So who are some of your favourite queer artists at the minute? It’s only on my own time and that’s why I have never and do not take commissions for it. For now, drag is my main thing and sculpture and drawings is something that I do to relax. But when I'm doing sculptures and drawings, that’s more of a private thing for me. I go through phases I think because like when I'm doing drag, a lot of the draw is going to the club and being social and having a laugh, and I naturally want to perform and entertain. I definitely knew who you were as an artist - prints and sculptures - before your drag performances, do you have any more plans for the world of art?
![juno birch juno birch](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2DxwLwfJ7lc/maxresdefault.jpg)
#Juno birch tv
It’s worth remembering when queens used to do drag there was no social media, there were no drag queens on TV or anything like that, it was all performed to a private audience and it was all about entertaining that specific audience. It is a great thing on one hand, because kids like seeing drag queens will become more used to different kinds of people… But on the other hand, I am really not a children's entertainer and it’s hard feeling the pressure you have to be particularly PG or politically minded.
![juno birch juno birch](https://dynamicmedia.livenationinternational.com/Media/t/u/t/44afca7b-1515-4ff9-8e87-e135d9ca820a.jpg)
For example, like being a trans woman dressed up like this? It’s seen as taboo, or at least it used to be.Īnd while I think drag still has a naughty vibe to it, it has also become a lot more PG. It is true that drag is political, because you are automatically making a statement by getting into drag. But now famous drag queens, especially ones that have been on Drag Race are expected to be almost like a politician for our community. It used to be a lot more tongue in cheek, and a lot more naughty. Performing is what I love most about drag for sure.ĭo you think the definition of drag has changed in recent years due to social media and Ru Paul’s Drag Race, or has it always had the same message?ĭrag has changed dramatically since Drag Race because drag has become a lot more mainstream, where it used to be a lot more underground. You just naturally enjoy costumes and being dramatic and everything like that.įor me, drag is also all about performance, I love being on the stage. In your own words, what would you say drag is and what does it mean to you?ĭrag is an expression of self: It’s going back to that place as a child when you put your mum's heels on, and you start running around the house and you dress up for yourself and nobody else. Hopefully, our conversation below will bring as much of a smile to your face as my recollections of her Jennifer Coolidge impersonations do to mine. Sitting down with Birch who, considering the size of the Manchester queer scene, I consider a mate more than an interview subject, was an absolute riot. The queen’s charm, which resounds throughout the internet, her lip syncs and the set of the Polyester photoshoot below, is that she is not taking herself seriously. While also dabbling in digital drag, Birch extended her cult following with a successful YouTube channel filled with The Sims play alongs and makeup tutorials with McDonald’s wrappers. Unfortunately for patrons of live drag - not to mention the performers - quarantine killed the scene for months. Birch was having a laugh and so was her audience. Birch’s performance in pink pill box hat, Marge Simpson sized pearls and quintessential rubber gloves remains burned in my memory for its irreverent references and sheer cheekiness. Located in the North myself, it’s not often we get to see something of this magnitude for the first time - the English arts scene, unfortunately, revolves around the country’s capital. In the time since, Birch has appeared on the stage across the world - including LA, her own Birch Brunch in London and many a basement across her hometown of Manchester. Already a drag sensation online for her drawings, drag makeup and sculptures, this Frodsham native took to live performance like Rachel McAdams to a rom com. In December 2018, the small room, packed to the rafters with the gay Northern nightlife that had made its way from the city’s gay village, Juno Birch performed her drag debut.
![juno birch juno birch](https://spectator.imgix.net/content/uploads/2018/09/Radio.jpg)
In the basement of a rock bar in rainy Manchester, the Creatures of Catharsis queer cabaret night used to run every few months. Profile by Gina Tonic, Photographs by Jade Hannah