We sat down with drag superstar and Billboard chart-topping musician Trixie Mattel at California Donuts in Hollywood. From her cozy neighborhood donut shop to the world’s biggest music festivals, Trixie shares her journey from folk guitar to dance music DJ, and how she learned to stop caring about being “taken seriously” in the music industry. We explore how COVID lockdown unexpectedly launched Trixie’s DJ career breakthrough, leading to her hitting No. 1 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart with “One Stone.” She opens up about the unique challenges of balancing drag performance with live DJing at major festivals, her life-changing experience at Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter tour and explains why she now embraces being called a “drag show” instead of fighting against that label.
Tetris Kelly:
Hollywood. Trixie Mattel-
Trixie Mattel:
Well, well.
Well, I was wondering how I was gonna find you.
Did you hear me stopping?
My queen has arrived.
I mean, you look amazing.
Thank you.
I’m, like, doing this face thing for my new show, so, whew.
Ooh, we’re gonna talk about that, but where did you bring me?
Girl, okay, this is California Donuts since 1964.
Ooh.
I have not verified.
A classic.
I have not verified that. I don’t know.
Okay. We’re gonna go with that.
Yeah. But I live in the neighborhood, I don’t wanna say where because people all wanna kill me. But I walk over here hungover. I get the most fabulous donuts and egg sandwiches. And I, I love this place.
Well, we’re gonna go in. I’m gonna try some of this food. And we’re gonna talk about these people that wanna kill you.
Okay, great. Perfect. Let’s go.
I’m scared now.
Girl, you’re fine. You’ll be fine. Just push me on the ground and run.
All right, so what kinda donuts do I need?
Okay, so I am a creature of habit, and I have two donuts that I get here at California Donuts on Hollywood Boulevard. My personal favorite is this apple fritter. Ooh, a little- Apple. . . . sweet, savory. Apple crunchy. It’s kind of appley, salty. Yeah, it’s apple fritter. Or this is a cronut. They make a donut using croissant dough, so it’s, like, layered and flaky.
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