When Szusza Ihasz decided she wanted to live as a woman, she thought she would never play in a band again. Two decades later, she is rocking once more, and loving every minute of it.
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Szusza plays bass for Canberra three piece band Transista Groove, along with fellow trans woman Glenda Harvey (guitar and vocals) and drummer Dave Twyman.
The 71-year-old said she started struggling with her identity as a youth, when she was living as a young man named Peter.
"From puberty, I felt alienated from my friends. I didn't consider myself a gay person, I didn't find men attractive, I just didn't feel right as a male," she explained.
"So what do you do? You hide it, you fight it, you just go through the normal process."
For Szusza - or Peter as she then identified - the normal process was getting married and having kids.
But while Szusza loved her family, she still wasn't being true to herself. Her therapy was music.
As Peter, she played in bands from 1972-2002, using music as a "safety valve" which allowed her to become someone else, someone other than the person she knew wasn't truly representative of her.
Once her kids had grown up and left home, Szusza decided she needed to change and set about making a two year plan to transition to life as a woman.
The plan led to some daunting conversations with her wife, family, boss and colleagues, but determined to be true to herself, Szusza pushed ahead. In 2003, her name change was made official - a moment she described as one of the happiest of her life.
Now that she had embraced her true identity, Szusza didn't feel she needed to play in bands any more. She decided it would be nice to just enjoy gigs as a punter again.
"I would occasionally jam, just go along (to gigs) and play two or three songs, but I never wanted to get back into a band and do what I did for all those years and got nowhere with."
That changed a bit over five years ago when she received a phone call from a friend, telling her they had seen a very talented transgender musician busking on the South Coast, and she was from Canberra.
The busker was Glenda. Szusza managed to get her number, and the pair arranged to meet up at a Canberra gig.
We tend to hold back from the political football that transgenderism seems to be at the moment.
- Szusza Ihasz
After meeting, the pair decided to go along to a monthly blues jam. Dave was also at the jam and the trio ended up playing together. The jam went well, and they decided to start a band.
With two members in their 70s and one in her 50s, the three musicians are achieving things together they had never achieved before.
The band has released two full length albums - Fantasy to Reality and Transition Transmission. David Pendragon - who produced both albums - is also in his 70s.
The band members have also overcome a lot of adversity. Szusza previously suffered a heart attack and has a stent, while Dave has two heart stents. Szusza also cares for her wife, who has Parkinson's disease.
The band performs a wide variety of musical styles - from pop to rock, grunge, and even heavy metal.
In addition to their original songs, the band also has an extensive catalogue of covers by artists ranging from Linda Ronstadt and Kylie Minogue, to Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and Metallica.
"When you get to this age, you might as well be up there playing the music you enjoy."
While the band features two transgender women, Szusza said it wasn't a particularly political group.
"We tend to hold back from the political football that transgenderism seems to be at the moment," she said.
"We're certainly not hiding it....our name is Transista Groove and some of our lyrics are very positive towards other trans people."
Transista Groove will support Melbourne based band Penny Ikinger's Marbles at Smith's Alternative on February 27.
For more information on upcoming live shows, or how to get hold of a copy of the band's albums, find the group on Facebook, or email szusza@mail.com.
