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The STL Bucket List Show
Co-hosted by couple Lucas and Marissa Farrell, the founders of the popular Instagram account STL Bucket List. Lucas and Marissa discuss all things St. Louis with some of the city's most influential people. This weekly show highlights guest speakers with a passion for serving the community through talents, businesses, entrepreneurship, and influence. Tune in every Wednesday for real conversations with compelling minds in and around St. Louis.
The STL Bucket List Show
Tre G - WerQfest: Seven Years of Black Queer Joy
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On this episode of the STL Bucket List Show, we sit down with Tre G, founder of WerQfest, to explore how a festival that started as a last-minute virtual event during the pandemic has grown into one of St. Louis's most important celebrations of Black queer art, music, and community.
Tre shares his journey growing up in St. Louis, performing from a young age, studying at Berklee College of Music, and ultimately shifting from the stage to building opportunities for other artists. He opens up about coming out publicly, the challenges and freedom that followed, and how that experience inspired him to create a platform where Black queer creatives could be seen, celebrated, and supported.
The conversation dives into the origins of WerQfest, the process of curating emerging local talent alongside nationally recognized artists, and the realities of building a grassroots festival in today's cultural and political climate. Tre reflects on creating safe spaces, navigating funding challenges, expanding WerQfest beyond St. Louis, and why investing in artists is about much more than putting on a great show.
From community building and creative entrepreneurship to representation and the future of St. Louis, this episode is a celebration of the people creating culture and proving that meaningful change starts with showing up for one another.
They discuss:
• Tre's journey from growing up in St. Louis to studying at Berklee College of Music
• How coming out publicly changed his career and inspired the creation of WerQfest
• The pandemic origin story behind launching WerQfest in just two weeks
• The meaning behind the name "WerQfest" and its connection to Black queer culture
• Building a festival that uplifts Black queer artists while welcoming everyone
• How emerging local artists are selected to perform alongside national headliners
• Why representation, visibility, and safe spaces matter now more than ever
• Moving WerQfest to The Grove and the neighborhood's significance to the LGBTQ+ community
• Running WerQfest alongside his husband and balancing creativity with business
• Expanding WerQfest beyond St. Louis while keeping the city at its core
• Grassroots fundraising, community support, and the challenges of sustaining an independent festival
• Tre's favorite St. Louis restaurants, neighborhoods, and local spots to experience during WerQfest weekend
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📍 Recorded at Bucket List Podcast Studio, St. Louis, MO
Intro & Meet Tre G
SPEAKER_01One day, literally two weeks before the end of Pride, I turned to my husband and I said, You know, I have this idea. Please don't think I'm crazy when I say it, but I kind of want to start a festival and I kind of want to do it by the end of the month.
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SPEAKER_00If you wanna hear about St. Louis, tune into the Bucketless Show Weekly. Hear what Marissa and Luke say. It drops every Wednesday. Got a dope new guest every single week. Buckle up for the ride. Who's it gonna be? Who's on the show today? They rap Saint Louis. What to do in the loo on a late night? I maybe what to do on a date night. Yeah. Pocket list as you covered, they know what's going on. What's going on? They'll give you 18 different things to do on 19. If you need one more to choose, yeah. The city, city, city is a place we call home. A place we call home. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02St. Louis. Um, hope you guys had an incredible Fourth of July weekend. We're back with another episode here supporting another incredible event in St. Louis. I have Trey G, founder of Workfest, in the studio today. I know you guys all know Workfest, it's in its seventh year. Trey, thank you so much for coming to the studio today.
SPEAKER_01Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_02Um, we worked together last couple years just from a promotional standpoint, but now I'm excited to actually have a full conversation because I really want to learn um about Workfest. You've been doing it for seven years. It's crazy to think that the it has been seven years because I feel like you know, we started Bucket List around that same time and it feels like just yesterday. Yes. Because it's still hard, it's still work, and you're still building a brand. Yes. Um, so tell me about um, you know, your elevator pitch for WorkFest. Tell me what you guys do, tell me who you serve and what people can expect at the event next week.
SPEAKER_01Yeah,
What Is WerQfest?
SPEAKER_01WorkFest is a culture and arts platform that is dedicated to the black, queer, trans, and I-binary community. What we've done is we've started to create a pipeline for artists and basically give them a platform to be uplifted and highlighted.
SPEAKER_02No, that's amazing. So, what was the moment you you thought that St. Louis needed something like this?
Why St. Louis Needed WerQfest
SPEAKER_01I think I've always thought it. Um, at first, it maybe was a little selfish, more like a personal thing, like something I feel like I wanted, something I needed, but then later realized that maybe everybody else kind of felt the same way. And I think that that's what we're seeing year and year and year again, that like clearly this isn't like a singular problem or a singular thing and a singular void that needs to be filled, but maybe a void for the whole community.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's incredible. So take us back prior to WorkFest. I mean, you've been you've grown up, you were a performer. Um, you are you from St. Louis? Tell us kind of your story, your backstory, and kind of where you're from. Shout out, maybe, you know, where you grew up and all that stuff.
SPEAKER_01So yeah,
Tre's St. Louis Upbringing & Training
SPEAKER_01I am originally from here, right born right here in St. Louis. Um, I I think I like to say I'm so St. Louis, actually. A lot of like my childhood and upbringing was cultivated like right here in this city. And I tell people all the time that we really have so many like great things right here at home. Um, but yeah, I grew up in the city of St. Louis, what I call the West Side. Um, and I went to school, a lot of different elementary schools, but a very pitiful moment for me, I think, was high school. I went to Central Visual Performing Arts High School. Yeah. So that's where kind of things really opened up for me. Um, but I really grew up in in the church. So some of my first memories of like music or performing or learning really came from the church. Um, and then my family got me really heavily involved because I guess they realized that I sort of had a talent at a young age. And they kind of got me into everything. I got a chance to learn how to sing, learn how to dance, learn how to act, and I play piano. So yeah, I was very active growing up in the Black Rep and a lot of other theater companies. And I feel like that's kind of where like my training ground kind of happened here in St. Louis. And after that, I went to Berkeley College of Music in Boston. I went there for undergrad. And then I got a chance to travel to Spain to go get my master's from Berkeley. And that's kind of where I got like the business, the music business kind of knack, because that's what I went to school for. Um, and I kind of just really loved all of the things behind the scenes, even though majority of my life I have been in the front. Um, so now I kind of like play this balance of like right in the middle. I feel like, yes, I do the business side, but I also still love to get out and perform.
SPEAKER_02And you
Balancing Business & Performing
SPEAKER_02need both because you know, there's so many incredible performers that think that things are just gonna happen for them. And you've created your business success and negotiated your own deals. And now you're doing events, selling sponsorships, you know, coordinating, negotiating with venue, negotiating with artists.
SPEAKER_01Correct.
SPEAKER_02Which is all difficult. Everything you do because you're an artist yourself. So it's a little bit harder for you. And if I were to take a guess, because I'm also a creative, but I work with a lot of creatives. It's like one, it's like kind of hitting two because you're like, I want to make sure they're taken care of, but I want to make sure that the business is successful and you but they might trust you like, hey, like this is what it needs to be at to make this successful.
SPEAKER_01I think so. It's definitely a thin line to play, but I think be me being an artist and understanding where they're coming from also kind of helps.
Coming Out & the Industry Shift
SPEAKER_02So I read um a couple articles about you, and you you talked about how once you came out publicly, you noticed a shift in how you were positioned in those rooms. Um, what was that wake-up call? How did that teach you? And what was that gap that you wanted to fill in that moment?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, um, well, sort of my husband was a very like he was very inspirational in this like moment for me. Um, I think I've been in the limelight in St. Louis ever since I was the age of five. So I've kind of been on this very professional level, you know, like I tell people all the time, like, I'm not necessarily like Michael Jackson, but you know, I had media training growing up, all of these things and just putting in like very high stress situations as a child, um, and living my life for people to kind of like see and kind of know. People have always known me. So I was always scared to come out. I feel like maybe it's something that I always knew, maybe even people around me knew, but it wasn't something that I necessarily like verbalized to community. Um, and as I got older, I think just the hiding, you know, I kind of just got tired of it. And also I wanted to live my life out loud and like be exactly who I was and be accepted for that. So around what, maybe 2018, 2019, I literally just posted a picture with now my husband. He was not my husband then, but I was like, he was just my boyfriend. I had never posted anything personal that had to do with anything like personal life on social media, and then it kind of just went from there. Um, but I also saw how that kind of shifted in terms of like my positioning, um, in terms of acceptability, I guess. Um, and at the at that time it wasn't as popular as I would say as the culture is shifting now, and it was a lot harder, especially to like lead with like, hey, not only am I black, but I'm also queer, and this is something that like I want to lead with, which we didn't see a lot of artists during that time kind of like leading with it, um, with that identity. But I think now like it just adds more to your story and like people can connect to you in different ways. And like I growing up, I didn't really see anybody to like I guess not necessarily inspiration, but model after. And I don't think that we got a chance to really have those forefathers and foremothers of like the queer industry where we got a chance to see them visible. So I didn't really have a blue cleaner on the other. Yeah, until later on in life. So yeah. So it was kind of like just going out there blinded and just kind of making a way.
Creating Space for Everyone
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So as a trailblazer in that, like obviously that was that was probably difficult, but it was freeing, you know, to come out and now you're and now you get to, you know, create this space where this event that you do, um workfest where you have all different artists, you know, come together and and and people, and it's not just black queer, it's all different types. I mean, when I went, it was, you know, every every person you could imagine was there just dancing and having fun. Because at the end of the day, it's getting together over performance and music.
SPEAKER_01Correct. That's what I tell people all the time. Like, yes, it is built for the black queer community, but it's for everybody to support. If you believe that this community deserves to be uplifted in that way, this is literally a space for you. Because who doesn't love music? Exactly.
Branding & the Origin of the Name
SPEAKER_02So you came out in 2018, you started to kind of think through these ideas. What was that first moment where you created Workfest? You know, talk me through like the branding element of it, the reason, you know, the name. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, it was just a day in the house during the pandemic. Um, I think I was like watching YouTube videos of like festivals or like performances or something. And I've always kind of loved festivals, even from college. We had a class in college that was literally dedicated to just like festivals and touring. So that's how I got a chance to see a lot of like tours growing up in college. But um, I literally was just sitting there and I was like, well, we've been in the house, there's no pride this year, there's nothing for us to do. I've I've been hearing a lot of my artist friends to talk about, you know, I don't know about the future, I don't know if we'll perform again. And it was just an uncertain time for everybody, yeah, which I totally understood. So I said, you know, let's maybe get like a string together and maybe like us rally around a cause. I didn't want it to necessarily I wanted to be free. It was a time where people didn't have a lot of money. But if they did, I was like, there are so many things that are happening in the world right now, a lot of silver unrest, a lot of things that are happening. And I'm pretty sure that we can bring attention to like all of those things that we're doing, but like from home. Right. So one day, literally two weeks before the end of Pride, I turned to my husband and I said, you know, I have this idea. Please don't think I'm crazy when I say it. But I kind of want to start a festival and I kind of want to do it by the end of the month. So we literally had like two weeks to pull it together. But you know, I was able to call a few friends. The Kransbergs was very vital in like the beginning of stages of us. Um, you know, they donated their space and then we were able to like do a stream. It was um social distance. So, you know, all the artists couldn't necessarily be in the same space during that time or like anything like that. But yeah, we really just all came together and rallied around it and started a branding. And I kind of thought, like, okay, what could be like something that's catchy? What's a phrase that our community uses a lot? And a lot of times we're talking about like what's good, like, oh, you worked that, or like you better work, or like it's encouragement. So I was like, oh, literally, like, let's just use the stuff that we already use, work fast. And there it was. Yeah, and then adding the capital Q and then. Yes, and it made sense.
SPEAKER_02For over 150 years, SSM Health has been providing hope, healing, and opportunities to the St. Louis community with over 40,000 employees across four states. They're not only delivering exceptional care, they're one of the region's largest employers, shaping the future of healthcare. We're proud to present SSM Health as the official healthcare partner of the STL bucket list show. If you've dreamed of a career where you're truly making a difference every day, SSM Health can help you take that to the next step. Learn more at their website in the link in the show notes. So you've described like Workfest as an incubator in the past, like giving stage time to emerging local artists alongside huge national names. Um how do you both really decide who gets that platform? Also, you know, what goes into like kind of identifying those two to three key, you know, national acts too?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
Building the Lineup & Discovering Artists
SPEAKER_01Um, at first it was just friends, but it was all of the friends who I think were leading the charge at the moment. You know, we had the me, the Eric Dante, the Paige Alyssa, the Bates. Those are some of the artists who I think that were really at the forefront before a lot of us like came out and were able to create space in that way. So they kind of really helped me lead this charge at the beginning. Um, but then eventually we started to gain a process because we realized that more people wanted to be a part. So we opened submissions and that kind of changed the game for everything. We started to get artists from literally all over who wanted to be a part of Workfest and come to St. Louis and perform. So we kind of go through this submission process now, and we have a team of people, you know, who look through it. A lot of it is also about like originality, if they actually have music and if they're at a point to where they can actually perform for a long period of time. Because for a lot of times, this might be their first major performance, or do they have enough material to know to perform for 15 to 20 minutes and things of that nature? So we kind of like look at all those different things in terms of like the local acts. And like, there's literally somebody on the list this year who applied three times. It's only eight slots. So, you know, we really don't really have like a lot of slots that we can give away. So I just like to build the community over time. I think of them as like a class, like this is the freshman class of like, you know, 2024, the 2025. I'm always paying attention to like what's going on, what people are doing, um, what great music is coming out recently. And I kind of just like keep my ears to the ground, not only here, but just like everywhere. I get a chance to like, you know, go to conferences. I went to the GLAD Black Queer Music Summit like about a year or two ago. I met so many great creatives and who have now like joined Workfest and helped us and maybe done our marketing and they performed and all these different things. So, you know, not even just in St. Louis, but I think in general, we're starting to build community everywhere. And now that everything is at our fingertips, is nobody is everybody's literally just like a text away at this point. Emails and bio, so easy to like reach out to management. So yeah, and then we just know who we want to see. So then that's how we get the the bigger acts. And a lot of the times people are like, oh, well, how do you do it? To be honest, I literally just go ass. A lot of these people grew up like Kevin Ambiance, who's an icon, he was a headliner two years ago. Um, he came to WorkFest and said, you know, I haven't played for just a solely black career art um audience in maybe like 12 years, which I think was just so crazy that this icon who's literally paved the way for us, you know, hasn't even necessarily been in community in that same way. So I just think it's just beautiful to see.
SPEAKER_02It's places where they want to be. So like when they look at their show calendar and they're like, What's St. Louis? But they're like this festival in St. Louis. And then it's like this micro, you know, event that, you know, like you said, they might not have done, but then they get to hang out after and like literally just hang out and have a party and the after party.
SPEAKER_01Get a chance to hang out with us in St. Louis, eat our food, have a good time.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's amazing. Who are you uh obviously you're excited about the whole lineup, but I I saw JT, I know the city girl, so she's gonna be crazy. Yes, I'm so excited. She's actually written out on her own. That was recent.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, she's
This Year's Headliners: JT & More
SPEAKER_01that's really recent. She's so excited. She hasn't really been to St. Louis before, but I think one time. So this is her first time on her own. Um, and she's really aligned herself with the queer community in a way that I think we'll in general we love her. We always have like our icons, like a Madonna or Lady Gaga and things like that. So I think that JT is like on her way to be like one of those staples. So I'm really excited to have her. We have On Your Nerve from RuPaul's Drag Race, if anybody's into RuPaul. Um, she won season 17. And also one of our other new hairliners is Infinite Coals, which is actually the son of Ghostface Killer. Yeah, Ronaldangle. That's awesome. So, you know, we have like immersion, we have we have our drag, we have all the representation. But this year was also very important for me to center like film for it artist. I think a lot of times in queer spaces we can be a little misogynistic and it is very around um men and how we tell our story, but I think that there's stories that in general we all can be that all can be told. So I thought it was just very important that this year like we gave our love letter to the fans.
SPEAKER_02Yeah,
The Move to the Grove
SPEAKER_02I love that, you know, absolutely. And and uh, you know, your branding's always been on point. I love like everything you guys do from like a creative direction standpoint. Um, I wanted to talk about the move to the grove, so I feel like that's special. Obviously, you know, the Kransberg helped you guys get your start, but now you know you've moved to a new venue in the Grove, a neighborhood with real history in the LGBT community dating back to the 80s, 90s when a lot of people started opening up those first, you know, gay bars in the neighborhood. We just had an episode last week with uh uh Tatiana from Handlebar. Yeah, um, so that's coming out tomorrow. It would have already come out now by the time this episode came out. But she was talking about when she was like identifying a neighborhood and why she fell in love with Manchester and um why a lot of the reason that that neighborhood is so successful is because those gay entrepreneurs started in that neighborhood and then investment came after. Yep. So you know how that works. I do know how that works.
SPEAKER_01I said, and also um it's nostalgic for a lot of us, especially in my age range. Like that's literally our becoming. The grove is the becoming for a lot of queer people in St. Louis. So what perfect place then to be like in our neighborhood that's dedicated to us? Um, but also to create space. Um, the problem and why workfest exists is because there really isn't a black queer space. There really isn't a black queer club. We don't have a night, and there really just hasn't been anybody who has really cultivated the community in maybe 10 to 15 years. So a lot of the times we find ourselves going to the bars on the grove, which we love, but it isn't necessarily a dedicated space to look at people who look like us, who love like us, you know, who listen to the same music that we listen to and all of these things that which we used to have growing up. I remember sneaking into the clubs just to try to get in there. So um, yeah, and I kind of wanted to bring that back and just create a space where, you know, we all can just be ourselves, have a good time, and you know, fill their void of what we feel like they were missing.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, no, I love that. That's that's so exciting and atomic. They do such a good job with live music from sound to lighting. I mean, it's gonna be it's gonna be an incredible show.
SPEAKER_01It's gonna be a good show. I also like the inside-outside vibe. It's always hot during work fest. I don't know, maybe that weekend we just have never been blessed with like a lot of people. I know it's gonna be hot. So, you know, people can go in and cool down and um, you know, and get some water and they got a gray bar, they got a new food venue, new I'm really excited about.
SPEAKER_02So yeah, yeah, new food venue uh menu that they that they just dropped last week. The STL bucket list show is proudly sponsored by Suede Dispensary with 11 Missouri area locations. Suede does so much for the St. Louis community. We've been working with this team for a couple years back since Medical was here, and we're excited to support their new product launches, events, and community initiatives. We couldn't be happier to work with this premier cannabis brand, and we're excited for them to sponsor the show. Enjoy the rest of the podcast. So, you and and Sheldon, you guys run this, you know, as a married couple, you guys work together. Yeah. What type of creative partnership? What does that actually look like behind the scenes? Because I know that that there's the ups and downs that come with that.
Creative Partnership with Husband Sheldon
SPEAKER_01It is. It never ends. I don't think is that's what we were just talking about the other day. He was like, you know, it's very hard to turn it off just because like Workfest is our literally our baby, and it's been a part of our relationship probably from the beginning. We had only been married for a year before we started Workfest. So just as long as we've yeah, it's literally our whole marriage. As long as we've been married, we've been doing Workfest. Um, but it's great because um he was gonna help me no matter what, no matter if I if we had become business partners for WorkFest or not. And I feel like in general, your partners are kind of like your true leaders, like you tell them your ideas, all of those things. Um, and why wouldn't I want to show, you know, be an example of like what black queer love could look like? I don't think that's even something that a lot of us have seen um growing up. So, like not only can we create space, but we can also create examples of like how you can model your life, basically. Um, and I think that it's just been beautiful for us to work together. He does a lot of the creative stuff. So, like you you love the branding, that is Shelton. Oh, that is so good.
SPEAKER_02All day. I mean, from the website, even like the submission photos you get from your acts, like you guys guide like what they need to say, like this, even just this like lineup page is just so sick on your guys's.
SPEAKER_01Thank you. Yes, he did that himself. So yeah, he does a lot of the creatives. We call him the creative producer. So a lot of the things in terms of like how we present ourselves, that is all Shelton's my mastermind. Um, and you know, I'm kind of like the business guy, I'm a little boring. And now that you're not performing, like what are you doing? You know, you know, right. I was like, now that I don't perform as much. I I I put just as much effort into the business now as I feel like I did when I was performing. Yeah, I'm very I'm very much a perfectionist.
Life After Performing
SPEAKER_02Do you still get a chance to do shows a lot? Or do you do you kind of say no to a lot of things because of the way you're busy?
SPEAKER_01No to a lot of things now. Not as much. Um, but you know, in my in my spare time, I do theater a lot. Yeah. So I'm always directing or like doing music for theater and things of that nature. And that kind of takes up a lot of the time. Um, but now the work fest has now become this. It used to be just a passion project. I tell you probably all the time, like, I didn't expect it to turn into this. And now it's a real business. Yes, it's a real business. I had no idea that this is where we would be. And now it's just taking a lot more effort and time. And you know, now we're thinking bigger about like what the next seven years could possibly
The Future of WerQfest
SPEAKER_01look like.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I was gonna ask you that because I I, you know, I always dislike when people are like, Well, what does the five-year plan look like? Because it's so hard to even project five years when you're all you're thinking about is what's happening next week. Yeah, you know, and then after that, you're already planning the next year and the next year. It's hard to like outlook and financially project and like, but like I think that you know, I've had Leslie and Val from Frizzfest on, and and not not that it's comparable, but in a fact they've built this nationwide thing where people travel in. And and I've heard that you've also had people that travel in for what you do. Yes, it's not just a St. Louis fest.
SPEAKER_01It's not just a St.
SPEAKER_02Louis, not at all. Um, so when you look ahead, I like that you said seven years, but like what is the future of Workfest? Is that other cities? Is that doing something bigger in St. Louis? Are you trying to get people here or pop up in other cities?
SPEAKER_01Because I feel like you could pop up in other cities too. Yeah, I was like, so I think there's a little plan of both. I think I've I've actually never talked about this. You're the first person I'm talking to it about. Um, so yes, I love St. Louis. We will always be in St. Louis because it was literally built for us. So our goal really is to bring people back to our city. And also, you know, how can we build that ecosystem around people coming back to St. Louis? Um, but like you said, we could do pop ups. So I think our our future will kind of look like that, where we'll start to go to other cities, do pop ups, expand the brand, get people excited about work event so that eventually we can translate that into them. Coming to St. Louis to come to the Big Fest. And also we've kind of started to do this slowly, where, like you said, it's sort of an incubation. So we kind of work with a few artists every so many years and we kind of like just help them get set up. A lot of them might not have photos or a website or EPK. So we get them to a place to where they can actually start to like have a viable career out of this. So that's sort of like the lane in which I really want to go, more so being like an agency for queer artists. We started to book people. We've had artists go to prize, not in St. Louis, but literally in other cities. So we started to book people. And we're also starting to see how a lot of corporate spaces and other spaces kind of want diversity, and they don't necessarily have the resources or the people to actually make that happen. Yeah. So now they're starting to reach out to WorkFest and like we're providing that for a lot of people. Um so I can kind of services that you can do. It's not just music. It's not just music anymore. Um, but it's all connected to the music for sure. But um, um yeah, so we're trying to build a world and dream about like what that kind of looks like. But I see a little bit of it all. I kind of see like us getting into like the booking space and doing that, and also yeah, starting to pop up in other cities. Yeah, I like literally coming to a city near you where already started.
SPEAKER_02And I
Dream Cities for Expansion
SPEAKER_02think that that's all that's awesome. Is there a certain, before I ask my next question, is there like a dream city that has a big community that that you want to serve? Well, me and my husband lived in New York for four years.
SPEAKER_01So New York, we're definitely going to go to. Um, and in general, we have a lot of community there who like they're like, yeah, when you guys come to New York, we would love to help. Um, also, just a lot of history in a lot of other cities. Like, I would like to go down south to Atlanta, um, Chicago, and also any of the cities that are like close or drivable to St. Louis, like the Memphis, and because uh how we feel about the Midwest in terms of the problems that we have here, I'm pretty sure that it might feel that way in some of those other cities as well. So I'm always gonna, I'm always gonna shout out the Midwest. So I'm I'm definitely gonna like dedicate a lot of time to the Midwest. But yeah, you know, I'm pretty sure some of our friends in LA will love opportunity and all these different things. So I've actually started to talk to producers in other cities, and I'm like, hey, like I kind of got this thing. We're thinking about coming. How do you think that like we can work together?
The Dangers Behind the Work
SPEAKER_02So the queer community has had like a lot of big wins over the last years, but also a lot of big L's, and there's been a lot of challenges, and even as of what's happening as of late. And it's like, what are there are there ever times where you're worried about like if you were to pop up in a Tennessee or a Memphis and it's like the the challenges that could come even in 2026 when we think that, oh, this world is so open and this world is so great, but like not only a black community, a queer community popping up in a state like Tennessee or a state like Missouri and all these different states. I mean, is there tell me about some of those challenges that you go through because a lot of that stuff people don't see correct that you're dealing with and you're putting on this festival, but there's dangers that come with some of that stuff too.
SPEAKER_01There are definitely dangers. And it's even things that we think about, like you say, here in Missouri. For example, um, uh one of the legislations lately has been about the dragging um drag and the banning of drag. Um, and when we first got our big, our first big drag queen, Jada Essence Hall, we actually received a lot of like threats, which started to, we started to think about security and the dangers of actually being in in St. Louis and Missouri. I think sometimes we're so in our bubble that we kind of forget, like, you know, the things that are going on around us and how important it is to like keep us safe and like what that actually means. And I think that was a big wake-up call for us in terms of like, oh, we really are kind of going against the grain. And like these are kind of the things that must happen and happen as you do that. But I like I said, I think it's a part of the fight. It is a movement, it is a fight, it is rebellion. Pride was built off of rebellion, it was built off resist. Um, so I think that this is just a continuation of that. And there are going to be times and things that we're going to hit up against a wall, but in order for you to break it, you have to keep hitting it until it comes down.
SPEAKER_02No, that's great. And I I love hearing that. And and it kind of ties back to your guys' messaging of unapologetically, you know, being you, black joy, black pure joy. And it's like you're creating this space because if you don't do it, who's going to do it? And it's like you have an obligation. And we I tell myself that is like why we created STL Bucket list is like we love what Export does and what all these other organizations do, but like we're trying to tell the story of people like you in St. Louis that are that are doing these things. And sometimes that's hard to like break through. It's like, why aren't we not on getting advertised here? Or why are we not getting advertised here? And why are we not getting reshared by the other people and the influencers and stuff? And it's like, if if nobody's gonna do it, it's like STL Bucket List is a source to highlight the special events in St. Louis and like ones like yours is like a one-of-a-kind, unique event that comes around once a year that people should celebrate and and hopefully we can do our part and help push tickets your way and and really just push awareness about it from a side point. But I had one feedback thing on like one thing that would be cool, and I don't know if you guys are doing this, but like some type of like social media content series, some type of like social media strategy, because not everybody could come and afford to come into St. Louis to come to a festival, but like people love these shows, these mini, like like some type of like content around what you guys are doing. Like, I don't know if you have videographers, but like whether it's a podcast series, whether it's uh you know, behind the scenes of like you walking around planning the festival, and like not like um what's the model uh well, RuPaul's show, obviously. But then uh what was the old show with Tyra Banks? Like the model, like the first next time. Like, but not that type of content series, because obviously she's gone through some stuff, but um, but like some type of like highlighting those artists and like you know, hosting them on. Like obviously, we do podcast episodes. Like, this might be the first time somebody's gonna listen to you for 45 minutes. Yeah. And it's like you're always you're I don't really see you on the Instagram that much. Horrible edge. But like I just see a lot of flyers and graphics, but it's like maybe that's that next phase is like getting content of these local artists in your incubator, like uh Mastermind did it with Master Camp. And like it's not the same, but it's like he's doing something similar where he's like coaching these young artists and then giving them opportunities to perform on stages. Correct, you know, he's killing it. Um, so that that's just one feedback is like, I know I don't want to tell you to do more now, but it's like after next Saturday, be like, okay, well, how can we like implement some content into this while the slow season? Because then that just builds up steam as of as things go. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I think it's definitely been a thought for us, but I think uh people are also like, oh yeah, well, how many people on your team? Oh, it's just two of us.
SPEAKER_02So like the content would be like us in the kitchen dining room. Literally, it's not that exciting.
SPEAKER_01Um, but you know, it's definitely on our list. I'm with you. It's it's always hard when you're like, when you when you have your head down and you're just like, I'm working, I'm working, I'm working, that you forget to tell the story so that people can like join in with you. But you're right, I definitely feel like that's the that's a part of the next movement.
SPEAKER_02The STL bucket list show is fueled by Upshot Coffee. My friends at Upshot Coffee have some of the best beans in town. I got some of their new packaging here. Look at this bag. How big this is. Um, they have four St. Louis locations, their flagship in Coddleville, the break shop over by Lindenwood in St. Charles, their Clayton location called Hi-Fi, um, and then Flyby over in Tower Grove, their newest location. Um, and they also sell their coffee online everywhere. If you guys haven't added Upshot Coffee to your STL bucket list, it's time to try it. Some of the my favorite people in the industry and some of the best coffee in the game. So let's talk grassroots because you can't solely rely on funding, you know, and you lost you almost lost some significant funding, but you know, you pulled together anyways through grassroots support. Like, what does that teach you about business, community, you know, funding, all those different things?
Grassroots Funding & Community Support
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it teaches me everything just about community and more so how important it is to um to stay rooted with your community. Like we said, this has always been grassroots. The first year we literally pulled out of our own pockets for the like the first two years or so. Um, and then we started to get people who actually uh cared about our cause and just trying to rally people. It's also about mobilizing. So I tell people a lot of this is also activism. It's about how do you mobilize people around a certain idea or a thought process and gain people who also believe health will have those same values as you. Um, because it's also important that like we don't get too big for our britches. And which we see a lot of the times with brands and we see a lot of times with with festivals where people start to feel like, oh, were they sold out or anything? I don't necessarily want to ever get to that point. But there are, but you know, in order to do this, I tell people it cost, it cost, it cost to produce at this high level. And also to do it to do it well. Um, and that's also important to me because I believe that we deserve to have the same level as like a Coachella or anything of that nature. But um, I kind of like build these models kind of like like an Afro Punk, how it really started off as like grassroots and it was just like this community-based thing. And I've just really found out who really messed with us and who and who doesn't. And you know, we we sometimes have those hard conversations. I've had those hard conversations with supporters who I felt like should support or, you know, they like us only during a certain time of the year. And then now that is also there's a thing, our event is not during pride. So that also sometimes is a pushback that you know a lot of those funds and things are allocated to that specific time. Yeah. And then we die, we're not in that window. Um, but that is part of it. That is strategic for me. I don't want to miss, there's a lot of pride things for you to go do. And I don't want to mess with that. But also, I'm prideful of myself and my identity 365. And it didn't it doesn't necessarily have to be in June. Um, but yeah, you're right. It has been a struggle um to find the right people, but we've definitely had some really like champions in our corner, like the health department here in St. Louis. They have literally been with us from the beginning, they've been one of our biggest supporters. Um, you know, we've also had Viving Health in the past, we've had um Jazz St. Louis in the past. Um, so you know, we've had a lot of, but now we're starting to get a lot of support from outside of St. Louis, which I'm starting to see. And I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I really wish that I could get more support from St. Louis financially. I do get a lot of support in terms of, you know, uplifting it and visibility, which is nice. Yes. Um, but I would love for it to be funded fully by St. Louis. Yeah. And I am not quite there yet. Um, but I'm hoping that, you know, as we change the hearts, we change the minds and we change the pockets at the same time.
SPEAKER_02Exactly.
Tre's St. Louis Bucket List
SPEAKER_02No, that's amazing. So, with um with what you're doing, I kind of wanted to like tie back into St. Louis bucket list and I want to shout out some other places in St. Louis that maybe fit that where you feel safe at, where community spaces. Um, so like if you were to have people come in town like JT, like what are some of those spaces? Like, because I don't know how long those people come in. Maybe it's just one night the night before y'all go out and and do stuff. But like, what's like some good places that you think are on your bucket list? Like whether it's a coffee shop, a lunch spot, a bar, a restaurant, or even just places and spaces in St. Louis that you like that you think that you should other people should add to their bucket list.
SPEAKER_01Okay, that's a good question. Um, if I'm gonna go out on a Friday night, okay, so let's kick curate the whole weekend for work fest. Let's go. Okay. Um, on a Friday night, I'm gonna go to Sophie's. That's gonna be the first place I go. They close around one o'clock. So after one, then I'm gonna move to the grove. And then I'm gonna go to Just John's and rehab. That's kind of like my Friday night. My Saturday, I'm probably going to get up and go to brunch. Um, I really like bellwethers. I don't know. It's just something about it just the rooftop.
SPEAKER_02Or it's like the second or third floor where you can look out into the city.
SPEAKER_01You can look out into the city. It's something about that experience that gives me not St. Louis, but also St. Louis at the same time. Um, I would do a little brunch. I would definitely go to the art museum. I think we have one of the best museums in the world. Um, I've literally been all over to visit museums and I love our art museum. Um, I would go there because you get to go experience it for free. Um, and then for lunch, if it's your first time in St. Louis, I believe everybody must try emos at least once. So I would then go to emos or I would even and for dinner, well, Saturday is work fest. But if I wasn't workfest, I would go to my favorite restaurant, Louis. Louis, I love Louis. It's been a part of like my my story in St. Louis for like the last seven years or so. Yeah, Matt's doing such a great job. I love man.
SPEAKER_02You'd be surprised how many people that come on the show that talk about like the hospitality experience of you.
SPEAKER_01They take care of you from like the second you walk in. And that's what I like, and that's really what brought me in. Yeah, the food is even better. So, like, great. Um, yeah, those are a few places that I like, but you're right. There are certain spaces and places that like you're right, that we feel safe here in St. Louis. And a lot of that is just built. I'm realizing that a lot of these spaces are also built by community, like even the Sophies, like the artist community. I always feel safe around artists in general. They've been they have some great programming. They really do. Great, great DJs, great theme nights, great drinks, so a good time. And of course, like I said, the Grove. And I would go eat. I'm definitely a foodie. Yeah. So I'd like to eat.
SPEAKER_02So, like that celebratory meal, like if you could snag a reservation at Louis, maybe the next night after Workfest, like that would be ideal. Yeah, would be the most to like celebrate and and walk through everything that happened.
SPEAKER_01With the French 75.
SPEAKER_02With the French 75. Yes, that sounds amazing. Yeah, they they're they're great there. So yeah, St. Louis has so many great places and like great community spots, like that need to be celebrated, you know. And it's like you you being able to shed light on a few of those, like even the art museum. It's like people take that for granted, you know.
SPEAKER_01It's right here in our backyard.
SPEAKER_02They take Forest Park. I mean, you could go and spend the whole day at Forest Park, and I have two little kids, so I've been experiencing St. Louis now through having children of all these things that I don't have to pay for to do. So, like we can go to Forest Park, go to the zoo, hot day, we can walk into the art museum, and then we can go home without even spending a dollar. That's right. Besides gas money, which will be a little bit, but um and then like food options, like obviously, yeah. And people sleep on emos too. I mean, I know that we have some really great, you know, pizza spots, um, you know, authentic Italian Italian spots, but like that St. Louis style pizza Nikki slices, yeah. Nikki slices gas, um, gas. Yeah, Nikki's been on the pod too. Um, but emos is so consistent and they've been in our lives for our whole lives. Yes. And it's like that means something. You know, it's and people that leave our city, they get emos delivered to them because it's nostalgic. You know, is it the best pizza in St. Louis? No, but it's it's a great pizza pizza that uh I grew up having with my parents all over St. Louis, whether you're in the county, whether you're in North County, whether you're in the city, whether now in other states they're expanding. So they're bringing St. Louis style pizza to I heard they're launching in Tennessee now.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I would love to hear to taste it, I guess. Um, but yeah, now that you're now that you're bringing this up, I'm thinking about this. I've been thinking about what to put in my STL basket for the artist. So I've just been thinking, that's literally on our list this week to like to curate a basket. Yeah, to curate a basket for the art.
SPEAKER_02So like you definitely need to get some Fitz's sodas. Yes. So some nice like Fitz's root beer, um, because that's like shelf stable. They they don't need it. Food's a little bit tough because like if you throw like a little mini pizza in there and then they like don't get it until they get on the bus, it might get a little yeah, but I'm trying to think of like other, you know, small gifts. Um, I mean, we got it like if you guys were catering before, like maybe just like a tray of toasted raviolis and stuff like that, that would be fun. See, that's good content though. Get JT eating a toasted ravioli, and that's a good reel that might go viral. So if I see that, that's what you're but you're not gonna be filming, you're gonna you're you're gonna you're gonna do it, but then you're gonna forget to film it and edit the reel and post it because you're gonna be running around the whole time going crazy. Yes, I'm excited. Um, but no, other than that, I uh for just to wrap up and wrap the whole conversation is for someone actually in St. Louis, that's 99% of our audience that hasn't either heard of the festival or maybe hasn't been yet, why should that be added to their bucket list? This festival.
Why WerQfest Belongs on Your Bucket List
SPEAKER_01Yes, it should be added to your bucket list because first of all, it's a fun time. I tell people that in general, it's I think of Workfest as the place of discovery. So if you like going out to discover new things, discover new artists, discover new music, it's a place for you. Also, if you believe that this community deserves to be uplifted, it is a place for you. If this is a place where you want to find a community and you're really searching for those people who are like-minded like you, this is also the space for you. Um, it is the biggest black queer thing to do in St. Louis every summer. A lot of people look forward to this every year. People have found love, they found their best friends, um, and they found community. So I tell people it's the it's like a big family reunion. It's people who I haven't seen maybe in a year or two, or I haven't seen all year, but I know at WorkFest I'll get a chance to see everyone. So get a chance to love on everybody. It's really just an example of like what joy and love feels
Event Details & Outro
SPEAKER_01like.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. Well, for anybody listening, um, the festival is this weekend, this Saturday, um, because this episode comes out, like I mentioned, after 4th of July. But um, Saturday, July 11th starts at 5 p.m., the seventh annual celebration, black queer music, creativity, and community. Um, this includes live performances, drag, food and drinks, vendors, photo booth, and the first ever beat battle produced by Fresh Produce. I love, I've seen them at Sophie's.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, and then the after party um hosted by Let's Fucking Dance. So that's gonna be a vibe. So you can get your tickets on Eventbrite, um, buy them in advance. I doubt you guys are gonna have some at the door. I don't know. There will be there will be some at the door. Okay.
SPEAKER_01A lot of people just come today off.
SPEAKER_02Okay, okay, but St. Louis just needs to start buying tickets earlier so we can help project stuff. So um, we'll drop all the links in the in the show notes with your website and everything. But Trey, thank you so much for coming on. It was a it was a great episode. Thanks for having me. Yep. See you guys next week. St. Louis, thanks for listening. Everything we do here is about telling the story of this city, and that doesn't stop with this show. On the Bucketless Podcast Network, we're diving even deeper into the people, places, and moments that make this city what it is. Meet Me in Music with Neil Salc captures the sound of the city, past and present, ending each episode with a live performance. For my Foodie Lovers, the sauce with Lauren Healy brings you inside the restaurants that define our culture every Tuesday. Gateway to Growth with Jamal Cornelius highlights the stories behind the people that make St. Louis work. And every Thursday, Bryce breaks down your weekend with This Week in St. Louis. More stories, more voices. Explore the full bucketless podcast network wherever you listen.
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