Willow Pill, Denver drag performer, is not your typical drag queen. Known for her drag show, Pill Box, hosted at Gladys bar, and her creative take on a vintage aesthetic, she has ingrained herself into the psychedelic experiences of many drag lovers. One viewing of her Digital Drag Show performance, Downtown, and she will be in yours too.
I had the opportunity to sit down with Miss Willow herself, virtually of course, and discuss what really took her downtown. Because, yes Willow, we all know it was not the rhythm of the gentle Bossa nova. So, if you’re as curious as I was, I suggest that you continue reading.
Q: What inspired you to do this performance?
A: Um, basically it was originally an in person performance for my own show. I host a show every month, it’s not happening any longer because the bars are closed, but at the time I was hosting a show called Pill box, and it is mostly comedy and storytelling. The theme that month, in January 2020, was called recreational, and it was all about recreational drugs, and the previous month was my first experience trying acid with my friends on Christmas, so basically the performance was inspired by my first time taking acid. It’s only in the last year that I’ve really gotten into experimenting with psychedelics, which is something I’ve always wanted to do, and I finally just started doing it, and it’s been like the best experience of my life both in terms of fun, and also just on a very deep level, as far as like trauma and psychological issues go. So, I wanted to make a video that fully encapsulated not only that experience, but who I am as a performer. I feel like, with psychedelics, I’ve finally been able to flush out what it is that Willow brings to the table, and so I wanted it to be a fully encapsulating performance, like a little neat package of who I am wrapped up. I wanted it to be a little bit scary, a little bit funny, chaotic, and sweet all in one. So, the song Downtown I thought was perfect because I always explain Willow to people as this kind of gleeful Disney character that has all this absurdity and chaos happening behind her but she doesn’t notice it. Kind of like she’s just skipping and jumping amongst the rubble of the dying world, and that song is a very naive song, which is very fitting, and then it’s just like chaos happening during it, because that’s how I feel all the time. I've had a lot of horrible things happen to me, and there’s a lot of horrible things happening in the world right now. The rest was just putting the story together you know. She is moving downtown, everything is gonna be great, this guy gives her a drug that she doesn’t realize is gonna rock her world, and she takes it, it’s terrifying, but then she sees its purpose, and it ends up being fun and amazing.
Q: Was the imagery in this performance inspired by your personal experiences on acid?
A: So my first time taking acid, my friends and I couldn’t stop watching Adult Swim videos. They make these videos specifically for people that are tripping. Each one is just like a jumble of videos that you are supposed to watch on psychedelics and it will just be wild. It enhances your trip basically, and so we watched those for hours just like screaming at the TV, laughing, and crying, and going through all the emotions of watching these silly animations. I wanted those to be included in the video just as an homage to that experience. I wanted people to experience what I experienced, but in a fun drag video, without having to take the drugs if they don’t want to. So, that performance is very much how the experience went. It was how it all felt to me.
Q: Were there any specific references in this performance that you wanted to convey to the audience?
A: The only thing I really wanted to make sure of was that it had a really nice vintage vibe because most of my drag does have a more vintage vibe. I’ll do more high fashion stuff every once in a while, which is really fun for me, but I’m always really inspired by the 60s and 70s, and sometimes 80s, so I really wanted to make sure the fashion and images, in at least the first half, were all in reference to that time. Other than that there’s not really any other references.
Q: How did you want the audience to react to this performance?
A: I wanted them to be a lot of things, which is hard. I wanted them to be shocked at how much fun they were having watching it. If I want to do online drag, I want it to be how people see me in real life, and when I perform I like there to be a mix of emotions in my performances. I like to make people laugh, but I also want them to feel something beyond just comedy. I mean don’t get me wrong, sometimes I’ll do a comedic number that is just for laughing’s sake, something that’s just dumb, and you won’t feel anything deep. Typically though, I do want there to be a mix of tragedy and comedy. I wanted people to feel perplexed a bit, have their interest peaked, laugh, and also feel a sense of sweetness and nostalgia.
Q: How did you develop your makeup and outfit ensemble for this performance?
A: For the makeup, with the thin eyebrows, the big lid, and the big eyes, I just wanted it to be a 60s vibe with a bit of a colorful acid twist. With the purple nose, I think I was probably just a little bit high when I did it haha. With the outfit, I really wanted the white gloves, the fitted dress with the big buttons, and the little hair to match the 60s vibes as well. For the hat, I wanted to have a pillbox fascinator on because of my show, Pill Box.
Q: Is there anything in particular you want the readers to know?
A: My main goal with this number, and I think the main goal with drag in general, is to get people to have a view into your soul, and I have a very difficult time explaining to people what’s going on inside my brain, because there is a lot going on. There’s a lot of sadness, a lot of trauma, and a lot of laughter and absurdity as well. So my main goal with this performance was for people to understand where my drag was coming from, and this was one of my first performances where people got that insight, and so yeah it was just a little snapshot into what’s happening in my brain at all times, and I’m very happy that it was successful in doing that.
After speaking with Willow, I re-watched her performance of Downtown, and I was able to see things in a way that I hadn’t seen them prior. It is definitely what she explained, a mix of naive gleefulness, and then absolute chaos. One thing I loved was watching the relationship between Willow and the Acid Monster evolve. It began with fear, and ended with them literally twirling and swaying in synchronicity, and that metaphor really sums up, what Willow explained to be, her personal relationship with psychedelics.
If you want to see more of Willow Pill, you can find her on social media @willowpillqueen, and don’t forget to say high, pun intended, when you make your next trip downtown.
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