Amethyst has departed RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 15, but her impact is most definitely going to be felt post-elimination. During her time in the competition, Amethyst served killer lip syncs on the main stage and a legendary Snatch Game performance as Tan Mom. While her time on Drag Race might now be over, Amethyst has plenty planned for her next chapter. We recently chatted about her Drag Race run, performing for legends like Janelle Monáe and Ariana Grande, and how music itself merges with her drag.
Michael Cook: Tell me about your RuPaul’s Drag Race journey. I think it is safe to say that you are the first unofficial lip sync assassin of the season!
Amethyst: Really? I’ll take that title! It’s been a lot. During the time it’s been a lot, but now that I have had time to reflect and physically watch myself, I feel like I am in a better place with everything. I was just in a point where I got so in my head on the show. I think it all started after the talent show critique. I did have my little redemption and I am so glad the I got to do that, but I am so happy that I got to prove myself as as a performer because that it what I am known for back home. I am known for the comedy, but I am also known for the fact that if you are going to an Amethyst show, you know that she is going to lip sync the house down boots, you know she is going to do that! I am really glad that I got to do that and claim a little title as well!
MC: Every year, it seems like some contestants will join the show and still not have mastered the art of sewing. Did it cross your mind prior to leaving for the competition that you may want to give it a shot?
A: Of course! I can’t tell you how many times I was walking around the workroom looking at what was going on and hearing the several, I am taking about multiple, drag friends that approached me and tried to help me before I left for filming. They were like “Hey, I know you don’t sew. But can I just show you how to make this one pattern? This one thing, just a bodysuit”. I was always so dramatic, so in my head, just like “Oh no I can’t
im so busy, I have to put this look together”. Yeah I was in some serious regret in that workroom looking around.
MC: It’s almost like the process of learning something so new almost seemed overwhelming at the time to you, would you say?
A: In my head also, I knew we only had so much time to prepare. It’s not like I had a basic understanding of sewing and I was building off of that. I had no idea. I didn’t even have the basics down if you put a machine In front of me Im like “Does this make coffee”? (Laughs). I didn’t know anything! So for me to learn in that short period of time, it was overwhelming and I was like, it wasn’t going to happen. Looking back it was the wrong mindset and I regret it. Lesson learned though…
MC : Connecticut has truly made an impact on Drag Race Season 15. To you, what makes a Connecticut queen amazing and really sets them
A: The fact that they are from Connecticut (laughs)! I don’t know, it’s hard to say. We have a little bit of everything, when you say “Connecticut queen” there is not one specific queen that I think of. There is a good handful from everyone corner of drag. The dancing queens, the comedy queens, the singing queens, drag kings, non-binary performers, the list goes on we have so many. And a new queen every single week, it’s hard to keep up!
MC: Being on Drag Race with a handful of other Connecticut queens might have been daunting, but being on the show with a queen like Robin Fierce who you were personally involved with was most likely complex, to say the least. What was that like to be expected to talk about your relationship?
A: Yeah, especially on a show about drag and drag queens. I knew at some point we were going to have to address it, it wasn’t the first thing that though of to be honest. I think at that point during filming it had been a whole year since we had been “in cahoots” so that chapter has been closed and us being on the show is kind of reopening it, which kind of turned into a whole thing. I knew that we would have to at some point address it, did I think it would turn into such a hot topic?-absolutely not.
The whole “who broke up with who”, I was ready to talk about it, answer and be honest, but the whole “who broke up with who” was like “where is this coming from”? It was giving a whole different MTV reality show, it was giving The Real World, I was like “What is this? Okay lets just go with it”. As Robin said, that chapter is closed.
MC: What do you think your rose and thorn are of your Drag Race experience?
A: I think it’s pretty easy I think my rose and thorn was my ability to have a redemption for myself and then plummet (laughs).
MC: It was truly amazing watching you communicate with Janelle Monae in “Untucked” in a more intimate way and seeing her feeding off of you both lip synching was truly a wonderful moment. What was it like for you?
A: It was incredible! There is a part during the “7 Rings” lip sync with Ariana Grande where she says “my skin is gleamin’, the way It shines, I know you’ve seen it” and we locked eyes for that part and something shifted. It was really crazy moment. I think I just wanted more of that, more connecting. As my lip sync went on, I slowly went on to have more fun, be more loose, and really connect with the panel and who was on it. So even if Janelle (Monáe) on it, whoever was in her spot would’ve been getting the same amount of face and emotion.
MC: What’s next for Amethyst?
A: I’m touring, so there is that. I am always working on new music also. I write, produce, record mix and master all of my original music, which you can stream on all streaming platforms. It’s weird to say that when I’m not doing drag, I’m doing music because they have become so intertwined at this point. When Im not going the gigs, I am definitely working on music. I think you will see new music from me pretty soon…
MC: Who is Amethyst…
A: a goofball (laughs).
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