Electronic Press Kit (EPK)

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Public Universal Friend (PUF) is an Indianapolis-based art rock band fronted by queer goth americana matriarch Jody Galadriel Friend.

After a decade-plus solo career, PUF’s 2021 debut Perennials served as a touchstone coming out record for Friend, who came out as a gay trans woman in tandem with its release. The full-length earthy art rock opus showcases sonic roots of post-punk, 90s alternative, and echoes in Friend’s native Appalachian folk and hymnary.

Since the release, Friend galvanized her place as a beloved mother figure in the Indianapolis queer music scene with her live band including up to eight members, whose queer representing, woman-empowering, fashion forward, socially angsty dynamism, having earned them attention from NPR, Americana Music Association via Amythyst Kiah, Secretly Canadian, Indy Pride, Pattern (fashion magazine), and Music in Transit, even becoming the first trans-led act to be featured on the London-based Mahogany Sessions global video campaign with OnePlus.

PUF’s 2023 release Chrysalis is a vindictive queering of Friend’s native Appalachian sound, the dies irae of bold romance paired with the profound grief of southern gothic deconstruction. Since its live debut, the lead single, ‘Jesus, Pt. 1‘ has become a queer evangelical anthem, spoken to those ostracized by the southern culture of bigotry, having dogmatically cast trans folks as “an abomination” to which Friend leans in and nearly whispers, “then I guess I’ll see you all in hell.”

Chrysalis gives credence to a range of emotionalism found in the pursuit of love, authenticity, and integration that only Public Universal Friend can deliver. The release includes singles such as hymn-like a cappella opening track ‘Mama, In Your Arms,’ the low fidelity bedroom rock classic ‘Horrorscope’, in collaboration with Madeleine Jurkiewicz of Joyful Noise’s Lily + Madeleine, and the oldest song on the record ‘War,’ written when Friend was only 19.

Since their debut, PUF has launching Friend into the place of beloved mother figure in the Indianpolis queer music scene. The extensive community of the Indianapolis music, art, and fashion scenes have led to the inception of a solid, supportive, and spirited audience spreading throughout the Midwest and South.

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“…an incredible coming out album.” – NPR

“… a maternal goth folk icon” – NUVO

“Understanding that feeling of what it’s like to come out and live your truth openly, after you felt like you had to hide it for a long time… it’s liberating and wonderful to see and hear (PUF) be able to do that. Her new record sounds like something I would’ve bought and obsessed over in high school, but it still has a modern and forward thinking feel. It’s nostalgic, without feeling dated.” – Amythyst Kiah for Americana Music Association

LIVE VIDEOS

MAHOGANY Session – https:/www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_9KaRLWtVw

NPR/PBS Small Studio Session (WFYI) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJ8EDJ8d72Y

SON LUX cover: ‘Apart” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgHzLc5xUSU

MUSIC IN TRANSIT Session – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhXSqfVJKVs

NPR Tiny Desk Submission 2021 – https://youtu.be/k4SIHwToQOI

MUSIC VIDEOS

WAR – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLdr0xGevDI

BRAVE – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHkCWFCbVm0

HORRORSCOPE – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep77LDWGuSk

JESUS PT. 1 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZdL6rRYvG8

FIRESTARTER – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVqadfR7_VM