3 drag queens on early influences and their journeys to the stage

Yvie Oddly
@oddlyyvie

Take us back to the first time you ever dressed up in drag. Describe your look. How did it feel?
The first time I ever really went out in drag was for a show being held on my college campus. I got up early to paint, went shopping for an outfit at Ross, and attended all of my classes that day in full drag. I remember I wore a cheap red costume wig and a matching red dress, paired with an orange fringe bolero jacket, some snake print pumps, and my favourite pair of jeans (for comfort). I remember feeling the adrenaline exploding through me all day. I felt sexy and mysterious, exigent and vulnerable, but mostly I felt like a badass.

Who were some of your early inspirations and how did they inspire your drag?
My early inspirations for Yvie (or Avon Eve as she was known then) weren’t real people as much as things. I was really into musical theatre, female action heroes, and my blossoming love for shock and the macabre. My expression has always stemmed from a smorgasbord of ideas and views that I’ve been able to refine and convey through the lens of drag.

What are you top three throwback songs that you love to perform to?
“Zombie” by The Cranberries, “Shoop” by Salt-N-Pepa, and “Macarena” by Los Del Rio.

What has been your most memorable moment in drag?
I’ll never forget returning to Colorado after winning RuPaul’s Drag Race and performing on the centre stage of Denver PrideFest. I’ve never pretended to do drag for selfless reasons, but in that moment, I felt like I was able to repay Denver’s queer community for everything it had built me to be. I love my family and I’m glad we were able to accomplish something so major.

What was your first experience seeing or meeting a drag queen? How did it impact you? 
My first time meeting a real queen was thrilling! My friend took me to this swanky cabaret in the basement of a clock tower for drag bingo where we spent all night being insulted by the hilariously crude Mona Lott. I really enjoyed the experience because there was comedy, live performance, flamboyance, fashion, and a lot of bad makeup. Meeting her helped shape my ideals for the potential drag has, especially because I later discovered that the majority of Denver’s scene at the time was NOTHING like Mona.

If we were to open a time capsule from your childhood, what are three items we would find?
A mini dinosaur bone because my first dream was to become a paleontologist, a Mystique action figure because I was OBSESSED with her for like a decade, and a bronze medal for the floor routine because that was the only time I ever placed in anything during my seven years as a competitive gymnast.

If you had to put three items in a time capsule today to represent your current drag, what would they be?
My microphone because of how important I’ve found it to use my voice in recent years. Especially as the world gives me opportunities to change and grow, I’ve discovered all these new avenues to pay that forward and be more vocal. Neon green makeup because I spent a large portion of the last year painting myself green, which gave me a new canvas to explore all sorts of conceptual makeup. (Also, I need to hide it from myself, so I remember other colours exist). And a short wig because they’re easy to pack, durable, and always look good!

What is your top pop culture drag moment from film or TV?
My favorite pop culture drag moment has to be seeing Wesley Snipes, who I grew up knowing only for his portrayal of Blade, be the queeniest of drag queens as Noxeema in To Wong Foo. I love a complex character.

If you could choose any three celebrities, living or dead, to be guests at a fantasy dinner party, who would they be and why?
I would choose: Oscar Wilde because he seemed like an asshole. A very witty asshole. Grace Jones because she’s got such an amazing commanding presence and she’s done so many different things. Sir Ian McKellen because we could have some really deep conversations. Also, lascivious, sleeping-with-magneto/Gandalf reasons.

Read: Canada’s Drag Race queens share their nostalgic journeys to the stage

Yovska
@yovska

Take us back to the first time you ever dressed up in drag. Describe your look. How did it feel?
When I walked my first ball for the bizarre category! I was this green caterpillar alien creature wearing a mask, and I had these purple hula skirt plastic things coming out of my head. It was very bizarre, so I guess it was no wonder I won that night. It felt really nerve-racking to be on stage, but the boost I got after winning more than made up for it.

Who were some of your early inspirations and how did they inspire your drag?
Some of my early drag inspirations where Leigh Bowery, Klaus Nomi and Nintendo. Leigh Bowery was probably the biggest influence on my drag, I just really enjoyed everything they did with subversive fashion and abnormal shapes. I think they’re also one of the first nightlife figures I saw wearing masks as avant-garde fashion. Klaus Nomi I discovered in high school, I didn’t ever consider being some type of performer at the time, but they had such a striking look and I think a lot of that started there. I think what I really enjoyed was that they had such a clear-cut recognizable brand, and it was very black and white and out of this world. I’m not sure if this one is allowed but I would say Nintendo was a pretty huge influence, I always enjoyed the colourful and quirky character designs as opposed to more western games. I think Yovska would fit really well into most Nintendo games, for example Earthbound.

What are you top three throwback songs that you love to perform to?
“Bring Me To Life” by Evanescence, it’s definitely a favourite of mine. I was such a big fan of Evanescence in Grade 6, definitely not the happiest of times for me, so I guess the music matched my mood. “Simple Man” by Klaus Nomi because it is an absolute classic, and performing anything Klaus Nomi is always a lot of fun. “Welcome to The Black Parade” by My Chemical Romance is probably my third pick, now let me say I don’t usually perform them but I think this song always takes everyone back to that time, that super edgy time.

What has been your most memorable moment in drag?
Probably competing on the Boulet Brothers’ Dragula Season 3. It was a very impactful experience that I think taught me a lot about myself. It’s also super cool that I can tell people I’m on TV, not a lot of performers are fortunate enough to get a chance like that. I don’t think I’ll be forgetting that one any time soon.

What was your first experience seeing or meeting a drag queen? How did it impact you? 
This one is a bit fuzzy for me, I think the first time I ever really saw something like a drag performer was when a friend in high school brought me to their house to watch Rocky Horror Picture Show. I was pretty shocked by the character Frank N Furter, I actually don’t think I liked the movie the first time around, it was a lot for me at the time. I think by the third time giving it a chance it definitely became one of my most favourite films! I think it opened the door to me discovering and appreciating a lot of amazing gender-bending performers.

If we were to open a time capsule from your childhood – what are three items we would find?
We would find my beloved Barney the dinosaur doll, that’s the earliest toy I remember having, and it definitely made it to Canada when I moved from Mexico, but I have no clue where it is at the moment. We would find a Playstation 1 controller, because I spent so many hours playing video games. Lastly I think we would probably find a monster drawing, I used to really enjoy drawing monsters, all kinds that did all sorts of things, and my favourite types were sea monsters.

If you had to put three items in a time capsule today to represent your current drag , what would they be?
I would put in a pointy Yovska glove, because I can’t ever do drag without my pointy gloves. I would put in one of my porcelain clown dolls, because they are to me what a Barbie is to a little kid. Lastly I would put in a big old bow, because I like to be creepy but cute.

What is your top pop culture drag moment from film or TV?
I think the moment that made me excited about drag as an art form was watching Conchita Wurst perform in 2014 Eurovision. I remember their “Rise Like a Phoenix” performance was very striking, I hadn’t really been exposed to much drag back then. It was such a powerful performance, I think that’s when I started really taking an interest in the idea of drag.

If you could choose any three celebrities, living or dead, to be guests at a fantasy dinner party, who would they be and why?
This idea always gives me a ton of anxiety because I’m always nervous if I’m going to make an ass of myself, come off the wrong way, or worse! However I think if given the chance I would love to dine with Guillermo Del Toro, Toby Fox, and Junji Ito. Filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro because I’ve seen him speak live, and he’s such an insightful and creative individual. I would also like redemption from the last time I met him at one if his events in Toronto, because I got really nervous and was speaking gibberish at that point. Game developer Toby Fox because even though I haven’t had a chance to play Undertale, he seems like such an eccentric character in all of his interviews. I think it would be really interesting to meet someone with that kind of energy. I also really appreciate someone that is so involved in their creation process, to the point of even creating the music for their game. Horror manga author Junji Ito, because I would really love to pick their brain since they come up with some of the most terrifying concepts. They also have such a distinct style, and it would just be really neat to be able to have a conversation with someone like that. All of these celebrities are alive as of now, so who knows? Perhaps this dinner party isn’t too far fetched of a fantasy!

If you could go back in time, what would you tell your younger self?
Never stop drawing monsters, and do drag sooner!

Kendall Gender
@kendallgender

Take us back to the first time you ever dressed up in drag. Describe your look. How did it feel?
The first time I ever got in drag, it was for a show called Cherry Pop.  It was a show in Vancouver that would take people in the community who had never done drag before, and “pop their cherry” of sorts.  It was put on by Jane Smoker.  Of course, as so many young queens do, I only wanted to wear red lingerie, and I bought this extremely long honey blonde wig, that almost immediately got trashed after the performance.  It was a very different time in my life, but it felt liberating- and almost as if it was a person that I had inside of me for my entire life was finally able to come out and play (in red garters, of course.)

Who were some of your early inspirations and how did they inspire your drag?
My earliest drag inspiration was for sure my drag mother Jane Smoker.  The first time I saw her perform on stage it was life changing.  I had never seen drag in such a modern and sexy way prior to that. As soon as I saw her, it was almost as if a lightbulb clicked. In regards to my drag persona, I think it has always come from strong females, people like Beyonce and Rihanna. Women who own the room, and express themselves in a variety of liberating ways.

What are you top three throwback songs that you love to perform to?

“Crazy in Love” by Beyonce, “Run the World” by Beyonce and “Come on Over Baby” by Christina Aguilera. This makes me feel so old that these songs are totally considered throwbacks now.

What has been your most memorable moment in drag?
I think my most memorable moment in drag was for sure performing at the Rugby 7’s game this year. I did the halftime show for the games, and was the first Drag Queen to perform at this event in history. It was for a crowd of 50,000 people. This moment to me was monumental because you have a sports game, which can be considered a relatively cis-hetero environment, with a Drag Queen performing at the halftime show. That moment was about more than just myself as Kendall Gender, it felt like a huge leap in our world as a whole.

What was your first experience seeing or meeting a drag queen? How did it impact you?
I would say the first memorable experience of meeting a Drag Queen was for sure my drag mom Jane Smoker. Her whole persona and character really impacted my entire drag trajectory. I never really saw or experienced a drag queen until much later in life. I wish I had been exposed to a strong queer person like that at a younger age. I do a lot of all ages events now in drag and have made it a huge part of my focus. I think it’s so important for youth to see queer figures as it helps open up dialogue about sexuality and life. I often feel very flattered when people tell me that I was the first Drag Queen they had ever seen, and how much it meant to them seeing my confidence and owning my life. It’s a beautiful thing.

If we were to open a time capsule from your childhood – what are three items we would find?
I love this question. I would probably say a Barbie Doll. I used to dress up all my barbies and put on little shows and photograph them (I guess, now I’m the barbie doll). My teddy bear, named Fuzzy bear (wow – creative name!)

Finally, When I was about 7 years old , I remember asking my mom to buy me a dress from the store Mariposa (R.I.P). It was blue and had little butterflies on it, I used to wear it every day at home I remember. I was very lucky to live in a very liberal household that never really discussed the idea of gender conformity. I was allowed to express myself however I wanted to at a very young age. I’m forever thankful for that.

If you had to put three items in a time capsule today to represent your current drag , what would they be?
My Evan Clayton feather bomber jacket, my breastplate, and all three pairs of my pads.

What is your top pop culture drag moment from film or TV?
Sasha Velour revealing the roses and her bald head during the finale of Drag Race, is probably the most iconic drag thing that has ever happened.

If you could choose any three celebrities, living or dead, to be guests at a fantasy dinner party, who would they be and why?
Beyonce – DUH. To me she just embodies everything that an entertainer should be. She is a perfect blend of humility and diva. The last time I saw her in concert, I just fully bawled my eyes out when she came on stage. She is just godlike in my eyes. To me it’s more than just the amazing costumes, flawless dancing and good music – it’s the embodiment of who she is as a person, the stories she tells and the energy she has. I have spent hours and countless dollars trying to emulate even one percent of who she is. She would probably be creeped out by my obsession with her, and not want to be at a dinner table with me but hey! We can dream!

Christina Aguilera. Growing up I really gravitated towards Xtina. I was obsessed with her in 2003 (when I was 13 years old and thought I was the coolest person in the entire world wearing bandanas). I have always related to her confidence, and I was fascinated with how she used her image to tell a story. Her styling and creative direction was always so deliberate. I like how she embodied so many different characters depending on her mood. I try and do that with my drag character now, always allowing myself to cultivate new sides of my character.

Can I just pick Beyonce again?

If you could go back in time, what would you tell your younger self?
I would tell myself that you are going to end up using drugs and alcohol to cope with some things that you don’t have the tools to deal with. This is going to happen relatively early into your youth and it’s going to spiral out of control. It’s going to steal years of your life that you’re never going to get back. These periods are going to be dark and lonely. But you are going to get out of it, you’re going to learn the tools to deal with it and emerge as the happiest version of yourself.

I would tell myself this because for so many years I felt like I was in a cul de sac of my own bad behaviour. Knowing that there is a light at the end of the tunnel would have been a saving grace. Today I am 5 years sober, and I have never been happier, or more successful in my entire life. The type of contentment I feel today truly comes from knowing the opposite. I believe that you can’t know true happiness unless you’ve experienced true sadness.

So, go through the bad shit – because you will appreciate the good stuff so much more.