Whether they’re rocking a crazy mix on stage or spinning the house down from the DJ booth, Brooklyn / Jersey drag wonder, Sourdoe is the sweet drag star we knead this spring!
Thotyssey: Hi Sourdoe, thanks for chatting tonight!
Sourdoe: Hello! So nice to be chattin’ with you!
Happy St. Paddy’s Day… a holiday that queer folks famously love, lol! Do you plan on celebrating in any sort of way?
Absolutely not celebrating St Patrick’s day, haha! Besides my love of the color green, I have no relation to the holiday. Plus I work in Central Park, so I felt like I’ve been inside the parade all day–which has been overwhelming to say the least! When they make a St. Sourdoe’s Day, I will celebrate that.
Speaking of your name… do you have any particular love for sourdough bread?
Absolutely! I was one of those people that made bread almost every day while trapped at home during 2020. I kept it going for a few years, and when I started drag I wanted my name to be something stupid, something true to me, and something that was one word. So that’s where “Sourdoe” came in!
Funny enough, once I became Sourdoe and did drag consistently, I wasn’t making bread as much. But in the past few months I have gotten back into my routine of baking a lovely loaf as often as I can! Maintaining a starter is hard work (and so much money for flour). I love baking a sourdough loaf and giving it out as a prize at my shows! I also do not like candy or sweets, so my ideal snack is a slice of bread.
You sport some very dynamic drag looks nowadays… how might you describe the type of drag you do as far as these looks and your numbers go?
Aw thank you! I would describe my drag as the intersection between gorgeous and grotesque. Uncomfortably absurd with a hint of fashion! I love clashing patterns, lots of color, and strange silhouettes.
My numbers are usually just as deranged as my fashion choices… I am really inspired by absurd writings and comedy monologues. I love including spoken word elements into my performances. My goal with performing is to get people to smile and laugh (in true clown fashion). So when I am thinking of a number for a show, I usually try to think about what an audience wouldn’t be expecting to see, and what I can do to make them go “what did I just watch and why did I love it?” And if they didn’t love it, that’s fine! As long as I made them laugh a bit!
Where are you from originally, and pre-drag how did you begin as an artist or performer?
I am from New Jersey! I have always been into acting in some capacity, whether that was theatre or making short films in college… I love performing for people, and was always interested in trying different ways to get in front of captive audiences. At some point I got into DJing and I was producing my own music.
I was attending and hosting music shows in people’s basements and backyards. I loved the energy of being in a DIY art space, it felt more fun and more genuine than any staged production I had ever been a part of. I would do crazy makeup inspired by Club Kid culture, and play my music for crowds of drunk college students.
Suddenly, people started to incorporate drag into these shows and I knew I had to get in on the action. My good friend Miss Acid Reflux had started performing in various basements near me, and asked me if I wanted to be the resident DJ for the shows she was producing. So my love of music transformed from making it, to DJing it, to eventually lip syncing it!
What was your original music like? Are you still making it?
I am not, but I have hopes of getting back into it soon! Its all on streaming services under the name A V. It was a range of ambient tones to industrial dance music with lots of samples. I am very into electronic dance music and feel deeply connected to it. I would love to get back to it and shift to something more funky / disco, as that is more of my energy now. Now, I mostly use my music production knowledge to write parody songs to perform, lol!
You and Acid are part of La Gatita, an alt-drag DIY sisterhood in Jersey, but you do a lot of stuff in Brooklyn as well! Do you see similarities between those two scenes at all?
Yeah for sure! I moved to Brooklyn in November of 2024, but I travel back to Jersey for our monthly show at coLAb Arts in New Brunswick.
La Gatita shows are a safe space for freaks and weirdos; people who came to our shows constantly told us that they were grateful for the energy we curated and for uplifting alternative drag performers in the area. My heart will always be with the New Jersey scene, but since moving to Brooklyn I feel like I fit in a lot more here. The New Jersey drag scene is much more spread out and decentralized, so it makes it hard to really characterize the scene as a whole.
However, I can tell you that the drag that surrounded us did not seem to accept our art as much as we hoped, because we were not your standard drag artists. La Gatita continues to be a way for us to make our own opportunities and carve out space in the New Jersey drag world, and show that we are drag artists with perspective and fun ideas.
The Brooklyn drag scene feels like it appreciates people who have a clear vision and good energy on / off stage. There are so many more places to perform and get yourself out there while still seeing a consistent group of other performers. Its much easier to form connections in Brooklyn with other artists and with audiences as well.
In Brooklyn, you DJ the weekly Sunday “Brag Drunch” at Branded Saloon, as well as Siobhan the Third’s monthly “Freakshow” at All Night Skate! Is it fun to provide the soundtrack for other drag performers, or is it more like “bitch, gimme your track now!” Lol!
LOL, it can be both at times! I do a lot of begging for tracks… but I love being a DJ at these shows because I get to curate the energy leading up to performances! I also love doing my makeup, so any excuse to get into drag I will take it. Especially if I get to stand behind a DJ Set and look pretty without sweating it off!
I also love feeling like my job is valuable. Everyone loves to joke about DJs… but without me they would have to play this music, level it, control the mics, and remember cues all on their own. So I am happy to bear that burden in order to have a successful, fun show!
As far as performing goes, you’re hosting what looks like a unique show at Purgatory on Friday: “The Show That Makes You Say WTF!” Acid will be there, and a number of established and rising stars on the scene. Tell us more!
“The Show That Makes You Say WTF” is my love letter to confusing and strange art. I really want to provide a space for people to do numbers or acts that they would never be able to do anywhere else. Whether it’s funny, sad, powerful, or meaningless doesn’t matter… as long as it makes me say WTF! My best friend and artistic collaborator who also happens to be DJing the show, Unqletio, helped establish the concept–and it’s became my favorite thing to produce! Nothing about it runs like a normal drag show; it is the type of show that you have to attend to understand what its like. There will be lots of audience interaction, games, some crazy outfits, and more surprises. I am super excited to do it at Purgatory, because now I can include video and lighting elements that were previously not accessible in other spaces.
A show you’ll be a part of at Wonderville on Monday will be themed, but prob no less WTF: “The Dawn Is Your Enemy,” a tribute to Adult Swim! Can you give us a hint about what show you might be paying tribute to… and did the Adult Swim aesthetic greatly inform your drag in general?
I love [show producer team] Cringe Compilation so much, so I’m so honored to be a part of anything they do! I am paying tribute to Off the Air, which was a late night show that would play compilations of animation and music surrounding a certain theme. Adult Swim and Off the Air definitely informed a lot of my art, because I like to think that my drag is a collage of all the crazy things that go on inside of my head. I also have fond memories of getting super high and watching Off the Air to get new ideas for drag numbers, lol.
Looking ahead to April 12, you’ll be a part of another Brooklyn Cringe Compilation show: “Promstruck” at C’mon Everybody–a tribute to the Homestuck web comic–featuring a number of DJs and performers. You’ll be one of the latter!
Yes, I am performing at that one! I won’t reveal who I am being yet in case there’s any Homestuck fans who read this… I want them to be surprised! I am sure that’s gonna be a crazy night, Homestuck fans, don’t mess around about their fandom, so I’m super excited!
What else is coming up for you?
The only other thing I will tease is something coming May 12th that I am producing with one of my favorite people I have met in New York, Annie Vaxxer. It’s probably the most ambitious drag endeavor I have undertaken in a bit, so I am super excited to announce it and share it with the world!
Very exciting! Okay lastly: who’s winning Drag Race this season?
Okay admittedly, I’ve only watched three episodes… but Jane Don’t is my favorite.
She could be the one! Thanks, Sourdoe!
Check Thotyssey’s calendar for Sourdoe’s upcoming appearances, and follow them on Instagram.
Thotyssey 