Exclusive Interview - Synthia Kiss
We jump on our call with Synthia Kiss whilst staying in Iceland and both compare whose make-shift set up is worse before getting down to details.
Michael thank you for taking the time during your holiday.
I apologize in advance the lighting and the wi-fi is awful so I look dreadful and if the wi-fi cuts out I’m really sorry.
I mean if this is you looking dreadful I can't wait for good lighting because you still look like a cutie.
Please next to you my dear!
Do you like this wrapping paper wall? We're on tour but we can still make it work. I had to hide the cheesy picture with a bird on it behind me.
I would love to have seen it.
I mean it's pretty cheesy, just think like a postcard.
Amazing! I'm going to start with my first question of when did you discover that you wanted to do drag?
I had wanted to drag for a very very long time, I feel like it was one of these things that I wrestled with internally for honestly over a decade. I played this role in high school where it was a trans character and I got to be female presenting on stage, it was a very soft drag, my hair was long at the time so I didn't even wear a lace front wig! I was feeling my own kind of organic fantasy but ever since then, I felt this superpower when it came to presenting female and I think sometimes in life, in the past at least, i've been worried about being perfect and I wanted to hold off until it was the perfect time and the perfect moment. I just kept saying the word perfect in my head, but then I realized you're gonna have to be a baby queen at some point and have that trajectory or that growth. When I moved to Vancouver I thought it'd be the perfect time to meet a bunch of people and the rest is history… I mean Canada's Drag Race! I think I’m doing something right.
Exactly! This week you and your Drag Sisters were given the challenge of a ball where you had to present 3 looks. One of those looks had to come from a box given to you which represented one of the seven deadly sins. How did you feel your box represented you or do you feel you fit one of the others?
Well I love money so if you know, if I'm gonna have to pick one, let's go with greed. But the only thing going to my head Michael, was the fact that I already did a design challenge wearing gold. I was like okay, I have to really ease up on the gold and the metallics in this box and lean into the furs and let that be the narrative. Wearing fur is greedy (to me personally), they were fun furs, they weren't actually real fur but pretend for the narrative because to that point I don't think we have to kill animals for clothing! I think there's technology out there where faux furs are actually just as good as the real. Maybe vintage, you can't kill an animal twice, if you want to get some real fur buy second-hand. But yeah, that was my approach to it, not to do too much gold but to evoke greediness. Let's not make it another design challenge in a gold jumpsuit. There was some of that same material in my trunk! I thought, well I can't use this. They (the judges) were already reading my runways, it was a lot of pressure, I was saying to some people there's fight or flight but I freeze! There were moments where the wheels weren't turning, it was like the gears were stuck! But I’m proud of what I got to showcase this whole season.
I mean the rest of your looks have been fabulous! Sadly it didn't work this time but where do you usually get your inspiration from when creating your looks?
Oh, vintage runways. I love an era of Chanel from the 90’s. You know like supermodels such as Christy Turlington, anything I see her looks like a very powerful women. All the powerful women in my life, like my Mother, she's a fierce lady fierce, lady boss, that’s where I get these cheekbones from! I’m also inspired by comedians like Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. They have this sexiness to them, they look aesthetically beautiful but then crack a joke that makes the whole room laugh. That is a winning combination to me and if I do say so myself I feel like that's my vibe on the show. I love making people laugh, one of my favourite sounds is laughter, not being laughed at, but laughing with you, there's a big difference. I feel like you have superpowers when you can make people laugh. You can brighten their day a little bit and I’m addicted to that. I felt like that since I was a child and to answer your first question about getting into drag, that’s a huge elemet where you can make people happy through drag.
On the show you were very open and you spoke about having to deal with coming out at the same time as your Dad, which is crazy. How was that journey for you?
It was at the time, it’s a unique situation. You look at your parents for inspiration, confidence and so many facets of life and this was one of those moments where it actually became more confusing. I was like well why aren't you living your authentic life, what does that mean about my sexuality? There were these moments where I wasn't really sure how to handle that and it almost started to feel a little like I was parentified. I couldn't look to my Father for that inspiration. It did cause him to grow up a little bit, I definitely felt like I was mature for my age as they say but he's been so supportive ever since! For years now, we've all kind of come through the woodwork and he's been loving the show. He’s literally obsessed with Drag Race, he has actually found a lot of self confidence through the series. Talk about a full circle moment for him, seeing his own son on the show! His photo was on the show last week and he was like oh my god, I'm on the show.
Have you watched the show together?
We’ve done some viewing parties together, it's been really fun! He was at the premiere in Vancouver.
That must have been so nice to have that with him.
Oh totally, he was so adorable. He's said to be before it, i'm gonna wear a sequin blazer, I don't mean to out-dress you. Like Dad, you're talking a Drag Queen, c’mon, try a little harder Andrew!
My final question, this week you had to lip sinc against one of your rat pack sisters, how was that?
Oh my god, Kendall. As it was happening it was like this is so awkward, it's either awkward for her or awkward for me. There's that moment in the lip sync where we're like literally grabbing each other, it's like she's about to slowly stab me with a knife and be like goodbye! You're dead. I think it makes for great TV, that was a building moment the whole season, the fact that it was this trio, how fabulous, make them duel against each other. I mean, I'm not a producer but if I was that's good TV. I like to see it from that perspective. I know how memorable that is, so as intense as it was in the moment, it was very memorable for the audience.
Shout out time – Who would you like to give a shout-out to and why?
I want to do a shout out to my team, I haven't done enough shouting out of the people who helped me get on the show like my boyfriend Vincent, he literally didn't sew for years I'm just like hey, do you want to make some garments for a you know a national television show!? He had the pressure of doing that in a couple weeks. Vincent, I love you.
Sean my wig stylist, I don't know how to do wigs, they are one of those moments where it's literally canoe without a paddle! So Sean Malma's, huge shout out to him, I think those two really completed my package and I'm eternally grateful. The show lives on TV forever so I really appreciate their support.
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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.