Kameron Michaels

How did Kameron get her name?

Kameron Michaels got her name after a much needed revamp to my first drag name...it was Arianna St. Claire. HA! I laugh every time I remember it. It was just not me. I wanted an androgynous name and that is why I chose Kameron. I chose the last name Michaels because I thought it sounded strong and there were no other queens in Nashville at the time with that name. I didn't want to be connected or associated with another "family." I wanted to rise myself and be my own individual.

Who makes Kameron’s attire?

If you do, how long does each outfit take and where does the inspiration come from? Kameron's attire comes from several outlets. Tory Cossintino Ford has made a lot of my bigger or more intricate

pieces in the past. Most recently, my very best friends (literally, my 2 best friends) have followed their passion for costume design and started their own small business. They are making a lot of my new pieces. Outfits can take anywhere from several hours to several days...sometimes weeks if they're elaborate enough. Inspiration comes from EVERYWHERE: runways, celebrities, movies, television, other queens, a stroll through the club wear section of your local girl's boutique...haha EVERYWHERE!

Do you have a go-to song to perform in?

If so, why is this your song of choice? I tend to do a lot of top 40's. That does not necessarily mean current top 40's. Let's be honest: You are performing at night in a nightclub. People are drinking, people are there to have fun. When people hear a current popular song

they're living for at the moment or when they hear something nostalgic from their childhood... they get up and they move! That's my job as an entertainer...it's not about me, it's about them. I'm just the vessel delivering the good time. When someone is dancing around and singing back to me, I LIVE FOR THAT. Shorter answer? Ariana and Rihanna. Those are always my go-to's.

You’re a bomb hairstylist- does this help you at all with Kameron’s locks?

Oh gosh...I'm given a hard time for not doing more with my wigs. I've just recently started doing a little more with them given it's expected of me haha. I just do hair for most of the week and the last thing I wanna do when I come home at

5354night is go to the gym and then come home and do more hair. I'm making excuses...but I'm getting better!

How did Drag Brunch start for you?

Drag Brunch was offered to me when I was working in the DP House Party show which was a weekly show held on Sunday Nights at Play Dance Bar. Literally maybe 3 people will remember this, but I use to host my own talent night way back when at the

Where can everyone catch you performing?

I don't have a regular schedule right now (that can always change)! I probably perform at least once or twice a month in town and I always try to post in advance to let everyone know. I got really busy with the salon and traveling/teaching for a product company that I had to take a break from working at the bar and make sure that had my

Favorite Kameron moment thus far?

My favorite Kameron moment so far was probably the Nashville Pride Pageant I competed in this past spring. It was the most stressful, crazy, amazing experience ever. I've won another pageant in the past, but it was very last minute. This time I spent the better part of 2 months preparing for the event. Dance rehearsals, costumes, music mixing, it was a lot. And I was gone the last two weekends before the pageant! It all came together

old Cabaret Episode 2. I've been on a mic, I educate in hair styling talking in front of people...I knew I could handle it. Funny how I completely failed my final exam in speech class senior year because I was so mortified about being up in front of people talking. Now look at me: I put on little outfits and twirl around with a microphone and entertain a restaurant full of people. I LOVE IT.

full attention. I absolutely love drag, there's nothing else like it, but I love hair just as much. You can catch me twirling sometimes at Suzy Wong's for the amazing Drag'N Brunch and then next door at Play Dance Bar for a packed weekend night with some of the best entertainers in the country!

so beautifully. I placed 2nd and I can honestly say I was not upset at all. I was ecstatic for days afterwards at how well everything went. You feel like a rock star pulling it all off!

Any embarrassing drag stories? Oh gosh...do you remember when Madonna's cape pulled her off stage? When

Beyonce tumbled down the stairs? The first, second, and third time GaGa took a tumble in her platforms? EVERYONE working on stage knows there is always a chance for an oopsie. An outfit falls apart, you slip, you fall...you handle it and you keep going! I'm the hair loser. I lose my hair on stage more than anything. It's happened twice. It's mortifying. You're a man in a dress in a room full of people with a spotlight on you...and your wig falls off. I mean can you imagine? I picked mine up and dusted the floor with it like a mop to the beat of the song last time. I mean, what else are you going to do? Toss it in the air, do the splits on it and get up and perform the hell out of the rest of your song. Shit happens.

Something everyone doesn't know about you?

My parents. They were/are always supportive of me. My dad is no longer with us, but even he came once to see my show. They surprised me. He was cool with it but I never thought he would come and see it live in person. Your little boy...dressed up as a sexy girl dancing around stage and taking dollars from people. I can imagine not being a part of the LGBTQ community, seeing that for the first time...it's probably a little weird haha. We talked at the bar after one of my numbers. He looked me up and down and then chuckled a little bit and said, "Well, you're almost as tall as me now." He was referring to my height in heels. I was 5'10" without them. He was 6'6". My mom has always been my biggest fan. Out to my shows, going to gigs with me that I was hired to do outside of the bar...she's there whenever she can be. She's mom to some of my friends that don't have a supportive family. She's mom to a lot of kids at the local Oasis Youth Center where LGBTQ youth can go to feel safe and welcome. That's a fact I want everyone to know about

Kameron. My family loves me. My parents loved me. I was never told I had to hide who I was. As long as I wasn't hurting anyone I could do anything I wanted in life. And I'm doing it.

You first lip synced against Asia, who had that unfortunate butterfly incident. Your face looked pretty confused when you saw the butterflies crawling on the stage -- when did you notice what was going on?

You know what’s funny is I hadn’t even noticed what happened. With all of my lip syncs, I have no idea what the other girls are doing, because I’m just trying to entertain the audience, or in that case Ru herself. So I am not paying attention to what’s going on around me, I’m just paying attention to where the other girl is in reference to me so I don’t bump into her or hit her. So honestly, I had no clue what had happened when I saw those butterflies, I was so confused.

a few queens, including Monique and Dusty, said they felt you acted cold around them. In an Instagram Live, you said you felt hurt by that. What has that particular critique been like for you to reflect on?

As an introverted person, we don’t always walk into a room and say, “I’m here.” It’s just not my personality, it’s not something I do, and a lot of the time, I have to walk into a room and acclimate to my surroundings before I speak, before we engage. That’s not necessarily me being shady, or something we’re thinking about with our interactions and how we feel about other people. It’s just how we deal with things. That’s something that I am learning about myself, that other people can be offended by that, and I’m now realizing that my silence or my lack of actions can be misconstrued as that. Thankfully, Monique and Dusty both understand that now, and we’ve hung out several times

since I’ve been here in the city, and I’m very happy that happened because it was a conversation that needed to be had.

Now the fans have had a different reaction to you, in that they were immediately talking about how attractive you were out of drag. That initially dominated the conversation around you -- did fans ever take that infatuation with you too far into something inappropriate?

I really don’t think I’ve gotten anything that the other girls haven’t gotten. I have this rule where I don’t open direct messages if there it strictly says there is a picture attached to it out of sheer caution. [Laughs] I think I know better. But no, people ask me why I don’t post a lot of boy pictures anymore, and it’s because I had this narrative where I was there to just be the cute boy this season. And that’s not why I was there at all, and I think once you watch the full season, you realize that I was there for my drag. That was something I wanted to do online, too, is concentrate on my drag.

Well what is next for you, Kameron? Can we expect music anytime soon?

Well there’s going to be a lot of touring. [Laughs] I’m gonna be on this tour, and then we’re doing a 10’s Across the Board tour with my sisters. So I will be touring a lot, unfortunately with not a lot of down time. But I have been working on some music, there is some stuff from the studio. Unfortunately, I am a perfectionist, and until things are up to the level of excellence that I want, I will be releasing that. So I’m gonna have some more time to sit in the studio and write that. I think people do expect music from me, so yes, it will be coming.

Fuentes: www.foulmouthofthesouth.com www.billboard.com