Photography by Chrissy Bulakites
Interview by Lariscious
To simply refer to Macy Rodman as a “drag queen” is a misnomer. A Macy Rodman performance is a true multi-media assault on all the senses. Her Monday nights at Don Pedro’s in Williamsburg is one of the best kept secrets in Brooklyn, but with her recent domination of the first Mr(s) Williamsburg pageant, that is quickly changing.
The statuesque Alaskan beauty took time to talk to us at Posture about her vision of drag.
Congratulations on becoming the first Mr(s) Williamsburg. Tell us how
you got started with drag to taking the title.
Thank you! I got started doing drag at a party I was DJing in LES like two years ago called “Jennifer Aniston” at this place called Sweet Paradise. They wanted a gay party, but it was more just a weird party with the music we played and the people there. So I decided to start doing drag to be our like rainbow flag in the window. That’s really where I developed my drag persona and ended up at Don Pedro and eventually all the BK drag parties.
Do you have a previous background in art and if so, how does it influence your performance and looks?
I went to school at Parsons for menswear design of all things, and ended up dropping out. I think what I got out of it at the end of the day was a critical eye for what I’m trying to “say” with a performance and/or look, and to identify things that I’m referencing and explore those. I’ve also written music forever and I’ve been producing my own stuff for like 3 years, so that really informs my work too. I have really eclectic taste because I was such a loner in school I never really learned that one genre was cool and another wasn’t.
Bath Salts is a truly unique Brooklyn drag experience. How did it come to fruition?
Well I’d played a few gigs at Don Pedro’s and started going to their Drag Race screening hosted by Amanda Poupon. It was more of a traditional viewing with a short number during commercials and funny quips from Amanda, and I came in drag sometimes and got to know Emily and Jake who work there pretty well. When the season was over, they wanted to keep Monday a gay night and asked me if I’d want to host, and I thought a themed variety show would be really fun. Our first show included a naked 70-something year old poet, me, Untitled Queen, and my friends DJing. We couldn’t pay anybody, so I wanted to make sure it was a fun show to do, and a place to try out whatever an artist was working on.
I really have to give Untitled credit for my network of drag queens though. She competed in Dragnet and I went to support her, and before that I didn’t really know any queens with parties in BK, just my friends who did drag as a hobby.
Where do you draw inspiration for your themes and what can one expect when attending a Bath Salts performance?
The themes are very much whatever I’m feeling or whatever I think is important at the time. Sometimes it’s more of a direct theme like we’ve had a “Golden Girls” night and a “Law and Order SVU” night. But sometimes it’s more of a prompt like “I Am High Fashion And A Product Of Inbreeding” or “Straight Sex and IntiMACY”. The great thing about it being weekly is that it can be super topical and I think thats a good way to look at what can be expected from the party. It’s an eclectic mix of influences, but always filtered through the lens of what’s “right now”.
We have to talk Mr(s) Williamsburg. What motivated you to compete?
Actually, Alotta McGriddles totally convinced me. I’m not crazy competitive, and the pressure makes me nervous, but Alotta was really adamant about making the pageant more about supporting each other and bringing the community together. And I have to say, the whole contest was such a great experience. I’ve met so many people in the scene, and I think the competition aspect just made us all want to show off for each other rather than beat each other down. The fact that me, Lady Simon, and Amber Alert were the top 3 in anything is so insane and amazing to me, I respect those girls so much for what they do.
What do you have in the works during your reign?
Well, I hope to incorporate more original content into my drag act. I’ve been working on “The Macy Rodman Mixtape” (tentative title) for a while now, and with the pageant opening up new venues to play at, I’m really excited to put some new music out and organize a really exciting live show. I’m filming a few music videos in the next couple of weeks for both myself and friends, and I’m planning to go on tour in October with Severely Mame in support of her party “Scream Queens”. That’s going to be a really fun, campy variety show that we’re gonna take around the East Coast, hopefully with the help of a Kickstarter. And of course with the pageant I get the opportunity to throw parties at the Mr(s) Williamsburg home bars, so I’m trying to plan some outside the box shows that hopefully no one will be expecting out of me. And I am also EXTREMELY excited to see the return of Bushwig, which I will help host this year. Basically just watching all the seeds that we planted last year blossom into beautiful, terrifying, stinky flowers.
In addition to all around badassery, Macy was also featured in the video of Mason Chambers King’s song “I’m a King”:
http://vimeo.com/66045307
Directed by Derek Mega, produced by Brik Olsen and Leah Pinero, and makeup by Kat Lloyd
