Exclusive Interview - Océane Aqua-Black
I’m going to start the interview with going back to the beginning of your drag journey, how and when did you discover you wanted to do drag?
Oh my god, I never knew that I wanted to do drag because at first it started as kind of a joke. I was going out with some friends, I was young and people were seeing me on the dance floor and the artistic director at the time at the local bar in Quebec city, saw me dancing and said oh you should try it and I was like no, I don’t wanna dress like a woman! He kept telling asking me and one night… it was August 4th exactly, I said I’m going to do it. Once I had done it the response that I had was so strong that I kind of liked it and I thought well I guess I’m not that bad and after that, like two weeks later they call me back and they say oh would you want to do another song? I was said you know what, sure and it’s been 18 years and I love it.
“I always have problems describing my drag because sometimes I’m comedic, sometimes I’m not, sometimes I’m more edgy. It depends what I have in my head at that moment… okay we're just gonna say that I’m an insane queen! “
How would you describe your drag?
I always have problems describing my drag because sometimes I’m comedic, sometimes I’m not, sometimes I’m more edgy. It depends what I have in my head at that moment… okay we're just gonna say that I’m an insane queen! You know the story I did in my meet the queens with the goat because I love goats. Well I did a number on them, someone made me like four big goat heads and I'm doing my goat number and people are like what the f*ck!?! But you know it's me! When I have something in my head I just do it.
You're not type cast, you're not restrained, you can be whatever you want to be!
Exactly, depending how I feel on the day!
On this week’s episode when you found out the challenge was a singing one, what was your first thoughts?
Well I was terrified! I’m not a singer but I've done plenty of musicals! My last one before the competition I did the Lion King, I was Pumba! I’ve done everything so I was like oh I’ve got this challenge in the bag and then they tell us that we had to sing LIVE! Which was really difficult, you know, because as a drag queen primarily we are not singers, we pay homage to artists that we like and their songs.
So you had no previous singing experience before the episode?
No, I only sing when I'm alone in the shower! Also, I had my knee injury on top of that which made me nervous.
I bet! If you could have picked another role in the show would you have, and if so which part?
Now that I know the roles, yeah! When I came to Drag Race I told myself that I’m here to have fun and the time of my life. I'm happy to have been chosen and I think maybe along the way I lost the meaning of a competition because I was literally having fun. I think I could have been a little more strategic, I wouldn’t have chosen the French character because I would have let one of the English girls struggle it and then I would have taken an English character because I perform all of my songs in English, so it doesn't matter. If I had a choice of character I would have taken Eve’s part with all the reveals because I'm used to doing reveals on stage and I could have done it justice.
When I chose being Bing Bang Bong I didn't know that there was going to be so many props and dancing to it and you have to be in sync with the group! I think the show gives some characters more on purpose, but at the same time it's okay because not everybody is going to get to finish line.
You also don't know what you're going to be given because we only have scripts, after that it's like what you're gonna get!?
During the episode you opened up about the fact that you were abandoned as a baby and the fact that you were adopted, I'm actually currently going through the process of applying to become legal guardian of three children, so that's really exciting but also a long process with lots of hoops to jump through but what I wanted to ask was for any children who are currently in care or who are currently up for adoption that are watching the show, what would be your message of hope to them be?
I would say that it always gets better, some people are unfortunately more lucky than others. I found myself to be very lucky because I've not only been adopted but I landed myself in a great family with great parents and a loving home. I couldn't have asked for anything more but you know what, there's so much uncertainty and you don't know what family you're going to get. You're young and you don’t get to choose. What I want people to remember the most if you decide to adopt be sure that you're adopting for the right reason, that you're really going to love that person no matter what their background is, no matter where that person comes from. Essentially my parents when looking at adopting they were supposed to have a girl, but when the adoption agency proposed me they said we don't care, we just want to make someone's life happy. For me that's the right attitude to have, it shows that they were really ready to embrace me.
So remember, it gets better! I worked in the social system before drag took a major part in my life and I’ve seen so many things that even here like in Canada or even in Quebec city, there's people and families in need. There's children in need of great families, I wish that everyone could have the same love that I got!
Shout out time – Who would you like to give a shout-out to and why?
I would like a shout out to my best friends Stivy, who is also a drag queen, they are such an amazing performer and if I got on Drag Race I think that she should be on the next season! She is incredible and I would really love people to get to know her and everything that she can do. From her makeup to her outfits, they are stunning and out of this world, I recognize a little bit of me in her.
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Photography - Courtesy of World of Wonder
Note: Some of this interview has been edited from the original transcript to help with readability.