Laganja Estranja Interview
We recently caught up with Jay Jackson aka "Laganja Estranja" and talked about dancing, drag, dancing queen and more! Check out our interiew below and we hope you enjoy it!
Photography: Davide Laffe
1. Who or what inspired you to start drag?
I was definitely inspired by the greats such as Coco Peru and Divine, the drag queens that came long before drag race, obviously RuPaul is a huge inspiration to me. I grew up with movies such as "But I'm Not a Cheerleader", movies where he had small cameo roles, but he had such a big presence as a drag artist. I'm definitely inspired by people like Alan Cummings and overall I would say the art form itself inspired me at a young age because it was really a collaboration of dance, theatre, makeup, costuming, which was very common to what I was doing at the time which was Musical Theatre.
2. What made you decide to start dancing?
I decided to start dancing when I was about 10 years old. My parents tried me in sports but I never really got into that, I didn't really like being outdoors and I didn't really get along with boys at that time, so once they entered me in my first dance class I really fell in love and it became such a huge passion of mine at an early age.
3. What made you decide to start Laganja's Dance School?
I start Laganja's Dance School with my manager at the time, her name was Kristen Lovell, we no longer work together but we decided to start that master class that has now travelled the world because we felt like there was only so much I could reach people as the character Laganja, so we wanted to use the brand in creating Laganja's Dance School but also have people get an opportunity to meet me, Jay Jackson, the artist behind the drag superstar and really have a one on one with my buds as I like to call them, so moving into a dance studio where I could physically connect with people was really important to me as an artist and I feel that dance is an international language and I wanted to spread that language so I think that no matter who you are, where you're from, we all understand the language of movement.
4. What's your favourite part of doing drag?
My favourite part of doing drag is usually once it's all on and I'm all dressed cause that takes many hours. My favourite part is doing the meet and greets, I really love getting an opportunity to get to meet the people who support them, hug them and hear their stories and why drag is so important to them.
5. You did the choreography for Stun, what was that like and what did you think of the outcome?
I was very pleased with the outcome. I think that Gia and Alaska did an amazing job. I was super excited when they asked me to do the choreography as I said dance is my true passion so being able to facilitate their dream with my skills was wonderful and I think it's an iconic video that really stands on it's won so I'm so glad I had a small part of it.
6. You Skydived and dived with sharks in full drag, what was that experience like and were you nervous?
I was very nervous, much like most Americans were taught to belive that sharks are evil creatures that lurk in the water and maneaters, but through the experience with one ocean diving I learned that that's not the case at all. They're very loving creatures and that our blood doesn't even attract them, it's more about the way you move in the water that really attrats them but if you were cut and bleeding in the water that really would mean nothing to sharks. Our blood does not attract them so it was a very enlightening experience. Once I was in the water for about 5 or 6 minutes I became very comfortable and began diving down to get the picures you see online.
Skydiving was a little different. It was actually very scary for me. It's not something I would ever do again. My 70 year old mother has talked about wanting to do it and if she decides to do it, I would do it again with her but it's an experience I have ticked off my bucket list and do not want to visit again. It was very really scary but it was beautiful and I'm very proud of myself that I did it because I think anytime you can accomplish your fears you gain stronger as a person so I'm glad I did it but it's not something I'm running back to do again, but I definitely would run to swim with sharks again.
7. Do you ever feel that you're underatted as a drag queen?
Yes I do think I'm definitely underrated. I think unfortunately the way the system works is that there are 10 girls who are super popular and those 10 girls get recycled over and over because they are the most popular and they are best for business. Unfortunatly I'm not one of those 10 girls and because I won't go back to All Stars, I haven't been able to expand my platform the way others have but that being said I'm an srtist first and foremost so I try not to worry about where I'm ranking even though it's something I'm concious of because I didn't become an artist to become the most popular or the most famous or the richest. I became an artist to change the world so that's what I'm trying to focus on.
8. What made you decide to start creating music?
Well I've always loved music. I grew up with musical theatre so singing is something I'm very passionate about, that I haven't explored since I really started drag. I've made several singles here and there but this year I'm really focussed on creating a full album which should be coming out sometime next year. My next single "Smoke Break" will be dropping on November 16th which is about a week and I'm really excited to share what I've been working on with Big Snow Entertainment which is the production company out of Atlanta that I've been working with. I also starred in The Rocky Horror Picture Show in San Antonip as Frank N Furter where I got to sing live on stage and that was a big dream come true, because like I said, I gew up in musical theatre so there were several roles I've always wanted to play and that was definitely one of them so I'm hopeful that as I continue to expand my artistic platforms that singing and rapping will continue to be a part of that.
9. What's your thoughts on Alaska's impression of you?
I think Alaska is hilarious. I was super grateful when she did the impression of me because we always say good or bad press is good press so some people saw it as her making fun of me whereas I really thought of her as loving and celebrating my character so I was super into it and she's been very supportive of my career since then as well, and we did a song together called "Gimmie All Your Money" and as you mentioned earlier, done Stun togther, so I believe she's a real big supporter of all of us Ru girls so I support her and anything she does.
10. You got to dance with Miley Cyrus at the VMA's. What was that experience like?
Working with Miley was a dream come true, I got to be very intimate with her and work and choreograph in her back yard before we took it to the stage with all the other queens, so getting to see her as a person and not just a celebrity was a gift that I'll always cherish forever, and I'm also thankful that because of that one endevour I was able to get a dance agent and dance representation in Los Angeles which is very hard to achieve so it was truly a gift and I'm so thankful that she acknowleged my other skills besides just being a drag queen. It gave me a chance to work on something outside Laganja.
11. What made you and Gia decide to be Team Too Much?
Well Gia and I had an early connection from day one on Drag Race as I'm sure you saw on season 6 and over the years we've gotten a lot closer and she lived with me in LA for 8 months with my manager at the time and our relationship has just grown stronger and stronger. We've had our ups and downs as any friendship does but we are truly friends and we really have leanred to work through those moments of conflict and disagreement and being able to be with her through her transition this year has also been so powerful to see somoeone become their true self, their authentic self so I love her very much and I'm hopeful we will get to tour together as Team Too Much in the near futute.
12. Can you tell us a bit about your first time in drag?
My first time in drag would probably be on Halloween. It was the one time I would get to be in drag. I probably did that when I was in college. One year I went as Elvira and that was probably the first time I ever dressed in drag.
13. You're a cannabis rights activist, what is the end goal you're trying to achieve?
Well I'm actually focussing more on cannabis as we speak. I'm going to be moving to Colorado next year to really take time to focus on the cannabis side of my brand. I think it's really important as an activist that we really spread the medicinal properties of the plant and educate people first and foremost on how it helps with so many different kinds of ailments such as autism, epilepsey, cancer, HIV, and I also believe as a business person there's a lot of money to be made in that industry so as much as I love drag, it hasn't been very financially stable for me and I believe that cannabis will hopefully be the answer to my money trouble so I'm looking to pursue it not only as a business person but also to continue my activism.
14. What was it like meeting Alyssa's family and being part of Dancing Queen the Netflix Documentary?
It was a lot of intense moments to be a part of Dancing Queen as you saw, it was a very dramatic series with the mom. Lot's of conflict but what I can say is that I'm very happy for her. I think she deserves all the success that she's gaining and I'm super excited to see where she goes with her project and I'm glad for her.
15. To end this interview off, where can people find your social media?
You can find me at Laganja Estranja on all platforms. I made sure it was simple and easy to do so if you can spell my name you can find me on Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat and all of those good things.
We really enjoyed doing this interview with Jay Jackson, aka Laganja Estranja and learning more about them as a person outside of drag race and we hope you all did too.
Thank you to Laganja and their team for making this interview possible!
Other people mentioned in this interview: Gia Gunn, Alaska Thunderfuck, Alyssa Edwards, Coco Peru, Divine, Alan Cummings and RuPaul Charles.
Photography: Davide Laffe
1. Who or what inspired you to start drag?
I was definitely inspired by the greats such as Coco Peru and Divine, the drag queens that came long before drag race, obviously RuPaul is a huge inspiration to me. I grew up with movies such as "But I'm Not a Cheerleader", movies where he had small cameo roles, but he had such a big presence as a drag artist. I'm definitely inspired by people like Alan Cummings and overall I would say the art form itself inspired me at a young age because it was really a collaboration of dance, theatre, makeup, costuming, which was very common to what I was doing at the time which was Musical Theatre.
2. What made you decide to start dancing?
I decided to start dancing when I was about 10 years old. My parents tried me in sports but I never really got into that, I didn't really like being outdoors and I didn't really get along with boys at that time, so once they entered me in my first dance class I really fell in love and it became such a huge passion of mine at an early age.
3. What made you decide to start Laganja's Dance School?
I start Laganja's Dance School with my manager at the time, her name was Kristen Lovell, we no longer work together but we decided to start that master class that has now travelled the world because we felt like there was only so much I could reach people as the character Laganja, so we wanted to use the brand in creating Laganja's Dance School but also have people get an opportunity to meet me, Jay Jackson, the artist behind the drag superstar and really have a one on one with my buds as I like to call them, so moving into a dance studio where I could physically connect with people was really important to me as an artist and I feel that dance is an international language and I wanted to spread that language so I think that no matter who you are, where you're from, we all understand the language of movement.
4. What's your favourite part of doing drag?
My favourite part of doing drag is usually once it's all on and I'm all dressed cause that takes many hours. My favourite part is doing the meet and greets, I really love getting an opportunity to get to meet the people who support them, hug them and hear their stories and why drag is so important to them.
5. You did the choreography for Stun, what was that like and what did you think of the outcome?
I was very pleased with the outcome. I think that Gia and Alaska did an amazing job. I was super excited when they asked me to do the choreography as I said dance is my true passion so being able to facilitate their dream with my skills was wonderful and I think it's an iconic video that really stands on it's won so I'm so glad I had a small part of it.
6. You Skydived and dived with sharks in full drag, what was that experience like and were you nervous?
I was very nervous, much like most Americans were taught to belive that sharks are evil creatures that lurk in the water and maneaters, but through the experience with one ocean diving I learned that that's not the case at all. They're very loving creatures and that our blood doesn't even attract them, it's more about the way you move in the water that really attrats them but if you were cut and bleeding in the water that really would mean nothing to sharks. Our blood does not attract them so it was a very enlightening experience. Once I was in the water for about 5 or 6 minutes I became very comfortable and began diving down to get the picures you see online.
Skydiving was a little different. It was actually very scary for me. It's not something I would ever do again. My 70 year old mother has talked about wanting to do it and if she decides to do it, I would do it again with her but it's an experience I have ticked off my bucket list and do not want to visit again. It was very really scary but it was beautiful and I'm very proud of myself that I did it because I think anytime you can accomplish your fears you gain stronger as a person so I'm glad I did it but it's not something I'm running back to do again, but I definitely would run to swim with sharks again.
7. Do you ever feel that you're underatted as a drag queen?
Yes I do think I'm definitely underrated. I think unfortunately the way the system works is that there are 10 girls who are super popular and those 10 girls get recycled over and over because they are the most popular and they are best for business. Unfortunatly I'm not one of those 10 girls and because I won't go back to All Stars, I haven't been able to expand my platform the way others have but that being said I'm an srtist first and foremost so I try not to worry about where I'm ranking even though it's something I'm concious of because I didn't become an artist to become the most popular or the most famous or the richest. I became an artist to change the world so that's what I'm trying to focus on.
8. What made you decide to start creating music?
Well I've always loved music. I grew up with musical theatre so singing is something I'm very passionate about, that I haven't explored since I really started drag. I've made several singles here and there but this year I'm really focussed on creating a full album which should be coming out sometime next year. My next single "Smoke Break" will be dropping on November 16th which is about a week and I'm really excited to share what I've been working on with Big Snow Entertainment which is the production company out of Atlanta that I've been working with. I also starred in The Rocky Horror Picture Show in San Antonip as Frank N Furter where I got to sing live on stage and that was a big dream come true, because like I said, I gew up in musical theatre so there were several roles I've always wanted to play and that was definitely one of them so I'm hopeful that as I continue to expand my artistic platforms that singing and rapping will continue to be a part of that.
9. What's your thoughts on Alaska's impression of you?
I think Alaska is hilarious. I was super grateful when she did the impression of me because we always say good or bad press is good press so some people saw it as her making fun of me whereas I really thought of her as loving and celebrating my character so I was super into it and she's been very supportive of my career since then as well, and we did a song together called "Gimmie All Your Money" and as you mentioned earlier, done Stun togther, so I believe she's a real big supporter of all of us Ru girls so I support her and anything she does.
10. You got to dance with Miley Cyrus at the VMA's. What was that experience like?
Working with Miley was a dream come true, I got to be very intimate with her and work and choreograph in her back yard before we took it to the stage with all the other queens, so getting to see her as a person and not just a celebrity was a gift that I'll always cherish forever, and I'm also thankful that because of that one endevour I was able to get a dance agent and dance representation in Los Angeles which is very hard to achieve so it was truly a gift and I'm so thankful that she acknowleged my other skills besides just being a drag queen. It gave me a chance to work on something outside Laganja.
11. What made you and Gia decide to be Team Too Much?
Well Gia and I had an early connection from day one on Drag Race as I'm sure you saw on season 6 and over the years we've gotten a lot closer and she lived with me in LA for 8 months with my manager at the time and our relationship has just grown stronger and stronger. We've had our ups and downs as any friendship does but we are truly friends and we really have leanred to work through those moments of conflict and disagreement and being able to be with her through her transition this year has also been so powerful to see somoeone become their true self, their authentic self so I love her very much and I'm hopeful we will get to tour together as Team Too Much in the near futute.
12. Can you tell us a bit about your first time in drag?
My first time in drag would probably be on Halloween. It was the one time I would get to be in drag. I probably did that when I was in college. One year I went as Elvira and that was probably the first time I ever dressed in drag.
13. You're a cannabis rights activist, what is the end goal you're trying to achieve?
Well I'm actually focussing more on cannabis as we speak. I'm going to be moving to Colorado next year to really take time to focus on the cannabis side of my brand. I think it's really important as an activist that we really spread the medicinal properties of the plant and educate people first and foremost on how it helps with so many different kinds of ailments such as autism, epilepsey, cancer, HIV, and I also believe as a business person there's a lot of money to be made in that industry so as much as I love drag, it hasn't been very financially stable for me and I believe that cannabis will hopefully be the answer to my money trouble so I'm looking to pursue it not only as a business person but also to continue my activism.
14. What was it like meeting Alyssa's family and being part of Dancing Queen the Netflix Documentary?
It was a lot of intense moments to be a part of Dancing Queen as you saw, it was a very dramatic series with the mom. Lot's of conflict but what I can say is that I'm very happy for her. I think she deserves all the success that she's gaining and I'm super excited to see where she goes with her project and I'm glad for her.
15. To end this interview off, where can people find your social media?
You can find me at Laganja Estranja on all platforms. I made sure it was simple and easy to do so if you can spell my name you can find me on Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat and all of those good things.
We really enjoyed doing this interview with Jay Jackson, aka Laganja Estranja and learning more about them as a person outside of drag race and we hope you all did too.
Thank you to Laganja and their team for making this interview possible!
Other people mentioned in this interview: Gia Gunn, Alaska Thunderfuck, Alyssa Edwards, Coco Peru, Divine, Alan Cummings and RuPaul Charles.
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