Meet Willam, the tasty middle filling/letter of former all-singing, all-dancing drag troupe sandwich DWV. He’s back in the UK this week and throwing shade on stage as guest judge at G-A-Y Porn Idol.
Cliff Joannou chased him all over the digital world and finally nailed him/her down to ask a few questions…
This week’s issue of QX looks at the issue of gender and the people that decide not to conform to what society expects of them. How old were you when you realized you like to ‘drag up’?
I had a one eyed great-aunt called GiGi (she’s also a hoarder who waxed food to her floor). Sam (my sister) and I used to see how much of her costume jewelry we could put on at a time and go play on the roof (she was also our baby sitter and would nap with her glass eye open staring at us in a rocker). So, like five years old.
What were the reactions of your friends and family?
I am blessed enough to have some awesome lesbian aunts who were the first ones to show me The Simpsons and other things I wasn’t allowed to watch in my own home as a kid and some awesome gay uncles and cousins. I never “came out.” It was always known. I told my mom at nine that I wanted to marry New Kids on the Block and it wasn’t an issue. My dad was a seminary student at one point, in the Marines and a lifeguard – a total man’s man, y’know. Yet he was accepting of me from the get-go and I’m still super close with my family.
Do you identify yourself as a gay, drag queen, trans or as a performer? Or a bit of everything?
I’m a drag queen professionally. #teampiginawig
Irish drag queen Panti Bliss said in QX earlier this year that if you are a bloke and choose to wear a dress, even just for fun or as a career choice as a performer, it is inherently a political statement. Do you agree with that?
Depends how you accessorize it. Kurt Cobain I don’t think was making a statement wearing a dress. I think he was probably stoned or it was laundry day.
What are the biggest misconceptions or prejudices from within the gay community about drag artists that you have encountered?
If you ain’t financing or fucking me, it’s none of my business what you think of me. I tend to encounter each new situation with a smile and find my results are better that way. Judge me as a person, not by what I wear – unless you check the label and then you can nod approvingly.
“Fuck me on top of a vegan pizza and let me eat it after.”
OK, no holes barred! DWV broke up. What’s the deal with that? Give us the gossip please. The fans are dying to know…
Name a girl group without drama please. Oh wait, what’s that? You can’t? OK. Now factor in that we have dicks, drugs and drag to worry about, too, and we can just slide into the next question…
OK, so are you still in contact with your former bandmates?
I’m in contact with many former bandmates from TranzKuntinental. Our bassist Nick is on tour with Orgy and our guitar Xander is backing Pauley Perrette. I’m working with Rhea Litre on a new song, too.
OK. No more DWV, then. So, what have you been getting up to since the trio ended?
Douching aggressively.
Cleanliness is next to godliness. If DWV were Destiny’s Child… who would be which ‘Child’?
Y’know I think The Sun has already given British publications a bad enough name so how ‘bout we chill with the muckraking and move on, please? I know I have! I’m saying this in a mild-to-moderately bitchy Willam voice so you know I’m joking but also don’t want to talk about it any longer.
Ok, ok. You’re back at G-A-Y, this time at Porn Idol! You’ll be judging guys (or girls!) as they strip on stage. What are you looking for in a performance?
I’m hoping to see everything from sex worker to carnies. I like to be entertainted. Yes, I said ‘taint’.
How can one of the contestants bribe you to win?
Buy me blood diamonds. Those conflict-free stones don’t have much stakes, do they?
Well, if we can’t afford diamonds what’s the best way to woo Willam romantically and sexually?
Fuck me on top of a vegan pizza and let me eat it after.
• Willam is at G-A-Y Porn Idol at Heaven (Villiers Street, WC2N 6NG) on Thursday 31st July, 11pm-4am. FREE entry wristbands from G-A-Y Bar and/or Willam’s back passage.
