Sonja Sajzor (born 26 January 1993) is a DJ,

darkwave Dark wave, or darkwave, is a music genre that emerged from the new wave and post-punk movement of the late 1970s. Dark wave compositions are largely based on minor key tonality and introspective lyrics and have been perceived as being dark, ro ...

singer, songwriter, visual artist, and a queer icon in

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

Early life

Sajzor grew up in

Šabac Šabac ( sr-Cyrl, Шабац, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative centre of the Mačva District in western Serbia. The traditional centre of the fertile Mačva region, Šabac is located on the right banks of the river ...

, a small western town of Serbia which is regarded as "conservative" towards

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

rights. Sonja then moved in with a man in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, where she was constantly networking to join the LGBTIQ+ scene in Belgrade. After four months of stay in Serbia, she and her boyfriend were attacked. Hence, she returned home and re-enrolled in high-school, where she faced severe depression.

Professional career

Sajzor became one of the first two

drag queens A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and have ...

in Serbia, while she was debuting on social media. She started to document her transition through photography and by exhibiting art in online platforms to demonstrate the power of networking on the internet. The photos present the process of

gender Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...

searching of Sonja, from mid teens to early twenties. In March 2014, Sajzor was discovered by Croatian singer Ida Prester who hired her as a video vixen in her music video for ‘’U Tvojoj Glavi’’. After gaining more popularity, Sonja settled down in Belgrade and worked as a bartender. In July 2015, she founded The Tronic Lab, an artistic collective which aims to promote queer performers and drag queen culture. They are usually held in Drugstore club in Belgrade.

Music

She lists

Siouxsie Sioux Susan Janet Ballion (born 27 May 1957), better known by her stage name Siouxsie Sioux (, ), is an English singer and songwriter. She came to prominence as the leader and main lyricist of the rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, who w ...

Nina Hagen Catharina "Nina" Hagen (; born 11 March 1955) is a German singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her theatrical vocals and rise to prominence during the punk and Neue Deutsche Welle movements in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She is ...

Lydia Lunch Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch; June 2, 1959)Martin Charles Strong. ''The Great Indie Discography''. 2003, page 85 is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no ...

, and

Lene Lovich Lili-Marlene Premilovich (born March 30, 1949), known professionally as Lene Lovich ( ), is an American-British singer. She first gained attention in 1979 with the release of her hit single "Lucky Number", which peaked at number 3 on the UK Sin ...

– "70s and 80s goth punk women" – as her influences. At the age of 13, Sonja watched the performance of

Scissor Sisters Scissor Sisters are an American pop rock band formed in 2000. The band's current line-up consists of Jake Shears (vocals), Babydaddy (various instruments), Del Marquis (guitar, bass) and Randy Real (drums). Former members include vocalist A ...

, who were playing at Exit festival, on TV. Since then, she felt the urge to start doing drag. As a singer, her lyricism is based upon heartbreak and unfulfilled love story. Sonja has delved into

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

since at a young age. She is a DJ and her sound bounds together different music genres like dark witch-house, electronic indie music and cyber

pop culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art pop_art.html" ;"title="f. pop art">f. pop artor mass art, some ...

. At the end of 2018, she released her debut album "Prudence". Sonja is the author of all the lyrics on the album while artpop duo Ensh participated in the music production.

Discography

Albums

*''Prudence'' (2018) *''Nocturnal'' (2019)

Singles

* Heartbroken ft. Ensh (2017) * Loner's Lament (2017) * Fragile Blues (2018) * All Hell Breaks Loose (2018)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sajzor, Sonja 1993 births Living people Artists from Šabac Musicians from Šabac Serbian LGBTQ singers Serbian LGBTQ songwriters Serbian LGBTQ rights activists Serbian women songwriters Women DJs 21st-century Serbian women singers 21st-century Serbian LGBTQ people Serbian transgender people Transgender women musicians Transgender women singers