Imp Queen is a trans fashion figure, a rising pop star and a queer community leaderand just an extension of her true personality.
"There isn't really a 'character,' just my own mannerisms amplified by a spotlight, a microphone and an audience. I consider the work I'm doing now as Imp Queen part of my ongoing art and life practice," she said.
Imp Queen said she looks like a "classy bitch, but acts like a trashy girl. She's a total sweetheart, but a little butthead, too."
Imp Queen likely won't remember your name until you've met in the club at least a few times, she said, and then she'll likely just refer to you as "Daddy," as she does with everyone.
She's a 1960s fashion illustration, seen through the lens of a 1990s club kid, then reinterpreted by a contemporary non-binary artist, Imp Queen said. "The look is very over the top, very surreal, very graphic. I like to think I'm the world's littlest queen, but I wear the world's biggest clothes."
Imp Queen collaborates with many other local queer fashion designers to create her looks.
The debut Imp Queen EP is due out in late April, and she worked with producer Ariel Zetina, and she previewed a few songs at the mid-March South By Southwest ( SXSW ) event in Austin, Texas.
"In folklore, an imp is a cute, little, devious magical creaturenot evil, but definitely chaotic," she said. "It's a name my friends started calling me sophomore year of college whenever I was particularly turnt. After college, I was billing myself as Imp Kid, doing performance art with my two best friends as the group WITCH HAZEL. When I started to do proper drag, Imp Queen seemed like the obvious next version of the name."
Imp Queen is celebrating her one-year drag anniversary in April, and can be seen every Monday at Annex Nightclub, 1958 W. North Ave., hosting Boom Boom Room with Jojo Baby, from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m.; and every Thursday at Debonair Social Club, 1575 N. Milwaukee Ave., hosting Neo with Jojo Baby and Nico.
THE STATS
- Age: 25
- Orientation: "Queer non-binary trans femme, but I also think labels are clunky, ill-fitting and divisive."
- Neighborhood: Pilsen
- Job title: Self-employed
- Hobbies: "Thrift shopping, collaborating on music and fashion projects, dancing, cooking, sleeping all day, ... mindlessly scrolling through the Internet [and] daydreaming about being famous."
- Favorite TV show: RuPaul's Drag Race
- Favorite apps: Uber and Instagram
- Little-known fact: "Before drag, I was going to be an actor. I did a year as a Lost Boy in the national tour of Peter Pan right out of college, and hated it so much, I realized I had to quit the theatre."