[WATCH] From The Fringe | The Drag King

A different kind of show with drag king Kim Cauchi 

Kim Cauchi in her drag persona 'Black Velvet'
Kim Cauchi in her drag persona 'Black Velvet'

How did you get into drag?

I got into drag about probably like a year and a half ago. I mean it was at some point in 2019. I started going up to Lollipop with a couple of my friends. My friends were just starting out doing drag as well and I’ve always had an interest in sort of like dressing up and doing like these different characters, playing out with makeup. And for me going towards the direction of drag, was an outlet for my creativity, that wasn’t directly tied to my work. So, it was doing something for myself, that I just find enjoyable.

What is drag?

I see drag as a play on gender expression. So, for me drag is tapping into my own masculine aspects while also keeping my own feminine one. It’s just a way for me to feel like myself nd express my gender in the way that I personally want.

Do you have to be gay to get into drag?

Not necessarily because drag isn’t about sexuality, it’s about gender. So basically, when it comes to drag people choose to portray, it could just be extremes of a gender. So, you could have drag queens that want to portray like hyperfeminine sort of characters, you could have drag kings that want to portray the more masculine aspects of being a man. You always have people that decide to do neither of that and just be completely non-binary because it’s just how they want to express themselves within gender. But you don’t need to be gay, you don’t need to be trans, you don’t need to be queer at all. In fact, there are plenty of very well-known drag queens that are married to women, while they are cis men. But on that note, I think it’s an important distinction between what a trans person is, to what a drag queen or a drag king is.

Who is your drag persona?

So, my character is Black Velvet and basically, it came from me being really obsessed with these old school horror movies and anything related to really dark occult stuff, very witchy stuff sort of thing. That and you know, it’s really satisfying sometimes going out like a bisexual Transylvanian necromancer. So, for me that’s always a plus.

Is the drag scene big in Malta?

The drag scene currently isn’t as big as for example the UK’s drag scene. However there has been a huge resurgence, with more people actively doing more looks and trying out more make up and things like that. Which is great. That could partially be because of how big shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race have become. It’s gone into the mainstream. People that maybe wouldn’t have been exposed to something like drag, now are being exposed to something on a much more on the bigger scale, you know. They have more access to it and anyone within our community, that’s like ‘oh hey! I think I could try that’. Now they’ve got the courage to go out and do it. We did have quite a big drag scene so to speak. We’re talking back in days, when he had that Strada Stretta thing but things had seemed to slow down after a while, especially with the closure of clubs like Closet for example. After that closed, that sort of put a bit of a dent in our drag history, but now that we’ve got parties like Lollipop for example, which is just like my absolute favourite. Before the lockdown, it would be the only thing that I’d be looking forward to at the end of the month. But now with parties like this, we’re seeing more people actually come out like, ‘hey, you know what, you can look stupid. Just come out, and drag and have night’.

Does drag help in LGBTIQ+ activism?

Yes of course. Cause at the end of the day, since more drag queens are becoming much more mainstream. If you go on, on lots of these very famous Drag Queens’ Instagram, you know, they have at least millions and millions of followers. So, when you’ve got a platform like that, it would be such a shame to not use it for something that for the greater good. The way I see it, if you’ve got a platform and you got something good to say, use it for good. So, I do think drag can help in activism in plenty of different ways.

Are you parents supportive?

Oh, they love it. My family is like super supportive even when getting ready today. My mum was like helping me put on my wigs, so it’s great.

Have you ever been sexualised when in drag?

Yes unfortunately, when you are in drag, a lot of people tend to forget that you’re also human. So, you will get people trying to touch you inappropriately, trying to get a little bit too close, a little bit too handsy because they see you as a character, not as a person. At the end of the day though, me being a woman, you’re going to be treated in a certain way. As a woman in general, so I could be walking down the street like this and get harassed. I could be walking in my PJs and I’m still going to get something anyway. So, in that regard, you are going to get some form of harassment definitely.

What qualities does your drag persona have that you wish you had?

I genuinely wish I had the confidence to dress up like a Transylvanian vampire all the time or at least just the freedom to dress in however way I want, dress in outlandish ways and it’s just that confidence in accepting both of my feminine and masculine traits. So, for me, my drag character is basically just saying, yes, women can be any form of woman they want to be. Femininity doesn’t have to be characterised and put into a certain box.

Is drag a form of escapism for you?

For me it’s totally a form of escapism. Especially when we were still going out to parties and things like that. I would be getting ready and I would totally just forget anything that happened at work, anything that’s going on at home. So, I could just sort say, ‘Kim you’re going to be Black Velvet now and you’re going to really enjoy your night’. Because it also gives you that little bit of confidence to just sort of completely let go anything, that is very self-limiting, within yourself. You can just absolutely throw that away for a couple of hours and become this totally different person. So for me, it’s like a great way of escaping the mundane, sort of routine of life, occasionally.

What do you wish people knew more about drag?

How liberating it is and how I honestly genuinely believe that everyone should just try it least once in their life. That is even for example, if someone’s straight or whatever. It is genuinely such an experience that you get to see yourself in a different light and I think people will also tend to start accepting parts of themselves, that maybe they may have been veiling for quite a lot of time.

How long does it take you to get ready?

It can take anywhere from between like three to five hours. It depends on what look I’m doing really and how much time I have. I have managed to get in ready really fast if I really need to be somewhere, but in reality, if I’m taking my time, I’ve got at least like a solid four hours. A lot of us, we make our own costumes. So, if there’s something that you can’t find off the shelf, you’re going to have to make it, so you know there’s hours of sewing, making different props and things like that. But it’s in my opinion, it’s not really time wasted. I get to do something that I enjoy. I get to unleash my creativity in a way that just serves myself.

Have you experienced homophobia?

We do tend to get quite a bit of homophobic remarks, yes, especially if we’re in areas where there are parties that are mainly attended by straight people and things like that. But yes, we tend to get quite a bit of hate thrown at us but honestly, it’s not something that bothers me anymore. I just tend to sort of like look away and continue on my day.