LIFE OF AGONY Singer MINA CAPUTO: 'It Was Just Torture For Me To Play This Male Role'

Transgender singer Mina Caputo — once known as Keith Caputo, the front-person for the popular rock band LIFE OF AGONY — recently spoke to Artisan News about transitioning from her former self and creating her first album as a female, "As Much Truth As One Can Bear", while having the support of artists like Amanda Palmer and former AGAINST ME! singer Mary Jane Grace. You can watch the chat below.

In an October 2011 interview with Advocate.com, Mina stated about how becoming a "rock star" delayed her transition, "I was very boxed in that metal thing," she said. "The first album I've ever done was released and then it pretty much exploded in Europe and I kind of had no choice but to leave school. I didn't want to sing in a band. That wasn't really what I set out to do. I wanted to go to Julliard. I wanted to play the classics, get good grades… and I pictured myself living more of a feminine life then at 19 when this whole alpha male world just pretty much took over. I was in hell for years. . . It was more of a sense of responsibility and not getting labels down… the management, the band, and the fans. And I mean, we were a really, really really, really big band. We were doing concerts in Europe where 60 to 100 thousand people were showing up."

Asked whether she planned on having bottom surgery any time soon, Caputo said, "The whole penis… I'm OK with that down there, you know. Most people don't realize that there's more to being a woman than just, I guess, putting on dresses and wearing makeup and your genitals. [People think] you have a male body and a penis so that makes you the man. But they can't dig deep enough unless they really want to understand what's going on in the subconscious mind and what I like to call subconscious sex."

On the topic of how she's already faced discrimination Stateside, Caputo said, "I've had run-ins on the train, ignorant people, you know, calling me 'he-she' or 'he-man.' If anyone tries to screw with me, I will not hesitate to cut somebody up like a piece of meat. I will do anything and everything to protect myself. I mean I don't want to hurt anybody but if someone lays their hands on me, I'm going to shank somebody. My father's been in prison his whole life, so just because I'm wearing a skirt doesn't mean I don't got big balls, OK? Because I will not hesitate to do anything and everything to protect myself."