Contrary to a famous song about the holiday blues, this year we focus on the positive side and chase away the sadness with new music from one of New York’s finest: Lagoona Bloo, multi-talented mermaid queen and musical wonder, has released a new single that will definitely put some cheer into your festive season. Read on as we chat about ‘Bloo Christmas’, but also venture out into other topics such as drag journeys, award nominations and future projects!
DA: Welcome to Dragadventures, Lagoona! We’re thrilled to have you and would love to get to know you better: Can you give us a brief introduction to Lagoona Bloo? When did you first venture out into the ‘drag world’ and what made you want to become a ‘mermaid pop princess’?
Lagoona Bloo: I feel like every single drag queen has the same story of either starting drag through Pride or Halloween or being a theater kid and mine was definitely being involved in theater. I first started doing drag in 2016 after I was cast as a queen in a musical. Little by little, I slowly began to just develop a huge passion for drag and I realized that it was definitely the thing I wanted to do with my life. I have always loved the story of the Little Mermaid. I’ve always been fascinated by pop stars in my youth and so the combination of the two seemed to be the perfect fit for Lagoona Bloo.
I think the biggest reason why I love drag and why I love Lagoona is the fact that I am able to be the thing that I never thought was a possibility as a kid! I was so fascinated with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera and countless other strong divas and female pop icons in music. As a queer, chubby kid in south Louisiana, I always thought that it was a fantasy to be a pop star and now I am living that dream out to the fullest capacity. It is a dream come true!
DA: From mermaid moments to Christmas cheers, you just released a brand new holiday single: ‘Bloo Christmas’! Contrary to the song title, the song is actually far from blue – it’s a happy jingle! How did you come up with the idea for the song and how did you decide on the name and the concept for it?
LB: So to be quite honest, I am actually not the biggest fan of the holidays. My mom passed away in 2014 and she was the glue that held all of us together and held us connected to all of our extended family. So, after she left and I moved to New York City, a lot of my Christmases were spent with either a partner or by myself or with friends. So I have actually been very disassociated from the holidays for a while until this year. I met a really great guy and we hit it off and I have the pleasure of spending the holidays with him. I knew that I wanted to release something for the holidays but I didn’t quite know what it would be about or sound like, but when I fell in love, the inspiration hit me like lightning!
I think we have all heard of the famous Elvis tune ‘I’ll have a blue Christmas without you‘ and with my name being Lagoona Bloo I was like “How can I flip that title or that concept of having a blue Christmas and flip it into something positive?” and I thought oh I am not going to have a blue Christmas because I have you!
What I love about this concept is that for me, though it may be about my partner, the ‘You’ can be anyone that you love. It could be a family member or it could be the friends that you surround yourself with. That’s the most important part of the season for me. It’s the love that we give and receive from our friends and family and loved ones!
DA: Also, can we just say that your voice is so soothing to listen to – how did you get into singing and music, did you always know that you wanted to combine drag and music?
LB: Thank you so much I really really appreciate that, I have been singing since I was in diapers, LITERALLY! Growing up, my parents had videos of me in a stroller singing and humming gibberish. They could never get me to be quiet. I was always singing at home, in church, at school. As I mentioned, I was fascinated with pop stars as a child. So, music has always been a huge part of my life. When I found drag, I realized that it was something that I could do but also sing at the same time. Drag queens are known for lip-syncing but something that has always empowered me in my drag has been my voice.
So I have always known that music and singing would be a huge part of my career so it became the fuel for my drag. As I’ve developed Lagoona as an artist in New York City and in my career in general, I have come to realize that music is my passion and it’s the thing that I want to truly set me apart. I truly believe that I was put on this earth to change the way people think about drag queens and drag music. I want to omit the “drag queen music” label and just make incredible music!
DA: Since the ‘post your Spotify wrapped’ season is upon us: What’s heavily played on your music playlist right now? And, if you could go open a show for any artist, who would it be?
LB: Oh my goodness, I love this question so much. Lagoona Bloo is actually my most listened-to artist (laughing). I still get so excited when I see myself on streaming apps and all over these music platforms! It’s so surreal to see yourself, so I would be lying to you if I didn’t say that I was my own top listened to artist because you know, we’ve got to support ourselves, right?
I also really love Kim Petras, she is one of my biggest inspirations. It is so amazing to see queer representation in mainstream music and she is probably my dream artist to open for! KIM, CALL ME SIS! Right along with Kim is Ariana Grande! She had a huge musical influence on my first album AQUA. I am just so inspired by her talent, her ability, and the need to create music that is for her and not what labels want from her! I’m very inspired by that, and of course, I am obsessed with Britney Spears, I mean she is the life in the breath of Lagoona. I love her and I’m so happy for her now that she’s free.
DA: The video to accompany Bloo Christmas is such a fun watch, besides the dance numbers, the outfits alone are envious, particularly the gold jumpsuit. How would you describe your drag style, and do you have any style influences? Is there anyone or anything in particular that inspires you when you come up with new outfits?
LB: Oh my gosh thank you so much I really appreciate that! I would describe my drag style as a sexy combination of a mermaid princess and pop stars! Whenever I am going into any sort of design, I immediately revisit the things that really inspired me in my childhood which were fairy tales, pop stars, and princess stories in general. I think the main reason why they are one of my biggest inspirations is that they were something that I was never really allowed to enjoy as a kid. Now as an artist it is so wonderful for me to celebrate these things that I had to hide for so long. I look at what my favorite pop stars are wearing on the red carpet or on tour. I also look at imagery of mermaids, imagery of my favorite princesses, imagery of fish, the ocean, water: all things that have always been fascinations of mine for all my life.
So truly I would say the biggest inspirations in my drag come from my childhood! All these things that I was not allowed to love have become the things that define who I am as an artist and it’s kind of surreal to have the opportunity to be able to express myself most in the things that I wear.
DA: Of course, you don’t just sing for the holidays, and this year saw the release of your EP ‘AQUA’. How does making an album from start to finish feel, especially when seeing the end result come together and it being adored by fans?
LB: Making music is such an incredible thing simply for the fact that I never thought it would ever be something I would be doing so soon in my career. It was something that I always thought I would have to wait for. But when the pandemic happened, my saving grace was writing music. It just opened the door for the time and space and energy to make music. Creating “AQUA” was such a labor of love!
DA: Also, we will admit this is a tricky question but we’re curious: what song is your favorite either to perform live or just from the EP on its own? (Ours is “Hands!”).
LB: Not a tricky question! My favorite song to perform of mine is definitely “Hands”. I will agree with you there. I think the reason why I love it so much is because it is probably the one that is the song most based in reality. It is based on pain that I’ve experienced very much and that song really comes from the heart. It was so cathartic to create that song and I realized so much when it was finished. After writing and recording it I saw how much I had grown from that pain and so now when I sing it, it means something totally different to me. It has become a song of empowerment and it’s a declaration of what I want and need, plus it also just sits in my voice so beautifully.
DA: You’re not only very successful on your own, but also part of a thriving drag trio with Jan Sport and Rosé. You all have appeared on various TV shows and released music together: your EP ‘Christmas Dolls: Volume I’ came out at the end of last year. What has been your favorite moment so far when working with your sisters? What would be the ultimate achievement for Stephanie’s Child? Also, can we expect more music from you, like a Volume II for ‘Christmas Dolls’?
LB: My favorite moment of working with my sisters has definitely just been on the sisterhood aspect of it because they are two of my best friends in the world! Since they have been on Drag Race, we have all been so busy with our own projects and have all been blossoming within our own careers. But though we haven’t been working on much that does not mean that we are separated as a group! We are always checking in and are still incredibly close. We are just taking the time to flourish in our own careers so that when we do reunite and start working on music it will be the best that it will ever be. Patience, my child, is a virtue!
DA: From music to award shows, the Glam Awards have just announced the nominees for an array of categories, you’ve been selected for Entertainer Of The Year, Best Video, Best Cabaret show, and Best Vocalist – congratulations! Where can people vote for you, and how does it feel to be surrounded by such fantastic queens?
LB: I can’t really even put into words what this means to me! I can’t believe that I have been nominated and celebrated by my peers. It is the thing that means probably the most to me in my career because what’s more important than knowing that your community respects you, honors the things that you do, and celebrates your hard work! To be nominated is such an honor the end of the year was very hard for me because I felt like a lot of my work was clouded by an inner saboteur. I was dealing with intense moments of like “What am I doing, why am I investing so much into this? Why is this so hard?” It felt like I was planting all the seeds in the garden and my flowers just were not blooming and when I saw that I was nominated for so many awards, I was literally brought to tears. It was like I started to see the sprouts of all of my hard work this year. It means so so much to me to be nominated amongst so many incredible talents that I have looked up to you for as long as I’ve been doing drag!
Voting for the Glam Awards is open to the NYC entertainment community and more information is at https://www.glamawards.net/voting.
DA: We also recently saw you on our screens for season 5 of Nailed it! with Selma Nilla, you were both such fun to watch and we were rooting for you to win! What made you want to go on the show and what kind of preparation does go into competing on a show like that? Also (attention, SPOILER ALERT) How did it feel to win the $10,000?
LB: So I honestly had no intention of being on a baking show! Selma auditioned for the show and they asked her to bring a good friend so she invited me to audition as well! I had a meeting with the producers and won them over with my Lagoona charm and the rest is history. There was very little preparation as far as baking goes into it because the point of the show is to just do your best and have a good time! The most preparation that we did was literally putting our outfits together; everything else was done on the spot. It was so great to win the show, it was so so amazing and so exciting and unexpected!
DA: If you could create your own TV show, what would it be about and what would it be called?
LB: If I were to create a TV show it would definitely be based around my life as a drag queen in New York City and all of the things that go into this career! I don’t think people realize how much work goes into drag, this is my full-time job. This is my passion and the thing that brings me the most joy and sometimes the most stress I’ve ever experienced in my life. But it is so worth it and it is so amazing! So my show would definitely be all about working as a drag queen and also the putting together of an album to show the ins and outs of being a queer artist.
DA: Speaking of achievements, 2019 saw you appear on the Cosmo queens segments creating your signature ocean-themed look, which was absolutely gorgeous, by the way! How long does it take you to come up with concepts for a look and is there anything, in particular, you can’t miss when creating a new fantasy for Lagoona?
LB: Thank you so much! You know, I will be honest and say that luckily, a lot of these concepts just come to me and a lot of them I don’t practice. I’ve been doing make-up now for almost six years now but I’ve also been drawing and painting for as long as I could hold a pencil! So it has been an amalgamation of the years of practice and all of my childhood inspirations. It doesn’t really take me a while to conceptualize because I feel as if I have always lived with these images in my mind and now I just put them together on myself. I always like to say that Lagoona is the Barbie Doll that little David never got to play with.
DA: Since drag is also about becoming someone else, in a way, is there any particular person throughout history or present-time that you would love to ‘freaky friday’ with for a day?
LB: Ah, this is an interesting question! I actually don’t think I would. I think more than anything it would be terrifying to live in someone else’s body. I am quite content to have to be two people with Lagoona and myself so I don’t think I would!
DA: It’s safe to say that you’ve achieved so much in your career already and 2021 has been equally action-packed for you – what was your biggest achievement in the last 12 months and what else is on your bucket list of goals to hopefully tick off in 2022?
LB: Oh thank you so much, I appreciate it! It’s surreal for me to recognize all of the things that I’ve accomplished but I think the thing that I am most proud of is the amount of music that I’ve put out into the world. The last twelve months have been so incredible, challenging, wonderful, invigorating, and terrifying all in one. There have been so many risks that I’ve taken and there have been so many opportunities that have let me down incredible paths! I am so proud of myself for facing so much adversity and facing so much fear. I think the biggest achievement that I’m the most proud of is definitely this music video for “Bloo Christmas.” I didn’t even fathom how much work it would be, but I did it. I released five releases on my own this year: four single releases, a seven-track EP, and two music videos! If you would have told me that this time last year, I don’t think I would have believed you! “Bloo Christmas” was the biggest undertaking I’ve ever had in my career! I learned so much and I am just really really proud of myself for making this happen as an independent queer artist and I have no intentions of stopping!
When I look into the future, it looks bright and BLOO!
For all things Lagoona Bloo follow her on the following socials:
Instagram: @lagoonabloonyc
Facebook: @lagoonabloo
Youtube: @LagoonaBloo
Dont forget to stream Bloo Holidays and Aqua on all streaming platforms!
Spotify: @LagoonaBlooApple Music: @lagoonabloo
