Orlando Girls Rock Camp release fundraiser mixtape ‘Friends and Allies Vol. 1’

The inimitable and increasingly illustrious Orlando Girls Rock Camp recently wrapped their 2023 summer camp session with a triumphant live showcase at Conduit. The music showcase is the culmination of the annual weeklong workshop for girls and nonbinary youth, and they are always marvels of affirmation. For those involved, it’s personally affirming. For those witnessing, it’s life-affirming as a glimpse of what the world would be like if we were all our best, purest selves.

Even so, the showcase is but a climax ceremony for the real magic that happens at OGRC. When I say OGRC is magical, I don’t mean that imaginatively. I mean that the things that happen there — both by design and by inspiration — are feats of human spirit that border on the divine. It’s humanity operating at its highest, most meaningful, most actualizing plane. As someone who saw some of these inside happenings all week at the camp up close, let me tell you that it’s a thing of sheer beauty and empowerment. This place is special, vital and, yes, seriously fucking magical.

Only a miserable misanthrope wouldn’t want to get behind something like this, and you’re not one of those, are you? Of course you’re not. So now there’s a mutually beneficial new way to support OGRC while scoring yourself a goldmine of music.
OGRC has just released the 19-track Friends & Allies Mixtape Vol. 1 on Bandcamp, and it’s not just a fundraising vehicle but a well-stocked and well-curated compilation of Florida talent. It features Orlando acts Terri Binion, Vicious Dreams, Scorpio Szn, Audible Parts, Bob on Blonde, Hot Hands, Caustic Bats, Bacon Grease, Boy Muscle, Run Raquel, Tam Tam the Sandwich Man & The Magical Sugar Cookies, Fatties, The Palmettes, Hellcat Tendencies and Petty Thefts. The comp also features other notable Florida acts like excellent Miami band Las Nubes, Gainesville’s Antagonizör, St. Pete’s Walled City and Hollywood’s ProctoBoy.


The widened range of geography and genre on Friends & Allies mirrors exciting things that’ve been happening at OGRC. Executive board member Gina Ortiz, who marshaled the mixtape project, says that OGRC has been working with other Girls Rock Camp chapters in Gainesville, Miami and St. Pete to broaden both representation and support.

“Orlando Girls Rock Camp isn’t alone in this work, and OGRC has changed a lot,” she says. “We welcome all marginalized youth to join us during camp week and beyond. We wanted our new tape to reflect that sense of unity and inclusion … that’s why it’s called Friends & Allies. Our tape showcases musicians that care about and support OGRC’s mission regardless of gender, location in Florida, or genre.”

A sign of the groundswell behind the organization has been the outpouring for this mixtape. “I was so inspired (and humbled) by the support and insight from our incredible Rock Camp community, locally and across the state throughout the entire process,” says Ortiz. “The artists involved have donated their time, art and effort to our tape, camp or both without question or hesitation. My goal from the beginning was to put together something that would be meaningful to everyone that has helped OGRC become what it is today.”

Friends & Allies Mixtape Vol. 1 is available on Bandcamp as a $7 digital download or a $10 limited-edition silver sparkle cassette. All proceeds go directly to supporting OGRC’s annual summer camp program.

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