Last week I discovered a world of pop songs as sung in their original Klingon.
I discovered the Klingon Pop Warrior when a link to her latest Kickstarter (which will successfully fund today) came through my Twitter feed. But she’s been around for years, having even performed on the Star Trek Cruise, and I immediately wanted to find out more about her.
And I thought you might also enjoying getting to know her. So here’s my Q&A with the Klingon Pop Warrior.
First off, tell us a little about yourself.
Hi, Neil! My name is Jen Usellis and I'm a singer/actor/day job have-er type from Chicago. And, for the last 6 years, I have been singing pop & rock songs translated into the Klingon language as the Klingon Pop Warrior.
What are your first Star Trek memories?
My first real Star Trek memory is actually kind of traumatic. **laughing** My parents took my brother and I to a drive-in showing of The Wrath of Khan. I was maybe 5 or 6 years old when that movie came out and my parents probably thought "Star Trek, no big deal" and then Khan put an ear worm into Chekov's ear and I noped the f**k out of that. I buried myself under a blanket & went to sleep. I watched some Deep Space 9 with my mom when it came out but I was in high school, working part time and a theatre & choir nerd so I was a little busy. In college, my friends and I went to see First Contact but then it took another 10+ years before I dove into the deep end of the Star Trek pool.
When did you first start speaking Klingon?
It depends on your definition of speaking. I was pronouncing Klingon like I knew what I was saying back in 2010 when I got cast in A Klingon Christmas Carol in Chicago.
I was an actor who got a gig. I always loved niche theatre and it doesn't get much more niche than speaking in Klingon with a latex forehead. We did a weekend language intensive so that we could parse out our lines & understand what we were saying, much like an opera singer approaches an aria. I did the show for 2 years. I knew the gist of what I was saying and enough about the grammar to translate simple sentences. My first EP (2014's Warrior Woman) was translated by members of the Klingon Language Institute but, as I fell deeper down the rabbit hole, the goal became to translate my own songs. Around the middle of 2016, I decided to buckle down and spent a year studying the language so that I could pass the Klingon Language Certification Program Level 1 proficiency test. I'm a beginner at best and really not conversational though I know more than I think I do most days. My goal was always translation and not necessarily conversational fluency. I've started to achieve that translation goal with 3 of the 5 songs on my newest EP.
How did the idea for Klingon pop originate?
So the story basically goes like this....I did Klingon Christmas Carol in 2010 & 2011 and then decided I wanted my holiday season back in 2012. In early 2013, I got approached by the founder of the theatre company & creator of the show, Christopher Kidder-Mostrom. He wanted to know if he could drop my name to the Improvised Star Trek podcast. They were looking for someone who could sing Kiss Me by Sixpence None The Richer in Klingon.
The translation was done - they just needed someone who was comfortable enough with the language to sing it. Chris & I both had lived in the Twin Cities and knew each other up there before we both ended up in Chicago - totally independently. During my 8 years up there, I sang semi-professionally in bands so he knew I had the vocal chops and, because of my time in Klingon Christmas Carol, he knew I had the Klingon ability that was needed. I jumped at the chance to combine my love of singing covers with Klingon.
The recording is featured in Episode 59 - Today Is A Good Day To Cry and is a funny but total throw-away joke. I did the recording with Chris Rathjen & Nick Wagner of the Improvised Star Trek podcast and we were cackling as we listened to the playback. At that point, someone suggested we should make a music video as bonus content or fans of the podcast. So a few weeks later, I went back to Nick's house and jumped around in front of a green screen in Klingon ridges & this hilarious fuzzy pink dress thing. They edited it together and threw it up in the IST YouTube site and it just kind of took on a life of its own. We figured it would make our friends laugh but in actuality it made 100,000 people laugh in less than 48 hours. We got picked up by a bunch of blogs and it was just a lot of fun and it got my mind working -- what other schmaltzy '90's songs would be funny "in the original Klingon." This is why my first EP is Britney Spears, Celine Dion, and Sixpence None The Richer with a few other things thrown into the mix. It was the idea of the '90's pop princess turned on its warrior head.
Do you plan to perform live when [flails wildly] ALL THIS is over?
This question is really funny to me and also indicative of the slow burn of this project outside of Klingon language & fan circles. I had my first successful Kickstarter and released that EP in 2014. I did my 2nd Kickstarter & released that EP in 2017. I've actually *been* performing live for almost 7 years now so I'm certainly not going to stop now with my 3rd Kickstarter and EP. I love performing at conventions and events and am not opposed to travel.
I've gone up to Timmins, ON to hang out with the Klingon fans up there and StarFest Denver which has a great Klingon fan group. Since I'm not really that well known outside the Chicago area or Klingon circles, the convention invitations that come with room & travel stipends just aren't really there. Most conventions don't pay their filk performers -- not even by waiving convention badge fees. Travel expenses add up. While I definitely consider that "the cost of doing business," I don't have unlimited funds and do have a day job. It takes a lot of energy, time, and money to get into full Klingon gear to perform. I absolutely adore doing it but I also have a mortgage. I'm pretty practical... despite what my choice in hobby might say about me.
That's actually why covid has been surprisingly beneficial to me in some ways. I've done some online cons and gotten to reach audiences that I normally would not have not had any access to. Also, with the lack of in-person conventions, I've started streaming regularly on Tuesday nights & Saturday mornings. I'm a pretty social person and while I don't get in ridges for my streams usually we do get a number of Klingon language speakers in the chat and it's a great place to ask questions and just hang out with other Star Trek and Klingon fans. I've also been playing Star Trek Online for the first time and, apparently, my wonder & glee at the game and storytelling (combined with my occasionally comically bad gameplay) is pretty infectious viewing.
Which of your songs do you think makes the best introduction for new listeners?
I think sonically, my 2nd EP - Fierce Songs - is just awesome and really showcases everything that this project can be to its fullest. My friend who did the arranging, mixing, and mastering - Joe Mizzi - is an incredibly talented human being. Don't Stop Believing, Mother and Somewhere Over The Rainbow really show off my voice to its warrior best while also having stunningly good arrangements & instrumentation thanks to Joe. The dueling violin & drum solo moment on Mother is epic. That song is the one that when you really think about what I do, you say to yourself, "this has no right to sound as good as it does." That EP also has We're Not Gonna Take It and Die Young, which are perfect wink-wink-nudge-nudge nods to the Klingon warrior ethos while also having really meticulous arrangements. At one point, near the end of We're Not Gonna Take It, I'm yelling "The Federation is really weak!" in Klingon and I laugh every time I hear it. We had a very clear vision for that EP and Joe executed on that vision in a way that exceeded all of my expectations.
What has surprised you most about the Klingon Pop Warrior project?
The community that has rallied around me and what I do blows my mind and humbles me every single day. I love using the power of the Pop Warrior as a force for good because of them. As a fan creator, I also have to acknowledge that it's super important to me to stay in the good graces of CBS so I donate everything I earn on this project and then some once my costs are covered. I'm a gamer and this will be my 7th year participating in Extra Life, a big annual 24 hour livestream charity event. I do a bunch of really fun milestone goals with that and Pop Warrior fans have helped me raise over $15,000 for Children's Miracle Network over the last 6 events. That event is also responsible for 2 of the songs on my upcoming EP - they were voted on by donors & fans over the last 2 Extra Life events when I hit certain fundraising milestones so this upcoming EP is very much a way of saying "thank you" to the Pop Warrior Army.
And kind of another sort of side note to that idea of giving back within the language community... every so often, someone online wants to take the stance of "why Klingon? why not this or that dying language." I'm not offended by that question and think it's a very valid point. As silly as Klingon is, it has really taught me to value all languages as living, breathing parts of the cultures of the people who speak them. Ironically, I'm pretty awful at retaining languages and am genuinely awestruck by multilingual people, especially friends who have grown up between worlds where language is concerned. I think that's a very powerful perspective, especially in the United States, and not enough people respect that. For a few years now, I've channeled that into raising money around my birthday for the Indigenous Language Institute, which helps empower Native communities with the resources to research, learn, and teach their languages in their communities.
I'm really hoping to make all of my charitable efforts a little bigger this year than last year - which is kind of my goal every year along with bringing some music and much needed laughs to the world.
Thank you, Commander jenbom sutai-toQqul!
Pronouns: She/Her/ghaH
http://www.klingonpopwarrior.com
Follow along with the journey....
http://www.twitter.com/KlingonPop
http://www.facebook.com/klingonpopwarrior
Thanks for reading the first Star Trekking Supplemental.
Stay tuned for more deep dives in the months to come.
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Grok you later.
LLAP,