This has been a long time coming! Months ago I chatted with Willam about an interview. When the girl finally made it to Dublin for an appearance at The Dragon Bar, our chats that night involved booze,booze and more booze. My type of girl! We later got to interviewing and anyone who knows Willam, will know that she is one funny bitch. And that she's been on Television. A LOT.
Willam! The woman herself! What are you doing right now?
I'm gassy! I shouldn't have dairy in front of company!
You seem to be one busy tranny at the moment! What are you working on currently?
My album is out along with new singles . I'm Also filming 'Kicking Zombie Ass for Jesus', a
companion piece for 'Ticked-Off Trannies With Knives' and 'The Porn Brat
Pack' opposite Missi Pyle.
Speaking of music, your singles both solo and with Detox and Vicky have been such massive hits on Online, is this the
type of music you would like to stick with or would you like to release
an album or single of a different genre soon?
I like to keep people guessing so I probably will not be sticking with anything for too long!
Growing up who and what inspired you and your drag?
I
love Designing Women and the nipped waists with the big hair. I'm also
inspired by Leigh Bowery, Jackie Beat and the girls in my band
TranzKuntinental like Vicky Vox, Detox Icunt and Kelly Mantle.
In Cinema Verite, you played one of my idols, Candy Darling - what was it like playing such an iconic figure?
It
was an honor to play her in that movie on HBO and it keeps resurfacing.
I was on a plane last month and it was playing on the overhead TVs and I
was just like , "wow."Michael Musto and his lensman
Beauregard both knew her and gave me some insight on her and it was
really helpful. I just wish they would've let me be blonder.
The majority of your roles have been in drag ... as a drag performer
how have you found working on mainstream projects? Can it ever be
difficult or is it quite the opposite?
Typecasting
is a reality! But I'm fine with that. I've worked professionally in drag since my first union job when I was 16. Just came to pass that crossdressing is my niche.I work in mainstream projects
enough as a guy. Criminal Minds notably and The Shield too. Definitely
bit parts though.
On Drag Race you said you never had a drag family because you never did
the club circuit, now that the show has aired are you attracted to the
idea of performing in more clubs and developing more of a drag family?
I'm
touring in support of my album and songs (Love You Like a Big Schlong,
The Vagina Song, Trouble, Chow Down) and have a close group of LGBT
friends now that is a grab bag of women, fags & drags!
Over a year and people still ask 'What Did William Do?!' ... Will the full truth ever come out? And was that reunion as uncomfortable as it seemed? Revealations and Phi Phi oh my!
The chairs were uncomfortable yes ;). Phi Phi and I are fine. The night
started off tense because there were 5 makeup mirrors and 13 drag queens
who needed to get ready. All the girls thought that we were on Candid
Camera and they wanted us to fight. As Dida Ritz would say, "Do they
want me to goon out?!?" And Some stories don't need to be told. I'm glad I got to clear up the major
discrepancies about heroin, hormones and whoring though!
Were you surprised with Rupaul's nice words at the time? He owes you for some good ass ratings!
I was expecting it and decided to be vulnerable. Just call me Abacus 3000 cause I am calculated ;)
Any last words?
CHECK OUT MY NEW SINGLE!
You heard the woman. Check out the latest single from Willam,Detox and Vicky below!
Swedish DJ duo Rebecca and Fiona have been causing a stir in Europe and America over the last two years for their bold music and fashion choices. The girls are constantly touring and performing around the world, setting fashion trends in their native Sweden and even starred in their own reality tv show. After seeing their videos for 'Dance' and 'Jane Doe' I had to track down the girls for an interview.
1 - Hello Girls! You've just toured North America, how was it?
Hi!!
We actually just got home! But it has been amazing!
One of the best tours we’ve done so far! We are working on new music and will be touring all summer and we have a new residency at Marquee in
Vegas!
2 - How are the American fans
reacting to your shows?
Oh they seem excited to hear some music they’ve never
heard before and we think they like the very hard, not so commercial
stuff!!
3 - Your video for the
single,'Dance' is my favourite. Fantastic video and very dark! What
inspired the video and the story for it?
Thank you so much! The video was directed "in
action", without any preparations from our side. The director Laerke
Hortoni didn’t want us to know anything before to get our natural expressions.
This was pretty scary for us two who always want to control everything, but we
trusted her and that we are very happy with now. It was extremely cold so we
were mostly thinking about surviving and keeping the film team alive.
4 - All your music videos have
such strong imagery, from the doll house in 'Jane Doe', to the masks of
'Dance', where do you draw inspiration from for your videos and personal style?
We have our neve rending inspiration man -
Tommie X. He works as our creative director - in all aspects - and just keeps
throwing out crazy exciting ideas about everything. From videos, clothes,
people, furniture, i don’t know... EVERYTHING!
5 - You girls have DJ'd alongside
the best DJs such as Tiesto, Kaskade and you have toured with Robyn, are their
other artists you would like to collaborate with?
We love so many artists! We would like to work with a
lot of people and I think we will, but at the moment it would be cool to do
something with a band? Tommie really wants us to collaborate with Paris Hilton,
but mostly we end up in the studio with our boyfriends Adrian Lux and Carli
because we want to spend as much time with tem as possible and it’s so fun to
work together!
6 - You had a television show in
Sweden, did either of you find it strange having the camera follow you around
or did you enjoy the experience?
After a while we mostly thought it was annoying. It
took so much time! They really wanted to make a quality production so they
filmed for a half a year and our friends and family got really tired of it.
It’s natural when they are filming us as we work our are on tour, but as
private persons we are not so happy with being filmed.
7 - Do you plan to bring the
album to the UK & Ireland after America?
YES!
8 - You seem to work so hard on
everything you do,which is fantastic - what advice would you give to fans or
upcoming young musicians and DJ's?
Work hard!! You can always learn new things and
develop! And stay true to your friends and family.
The girls new single ' Taken Over ' is out new and you can check out the video below.
Two fun behind the scenes snaps from this weekend. Myself and three gal pals were asked to film a music video for a new Irish indie electro band. The day consisted of us getting ready and filming in a hotel, then running around on two different trains, the beach and a bowling alley. More scenes will be filmed next week and I'l get the music video up when its done and edited!
I'm super excited about tonight. I will be performing with my drag brother, Phil T Gorgeous for his Circus Royale extravaganza at The George. There will be a huge range of performers including Bunny, Lucy Rhinehart, Sade O'Sapphic, Sophia Disgrace, Terri Fierce and Lisette Krol, Slick O' and Ether aerial artists as well as popcorn machines, deadly sin shots and more! Doors are open at 10pm!
I'm now preparing myself to get out of bed at the ungodly hour of 12.30! to get the bus (yes drag queens sometimes do public transport) back to Dublin. If your about town I strongly reccomend you come see the show! For those of you who aren't in Ireland, I shall be taking lots of pictures and videos!
Oh hi sweeties! So how long has it been? I'm thinking at least two, maybe three months since I was last blogging properly. Shameful. But a lot has been happening. A lot still is happening. But I'm now back! The blog has got a well needed facelift ... there's still going to be some changes here and there over the next two weeks so bear with me! But I'm really happy with how its looking, I hope y'all like it! It's now past midnight and I've been working on it for the last two days. Well I've been multi tasking and using every spare minute to work on it ... but its getting there and I'm really excited about what's to come!
The last few months have been a bit mental. I've been living in Dublin for almost a year now (time flys!) and things are really clicking into place,but still a bit scary! The main reason I wanted to move to Dublin was to work in Drag full time. That and build up my book as an art director for different shoots. In September I entered a contest called 'The Devine Apprentice'. Imagine Rupaul's Drag Race, The Apprentice mixed with live performing and weekly tasks and you got it. The boss? Davina Devine and the venue, The George. I ended up devoting so much time to the show, girl wanted to win! ... and I did! I'm now a regular performer at The George,Pantibar and other venues and I've spent the last while re working my image, performances and really honing in on where I want to take myself over the next few years.
With that, I've spent a lot of time thinking of my blog. For a while there I got sick of just posting music videos and pictures, what's so special about that? What I did enjoy was giving people a little glimpse of my shows, how I put things together and the performers,artists around me. But it never went further than a few pictures ... until now. From now on I'm going to be doing weekly diaries. These diaries will be a mix of blogs such as this, pictures and video. From behind the scenes, to on stage to whats going on in my life, what Im creating, who I'm working with and so on. I'l still be interviewing the people that inspire me and showcasing different works of art,music and film but in a what I hope will be a more personal way.
I'm really looking forward to letting everyone see and hear what I'm up to. Let me know what you all think as time goes by! Readers encourage me to keep blogging so I want to hear from you!
Last month UK based artist Cinnamon Girl released her third video outing, ´Devil In Me´, an explosion of synth pop delight, bright colourful visuals and quirky fashion ... the ingredients for a great pop video. Delighting critics and picking up many fans along the way, Cinnamon Girl is tipped for big success this year. I caught up with the new musical darling for a chat on music,fashion and what lies ahead. For those not in the know, introduce yourself to the world! I´m Cinnamon Girl, wannabe superhero and synth pop stress! Your third music video ´Devil In Me´ was recently released to acclaim from both critics and fans. What inspired the track and video? The song is about being yourself and not letting people dictate who you should be. It´s about believing in your gut feeling, especially in a relationship. It´s also about not being perfect and being happy with that. The video is basically me just showing off! ha ha ha! The lovely director Joanna Dudderidge came up with the Mondrain theme to capture that. I´m very proud of what we achieved with just a few friends working together with no budget. The styling in the campaign is fantastic! What Inspires your style and where do you generally hunt for your pieces? Thank You! I make a lot of the clothes myself and buy a lot of vintage too. I like to find new young designers that are doing bold and different things. I have a great styling, Heather Falconer, who is in tune with my style. We basically like all the same stuff, so sourcing things in an entirely painless process. I just like to have fun with it. I tend not to take it too seriously. Listening to your tracks, you seem to really know your way around a pop track. When did you start writing? Thanks! I´ve been writing songs my whole life. I wrote my first song down on paper with accompanying chords etc when I was twelve. I had literally just started to play the guitar. I even had to learn a new chord to finish the middle eight and finish the song. Musically, who inspires your tracks and who has influenced you over the years? I´m inspired by life events big and small. With music its all about the strength of the song writing for me. I will listen to any genre if the song is good. I´m obviously inspired by 80´s electro, New Wave, and 90´s dance. But there is a little Punk and Grunge in there too. There is a great online buzz about you now which is a great stepping stone in the music industry, what are you plans for the rest of the year? I´m so excited about the buzz and so grateful to the people taking an interest! I´d like someone to now give me a gazillion dollars so I can go make an album please! Ha HA! I think what is important to note here is like many other artists, Cinnamon Girl is independent, therefore free to grow indepedently. But because of the lack of funding, she will, like many others, depend on support from fans. An interesting turn in the music industry, there is an almost Pic´N´Mix style where you can find,pick and buy into your favourite artist. And Cinnamon Girl is one choice I would fill a bag of,and urge you to do the same.
Last month I featured the latest music video from UK singer 'Queen Of Hearts'. Her latest EP was released to critical claim from both fans and critics alike. I caught up with the Queen herself to chat music, fashion and future plans.
1 - Congrats on the new EP ... the tracks are great. What was the inspiration for the songs?
Thank you :) I'm inspired by the idea of love, so all my songs focus on that in some form, whether it be the good or the bad. I take ideas from what's going on in my own life and that of the people around me. I've always been a bit of an eavesdropper, the tube is a great place to pick up lyric ideas! :)
2 - You seem to have grown quite quickly since early tracks like 'Freestyle' and really seem to of come into your own with the new EP .. Do you feel like you have honed in on your image and sound over the last year or do you like to constantly evolve?
I think so, I've always known what I want to create musically and what sort of artist I would be stylistically, but I think it's so important to grow and working with new people constantly pushes me and takes me to places I never thought I could go, and I love that. My life has changed so much in the last year on a personal level as well, so I think a lot of that comes out in my writing and the sound of "Neon/Tears" EP compared to "The Arrival" EP.
3 - Over the last year or two the music critics (PopJustice,Q etc) have really backed you. As a young artist how does it feel to have such strong support from important music heads?
I feel incredibly lucky! I'm a country girl, I wrote a lot of my songs in my bedroom and wasn't sure whether anyone would ever hear any of them, but now people are actually supporting me, buying the records and asking for an album. As an artist you constantly doubt yourself, so to have support from people who don't have to back you is incredibly overwhelming, sometimes you have to pinch yourself.
4 - You have worked with some fantastic producers over the last year including the Sound of Arrows, how important is it for you when choosing producers to work with and are you eyeing up any for the future? Massively important, I'm a bit of a perfectionist and have an exact idea of how I want the album to sound, so to work with artists that I actually admire like Monarchy, Bright Light Bright Light and The Sound of Arrows is amazing. AlunaGeorge and Mark Reeder also did remixes of my singles, which felt a bit like Christmas, Easter and my birthday all at once, like I said, I'm a very lucky girl. I'm a big fan of Richard X and Patrick Berger, so I'm going to try and bribe them with cake to work with me in the future! At the end of summer (not that we've had one) I'm also heading out to work with Frankmusik, so this is becoming an incredibly exciting year for me and the QOH album.
5 - The new EP has just been released, and is going down quite well with critics and fans. What are you plans from here ... will you be focused on gigs or are you planning a full LP?
A bit of both really, I want to put out a couple more EP's before a full album, but I'm also planning to spread my wings and venture out of London for a mini tour.
6 - Growing up who and what inspired you? Music/Fashion etc
I was a massive Michael Jackson and Madonna fan. I used to go through my mum's CD collection, there was a lot of 80s electro like Howard Jones, Wham, The Thompson Twins, The Human League, so I was drawn to that synthetic electronic sound from a young age. I was a kid of the nineties so, that whole dance/techno sound was pretty big, even though I wasn't old enough to go out and rave. I do remember doing karaoke at about age 11 to Ace of base, so that's where the Swedish obsession came from. I'm a magpie and I've always been attracted to the weird and wonderful style wise, I remember when I saw the pictures of Bjork in the swan dress at the Oscars and thought, "That's a pop star"
7 - Your image is very strong, do you play a strong part in the art direction for your shoots and videos? Yes, I have an amazing team that make my ideas possible, I'm a bit left of centre and my lyrics can be quite dark, so I want everything I do visually to reflect that. I'm also a bit colourblind when it comes to style, I pretty much only wear black and my style is very classic, I like long dresses, lace, leather, high neck lines and accessories.
8 - You have performed at various fashion shows and events, is there any designers or artists out there that you would like to collaborate with?
I've been very lucky to have worn some wonderful pieces from the likes of Inbar Spector, Lako Bukia, Charlie Le Mindu and Hasan Hejazi. I also love working with up and coming designers straight out of fashion college, because they take risks and put so much love into their creations, I've worn pieces by Lucy Kenney and Emily Sowden. I love clothes that are different from the norm and make you feel incredible when you put them on. I guess in a dream world, I'd love to wear some Marc Jacobs, Alexander McQueen or Vivienne Westwood.
9 - Today, record labels seem very unwilling to get behind a new artist, they seem to wait for them to make themselves successes on Youtube etc before signing ... Have you found it difficult at any stage to really get yourself across to companies?
It's a double-edged sword at the moment. Labels have less money to spend on new artists because less people are buying music, so we all have our part to play. I do think majors could take more risks with who they sign, but the great thing about the internet is that it makes the industry a level playing field - it's become much easier to make your music accessible to the public. There are people all over the world listening to my songs, that's pretty incredible. The internet is a powerful tool, use it wisely.
10 - Looking forward, what are your plans and goals for the next year?
I like the element of surprise, life doesn't care about your plans, so why make them? A year and a half ago, I didn't have any songs, this summer I'm playing Wireless Festival in Hyde Park, that's pretty incredible. Ultimately, I want to put out the album and tour, everything else that comes along the way is a bonus. I'm very grateful to have a supportive fan base and to be making music, I plan to enjoy every minute of that.
Queen Of Hearts new EP 'Neon/Tears In The Rain' is available now!
I'm staying with my family for a few weeks before I make the big move to Dublin and I have a young nephew that I take care of and watch television with. Granted, he is five and likes cartoons but he loves to watch a lot of my favourite films too and he is obsessed with witches and the Wizard Of Oz just like me. So in saying that, compared to the darker films and tv series' DVD's I have been showing him that I loved when I was younger (and still do!) I was pretty shocked at how tame, censored and well basicaly un imaginative children's tv is today.
I know that when I was younger we had pretty tame shows too, mostly the American shows on Nickeloden (Kenan and Kel, Tucker etc) and I loved those too but there was such a mix of more gritty, Un- CGI and homemade shows around. I have box sets of shows like Sweet Valley High, Are You Afriad Of The Dark? and Sabrina at home but I began to really look back at my favourite shows and wanted to share them with you!
'Are You Afraid Of The Dark?' was one of my favourite shows on Nickelodeon along with millions of others at the time. 'The Midnight Society' would meet in the dark woods every week to throw some sand in the fire (see we didn't see CGI then!) and tell a horror story that would be shown to us. Some of the scariest episodes included ,'The Tale Of The Deadman's Float',' The Tale Of The Queit Librarian', 'The Tale Of The Ghastly Grinner', and 'The Tale Of The Night Shift'. What I loved about this show was that it was geniunley scary, they wanted to scare kids and tell a real horror story. As the years went on and the show was revived for just one year it lost some of its original charm. But this will always be the pinacle of Children's scarytime TV.
Sabrina, Libby, Valerie, Harvey, Salem ... Need I go on? One of the best television shows of all time! Started to fade a little when she went to college but the first four seasons were amazing! 'Pancake Madness' is still one of the funniest episodes ever! ''They say she keeps her belongings in a shopping cart'' , Libby really was a comic genius!
In the 80's and 90's Children's TV here in the UK and Ireland loved to feature a lot of tv shows produced in Australia and New Zealand. 'Round The Twist' was one of the most popular. The show revolved around a family who lived in a lighthouse and strange,creepy and bizarre things happened to them. The show's first two seasons mostly dealt with the ghosts of the family's deceased members. The show ran for four seasons over eleven years (!) and is also available on DVD and YouTube.
In the 90's, one of the best tween shows around was 'Ready Or Not'. Popular girl Amanda and more gawky Busy were best friends and dealt with more cringey and realistic teenager issues than in shows today. From Busy getting her first period to sex issues, boyfriends and arguements with family and friends. This is a show my mom did not like me watching on Saturday mornings and that's always a sign of good tv!
Back when MTV wasn't all about pre teen girls with babies and Italians getting drunk and eating pickles, there was smart shows that millions of teenagers could relate too. The early 90's had Beavis and Butthead while the latter 90's had Daria. Packed full of stereotypical characters in the best possible way including Daria's sister Quinn and best friend Jane, Daria was clever, funny and best of all had 'Sick Sad World'.
One of the best cartoon television series,Ever was 'Hey Arnold!'. The show was full of loveable characters like Helga, Grandmpa and 'Football Head' himself Arnold. The show also had some serious heart, great storylines and led to a successful film of the same name.
Another successful Nickelodeon tv show that spawned a film was 'Doug'. The show followed Doug and his friends Skeeter and Patti. The show ran for four years on Nickelodeon before being sold to the Disney Channel which made changes to the show that saw its decline.
'Rugrats' was and still is one of the most famous children's cartoons. It was also one of the first shows to incorporate enough humour,heart and good storylines to appeal to a mass audience. Along with a succesful tv series the show also spawned three major films.
One of my favourite early 90's teen shows is 'My So Called Life'. Although the show only ran for one season (Claire Danes did not want to continue filming) it has a huge cult status. The show starred both Claire Danes and Jared Leto. Danes played Angela, an awkward teenager who starts to rebel again her usual straight A status. It was 90's grunge, funny and also showcased a gay lead character, a brave move at the time.
'The Wonder Years' was a show that my family and I loved to watch together. Watching these early 90's shows with my family are some of my earliest memories. I just loved waiting for Fred Savage's character to finally pluck up the courage to ask out Winnie. Oh the drama!
Another Saturday night show with the family was 'Blossom'. Blossom lived with her two brothers and father and the show dealt with various problems a teenager faces. Typical 'after school special' stuff but great viewing!
My mom loved watching this with myself and my sister. Not completley old enough to understand everything I do remember getting excited to watch the show and see his neighbour hide behind the fence! I think I also may of had some of my earliest crushes on the sons. Ha!
Often thought of as another 'Afraid Of The Dark' I never found the show as scary. This was probably due to an increase of CGI effects which made things less real. Apart from this the show still had a lot of creepy moments and some great stories that were spawned from the R.L. Stine books. Another show that everyone was discuss the next say at school!
Similar to 'Round The Twist', 'Mirror Mirror' was another popular Aussie import. The first series followed Jo, a young teen who went through her mirror to visit Louisa, a girl from 1919 who originally owned the mirror. By Season two the show revolved around new characters passing through various mirrors.
One of my favourite tween shows was 'The Tribe', the show aired for two seasons and revolved around a group of teenagers living in a shopping mall after the town is evacuated. Silly fun at the time but I was hooked!
Apart from Nickelodeon having some great cartoon series', Cartoon Network also had some great originals that often had some pretty offbeat humour. One of my early favourites was the fantastic 'Beetlejuice' tv series. I just loved Lydia's quirky outfits and the dark tone of the show!
Cartoon Network was also home to my other favourites Dexter's Lab and Cow and Chicken! (Above)
Art Attack - the show that got be hooked on art and made me mess the living room up dozens of times. And was I the only kid who never had PVA glue?! My life!
'The Magic School Bus' was one of those shows that was always on when I was sick at home from school. It revolved around a teacher, her school class and a magic bus that 'made learning fun'. Not why I watched it but there you go.
'Clueless' the tv show was far less raunchy that the original movie but none the less it was still great fun! This would come on at 7pm and myself and my sister would jump on the couch to watch!
I also used to watch shows from the 60's to 80's either on Saturday mornings or when I would come home from playschool. I loved watching 'Bewitched' and 'I Dream Of Jeannie' with my mom.
My dad introduced me to H.R. Puffinstuff - a show about a little boy that followed a magcial flute to an Island where a bunch of colourful characters lived and a wicked witch who wanted to posses the talking flute!
Every Saturday night I would have a sleepover with my grandmother ( I really was the coolest kid!) and my Uncle who was a teenager at the time would watch loads of films and shows. Every Saturday morning 'Fame' would come on and I just loved it. My favourite episode was their interpretation of 'The Wizard Of Oz'. I was obsessed!
'Dungeons and Dragons' was another show my uncle introduced me to. I just loved the creep intro where the children were at the fair and got carried into a haunted house ride!
Other shows worth a mention!
What were your favourite shows? Let me know! Did I miss anything? Then get on YouTube and start watching these gems!
Hey everyone! Just a quick post to check in with you all! As you may know Gutter Candy Magazine is launching 02/07/12' and I'm working quite hard on that! Everything is going well and I can't wait to share it with you! Some of you guys contributed work which will be shown and it looks great!
On another note I am moving to Dublin full time in a few weeks where I will be performing more shows and working on quite a few exciting projects! I am also going to be blogging and updating far more as I will have more things to share! I am also going to begin weekly video blogs! This is something I have been wanting to do for a few months now as I wanted to really give everyone a better insight into my life! I'm going to be talking to you backstage before shows, introducing some of my friends, talking more about projects and interacting with you all much more!
I would love if you subscribed to my YouTube page www.youtube.com/evinfashion where I will begin vlogging quite soon!
I am also on Twitter (@evincandy) where you can follow and tweet me!
Last Week I performed at QueerBash, an annual event held by OutInUL from UL Limerick. The show had a tribal theme and I was inspired by cannibals and nightmares. I performed to Grace Jones,'Corporate Cannibal' and the scene was set with a dead fallen angel, a pregant princess and Candy Warhol playing a cannibalistic witch. The dress I created took over two days to hand sew and included thousands of various black materials over lapped. I paired the outfit with a skull headpiece I made earlier in the week.
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