GURL: Give us a little introduction to yourself, let’s say 25 words?
Majenta: Hello! I’m Majenta with a J, I’m a drag artist based in Boston, and I bring an artsy genderfluid glam-punk weirdo vibe to my drag. I also host Full Spin and Now Serving!
GURL: At what point in your life did you discover a love for drag?
Majenta: I enjoyed drag for years, but other than a few Halloween costumes, never took it seriously until I was 36. That summer, I had just quit a high-stress job, and I had time to kill, and I thought I’d give drag a shot. I ended up loving it and am now coming up on almost 4 years of doing drag.
GURL: Sometimes it just takes a bit of a sign from the world right? Getting out of that job and into a wonderful art form that you’re great at is a blessing for sure.
GURL: How did you develop your makeup skills?
Majenta: I watched tutorials and very closely studied the makeup styles of other drag artists. It took lots of practice, but my goal was always to be better than the last time I’d done makeup, and eventually I felt like I had really developed a strong skill for it.
GURL: It’s definitely worth taking the time to explore different styles and techniques, we can tell you’ve put in the work and gained some great skills from it. In particular we love that you did a take on Elliôtt’s look, which was fantastic in itself to start with.
GURL: Do you sew or would you be getting a telling off on drag race?
Majenta: I sew, I started making my own costumes about a year into doing drag, it was one of my favourite parts of doing drag for awhile, but covid really sucked the joy out of sewing because I had nowhere to go to show off any looks!
GURL: Let’s not even get into the damn pandemic ruining all the fun things, Ms Rona should have sashayed away seasons ago. We can’t wait to see you showing off all your fabulous creations in the future and we’re sure Aunt Michelle would approve.
GURL: You’re no stranger to showing off that fabulous body, have you always had such confidence?
Majenta: Ok, that’s hilarious, because I struggle with confidence enormously. I’ve only occasionally done boy/androgynous looks where I show skin, and I try to make it very purposeful as part of a look, so it’s always posed and often there’s makeup on my body — if you’re gonna see skin, I’m gonna put a lot of control into how it’s presented. I am so amazed and jealous of all these people who constantly share photos of themselves nude or nearly-naked in jockstraps and such, I WISH I had that confidence. I’d say I have “self-acceptance” of my body — I don’t hate it, and I’m proud of keeping in shape into my 40s, but I definitely don’t go around thinking I’m hot shit.
GURL: Wow, we honestly would never clock the struggle both with you looking so incredible and having an aura of comfortable confidence. From first hand experience we know body can be the toughest thing to feel good about so that’s super relatable. Honestly though you are definitely in fab shape and we applaud you for it.
GURL: Which of your looks would you say best advertises your drag?
Majenta: My style covers such a broad range, I had to include a few!
GURL: You really are a bit of a drag chameleon aren’t you? It’s truly great to see you exploring different sides of the art form and giving us Majenta in many ways!
GURL: You’ve done a lot of fundraising, could you tell us a little more about that?
Majenta: I am fortunate to have a good-paying day job, so I’ve never relied on drag for income. I felt a bit odd taking tips early on when I knew I didn’t really “need” them to pay bills, so I decided to start donating tips to the Trevor Project. I ended up donating about $5,000 over the course of a couple years. Then when I started Full Spin during covid, I wanted to make sure I was supporting more folks, so I started donating a portion of shows to various non-profits. We’ve ended up donating about $15,000 to various organizations.
GURL: That’s so incredible! It’s really great to see that you’re using your skills as an entertainer combined with your humble generosity to give back to the community and spread the love. The world needs more amazing people like yourself.
GURL: What are your goals for your drag in the future?
Majenta: I would love to create a “real” show with higher-production-value than anything I’ve done before. I feel like I’m still very much a mostly-unknown local queen, and I’d really love to create something that stands out and reaches a much broader audience. I also would like to write and record some music again, it’s been so long!
GURL: Hopefully as the world gets back to some normality you’ll have more opportunity to put together bigger and even better shows, we’ll manifest it for you. We’ve got faith that more and more people will learn your name – especially is you start recording some bangers, the sky is the limit babe.
GURL: Aside from drag, what are some of your biggest passions?
Majenta: Well, I was a musician for years and ended up re-releasing my pre-drag music as Majenta with a J on my album “Before Me” in 2019. I wanted that to be my career but it never took off, fortunately I work full-time in web design and have been very successful in that, so basically everything I do is creative. When it comes to other passions, I’m actually a pretty big sci-fi/horror fan, and I have a vision of someday doing something with film in that area, but no plans. Just a wild dream!
GURL: Okay so first of all we need a horror night some time, we’ll bring the snacks and a bottle of something tasty – maybe we can take inspiration and create a little horror short! Secondly we love this music moment, are we sat listening to Never Loved Me? Yes, yes we are.
GURL: What’s your top bop of 2021 so far?
Majenta: I’ve been discovering lots of independent electronic artists from the past few years and mostly listening to them (Bronson, Forester, OTR), but if I can cheat a bit and include late 2020, I’d say BENEE’s “Sheesh” (featuring Grimes) and Miley Cyrus “Edge of Midnight” (with Stevie Nicks) are my most recent big faves — I’m still waiting for a clear fave in 2021, but I did really like “Montero” by Lil Nas X. That video alone is going to be a pop culture historical moment for the ages.
GURL: Those are some great examples of music tbf so we’ll definitely let you have them. Without a doubt though Lil Nas X is getting MVP for queer video moment of the year, honestly the icon we need in 2021 and we’re fully here for what they bring next!
GURL: Have you got any party tricks?
Majenta: I have an uncanny ability to find a way into people’s wifi/bluetooth to take over the party playlist. It’s a compulsion, I can’t help it!
GURL: Oh trust, we seem to have picked up that party trick too :’)
GURL: You get to promote 4 other drag stars, who are you choosing?
Majenta: Just JP — one of my best friends and a co-producer on Full Spin, JP is not only a talented producer and drag artist, but also always brings an activism perspective to their numbers that I love!
Rusty Hammer — this king has been one of the best new performers I’ve seen in the past couple years, and he brings SUCH an amazing ’70s-era horny vibe, complete with roller-skates, ascots, and a permanent grin in that perfect 5 o’clock shadow!
Paradox Rei — I have LOVED getting to know more drag artists around the country during covid, and Paradox has blown me away every time. They are an incredible performer and also such an amazing visual artist — I even hired them to do the editing/production for one of my own videos. I’m so inspired by their work.
Last one is gonna be a cheat — I have to include the ENTIRE top 5 of the cast of Now Serving, the digital drag competition I co-host with Violencia! I am so amazed with the work of Zad Gravebone, Chris Griandher, Severity Stone, Seyoncé Knows, and Obsidienne Obsurd. All are must-see performers.
GURL: That wasn’t even a subtle loophole, that’s just straight up name dropping but we’ll allow it, the more talent the better!
You can follow the gorgeous Majenta on Instagram, go show some love <3
