NYC’s drag mothers are raising the next generation of icons

Q: How did y'all meet?

Selma: We met at Industry Bar and I asked her if she had a drag mother and she did, so that was that. 

Plasma: I had a drag mother when I started drag in Oklahoma but when I moved to New York and saw Selma, it became clear to me that Selma’s drag, wisdom, and experience far surpassed anyone in the drag community that I knew in New York and beyond.

Q: How did you come up with your concept for the iconic duo fire and ice?

Selma: We were looking for something that complemented each other in texture and in shine. 

Plasma: Both of these garments have been a significant part of our journeys in drag together and it made a lot of sense. I think our mother-and-daughter relationship is less about the higher and lower form and more about the sisterly relationship we have as people who complement each other.

Selma: I think my floor-length gown is more of a matriarchal dynamic whereas hers was a shorter, hipper silhouette which speaks to the younger generation of drag. 

Plasma: In terms of the ice, Selma’s had to cool me off from a couple of my drag instincts because I get really excited. She’s the balancing act between my fire and ignition. I’ve found in our relationship I have access to make Selma laugh in certain difficult, tricky, dark, cold moments and get her out of her icy cave emotionally. 

Q: What legacy do you and your family want to leave in NYC drag?

Selma: The love we have for each other is really unique. I just know that we are each other’s family. I don’t see families celebrating each other the way we do.

Plasma: I don’t see a lot of people who have a drag family that continually and consistently inspires more, and better and more fun drag. Doing drag with her consistently makes the hustle of everything else worth it because I know it’ll be fun and inspiring. Drag families should be about encouraging the joy of drag to inspire more of it: More artists, more joy, more freedom and more opportunities. 

Q: Can you talk about how you felt in the shoot in the context of mother/daughter?

Selma: Once we were doing the really snuggly mother and daughter poses, I really felt connected and those felt really beautiful.

Plasma: Some of the positions we were in is not what Selma or I do in our typical photo repertoire. There was a little bit of awkwardness that we nonverbally exchanged with one another but at one point it just became so fun.  

Catch Plasma perform at “The Drowsy Chapelle Roan” on June 3 at Red Eye at 8pm.

Q: How did y'all meet?

Nancy: So much of my drag family I met through theater and that’s where I met Reina. We met at a show by the National Queer Theater that a mutual friend was directing.

Reina: I think a lot of the show’s success came from our chemistry because we had to hate each other, we had to fight each other, but we also had to love each other unconditionally within that story. 

Q: You've talked about being sober drag queens. Why was it important for you to be sober?

Nancy: The impetus was for health reasons, but what was really hard to overcome was in a nightlife setting, which as a drag artist ends up being so much of your time. There’s this need to drink or use something to be the artist that you are and be entertaining. One of the things that helped me was finding other people in the community who are also sober and connecting to those people, and I realized you can find strength in numbers. We as queer people are trying to find that community outside of bars and outside of drinking, and what that can look like.

Reina: Sobriety has helped keep my relationship with drag special because we’re working late nights, we’re working sometimes day shifts. I’m so used to wanting to drink as a way to feel together with people and there was a fear that if I didn’t drink while doing drag I wouldn’t feel connected with the audience. But the reality is that drinking isn’t bringing us together, it’s our drag and how we’re interacting with other people. Nancy being sober is so inspirational for me and makes me more comfortable with making that decision. 

Q: Why did you choose The Sopranos for this photoshoot?

Nancy: It’s an extension of the characters we created throughout our careers.

Reina: Carmela Soprano is the matriarch of TV and is just so inspirational, she’s complicated, she’s flawed, but no one can tell her anything. Adriana La Cerva is known as the heart of the Sopranos and she’s someone who doesn't really want to be in the mob. The way she models and shapes herself is really based on her relationship with Carmela and she learns how to be a powerful woman and mob wife through Carmela.

Q: How did ya’ll feel at the actual shoot and interacting with each other as mother/daughter?

Reina: There were moments where Nancy just kept reassuring me and saying you’re good, just be present. Just let it happen. All of this feels special and cosmic. After the shoot, it hit me and I was like I cannot believe that I’m able to work creatively with someone who is not only my drag mother but also my best friend. It’s a dream.

Nancy: It’s the best feeling in the world. I feel like being an artist in New York, you can feel very stagnant in your work and this dynamic that we have where I’ve been pushing Reina as this blossoming drag artist has helped me revitalize my own work as an artist and has reminded me of the joy of why I love drag in the first place and how exciting it can be.  

Reina is a finalist at the Ultimate Diva competition on Tuesday, July 16. You can catch Nancy and Reina perform together at Pride at the Coney Island sideshow on June 14.

Q: How did y'all meet, and can you describe your relationship?

Kandy: Our relationship is dynamic because before we became mother and daughter, we were friends for a long time. A lot of little children go out in the wild and want a drag mom but before you have a really strong drag family, you need a really strong friendship.

Xunami: I think that’s why people like us so much because we can show up anywhere and people will just leave.

Kandy: I saw something in her when I first saw her at a competition at Pieces Bar. She won that night and then she won the next five weeks and I thought this bitch has something in her. I reached out to her and it snowballed from there. 

Xunami: One of my favorite things when we started drag together was all the things I was learning from her. It’s definitely passing down the torch and the knowledge and the connections and tricks. 

Kandy: You need a dynamic duo where you will steer each other in the right direction. When we get into it, we get into it, but deep down we know it comes from a place of love. 

Xunami: I might not like you right now, but I will respect you. 

Q: Talk about the challenge of putting your looks together.

Kandy: As we were thinking of iconic duos, we wanted to find something that resonated with us. One thing that struck me was the times we had the most fun was when we’re at home super lit playing video games.

Xunami: Everybody recognizes these characters. Who didn’t have a Nintendo in their house growing up? 

Q: Why does Pride matter especially this year?

Xunami: As you can see, people are trying to get rid of what we do but Pride is our moment to stand up loud, stand up proud, stand up bright and we’re not going anywhere.

Kandy: This year is an especially important year because it’s an election year and a lot of our legislators are trying to pass bills on banning drag and we know deep down it’s not about drag but about our trans brothers and sisters which is why it’s so important to donate to the ACLU. I remember going to my first Pride and thinking “Whoa, this is a world I would have never imagined being a part of.” There’s kids at home who are fighting from their family who they really are. As queer people, we are stronger together than we are alone. Pride is about chosen family.

Q: How did y’all meet?

Marti Cummings: Peachez and I met at one of my gigs and I very quickly was like oh my god, this queen is next level. I think I said it on a Live during the pandemic. Peachez is more than a drag daughter to me, she’s a best friend and family. 

Peachez: Marti for many years hosted a competition called The Ultimate Drag Pageant. Towards the end of 2019, I had just barely started dabbling in drag. I went to one of her shows and she asked me if I was a drag queen and I said “I guess!” So I ended up showing up to the competition. I didn’t win a single week of that competition. 

Q: How does your mother/daughter drag dynamic manifest itself?

Marti Cummings: As a drag mother, I’m not gonna teach you how to do your makeup, but what I will do is teach you how to run this as a business. There will be a lot of people who will want to take advantage of you and influence you in a negative way, and you have to negotiate contracts, you have to know how to present yourself in different settings. 

Peachez: We’ve gotten to the point where Marti and I are almost sisters. Marti has influenced me outside of drag just as a citizen of the city and during the pandemic, Marti and I just started going out and bringing unhoused neighbors food and socks just out of the street. To use our drag as activism as was always intended was really important to us.

Marti Cummings: If you’re not uplifting people or saying people’s names in the room when you’re not around, what a disservice to drag because there’s so many incredible drag artists out there. Peachez has taught me so much about uplifting others and being a cheerleader for others.  

Q: What is something that having a drag mother helps you do?

Peachez: In New York, there’s a long process for getting to know what bars you should be working at, and how to connect into those bars. When you have someone who is established and has been working for so long and can give you a phone number to a bar manager, and even tell you which bars not to work with, that’s very invaluable. When you are starting out and you’re just some person who shows up in a wig, it’s hard to convince people. If you don’t see the opportunity, create the opportunity. And Marti is very good at how to structure things and how to be a producer.  

Q: What advice would you give to queer people struggling to find that chosen family? 

Marti Cummings: As you’re going out and meeting people, you’ll start making those friendships and those relationships and through those, you can seek mentorship in a way that is very fluid and organic. Stick with the people who make you feel good. If something’s not jelling, that’s not it. 

Peachez: I think it’s important not too put too much pressure on joining a specific drag family. The key is to become a part of the community and you’ll find your niche and group inside of the community as long as you’re being a good person and making friends and that’s hard sometimes, but there will be people. 

You can watch the documentary about Marti’s campaign for city council, Queen of New York, on Advocate Channel until June 30.