Earlier this month, Radio Assistant Branding Director, Logan Fitch had the opportunity to sit down and talk to Drag Performer Biqtch Puddin’ about games, background, legacy and what it’s like performing. Read the transcript and listen to the interview below.
Logan: Hey SCAD Radio listeners, I’m your branding assistant, Logan Fitch, and today we’re
here with Biqtch Puddin’ for our interview today.
Biqtch: Hi! I’m so glad I showered for y’all.
Logan: It’s great to see you here. Thank you. How are you doing today?
Biqtch: I’m good. Nice to be back in Savannah, Georgia. It’s great. I was born here. People think
I’m from Atlanta, but I was really born in Savannah.
Logan: Really?
Biqtch: Yeah. Oh, well, at least Biqtch was. Steven was born in Jacksonville but that’s a dead
name, so we don’t like to mention her.
Logan: Yeah, we don’t talk about her.
Biqtch: No, we don’t. Well, SCAD says Steven Glendale, so let’s go.
Logan: Okay, So getting into our interview: What is the main idea of your drag? What makes
Biqtch Biqtch?
Biqtch: So that’s a really fun question because I kind of started doing drag at SCAD at Third Act.
I started doing drag at Third Act in the performing arts department. I was challenged to a charity
event. I was like, ‘Let’s do a charity show’. We’ll do a drag show and raise some money and I
was like, ‘Oh great, amazing’. And then slowly but surely I developed the character over time
being like, Oh, it’s video games, it’s this and this. And then when I won Dragula, I was like, ‘Oh,
now I really have to really think about a brand,’ because at this point I just kind of go and chase
after male track, and then I finally got the male track and was like, Wait, what’s going on? And
then I organically looked back at my process and I was like, Wait, I’m like pizza. My favorite
video game character. I am the 80’s rock, I am all those things together. I’m an alien on Dragula
I, I did JonBenet in drag. I do all these, like, iconic things and it’s like nostalgia, like that feeling,
that unapologetic feeling of like, I remember that and got excited about it, like Pokemon cards
and stuff like that, that, like that obscene obsession with, like, nostalgia is like literally what my
drag is all about. And that’s like, why I throw a party monthly at Precinct DTLA. It’s called
Biqtchin’, and where we have video games, we have drag. I have like 90’s anime playing on the
TVs and then like, you know, it’s like a fierce show and there’s video games on the patio and like
everyone’s like, ‘oh my god, I love this party’ because it’s that encapsulation of like nostalgia.
Logan: No, that’s so cool, seeing you through your work.
Biqtch: Yeah, for a while I was like, ‘I don’t know what the hell I’m doing, and then I was like,
wait’, there’s like, I drew the bubbles on the board because I’m type B, I’m not a type-A girly, I’m
not that girl. And whatever your creative process is, is your own process, but you’re doingsomething organic. So like if you’re struggling, being like, ‘I’m making all this art, I have no idea
what the hell I’m doing’. Then like, you can like, put it on the board and ‘wait, these connect in
this way and all’. It’s for me at least, this nostalgia, you know?
Logan: So on that topic of developing your drag, so obviously, your style has a clear influence to
video games and like, female characters from video games…
Biqtch: Like, right now I look like a final fight character, for sure.
Logan: Yeah, definitely, definitely. Very like Street Fighter. Yes. Fatality.
Biqtch: Yeah. Let’s kill it. Yeah, indeed.
Logan: So what are the other, like, main influences other than nostalgia to your drag style?
Biqtch: My mom. My mom was a military wife for years and she partied a lot in the eighties and
just watching her like the housewives that always get together when the men were all deployed
on ships for multiple months and they would all get together and it would be like a little fire and
then they would like let the kids run around and eat pizza and they’d be smoking cigarettes and
drinking Arbor Mist until the wee hours of the morning. And if I sat there and was super quiet,
they’d forget I was there. And then I was like, Oh my God. And then they would have all these,
like, amazing stories about how they met their husband in the eighties or who they hooked up
with, or like just small trivia shit, and my mom was always like one of the best storytellers in that
regard. And when she got drunk, she was like really floozy and just like really fun. And, you
know, my mom’s a huge inspiration for me. You know.
Logan: I love seeing, like, your content where you include your family. It’s really nice to see,
especially because so many queens have negative experiences when exactly I was like
families.
Biqtch: I’m very fortunate in that regard. Like my mom’s definitely helped me in my early career.
Like ‘I just need 40 more dollars to buy a wig’, it’s like, ‘Oh my god, not again’. Yeah, it’s kind of
cool to see like a full circle now, where I did, however, I made you channel and we got to do that
collaboration. It was really great. And yeah, she’s a spitfire. She’s really fun now.
Logan: Yeah.I can tell she’s really fun from your videos.
Biqtch: And she like threw like Navy function parties of how I kind of like grew up in it and stuff
like that. So that’s kind of cool too.
Logan: So switching gears, you’ve been very open in past interviews about making pride and
drag events accessible for all ages. Especially those under 21 who can’t go to bars and, you
know, tip the girls. So why do you think exposure and representation is so important for
underage drag fans?
Biqtch: I think it’s so important because having that connection to somebody that you look up to
in a positive way can have such a profound impact on young people, especially young queer
youth. When I originally won Dragula, a lot of the people that were fans because it’s more
alternative. So we have like all those little emo babies out there, like, I like you Biqtch Puddin’,
but I’m not 21. So I would try my best to go do meet and greets at the LGBTQ youth centers like
in multiple cities at least when I first won.It was kind of hard later on, but I like to do it again, but
I try to go out there and experience that. Last night with SCAD Queers and Allies and then just
do a little meet and greet and stuff like that, because not everyone can go to a show like
especially in the city with like students and finals week. Like, you know. I’m surprised you’re
giving your time here today. You know what I mean? So, like, yeah, I think it’s just so important
to have that accessibility and knowing that being queer is okay and to be out and proud is like a
really powerful thing because I don’t know My favorite song at the moment is Carly Rae
Jepsen’s Cut to the Feeling because like that second, you cut the feel to the feeling of being
happy, whereas that blissful or that nostalgic feeling like, Oh my God, it’s like that’s you want to
get in the pool and have fun. But a lot of people are scared to jump into the pool. I was one of
them, so that’s why I tried to be loud, and visible and proactive about it, because I’m like, Girl,
let’s get to the fun. Let’s cut to the feeling. Yeah.
Logan: Beautiful. Yeah. We love Carly Rae Jepsen
Biqtch: Yeah, honey, I just saw her last week. It was good. Yeah, it was fun she picked up a
sword to Cut to the Feeling. I was like, Yeah, Yes. Dragula girl and Carly Rae Jepsen. You heard
it here first. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. I actually do a number with Michael Myers, and I’m a final girl
to Carly Rae Jepsen. It’s fun. That’s like a good time.
Logan: That’s iconic. So bringing back to what you had mentioned about being a more
alternative artist compared to other Queens today, so with drag becoming more mainstream and
commercialized, drag shows are kind of becoming like commodities.
Biqtch: Yeah.
Logan: And how has it affected your career, especially being a more obviously alternative artist?
Biqtch: I think that people don’t realize that there’s a market for everyone and they kind of like,
focus on like let’s just say West Hollywood, for instance, the very focus on, you know, pretty
posh, amazing, beautiful, stunning, lovely things. But, you know, the grit and dirt exists, too, in
the world. And that’s just as fierce and amazing. And I kind of like to spotlight that. And I don’t
know, I always have created a way for myself. I mean, even producing the the drag show here
kind of led me to years later during the worldwide pandemic to producing the digital drag show
and kind of providing queers a paycheck throughout the pandemic because the government
was looking out for drag entertainers and everyone was scared because their safe havens like
gay spaces or at least clubs in a lot of ways are still our safe havens is where we feel safe. It’s
also kind of like church. You get to catch up and see a really great show, or even better, a really
bad show, like a really bad drag show is my favorite thing. So to me, and that’s that’s the hope
that you can make your own opportunities and yeah, like you can do whatever you want.
Logan: No digital drag definitely changed the world. I know a lot of queer artists out there were
struggling, especially during the pandemic.
Biqtch: That was so cool to like, literally, we didn’t expect it to blow up. Like for those who didn’t
know, I started that digital drag show on Twitch. Like the week as soon stuff closed down and I
kind of girded up my loins and produced that show and during that week were featured in
Billboard, Paper Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Wall Street Journal even covered it. It was like
this whole wide phenomenon, the whole business model was kind of taken by like PEG and
other conglomerates in the drag space to really produce their own shows. And it was really cool.
If people are like, Are you mad about them? I’m like, No, I made the business model. So we
could survive as a community. Like, I didn’t invent the drag show. I just changed how you
experience it, you know?
Logan: And it’s awesome that that can be like accredited, like to your legacy, right?
Biqtch: Yeah, it’s very honorable too. And that’s another way for people to connect with drag
because a lot of people are like, I’m physically impaired, so I can’t go to the club or I’m not. I’m a
minor, I can’t go and you can like totally tune in on Twitch and Twitch, there’s guidelines to make
it accessible for everybody. And I have a really cool plan to bring digital drag back, or at least
that show back in a physical realm and still streaming on Twitch, which I’m really excited about.
Logan: Yeah, definitely. That’s so cool. I can’t wait to see. So yeah. And the pandemic, you did
create a lot of opportunities for queer people and how do you see online drag being utilized in
the future?
Biqtch: I think it’s just the beginning, to be honest. Like I just hosted TwitchCon in San Diego. It
was amazing. Me and my co-host, Deere, who founded Stream Queens, it’s a collective of drag
artists on Twitch. It was really awesome co-hosting with her and we had like 70,000 people
watching, and a lot of people were like, That was my first drag show I ever got to see. So it’s just
that accessibility, exposing people, doing things and you’re like, drag is overexposed. I know
there are 75 seasons of Drag Race airing all simultaneously. There’s a new season of Dragula.
You know, there’s a lot going on, but you know, it’s still like people are still accessing or might
have heard of it before, but didn’t have that access to it. So it’s just, you know, I think it’s just
only the beginning. And as we are getting TikTok-ed out to Jesus, no matter if I don’t like the
platform, I like the platform, but it’s just like I don’t like short form. But still, it’s another way for a
lot of artists to come up and you’re about to see a couple of them on Drag Race, which is kind of
really cool too. So like the digital space is something they’re not to be played with and it’s also a
really great way to learn. There’s lots of tutorials out now that weren’t around ten years ago
when I started Drag at all. You can learn how to do this eyeshadow literally on my YouTube
channel. Yeah, but like, you know, that didn’t exist. I was watching Willam kind of do it on her
Instagram and I was like, I don’t know what the hell she’s doing, but I’m trying.
Logan: Yeah. And so while we’re on the topic of digital drag, so what personally do you enjoy
more doing the digital shows or being back on stage now that bars are reopening?
Biqtch: I like both. I like the physicality of connecting with people, but I also like the power of the
performance. As you were able to do during digital drag, because I had to shut up and watch
you, you know, and you could kind of do a ballad and do something really intimate and have in
the camera and be like, right here. Like the first number I did for digital Drag was Imogen Heap’s
‘Hide and Seek’. And it was a really cool way to kind of like literally look into people’s eyes and
like, you know, it was like it was that song lyrically also is really embodiment of what’s
happening at the moment. Like everything was shutting down. You didn’t know what the future
was kind of like and then it was like this moment of standing still in time. And yeah, my favorite
part about digital drag though, I lost my drag mother earlier this year and she never got to a
platform. She was like, one of the ones that kind of inspired me to connect video games with my
drag and my art and she had this innate ability, regardless of what you were doing when she
walked onstage, by the end of the number, the whole room was setting up and watching her.
There’s not there’s very few entertainers there like that. Evah Destruction’s one. Kiara was one.
Sasha Colby is one. There’s very few entertainers I really like. And Jake Dupree, who’s a fellow
SCAD alumni, is also that way too. So it’s very way hard to kind of like do that. And watching her
art being exposed to the masses was very, very powerful and, you know, she never made it to a
platform form of Drag Race or Dragula, which I think she totally would have won Season Five.
But a lot of people got to experience her art that way. And that was a lot of people to a lot of
people got to experience art in new ways that they never could have before. And I’m really
proud and honored to provide that.
Logan: Yeah, well, at least you can share her message through your drag everyday.
Biqtch: One thousand percent. And I love Jake Dupree. Go check out Jake Dupree who is a
fabulous non-binary icon. He’s a SCAD alumni. Really nice entertainer. Yeah. I love you, Jake.
Logan: So before we did mention Dragula, how has your journey since Dragula really changed
you as an artist? Because I know earlier you mentioned how it kind of forced you to take
branding more seriously and become a brand, not just an artist.
Biqtch: Dragula definitely incredibly helped my career. It gave me like a platform and I think
that’s what most people realize; they, like want to be on a show for the platform but don’t really
understand what you got to do once you get on one and how to monopolize on that because
they’re like, ‘Ooh, I’m on Drag Race’, but like they don’t know how to like, they’re like, Oh yeah,
shirt, song, whatever. But that is just the beginning of your journey and understand that
regardless of your place, if you win, great, if you don’t, whatever. You can still make a whole
career and a legacy out of it. And I think that’s what people really, when they watch shows and
they are like, Oh, they have this like weird edit of, let’s just say, La Zavaleta is an interesting
example. In season four, one of the best entertainers from the franchise can burn the building
down. An artist, Miss Bushwick, legendary child literally on Dragula. And she’s a queer person
from Mexico City, a spitfire, and everyone, like, painted her wrong and she’ll tweet and people
like, I didn’t like you on the show. That’s such a small sliver of that person’s life that’s being
fractioned and put up. And then you watch it and you’re like, what? So I think like, you know,
drag like gave me a huge platform and I’m so grateful for The Boulet Brothers. And if you’re not
watching the current season of Titans or any of the seasons of Dragula that’s on Shudder right
now, if y’all don’t check it out, you can get like a free temporary thing and just change the email
and renew it. Yeah, Little tip right there because I know you SCAD students. But yeah, I just
think like, you know, it definitely exponentially it gave me the opportunity to go do nightgowns for
Sasha Velour, you know, like I got to tour the world. I headlined three tours in the UK, one of
them with like Alaska, Adore, Courtney, like people at Latrice, Like people who I literally watched
and did drag with. I was like, I’m in the middle of the poster of this tour. Do you know what I
mean? So like, that wouldn’t have been possible if I didn’t win Dragula and get that exposure.
Logan: And so before you mentioned queens, like Evah Destruction and you talked about being
on Dragula, and like being so inspired by other artists. Yeah. Which artists from the show inspire
you the most?
Biqtch: Abhora. And I’m very sad to see what happened to her in Titans so far. And that artist is
somebody that literally will have a chapter in art history about. And I don’t think people
understand that. Like, I’m a huge art history nerd. I originally was an art history major before I
switched to performing arts major. And I’m like, that’s somebody who is inspiring people right
now, like HoSo, Astrud. So a lot of people in this new season and started drag because they
watched Dragula season two and that might have been my bubbly personality but I know it’s
because of the artists that you’re seeing and like and people like Abhora or Victoria Elizabeth
Black. She’s also another huge one that inspires me. I’m actually seeing her next week and
we’re going to get really fun at Halloween Horror Nights. She does a lot of stuff for Halloween
Horror Nights. She’s an amazing special effects makeup artist. If anyone’s interested in special
effects, check out Victoria Elizabeth Black on Dragula. That’s something we definitely want to
see. Yeah, for sure. Yeah.
Logan: Yeah. And your season was actually my introduction to Dragula,
Biqtch: So cool. Awesome. Did you watch it because I was on there or you were like, ‘I don’t
even know who that is’.
Logan: Ok, so you actually were like my introduction to Dragula. I saw a performance of you, I
think, at Mickey’s, where you’re doing Smells Like Teen Spirit.
Biqtch: Oh, and I dislocated my shoulder and I popped it back in place. That wasn’t me.
Logan: No, that was legendary.
Biqtch: Yeah, I got surgery on that. I feel we don’t cartwheel anymore, but you know.
Logan: Yeah, iconic!
Biqtch: We’re here today because of that dislocating your shoulders work. Yeah.
Logan: Yeah. If you ever want to go on SCAD Radio, dislocate your shoulder.
Biqtch: And then you can make it too, kids.
Logan: Setting a good example.
Biqtch: Yeah. So, Violet Chachki…
Logan: Oh, yes.
Biqtch: Yeah. Yeah. People like to say she graduated. She did not graduate from SCAD.
Mm hmm.
Logan: Love her. Respect her.
Biqtch: Amazing. She did not graduate. She took fashion design classes, but she did not
graduate.
Biqtch: And the classes definitely paid off.
Logan: Yeah, the classes paid off.
Biqtch: I mean, and then a fellow alumni designed a lot of stuff for her, and they worked
together. Their name is Anthony Kenny; House of Kenny on Instagram. They designed their
iconic look. I, honestly, Violet deserves a degree. Regardless, they should give it all a degree
because like she’s sickening and art like literally inspired so many people and such a fucking
influential artist. But she did something like the crowning gown, like that iconic step up and her
step down that both gowns Anthony made. He’s like her corset maker. Yeah, he was actually
like a production design student in the film, in the performing arts, like film department. And then
he learned sewing after the fact. He took one class and so on, and then he became like a legit,
like seamstress after that. So if you get to the end of your SCAD career and you’re like, ‘I don’t
know why I’m in this’, understand that your journey will wind itself to where you’re supposed to
be and just stay creative and have fun. And he’s actually made my outfit I’m wearing tonight for
pride, so that’s cool. So we’ll see that later. Okay. Social media. So the shout out to alumni
Violet Chachki and Anthony Kenny.
Logan: Just wrapping up. Is there anything you want to promote and plug for us via this
platform? SCAD radio, of course, is high. I stream a lot on Twitch, so I know you guys are
studying and you probably need something.
Biqtch: Distract yourself or your focus. You can follow me at Twitch.TV/BiqtchPuddin. That’s by
cutesy. It’s Puddin and I stream a lot of fighting games. Occasionally I play Dead By Daylight,
but I know I just usually like to sit there and talk. So if you have any questions about your career
or whatever, please pop in chat, I will be more than happy to answer you and it’s a very easy
way to connect to people. Is on Twitch. I think it’s really amazing. I’m a twitch partner, but that’s
not why I’m saying that. It’s because I actually believe in the platform. You also can find me a
bitch pudding on all social media platforms and I have a very exciting show opportunity coming
up and you might see me in a new show next year, like a little TV moment, which will be cute.
Yeah. And then if you’re ever in L.A. and you’re above 21, you can catch me at Precinct DTLA
with my monthly party, Biqtchin’. And we play emo and hip hop music, and it’s a fabulous drag
show with people from all over the world. And we have video games on the patio. If you’re a
SCAD alumni, DM me and I’ll put you on the guest list for free.
Logan: Wow. Perfect. So definitely. Yeah, yeah. Well, it’s been lovely. Thank you so much.
Biqtch.
Biqtch: Thanks for having me. And go Bees! Yep.
Logan: Okay, so thank you. I’ve been Logan Fitch, your branding assistant, signing off from
SCAD radio. Thank you. See you later,
Biqtch: Byeeeeee!
