“RuPaul’s Drag Race” season 18 contestant Discord Addams. (Photo courtesy World of Wonder)
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” didn’t just sashay onto MTV for its 18th season this month. It proved the global competition is here to slay.
Deadline reported Jan. 7 that this year’s premiere was a franchise best, delivering double-digit growth over last year’s debut. That’s thanks in no small part to Florida, which over a third of this year’s contestants call home.
“This season, 14 sickening new queens enter the Werk Room to compete for the title of ‘America’s Next Drag Superstar,’ an official makeup collaboration … and a cash prize of $200,000,” World of Wonder announced in December. The competition for the crown officially started Jan. 2.
Three of this season’s queens are from South Florida, including the first mother-daughter duo to compete against one another, Miami’s Athena and Juicy Love Dion. Also in their drag family is Mia Starr of West Palm Beach.
Two entertainers from Central Florida and Tampa Bay join them, locales which are no stranger to the “Drag Race” spotlight.
Franchise favorites Roxxxy Andrews, Alexis Mateo, Coco Montrese, Trinity Taylor and more have called the regions home, including season 17 finalist Jewels Sparkles and reigning “All Stars” winner Ginger Minj.
Joining their sisterhood from St. Petersburg is Discord Addams.
“Who’s ready for a little chaos?” World of Wonder teased her debut, calling her “a high-fashion punk rock maximalist, serving looks packed with safety pins, studs and unapologetic attitude.”
“Known for playing guitar in a punk rock band, Discord brings a dark, raw energy to the stage,” they continued. “Her ultimate goal: to trade the mosh pit for the runway and become a bona fide drag rock star.”
Myki Meeks rounds out Florida’s fantastic five. World of Wonder called her “Orlando’s dynamic theatrical powerhouse.
“A self-described ‘recovering theater kid,’ Myki blends glamour with camp, lights up the room as a host, and is known back home for her quick wit and ease with a microphone,” they noted. “A talented actress and consummate performer, Myki brings a stage presence that will keep the competition on its toes.”
Both queens advanced after the season premiere, which they celebrated with fans in their hometowns.
Addams welcomed St. Petersburg supporters to Cocktail, her home bar where she’ll appear at watch parties. Among other surprises, the night featured an engagement when she asked her partner Gidget Von Addams to marry her. She said yes.
Meeks simultaneously hosted a watch party at the temporary home of Renaissance Theatre Company, long her homebase. The entertainer was joined by Sparkles to provide commentary, which she’ll do throughout the season.
Watermark Out News caught up with each queen afterwards to discuss life before, during and after “Drag Race.” Read our interview with Meeks here and Addams below.
WATERMARK OUT NEWS: What drew you to drag?
Discord Addams: I started drag probably 12, 13 years ago, right when I turned 21. I never really had a full concept of what drag queens were until I saw [“Drag Race” season 3 winner] Raja walking down the runway.
I was like, “Oh, this is what drag can be. It can be fashion, it can be rock star.” I was like, “I want to do that” and “I’m gonna fucking do it.” Right after seeing her, I started watching YouTube videos and painting my face every single day until I got halfway to what I wanted to look like.
How did you conceptualize Discord Addams?
I have a lot of really intense, hyper interests, so kind of by combining everything I’ve ever been inspired by. At the time it was a lot of 80s rock. It was a lot of powerful women in media. So Xena, Buffy, mixed with Steven Tyler and Brett Michaels.
And I was like, “I’m gonna be this, like, hot fashion rock star bitch.” It has kind of evolved since then — I always say that I started out by looking like a groupie, now I’ve evolved into being the rock star.
Why do you think drag and punk rock fit together?
Because they’re all just drag queens, right? It’s all about the fashion, the political statements. You know, drag queens are at the forefront of change — in my opinion, we have done a lot. Trans people have done a lot to change the trajectory of the rights that we have as queer people, and that is punk rock.
You don’t have to wear safety pins and fish nets to be punk rock. It’s all about what you’re doing in the community, what you’re doing to give back and what you’re doing to push back against these forces that are trying to silence us. That’s what punk rock is — so to me, anytime a drag queen puts on makeup, anytime a drag queen puts on their outfit, I don’t care if it is rainbows, that’s still punk as fuck.
You started in Akron, Ohio, moved to Chicago and eventually landed in St. Pete. How did each these scenes influence your drag?
A lot of who Discord is and who Discord has become was shaped in Akron because that was where I started drag. There wasn’t a lot of alternative drag in that area. It was a very, very, very pageant-based city — and then I stomped into the scene and they did not get it, and they did not want it either.
Well, the people wanted it, but the drag queens did not. But I didn’t let that deter me from my vision. I still showed up every week doing exactly what I wanted to do, and I think that’s what helped build the thick skin I have.
I still showed up and I still got on that stage, because I’ve always said that “I’m not here to get judged by other drag queens, because I’m not performing for them.” I’m performing for the audience. I’m performing for the people who have shown up to support me.
So why do I care what these girls are whispering about upstairs? It doesn’t make sense because they’re not the ones tipping me — it’s very much like what RuPaul says, that “if they’re not paying your bills, pay those bitches no mind,” right? I feel that in my heart.
What about Chicago?
Chicago was what drove me into being able to do drag full speed because it is such a drag-based city. So you’d be doing drag five nights a week and it really taught me how to get ready and think of a performance quickly.
It was kind of like full speed ahead drag boot camp. When you’re doing drag that often, you have no choice but to get better. If you have eyes.
What about St. Petersburg?
St. Pete is what made me love community, because I spent so long kind of just fending for myself, just me and my partner. We were our biggest fans and were the ones gassing each other up; we didn’t have what I would describe as a sisterhood or a community. We were just doing art for each other and for the people.
In some cities … [drag queens are] just stomping all over each other, but then you have a city like St. Petersburg, where every single drag queen is holding each other’s hand and lifting each other up and wanting each other to succeed. That’s what I was looking for the whole time. I was on the verge of quitting drag when I moved here, and then I met [Cocktail Entertainment Director] Adriana Sparkle, and [entertainers] Conundrum and Blue Dream, and I was like, “Oh, these are the people I want to be around. This is what I’ve been looking for the whole time.”
I’ve never seen anybody here try to step on anyone, everybody is on the same page that we should all succeed. We should all do this together. We need to give the community something to look forward to, and that’s what made me say, “Hey, I’m not gonna quit drag. I found my people. I found my family.”
You’d auditioned for “Drag Race” in the past. Why was this the right time?
I think RuPaul knows everything. I don’t think that woman is ever incorrect about a single thing. I think I’ve just cooked, you know, like I’m ready. She didn’t want me to go on the show and suck. I think she always saw the vision and I think the vision has arrived, and so now is the right time. And honestly, thank God, because I’ve been auditioning since it was on LOGO, and now it’s on MTV. So honestly, thank you. I’m glad it took a decade for me to get on the show.
Why do you think “Drag Race” has featured so many Florida queens across the years?
I think because most people in Florida aren’t from Florida. Everybody here is kind of from everywhere else, so we’re this giant melting pot of talent from across the world, from people who didn’t want to be cold anymore. (Laughs.) We’re also performing in the hot, hot, hot, hot heat, so we can take anything.
You see influences from all over the country in Florida drag and I think that’s kind of fascinating. Even the girls who are just naturally born and raised here, like I said, they’re used to being boiled to death every day. So what can’t they do? And this season is Florida versus the world, baby.
What was it like to watch the premiere at The Wet Spot?
I was just floating. It was so, so surreal. It was everything that I hoped and dreamed of and it’s so nice knowing I have such a strong family and support system, because many of them flew here from all over the country to watch me literally achieve my dreams.
Not everybody gets to say, “I did it. I’ve achieved what I’ve always set out to achieve,” and getting to share that with everybody around me — with the community, with the people that I’ve built and gotten to know at Cocktail and I’ve known my whole life — was just this amalgamation of everything I wanted to do and to see.
And when that was happening, I was like, “oh, me and my partner, we did it. We’ve done everything we set out to do, so now the next step is we obviously have to get married.”
Congratulations! What do you want to share about your next chapter together?
Thank you! We’ve been together for 13 years and we’ve done every little bit of every single thing together our whole lives. Our every struggle, every success, every victory we have shared together exclusively — and so now we’ve achieved our dreams.
Now we can have the money to have the house. We can have the money to have the success … now we live the life that we’ve always wanted.
Your walk has also taken the internet by storm. What’s it been like to see that?
I had a feeling it was going to happen. I did not anticipate it happening on episode one, which is really, really cool. It’s so funny, because it’s so divisive, right? Like day one, everybody fucking hated it.
Day two, everyone’s obsessed with it. Day three, it’s viral. So what’s day four gonna bring? I don’t know. Everyone’s doing it — so whether they love it or they hate it, they’re all doing it — and I have a feeling they’re not gonna stop. Once you lean back and take a strut, you can’t stop.
What has surprised you about your journey so far?
That a walk can hurt people’s feelings. (Laughs.) Like, waking up and looking on the internet like, “Oh my God. Who knew just walking could make people so, so angry?” But the girls who get it, get it.
What do you want to tease about what’s next?
Just tune in every Friday at 8 p.m. on MTV to find out if I keep walking like that. We don’t know what’s to come — but I’d say keep watching to find out, because it’s bound to be fun. I don’t even know.
Am I going to continue to open my mouth and be a raging asshole? I’m going to find out with you guys.
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” airs Fridays at 8 p.m. on MTV. For more information about each queen and local watch parties, visit DiscordAddams.com and MykiMeeks.com.
