Claudia Gonson

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Claudia Gonson, (born 1968 in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American musician, current manager, pianist and vocalist for The Magnetic Fields. She is a lesbian, which, combined with the openly gay singer and song-writer of the Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt, has led some fans to humorously dub The Magnetic Fields's genre as "gay synth-pop." In an interview with The Advocate, she famously remarked:

"I was straight when Stephin met me, and I'm gay now, which may have been influenced by the openness of hanging around with so many gay people," she reflects. "When we started Magnetic Fields we purposely had one lesbian, one gay guy, one straight woman, and one straight man. The audience could identify with whomever they wanted. I hang out with more gay women now, but I guess I'm more of a fag hag than a lezzie hag."

In that interview, Gonson noted that she feels that Merritt's songs are predominantly about "Loneliness, isolation, and the need to be recognized by another person." She believes that if homophobia were not so prevalent, these experiences "would be less rampant instead of being so associated with the gay personality." Gonson believes that many LGBT youth and straight young females turn to The Magnetic Fields for "words of wisdom."

As well as her work with Stephin Merritt, Claudia also plays drums in cult band Tender Trap. She has written and performed her own music with Shirley Simms and has collaborated with author Rick Moody. She has also played drums in Providence, Rhode Island-based cult band Honey Bunch and performs duty as an occasional singer in Merritt's Future Bible Heroes project.