The “All Female/Non-Gender-Binary” Moogfest Festival, which announced tge first phase of its lineup this past week, has apparently run into some trouble with one of the billed musicians.

According to Consequence of Sound, Chairlift’s Caroline Polachek, who performs now as CEP, does not want to be a part of the festivities and has cancelled her scheduled appearance at the festival. Polachek released a tweet yesterdays explaining that “Gender is not Genre”, claiming she does not want to be put on a festival lineup solely because she is a female, suggesting it is nothing but a gimmick to sell more tickets.

Furious to be (without approval) on an all-female & non-gender-binary announcement list for @Moogfest. Gender is not a genre. I don’t need a sympathy pedestal, esp from a male curator. Take my name off this list and put me in the pit with the boys. pic.twitter.com/6XWcWgldZC

— Caroline Polachek (@carolineplz) December 6, 2017

Moogfest had responded to a Caroline in a publicly released letter, stating: “Dear Caroline, We apologize for reframing you in a way that takes focus off of your artistry and talent and we regret that you will no longer be taking part in Moogfest 2018. Today’s lineup announcement was inspired by and coincided with Always On, a celebration of voices that are traditionally underrepresented. Our intention is to showcase an initial lineup that further amplifies those voices while supporting others in a way that challenges the manner in which festival lineups are typically presented. We believe that using our platform to center women, non-binary and transgender people is an important tool to combat the erasure and invisibility that can occur when these identities are kept on the periphery. Please know that no musician was booked for Moogfest for any reason other than their own unique artistry, and today’s announcement is just phase one of our 2018 lineup. As always, the full Moogfest artist roster will be a diverse lineup of talented performers across a wide spectrum of gender, culture and politics. Thank you for your honest expression. Thank you for your willingness to hold us to a higher standard. Thank you for starting this conversation. P.S. Moogfest is not curated by a man, it’s curated by a diverse group of people that work together as a team. There is not a single person, nor a single man that’s in charge of curating this event. Love, Team Moogfest”

Today, Polachek tweeted a response of a typed up letter explaining her initial tweet. She corrected some remarks made in her first tweet and was able to explain her position more. Saying she doesn’t have a problem with “all-fem/gnc lineups,” but rather how the lineup was announced. “This is a gender-mixed festival where certain artists have been marched to the front of the line and paraded out together because they’re female/gnc. This speaks not to the artists or their music, but to the politics of the festival and congratulatory PR.” “When I said ‘put me in the pit with the boys,’ the implication there wasn’t that I’m at all ashamed to share company with this amazing lineup – quite the opposite. Rather, I wanted to break the lane divisions and not be spotlighted for ‘historical underrepresentation.”

As of now Polachek off the festival lineup and seems will remain that way. At least for next year’s lineup.

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat