Laila McQueen Set to Slay BlowPony During Pride

Serving us Beetlejuice realness, RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 8 contestant Laila McQueen will be celebrating Denver Pride on June 16 at Trade during BlowPony, a monthly queer party. Laila is a fun-loving queen who knows how to have a good time. Although she only survived two episodes before sashaying away, she has made an everlasting impression on thousands of fans. OUT FRONT had the pleasure of chatting with her.

What can audiences expect from you at your show?

They can expect a lot of high energy without choreographed dancing. I love to do throwback songs that are a little more punky or whiny, a little more rock and roll. I love to do tracks that people will always remember, but they don’t necessary remember them until they hear it. So it’s like, “Oh wait, I remember this song!” That’s my favorite kind of energy to have during a drag number.

BlowPony at Trade is a part of Denver’s Pride weekend. What does Pride personally mean to you?

When I was younger, I wasn’t necessarily out yet, but every time Pride came around, it would be an opportunity for me to go out and have fun and kind of forget about hiding behind something. Not necessarily going out and being like I’m here, I’m queer, and being crazy about it, but just having fun and forgetting the worries and trouble and struggles and enjoying the moment for what it is and what we are. I still think it’s like that.

Tell me a little bit more about the history of Laila McQueen. When did you discover your love of performing and drag?

I always loved doing artsy things, but I was never a theatre kid. I never performed. It absolutely terrified me to be on a stage in front of people, but I always loved the aspect of drag and the artistry of being someone else and changing the way I look. It’s fascinating. I would watch movies and the behind-the-scenes footage on how they would do makeup and special effects. I loved the transformation.

The older I got, the more relevant drag became in my life. I was like, well shit, what can I lose by trying to perform? The more practice I did, the more I became comfortable, and the energy and crowd response just felt good.

I think I answered the question. I babble a lot, so just a warning. I may rail off the real questions, but I’ll answer something…

Nothing wrong with babbling! It’s just a pleasure to chat with you. You were one of my favorites on your season of Drag Race.

Thank you! You have very low standards.

Eh, it can’t be helped. So I read that most of your drag career has been spent in New Hampshire. Is that correct?

Yes. I went to a four-year college, an Institute of Art, and I started doing drag. I always dressed up and went out to house parties in drag, but the day I turned 18, I was like, “Alright, I’m getting my state ID, and I’m going to perform at the first bar that I can. The people I performed with lived in New Hampshire, and I told them where I was going to school. So when I got to school, I would do all these competitions and try to work every single night, or at least show up in drag every single night to the point where I was just hired as a regular showgirl.

And when you were 19, you were banned from the University of Maine because of your drag? What was that about?

Yeah, it was during season 4 of RuPaul’s Drag Race and Sharon Needles made it very trendy to be spooky. She used fake blood during her performance. I did a duet with this girl from Boston because we were ‘the shocking queens of New Hampshire,’ so we decided to do a silly mix.

We did, like, a duet and songs about people’s p*ssies and periods and Sweet Transvestites. I lip-synced to a Jackie Beat song about Jesus and had a bible in my hand and blood pouring out of my mouth and threw the bible down the runway. I was a baby drag queen so I had a clusterf*ck of an idea happening. Some people were so offended that I had blood and a bible. It was very blasphemous and inappropriate. Two people had to leave the show and they caused quite a ruckus and got us banned.

We’re not welcome back, but we got paid, so whatever.

When not touring and performing, what do you like to do in your downtime?

I, unfortunately, begrudgingly watch way too much television. I’m an artist by trade, so I like to draw and sketch and collage things. Make little books. I enjoy hanging out and going out to the bars in Chicago. I watch a lot of movies.

Lately, I don’t have much downtime, thankfully. I like to stay busy.

Let’s go ahead and chat about Drag Race for a bit. How has the show changed your life?

It’s been a goddamn, f*cking roller coaster.

I am very glad that it happened at a convenient time in my life. I graduated school and immediately got right on the race. So that was very cool. I was a fan of the show, so I had all these preconceived notions on what it would be like. I built up something in my head. I was extremely nervous on how I was going to look and come off on national television to the f*cking world. That was kind of an earth-shattering feeling, but when the show came out, I received an overwhelming amount of love and support and work. Meeting awesome people, seeing fans, traveling – it’s been amazing. If you would have told me two years ago that this would happen, I would have not believed it at all.

While on the show, your aesthetic was edgy. Has that changed at all?

No, it’s just more refined. The thing about Drag Race for almost all the girls is that you get on the show with the drag that you have at the time. A lot of people don’t have the help or resources for really nice things. It’s more about being crafty with what you have. For me, it wasn’t that much.

When you get on the show and it films and airs later, you’ve refined yourself throughout that time, but once the show airs, everyone wants to see you, so you’re working, working, working. You’re then doing big events, so it forces you to step your shit up a bit. Everyone gets better with their drag after the show and everything happens. I would say I’ve changed immensely. I feel like I have a better grasp of my character and am exploring different styles.

Are there any previous Drag Race queens who you are very close with?

I am good friends with Detox. I very much loved her drag even before she got on the show. She’s been very helpful to me by offering advice and just her overall general demeanor. The way she holds herself, her confidence and professionalism. She’s one of the most well-rounded, well-realized queens who has been through a lot and still has a lot more to show. I very much admire her.

Now, I must ask this question. Just how shocked were you when RuPaul eliminated both you and Dax? I mean, this was only the second double elimination in Drag Race herstory.

Well, you may be shocked to hear this, but believe it or not, I really wasn’t thrilled about it. I knew I didn’t do that great in the lip-sync. I was basically having a panic attack while doing it because I had just lip-synced a couple days before and I was like, ‘oh my god, I wasn’t expecting to be in the bottom then either.’ So I was already in the hot seat and kind of sweating, and when he said we were both going home, I was like, shit, that sucks, but what the hell can I do about that right now.

It sucked, it was very shocking. I didn’t want to dwell on it at that moment. I tried, and I guess all I can really do is laugh at myself and move on.

But it looks like you moved on to so much more!

More than I expected to do! When you get on Drag Race, it’s a lot. It’s a stressful competition. It really is a race, but the real race starts after the show airs because now we’re all trying to get work. We’re not trying to win a crown. We’re trying to stay relevant among the 114 of us now.

Any thoughts on the current season?

I love it. It’s so weird to watch because it’s a new set of girls and we’ve experienced filming and behind the scenes. I knew a lot of the girls prior to the show, so it’s fun to see what they do and bring. I’m not focused on the drama because I know they’re all friends. It’s just fun to see cool people do cool things.

What’s the next big thing for Laila McQueen?

Well, I’m trying hard to do more things with my artwork and trying, not to rebrand myself, but to branch out and do more design work. I have always wanted to travel the world. I’m not going to release an album; I don’t dance, but I’m always down to create new visual pieces. And I will be booked anywhere I am asked. I am doing my first Australian tour in June. That’s something I didn’t think would ever happen.