More about: Trixie Mattel

Drag queen, musician, author, CEO, presenter, icon – Trixie Mattel does it all. The drag race fan fave is far more than just runway royalty, Trixie Mattel is a musician first. With several albums under their wing and collaborations with artists including Orville Peck and Shakey Graves, Brian Firkus (AKA. Trixie Mattel) extends their Dolly Parton look into a 60s inspired, deeply country influenced music career that demands your respect and attention.

Set apart from other drag queens’ tours, Trixie takes the classic reveals and costumes and adds in a full band for the current Grown Up world tour. Combining all the humour you’d expect from a drag race winner with the bonus of some serious musicianship - don’t shrug off the tunes, this goes way beyond novelty tracks.

Linking up to talk all things music, we asked the icon some quick fire questions...

GW: Let's start with an easy one, what’s your current favourite song?

TM: I really love ‘Name For You’ by The Shins, it’s not new so I’m not sure why I’m listening to it right now. It’s like ten years old but I love it. I love The Shins and I think their song writing is so stupid and it’s so ridiculous what he can do with words.

I also really love beach bunny right now – there’s one song called ‘Sports’ that’s really cute.

And what’s one song that you’re absolute sick of?

There’s a lot of songs I hate. The number one song I hate, the worst song of all time is ‘Hey Ya!’ by Outkast. It’s the fucking worst shit ever; I just hate it. It’s almost like a meme how long it is, especially the part that’s like “alright alright alright alright” bit. It’s like ice picks to my brain.

What was your first musical memory?

My mom used to listen to Tchaikovsky when I was in the womb… that’s not true.

When I was 3 or 4 I’d sit on my grandpas knee and on his other knee he’d have a guitar and he’d play chords and I’d have a pick and play. That’s one of my earliest memories – my grandpa in his work clothes, like a plumbing outfit, playing guitar.

Is that what made you first pick up and learn to play guitar properly?

What’s funny is that my grandpa always played but I never really wanted to play properly. But my brother got a guitar and he wanted to be like Blink-182, which everybody at the time wanted to be Blink-182. But he quit the guitar in like a week and it just sat there and then in summer break in middle school I had nothing to do so I picked it up and got a book about how to play guitar from the library and started to teach myself. So if my brother hadn’t tried and quit, I’d have never learnt to play.

My editor demanded I ask you for tips for playing guitar with nails…

I just don’t wear nails when I play guitar! When I tour with the band, I just paint my nails every night. I don’t know how people do that, I can’t.

If you could swap places with any musician, dead or alive, who would it be?

Why would I swap places with a dead musician…? You don’t swap places with people who are dead, just as a rule.

Would I be as brilliant as them? Like I get to just be them as an artist? I’d love to be Aimee Mann for like 5 fucking seconds, she’s like fucking Beyonce bitch, she’s so good. Her songwriting is so good, her playing is so good, her relationship with lyrics and melody and everything is just so inspiring. I just love her.

On your current tour set list, what’s your favourite song to play?

I love playing ‘Jesse Jesse’. It’s funny cause ‘Hello Hello’ and ‘C’mon On Loretta’ are the new ones, but I fucking love playing ‘Jesse Jesse’, it’s so mellow. The band and I just get so into it, it’s so fun. It’s such a cornball song, people really love it.

When you write songs do you write them as Trixie or as yourself as Brian?

Really good question! Certain songs like this town were just written for myself, for my own enjoyment. And then songs like ‘Hello Hello’ or ‘C’mon Loretta’, some of those ones on the new album I even went into the studio in full drag and recorded them. I think there’s a dissonance to be honest, I think there’s the music I like to write and then there’s the music that works with Trixie and sometimes it’s like trying to fit a square in a circle. But I’ve found that as long as you’re honest with it, people don’t mind hearing something a little more personal.

If Trixie had a theme tune that would play every time you walked into a room, what would it be?

Imperial Teen's 'Yoo Hoo' from Jawbreaker, of course. That’s like everyone’s dream to slowly walk down a hallway to that song. That’s one of my favourite ones to put on when I’m getting in drag or I’ll put my earbuds on to get into a car to a show. It’s so sexy and lazy and sinister sounding.

And a classic one for the last question - if you could only take 3 things to a desert island, what would they be?

My white Hummingbird guitar, my Gameboy colour, I’m playing Pokemon Blue right now and its still good. Then a bunch of Hi-chews, I know that in a desert island situation they’re not very nourishing but at least I’d die happy.

Trixie Mattel is on a UK tour right now, get tickets here 

Issue Three of the Gigwise Print magazine is on sale now! Order here.

More about: Trixie Mattel