Local Milwaukee Drag Queen Spotlight: Getting to Know Roxy Toxin
Written by: Stephanie Serrano | December 9th, 2024
Roxy Toxin, Baylee L.J Davenport, and Princess Janelza come together for a Transgender Day of Remembrance show at This Is It Bar (Tits) hosted by Yufie. Yufie opens the night with a serious conversation about the severity of transgender violence and how it deeply affects communities everywhere. A moment of silence was held to honor those no longer with us due to this type of violence. Following this, the queens each performed two songs and added some words of motivation in-between to queer people listening in the audience considering recent events and how they will shape the next four years. They share the importance of maintaining queer spaces where individuals can feel safe amongst the community and support one another.
For her first set, Roxy Toxin comes out on the stage wearing a pink fluffy tulle dress and performs “A Lot’s Gonna Change” by Weyes Blood. She steps off stage to slowly make her way through the crowd looking through the audience as she sings along to the emotional ballad. At the end of the performance, she shares her love for being on the stage and the queer culture behind drag. After the intermission, Roxy comes out again in a costume change. This time, she is wearing an all-black leather outfit and performs “Hold the Girl” by Rina Sawayama, a shift from her earlier appearance. This set is upbeat and brings everyone in the audience up and dancing.
At the conclusion of the performances, all the queens came together on stage for one last encore and gave a final goodbye to the audience. The entire night was a fun singalong and gathering for people around Milwaukee to have a good time and celebrate with each other.
Before the show, I had the chance to sit down and have a conversation with Roxy to become more familiar with her performances, looks, and artistic process.
Tell me about your show tonight, how much preparation goes into your performance? How do you make creative decisions?
So, the show tonight is FIEND’s, and it is the show for Trans Remembrance Day. This is a very special show for me, and I am overly excited. I asked Yufie, who is my drag mom, to book me for it. One, because this is my birthday month, and two, because queer history and specifically trans history is something that is particularly important to me and apart of all my art, studies, and everything, drag included. The amount of preparation that goes in completely depends on the numbers I am doing. With some numbers I can get away with just putting on a cute outfit and a wig and twirling for the people- twirling for the masses-but there are numbers I take more seriously. I have been trying to get into that because in my early drag career I did a lot of big productions. I used to build props and make mixes, but I sorta recently, because I have been doing drag more often, had to slow down on that because I do not have as much time. But I definitely want to get back into it. So, the amount of preparation varies but I am trying to up that level.
How important is music to you? How do you pick music for your performances?
Well, music is everything to me. A lot of the music I pick is music I enjoy listening to- that is why I got into drag in the first place. I grew up being that little gay kid in the car lip-syncing to all the songs playing. And I could always learn them really quickly. So, it was sorta really natural to me when I found drag and then I found out they got to lip-sync? I was like first, you get to put on a pretty outfit and do pretty makeup, and then you get to go lip-sync a song? Oh, I was built for this. There are a lot of people that like to select songs that they know audiences will like, and that is totally fair and valid because the other part of drag is sometimes it is about making the money. Making sure people know the songs that you are picking and making sure the people in the audience have a fun time. But I have always tried to pick the songs I like, mainly because those are the ones I know. But also, just because it’s such a big part of why I got into drag so I really want to honor that.
What is your favorite genre of music to listen and dance to?
Okay, so listening to, that varies greatly. Right now, I’m listening to a lot of FKA Twigs for this new rollout and a small New York band that I love a lot called Trophy Wife and they are sorta indie rock. I also listen to Nussy Andrews, a transgender artist from Brooklyn, New York, a lot who works into the indie genre with piano, like Fiona Apple, she’s so amazing. As far as music I like to dance to, I lean more towards the poppies, and the Paramores, and the Lady Gagas of the world, so I like alternative sort of art pop/rock and metal, that’s sorta my vibe.
How long have you been taking part in drag? How did you first get into the Milwaukee drag scene?
I started doing drag back in my hometown of Duluth, Minnesota. I technically started drag way back when I was about 11 or 12 because that was the first time that my mom showed me RuPaul’s Drag Race. I realized that was something I could do, too. So, from that very moment I started practicing. I would sit in my room and practice makeup where I’d watch wig styling tutorials and other things like that. So, I’ve been practicing drag for a very long time, but I have been doing drag professionally since I turned 18, this December will be my two-year anniversary. The way I got into the Milwaukee scene, specifically, was the same way I got into the scene in Duluth, even though it was a much smaller community. I just went out to shows in drag. That is the best way to do it. That is what I tell everyone who asks. You go out to shows in drag, because if the drag queens see you and they notice you, and they think you are worth it or worthy, an opportunity will come to you. So, I just went out to shows in drag, I met people, that is how I met my now drag sister, Entity, I still have the photo of us the first time I went out, and then gigs started coming my way, and the rest is history.
Who are some of your artist inspirations? Could be other drag queens, musicians, performers, etc.
One of my absolute favorite drag queens of all time is Vander Von Odd. There is this one performance by Vander on YouTube of her performing Somewhere Over the Rainbow and sometimes I would just go back to the YouTube video and cry. It, like, destroys me—Vander Von Odd is, like, my number one main inspiration. She’s, like, scary and glamorous, but every single one of her numbers conveys such an important meaning, and she does it in such a poignant, beautiful way without sacrificing the dragginess of everything. It is still very obviously camp and drag, but she can convey serious topics so well. Vander is my number one for sure. Considering artist inspirations, I mean there is a lot. My favorite artist is Yayoi Kusama and something I really love about her work is that not only does she create 2D and 3D work but she combines different medians into these large experiences. For example, her 2D work with music, sound, and actors to create performance art. She’ll bring all these aspects together to fill rooms and create one giant art piece. It’s something I have always dreamed about doing myself, combining my 2D and paintings into my art of drag.
Outside of performing, what do you like to do in your free time?
I mean, I do art. I went to MIAD for one year, and then I dropped out due to financial issues, but it doesn’t matter because I’m still practicing art. I got into MIAD strictly on a painting portfolio, and then I sort of gagged them. I was like, well, I’m going into fashion now because I thought learning more about fashion at MIAD would be really helpful to my drag career. But mostly nowadays I’m just painting still. If I’m not painting, I’m playing games with my friends. That is literally the only thing that keeps me sane nowadays because between drag and working a full-time job, I really don’t have much free time. Most days I’m either getting home from my job and working on drag or the days that I’m not I have to force myself to do something recreational to keep my mind intact.
What is your favorite drag show memory?
Oh, okay, I actually have a perfect answer for this. So back home in Duluth, there’s this queen, The Only Eve, and there was a Thanksgiving show. I just remember watching her from the sidelines as she lays out a tarp before her number. And I was like “what’s happening? Is it blood? Is it going to be water? Like sexy?” She walked on stage with a pint full of warm gravy and she kneeled down, and she poured that freshly microwaved gravy all over herself. Everyone in the audience was screaming and we were all gagged and throwing money at her, but yeah, she brought gravy. Then she has the audacity to bring that tarp downstairs into the dressing room so for the rest of the night the entire dressing room smelled like gravy.
Describe to me the process of a look you are most proud of.
Definitely my Jack Skellington look from this past Halloween. It is the look that I put the most thought, effort and time into because I knew I was going to be joining Trixie Mattel for a Halloween gig. I’ve been watching Trixie for almost eight or nine years now and she just means a lot to me as a drag artist, so I was very scared and intimidated to not only being in this show with her but also host alongside her and my sister, Ayesha Voodoo. We were both very nervous because this was a rite of passage for us. We’ve had our movie night event at Tits but we’ve never hosted a real drag show. And then they throw us in the deep end saying; “hey, you’re going to host it with Trixie.” That was stressful, but obviously we wanted to put a lot of effort into our looks, look very put together, and serve for the Halloween show. So, a lovely queen, Aubrey Delmar, who hosts the show here as well, designed the outfit for me and then Ayesha helped me with other additions like petticoat stuff, we all stoned it to high hell, stoned every rhinestone on the outfit, it was a real group effort. I made the bow myself and I ordered the hair from Kendoll Wigs. It was like a labor of love, but it’s what I’m most proud of.
Can you walk me through the first time you met Trixie? What was it like?
The first time that I met Trixie was at This Is It. Slayground, which is a queer dance party, is run by my close friends and sisters, and they were working with the bar this last Pride month. One of the free shows they hosted was titled Night of a Thousand Trixies. We knew Landon was coming who is, like, number one Trixie impersonator but we didn’t think Trixie was going to come. So, I’m pulling up with my friends in my full Trixie look, like Trixie eyes, Trixie face, wig, boom, down. I walk into the dressing room and everyone’s whispering. I was literally shaking, and the feeling was so guttural it was insane. Then Trixie walks into the room and she’s filming for her YouTube channel, and I ended up being in the thumbnail. I took a picture with her, and I did not want to scream and cry in front of her, because that would be insane. When she finished and left the room, I got on my knees, and I said, “it’s serious, you guys. This is really serious.” And yeah, I’m in the video, I’m tagged, and they have me do a little talk, like it was just like the most wild and surreal experience. I wish I knew she was coming, not because I would have changed anything about my look, because I looked beautiful, I looked exactly like her, but I was just not mentally prepared. So, when she showed up, I just immediately lost it, but I wouldn’t change a thing, it was amazing.
What is your favorite Milwaukee venue/club that you have performed at?
So, it’s a tie between the only two places I’ve performed at. Tits is sort of like the main spot for drag, it’s so fierce. There are so many shows, and it seems like there’s always something happening, there’s sort of like this world-renowned aspect to Tits as well because Trixie owns it. So, like tourists will come, they’re like, I don’t know if there’s a show tonight, but I want to go see Trixie’s bar. So, it’s really cool. But then the other place I’ve performed at is the Cactus Club. That has been so freeing because the Cactus Club is much more of an alternative venue, so a lot of the performances that I can do there are a little more experimental, a little freakier, and even the crowd is a little freakier, so, the shows there have always been my favorite.
It was a lovely opportunity to interview Roxy and I hope it encourages people to further explore Milwaukee’s local drag scene.
If you’re interested in future shows, check out @roxytoxinqueen , @thisisitbar , and @cactusclubmke on Instagram for updates!
All photos taken by Layla Smith (@smittymakesshit on Instagram)