Violet Chachki and Gottmik are two of America’s most famous—and fashionable—drag queens.
Burlesque-performing, glamorous Chachki won Season 7 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, while heavy metal-inspired, fashion-forward Gottmik was a finalist on Season 13 and the first transgender man to compete on the show.
Both performed with Sam Smith and Kim Petras at the 2022 Grammy Awards, and Chachki was the first drag queen to walk the red carpet at a Met Gala, as well as the first drag queen to appear on the cover of one of Vogue's magazines (Vogue Czechoslovakia).
The drag mother-daughter duo are currently traveling around the country with their Knockout Tour, which comes to Spokane’s Knitting Factory at 7:00 p.m. Monday. They'll be joined by local drag artists Iluna Luna, Audrey Atwood, Medza and Freedom Rights.
SPR’s Owen Henderson spoke with them ahead of their arrival about their inspirations, public perceptions and their perspectives as drag artists and queer people at a moment when LGBTQ+ rights are under attack by policymakers around the country.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
VIOLET CHACHKI: I am Violet Chachki: drag superstar, style icon, fashion legend, and bad b---h.
GOTTMIK: Yes, and my name is Gottmik and I use she/her pronouns in drag and he/him out of drag.
OWEN HENDERSON: You're both well into traveling around the country for the Knockout Tour and you're both very versatile drag performers. So talk to me about what attendees in this second half of the tour can expect.
G: We're very, very excited going into this because it's the first time both of us have self-produced full-on our own tour like this. And so I think we worked really hard in the first half to, administratively get everything together and lock and load everything.
And in the second half, I feel like we're in a place where we're just flowing and we're just adding to the show every day ‘cause we're crazy like that. Like, the second everything's perfected in one part of the show, we're like ‘Time to add more, time to go harder,’ and it's going to be really cool. And I'm excited to see what it brings.
VC: We've worked so hard to self-produce this. And the first half we're working out some kinks and figuring out some production things and, and making sure everything just looks as incredible as possible because we are very, very ambitious drag performers.
Like you said, we're multi-hyphenate: singing, live choreography, costume, dancing, burlesque. It's quite the variety show.
So the second half, we really can dial everything in and really focus on being the artists and really put the production side behind us and move forward as focusing on the artistry.
OH: And speaking of the artistry, talk to me about some of your inspirations when it comes to live performance. Starting with Gottmik, when it comes to your stage presence, your stage performance, who and what are some of the things you like to draw on when you're putting together a quintessential Gottmik number?
G: I feel like I always just really lean into this punk rock metal vibe. I have a ton of metal inspirations over the years and concerts that I've gone to that are just so over the top theatrical. Like, Rob Zombie obviously is a huge one for me. He just did a tour with Alice Cooper where it was just, they had guillotines and their wives were dressed up in costume, chopping their heads off.
It was just literally theater. And I'm also a low-key theater nerd too. So seeing that come into fruition on stage was just so inspiring for me.
And then growing up, I also was just really into the metal world. I'd go to Megadeth concerts and Metallica and Korn and all that. And they were just always just so in it.
And I loved the outfits and they'd wear bedazzled women's jeans. It was just super fierce. And I love pulling from some heavy metal divas, as well as obviously queer icons.
Like, of course I need some Violet Chachki, Dita Von Teese, crystals, artistry on top of my metal vibes. So it all just comes together in this really cool rock and roll way.
OH: And Violet, you're an inspiration to Gottmik, but who inspires you?
VC: Dita Von Teese is probably one of my biggest inspirations when it comes to burlesque.
As far as performers go, I don't know. I think that's sort of why I started doing drag in the first place is because I would try to go see cool drag shows locally in Atlanta, and I couldn't find any that I like.
So I thought 'I'm going to be the drag queen that I want to see in the world.'
So I thought 'I'm going to be the drag queen that I want to see in the world.'
I'm not sure. I mean, Divine is a big inspiration for me. Candy Darling is a big inspiration for me. Betty Boop, Bettie Page. It's hard to say.
I mean, I like to think of my drag character as like a drawing of a woman. So performance style, it's not a lot of people that I would consider performers. Musicians, it's like a different category.
OH: Well, speaking of musicians, both of you are also recording artists. Both of you have put out several singles and EPs. So talk to me a little bit about who and what was inspiring you while you were recording those.
VC: My song that I'm performing in the show, my newest release that's coming up sometime, it's actually inspired by Club Kids. I was watching a Joan Rivers—the Joan Rivers episode where they have the Club Kids on. And in that way, I was inspired by generational queer people.
That is so important to me. Like I feel like, especially as I'm getting older and, you know, it's been 10 years since I've been on Drag Race and I have queer elders and, you know, Gottmik, I consider to be my daughter. And so it's really something that I'm learning the value of generational queer people, like chosen family.
We really do have to take care of our own in this world. And so that's sort of what that track was inspired by and thinking about the Club Kids and the impact that they had and the community that they built and just the chaos and the insanity and all of the people that I look up to from that scene in the ‘80s and Leigh Bowery and Amanda Lepore and all of those insane artists. So that's what that song was really inspired about.
G: It took me a long time to release any music coming off Drag Race, even though I wanted to do it because it was hard for me to find the sound I wanted because I was, like, very, very, very inspired by Rob Zombie’s, like, solo career. It just had this theatrical, like, kind of gay twist. And I was like, 'I want to up that gay twist even more' —even though he did not intend for it to be gay because that's what it sounded like to me.
And so I was like, 'I want to have this classic rock sound, but then I also want to be able to dance to it at a club.' So finding the right producers and the right people that kind of understood that balance and created that with me and what that looked like took a really long time. But I think I locked into that and found that kind of niche.
And then my song that I just released, “Holy Disco,” was produced by Felix da Housecat, who is just a legend and has his own sound so locked in and referenced himself in the song and used his classic silver screen snares in it. And just so it was really cool to be able to work with him.
OH: I think for some people, the only connective tissue they might see between the two of you is having extraordinarily strong fashion senses. So tell me a little bit about how your creative partnership has grown and changed over the years. Gottmik, we'll start with you.
G: I mean, yeah, I think we came together so strongly because of our attention to detail and love of fashion. And our references are not just what's currently on the runway. We have very deep fashion understanding and history.
And so we really bonded over that. And that's actually kind of how “No Gorge,” our podcast, was born in the first place, is we were just going to do strictly fashion reviews. But then we ended up being best friends, and it just took off into just us rambling in a studio for an hour.
And it's really cool to see that evolve. And I think personally, the most I think we've grown is we've really taken our business side together very seriously. And we've grown together in a business way.
And I think that's something that, like, 99% of friends do not ever—and maybe should never—experience.
VC: Yeah, I mean, we both kind of started our drag journeys at different places. And we're always having to change and evolve.
And we've been having to do that a lot, especially with what's going on in the political climate lately. With that comes growth as a duo and really trying to understand how we can produce what's in our heads the best way possible. And we both have different approaches, like Mik said, but at the end of the day, we do just want the same thing.
It's like any partnership, any relationship, there's compromises and you work together and you but at the end of day, as long as you want the same thing, then it's great.
OH: You both have very specific, at least public personas and public drag personas. And I'm curious what each of you thinks the misperceptions are about each other's personalities and drag personas that may be out in the zeitgeist.
VC: You are trying to stir the pot, aren't you? Mik, you want to go first?
G: I mean, I think a common thing that people think about Violet is that she is—what word would you like to use?
VC: They like to call me a villain.
G: Yeah, like love to call her a villain, which I don't really, I mean, off of her season, I'm not really sure where that came from off that season specifically. But getting to know her more, I definitely just see that she's extremely tailored for what she presents in the media.
And so everything is perfect. Everything is untouchable and intimidating, I guess. So it's like, I can see that.
And then when you have this kind of narrative, you're a villain and then you're just are sharp and only look perfect all the time. It's kind of hard to deny that you would have this, like, b-----y persona. But in reality, she's very, very, very sensitive and really does care for others and, like, always is thinking about me and our brand and what we're doing together.
And it's just this is extremely tailored what she puts out online and she chooses to pick the c--tiest thing. Sorry if I can't say that on Radio Vibes, but that's just what she puts out and then keeps a lot of things private. That's another thing. She's a very private person.
VC: I think the thing that annoys both of us is that people, because I was on Drag Race before Mik, so for some reason, people think that—even that Roxxxy Andrews joke about Mik being my assistant or something. It's quite the opposite.
Like, I consider myself to be, like I said earlier, generational. We're family. Me and Mik are chosen family.
And I think it's just wrong. It's like—Mik is not my assistant. If anything, I'm helping him more because I just happen to have more experience, because I've been doing this longer.
And that's what a drag mother is all about. And that's what family is all about. And so this idea that just because I was on a TV show before Mik was on the TV show, we can't become drag family after—it's just stupid.
It's like, we as queer people really do have to stick together. And me and Mik luckily found each other.
So I think it's this misconception that somehow Mik is my assistant or my Labubu or my tchotchke or whatever the f--k they want to say.
While it is hilarious, and I do giggle at it, it's just not true.
OH: What have you noticed as you travel around the country and get to work with performers and local talent in different regions?
VC: Oh, I've learned that some of these places we're going need us more than ever.
Some of these places we're going need us more than ever.
I'm realizing, especially after the show, we sign some merch and meet some fans and talk to them.
You know, people have cried, people have brought their parents and their parents even told us seeing it in person, seeing it live has helped them.
I think that some of the coastal cities I think are in a bubble and an echo chamber and we forget that there are queer people in these other places that maybe don't have as much access to queer spaces or queer figures or queer events. And I'm realizing on the road, like, 'Oh, we're creating potentially a core memory for this person to feel comfortable being who they are.’
Yeah, some of these places we're going are, you can just feel it. You can—I mean, we even walked by a mural of two men kissing and it had graffiti all over it. People had thrown paint on it and seeing that was a little jarring for me.
G: I talk about it in my show, but I feel like every day, as a trans person, I wake up and there's some kind of new bill or law or something that's trying to tell me that I'm not who I know I am and that we are all not who we say we are. And I think that we just have to come together as a community to show them that no matter what bill or law ever gets passed ever, that does not change who we are. We're not going to go anywhere because there's a new law and we have to look to our queer elders and the history of the queer community and realize that and be loud and proud and support queer art and show up and in numbers.
Sometimes it feels like a lot and you're just one person, but just being you and telling your story and going out there and being proud of yourself for being you is very important, especially right now.
OH: Something that stands out to me about you both is a sort of punk, “crash the system” sensibility, but I think there's also an argument to be made that both of you have become part of the establishment of drag and of fashion. How do you balance the ethos of punk with appearing on the Grammys or being the first drag queen at the Met Gala or the first drag queen on the cover of a Vogue magazine? How do you square those things?
VC: Well, that's a very nuanced and layered question because things, like I said, are changing. And some of those things you listed happened during a time when things were different.
A lot of those same opportunities that I've had, I'm not sure are going to be there for everyone who does drag going forward. I don't know if there'll ever be another drag queen at the Met Gala.
So us doing those things and getting the opportunity to do those things is punk. Me showing up to the Met Gala is the most punk thing I could ever do. And let me tell you, the way that I was treated there was not in alignment with the way the mainstream celebrities were treated or the mainstream attendees were treated.
When we go into these spaces, we're treated extremely differently. It doesn't feel good to go to these spaces as a drag queen.
It feels punk, but it doesn't feel good. It does, though.
It doesn't feel good to go to these spaces as a drag queen. It feels punk, but it doesn't feel good.
It's like I said, it's very nuanced and layered. It feels good because it's like, ‘Wow, I'm here, I'm taking up space. I'm the representation at these places.’
But the way people look at us, the way mainstream society looks at us, even especially when we're in those spaces, does not feel good. Still.
G: Within the system that exists in the mainstream, there's people in there that are punk, that are fighting every day for people like us to be there, but they're also trying to save their jobs at the same time. So it takes a lot of fighting for us to get those opportunities and convince them to allow us to be there. It's kind of crazy, but at the same time, it's like, you know what? This is a huge step and someone has to be the first.
I'm so happy that I'm privileged enough to be in this position and take it and use my platform to speak about what I believe in and make a difference and push the needle forward at all times. Online, it looks like we're making fun TikToks and touring together and it's all fun, but it's like, every day we're fighting. Yeah, I'm working really hard to do that and going on tour and using my platform to scream about the censorship that's happening and risking it all in different ways.
It is a risk for those people, the queer people that have gotten their jobs at the Met Gala to be like, 'You know what? I am going to take this opportunity and put Violet on this carpet and I am going to—'
VC: —'fight for that and risk it.' Because again, it goes back to queer generational people helping the next generation. And the pendulum of drag, I think, will swing back and forth and back and forth and become in vogue and out of vogue and all of those things.
And it's hard to say. I don't know what the future looks like for mainstream and drag. No clue.
OH: Violet Chachki and Gottmik, thanks so much for your time.
VC: Of course. Thank you for speaking with us.
