Meet the Reigning Supremes!
Drag is fast becoming a popular form of entertainment outside of the queer scene, and drag artists are breaking out into the mainstream. Reigning Supremes is an ongoing series that profiles drag artists of all kinds, showcasing their stories and their art.
Introducing a local legend in Glasgow, the dark lady herself and mother of two of the city's biggest and most popular drag shows, Trigger and Hellbent - meet CarrieAnn Crow!
How did you start getting into drag?
Originally my partner Sean started watching RuPaul's Drag Race and I didn't really take any interest in it. Then one day I ended up watching Season 4, and I think Sharon Needles was the first queen that I saw that really stepped out from what I thought drag was at that point prior to me starting drag. She had the fake blood and that dress that was like, made of tights, and I thought “this is pretty sick and I like it”. Then after watching a few episodes of Season 4, me being the egomaniac that I am, I thought “I can do this better than half of these queens” - and I just started doing it a couple of weeks later. The first time I set foot out of the house in drag was a Ben DeLa Créme show, and now here we are.
Who and/or what are your drag influences?
I wouldn't say any notable drag queens inspire me. I think there's a lot of them that are absolutely incredible, local or otherwise, but when I was creating CarrieAnn Crow there wasn't really any drag queens that came to my mind when I was uncovering that persona. The people that I idolised as a child were like, Michelle Pffeifer in Batman Returns. She is a massive influence on me in general – as Catwoman, in Stardust...I love her. Ursula the Sea Witch from The Little Mermaid obviously. I would definitely say I'm inspired by powerful women more so than drag queens.
Musically and aesthetically it's quite goth – Marilyn Manson obviously – and alternative culture in general. I'm a massive Cradle of Filth fan and strangley enough, I think a lot of Dani Filth trickled down into early CarrieAnn Crow. Funnily enough at one of Ann Phetamine and mine's first shows together, we did the Cradle of Filth cover of the Heaven 17 song “Temptation”. The only Drag Race queens I would say I'm drawn to and inspired by is Chad Michaels – shocking since she's quite prim and polished, and I'm not! General drag legends like Divine and Lily Savage are folk that I enjoy but I wouldn't say bear much influence on how I do drag. Obviously they bear some influence on how everyone does drag because if it wasn't for them drag would be completely different.
You know when you're a kid and you're watching movie and TV shows and that's you building your personality? For me it's always like powerful bitchy women – that's who I turned into. Like Sigourney Weaver in Working Girl! That's pretty much my drag influences.
How would you describe your performance style?
I like to think I'm a reasonably versatile performer. I wouldn't say I'm low energy but I'm absolutely not a stunt queen. I like to think I can be high energy though not necessarily dance-y, not jump splits and death drops. I think I can be funny and sexy, albeit a tiny bit mumsy! I like to be sad and I like to be angry...I'm an actress – I've got all the feelings!
I know it sounds ridiculous but there's legitimate demand for my Rita Work Out mix. Any time I ask anybody, “I'm not sure what to perform this week” they're like, “do Rita!” In my performances I think I can be anything except from flexible – technically an oxymoron!
What's your ambition with your drag?
It's quite tricky because when I started drag, not to say I wasn't ambitious and where I am now is where what other people would perceive as a goal, but when I started I never thought that this is where I would be with it now. Initially it was something I did because I thought it was fun. It's been about 4 years now so it's difficult trying to remember how I thought before I started drag. I know for a fact I would never have thought that I would have got this far with drag. I never thought that I would be someone that anyone in the scene would look up to. The fact that I'm someone who people will go to for advice and actually ask me how I think they could better themselves as far as being an entertainer goes is mind-boggling to me.
It's difficult looking ahead because I never thought in a million years that where I am now is where I would end up, not planning on being here. So in another 4 years, where will I be without planning anything? I have no idea what the next 4 years will be. I'll just keep having fun with Trigger and Hellbent and who knows what will happen?
What's been your favourite moment in drag so far?
Launching Hellbent has to be up there. Performing on the Cathouse stage...it's a venue that means so much to me. Trigger's been running for almost 3 years in AXM so it's difficult for me to pinpoint an individual high point there. I'd have to say just being able to do Trigger with the queens that I get to work with, the Trigger competitions – the two Monster Tuck Rallies and Strictly Come Drag – are massive high points as well. I've also gotten to travel to Birmingham and perform there with some of the Trigger queens.
Last year's Pride was the most insane couple of days of my life. It was two days where I was in drag for like, 16 hours a day, back to back after a week of doing drag anyway. Hosting the community stage at Pride on the Saturday, then we had our Disney party at AXM afterwards, then being out on the Sunday just mingling with people then we had Cathouse Pride that night – which gave birth to Hellbent. I would say it's hard to pick an individual moment but overall the time I get to spend with the people I've met through doing drag is a big highlight.
A huge thanks goes to CarrieAnn for her time and to Simon Crawford for permission to use his photos. CarrieAnn regularly performs at Trigger (every Thursday at AXM) and Hellbent (first Sunday of the month at the Cathouse) in Glasgow - go and check out her shows!
Follow CarrieAnn on Instagram
Check out more of Simon's photography on Instagram and Facebook
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