Interview: TAYLOR ALXNDR

This interview was initially published in the Music forum as part of the 2020 Pride Month Spotlight project.

I was lucky enough to get to speak to @TAYLORALXNDR in March about their experiences as a queer artist in the music industry! TAYLOR ALXNDR is a sexually fluid, agender musician, drag queen, and LGBT activist based in Atlanta, Georgia.

One of my favorite things about your visuals is how colorful and lively they are. Has your involvement in drag culture influenced these visuals, and additionally, has your exploration of your musical identity influenced your drag performances?

Iʼm a child of the 2000s who grew up watching TRL and such, so Iʼve always taken music videos very seriously. Theyʼre another medium of artistic expression when it comes to music. My drag definitely informs my visuals. Drag is all about the performance and the details, and so I try to bring that to my visuals. My musical identity definitely has worked its way into my drag performances. I think Iʼm slowly but surely stepping away from lip-syncing and trying to just perform live.

While learning more about you and your music, I was very impressed by how you balance both your music career and being a leader in the Atlanta LGBT scene, particularly through your involvement in Southern Fried Queer Pride and House of ALXNDR. How do you divide your time and energy between these projects?

Iʼm still learning to balance it all, to be quite honest. Luckily, Iʼm able to work for Southern Fried Queer Pride as my day job, and House of ALXNDRʼs events are always well planned and spaced out, so when I need to focus on my music, Iʼm fully able to. Iʼm still working on devoting more time to music!

If you could collaborate with any LGBT artist, dead or alive, who would you work with and why?

Wow, what a tough question! Hmm. Iʼd have to say St. Vincent or Blood Orange. Iʼm a big fan of both of them. Their writing and production really inspires me and I would absolutely die if I ever got to work with them.

Happy late birthday! You celebrated the special day with a release party for your “Romeo” music video. When you’re planning a video treatment, where do you find inspiration?

Thank you! The “Romeo” video was inspired by John Hughesʼ movies. I wanted to subvert the 80s teen movie narrative of the girl chasing the boy and changing for him. For that video, I built the entire set, casted it, choreographed it, etc.

As a songwriter, singer, producer, drag queen, and LGBT activist, there’s a long list of things you have done and succeeded at. Are there any other avenues you hope to explore in the future?

In the future, Iʼd love to own a venue space here in Atlanta. Despite being a big city, we lack queer spaces for art and community. We only have 21+ bars and clubs. Iʼd love to own and operate an all-ages space for the community. And who knows? Maybe Iʼll run for office someday!

What are you most looking forward to with your new album cycle?

Iʼm very excited to tour! Iʼm currently planning it, and itʼs the biggest tour Iʼve done yet. Iʼm also excited to put out more visuals. Music videos are a way to bring life to the music, and I want my new album to have all the life!

What inspired you to create House of ALXNDR? When you were starting your drag career, did you encounter any similar groups?

I created House of ALXNDR to mentor up-and-coming drag performers in Atlanta, as well as to create more interesting and inclusive drag events. There are dozens of families, houses, and troupes when I began drag, and there still are. But not all of them were invested in going outside-of-the-box.

Did performing as a drag queen help you build a platform/following before releasing your music?

Drag definitely helped me build confidence and stage presence. It taught me how to interact with a crowd. Iʼve always made music, but it wasnʼt until 2015 that I started posting it and being open about it. That was three years into doing drag. By that time, I definitely had a local following, which helped me start getting booked at shows.

Do you feel that the public opinion of drag musicians is shifting?

I think so. I think the public understanding of drag is beginning to shift and become more multi-faceted. People are starting to understand us as full-fledged artists and not one-dimensional beings.

You can check out TAYLOR’s new single “Say What You Mean” on Spotify now, and keep an eye out for their new album 1993 in September!