Drag It Up

1. You're a dancer, do you put that into your drag performances? Of course I put dance in my drag!!! It's in every number even if I'm doing a ballad! The movement of my hands/face/body/fingertips and lips is all dancing! 2. How long have you been doing drag and dancing for? Drag for almost 8 years, dancing for 17. 3. If you had to give up one of these which would it be, shaving, photoshoots or dancing and why? Photoshoots! Shaving and dancing are necessary to continue doing drag. 4. How would you describe Cake Moss? Cake Moss, as descibed by me, is that bitch. 5. What song should play when you enter a room? Some sort of mix a bitch can STRUT too! 6. How long were you doing drag for before you done your first performance and how did your first performance go? My 2nd time in drag I was competing for coins and a regular place at TigerHeat, and I won my first try! It was amazing! I even had Barbie's addiction as my dancers. 7. If there's on...

1. What made you decide on the name Thistle? When I first started drag my original name was Donna M'neez but after a while I didn't feel like it was a good fit, I wanted something pretty sounding but also something in relation to Scotland, but something that wasn't your typical drag name and eventually I came up with Thistle after Scotland's national flower. 2. What's the key to a great performance? For me it's being able to connect to the song or theme is always they key, before you perform something go through it in your head and think what character you're going to play in that song and understand the origins behind the song or understand what the character you're about to portray would do if they were to be on that stage. 3. How do you feel that you inspire people and that people look up to you? I find it quite astonishing that I do so if I'm honest, as much as I've gained experience and grown over the years as an artist I'...

1. Before you go onstage at shows, how do you get yourself "in the zone"? The best way for me to get in the zone is having a gin & tonic, of course! 2. What made you decide on the name Gina Tonic? It started out because my drink of choice is gin, but the name has staying power because my mom's name is Gina, and "tonic" is a term from music theory and I'm a singer - so it's just a perfect fit! 3. How do you prepare for a show? I like to listen to podcasts while I do my makeup. I usually spend a fair amount of time admiring myself in the mirror, and I make sure to warm up vocally too! 4. Do you think enough people support small and local drag queens? Especially in New York where I am based, there is some wonderful support for local drag queens. There is even a friend of ours that bakes cookies for the local queens when she comes to our shows. It's fabulous! 5. What advice would you give to new drag queens? My advice to new qu...

1. What drag queens inspire you? The queens that inspire me are Trixie Mattel, Aquaria and a Glasgow queen called Thistle, but anyone who has the confidence to do it inspires me. 2. What quality does your drag persona have that you wish you had in your life off stage? Mya Fairr is more body confident than Grant which is why I love her. 3. You recently attened Drag Con, how was that experience? Drag world was amazing, it opened my eyes to new queens and a variety of acts which I hope will help me out in the future. 4. How did you find out about drag? I found out about drag mostly through RuPaul's Drag Race and then also once I was old enough I had seen some queens in clubs. 5. How did you learn to do makeup? I'm currently still learning how to do my makeup but I've learned most of my skills (if you call them skills) through my friends. 6. If you could tour with any drag queen, who would it be? If I could tour with any queen it would have to be Trixi...

1. What's the best venue's you've performed at? The best venue's I have performed at are Bar 10 WeHo (before it shut down), Flaming Saddles for Saloon Gals on Friday's, and Hamburger Mary's. 2. What are your goals/aspirations? I want to perform all over the world on my own tour and I also want to start my own cosmetics brand. It's going to be "Angel Dust" by Angel Dust. 3. If you were own RuPaul's Drag Race, what would be the first thing you'd say walking into the werk room? "Yes I'm a bottom". 4. What's the best thing you've ever designed? I once made a dress out of condom wrappers for the LGBT Resource Center on campus and it was really fun to do! 5. What inspires you to get into character? I am inspired by pop stars and the way they carry themselves. Especially the trashy ones. This extends beyond even America. The K Pop stars are also very interesting and I love watching that style too and ho...

1. How did you start doing drag? I started drag after seeing sink the pink, having being involved with the alternative rock scene since I was 14, I was already weaing a tonne of makeup when I went out looking very androgynous. I started off doing that sort of drag that evolved. Our local alt gay night hadn't been going for some while so I decided to put on a night. 2. Who or what inspired your drag style? Meth, Sink the pink, Divine and androgynous icons such as Tilda Swinton and Marilyn Manson origanlly inspired me along with Anna Phylactic and Cheddar Gorgeous. 3. How important do you think fan interaction at shows is and why? Fan interaction is massively important, at my show especially with my Ethel character, she does a lot of comedy so expect to be picked on. With Riley, it's more expect to be covered in glitter and singalong lol. 4. If you had the chance to perform with 3 drag performers, who would it be? My dream lineup would be Meth, ...

1. Who was the first drag performer you seen live? Do they influence you? The first drag queen I ever seen was Daytona Betch. She blew my mind, how funny she was and how fast she was on her feet. She very much influenced my drag. 2. What's your drag strengths and weeknesses? My drag strenghts is being on mic, I love reading people and telling jokes. My weeknesses are the bloody heels! I hate them. 3. How would you describe drag to other people? That is hard to answer as drag is not the same to others, but what I tell people is drag is a place where you get to be free and forget about the real world. It's comedy, drama, it's about teaching the history of LGBTQ. 4. What's the key to a great lip sync? The key to a great lip sync is learn your words. If not smile, it's a trick that makes people think you know what's going. Don't just stand in the one spot, move around, play with the audience. 5. What does it feel like when you perform in dra...

1. What drag queens inspire you? My inspiration comes always by performers who have something different to give to their audience. Although the list of inspirational people is long, I have a particular soft spot for Mademoiselle Boop, Loulou Velvet, Edna and La Veuve from Brussels. 2. What's the hardest part of doing drag? Partically: drag is uncomfortable as the transforming your physical appearance into approaching the opposite gender can be challenging for the body. Emotionally: every single drag performer I know, has had at least one incident of harassment on the street. 3. How did you find find out about drag? I am from Greece where drag as we know it today, is just being developed. However, impersonating something from the opposite gender happens since the very ancient years. And I was always inspired by the transformation. 4. What does drag mean to you? Drag to me is a form of art. The art of transportation. This art can get magical if it's combined w...

1. Who or what inspired you to become a drag king? I struggled with my gender indentity my entire life and I found drag to be a good outlet for me to be comfortable in public presenting as male. 2. What's the best venue you've performed at? Dragoween, it's a fundraiser to help with drug and alcohol rehab in the Austin LGBTQ community. 3. Do you think not enough people know about drag king's? Absolutely. I hope to help change that. 4. Do you wish that there was a platform like RuPaul's Drag Race for drag king's? That would be fantastic. 5. How does a drag act come together for you? With a lot of help from other people who are much more talented than I am. 6. How long after learning how to do drag did you perform at your first show? It took me about 20 years. 7. What gave you the confidence to do drag? It is a very supportive community. I know that no one is judging me. We are all just being the best we can be. 8. How do you deal wi...