintains a close connection to the queer community through his participation in the South Florida Tennis Club, which is part of an international circuit of LGBTQ+ players.
Abstract
In this interview, José Ayerve reflects on his childhood growing up in Springfield, Massachusetts, as a part of a Colombian, Ecuadorian, and devout Catholic family and on the inner turmoil he felt as a young gay man in that environment. He talks about his experiences in the Northampton and Portland, Maine, music scenes during the mid-nineties, early 2000s, and up to the present day. He discusses large cultural events such as the Nine-Eleven terror attacks and the 2009 repeal of gay marriage in the state of Maine, reflecting on how those moments impacted and influenced his music career. He also talks about his life and vibrant queer community in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he now lives with his husband. Finally, Ayerve opines about the current political moment and his anxieties as a gay Latino man living in uncertain times.