The Drag Enthusiast: Gemini DaBarbay: Voluptuous Beauty of Massachusetts

Gemini is a voluptuous beauty who resides in Lenox, Massachusetts. Wild, passionate, and sassy...Gemini says her love for the drag community stems from being around like minded people that understand her as an artist and performer. One of her biggest pieces of advice is to keep practicing and stay focused because it's too easy to lose yourself.

1. Who is Gemini DaBarBay as a performer?

I like to say Gemini is a crossdressing stripper. I think thats a really honest and clear way of describing her. She's wild, she's passionate, definitely an A1 thottie. She is everything and more that at one point or another I've wanted to be.

2. When and why did you begin doing drag?

I'd have to say Gemini was "created" or more so I think "born" somewhere between the age of 13 or 16. At age 13 I had just gotten really into makeup, it was such a huge part of my early teen years because there was rarely a day I went without it. I had used makeup and drag, which at the time didn't even know was a thing, as a safety mechanism. I was a horribly shy and insecure kid back then and I used drag as a mask to keep people at bay, but I guess now it has the reverse effect doesn't it?

3. How did you acquire your drag name?

Its actually really weird. Me and my friend at the time had been cruising our local teen hotspot, the mall, as most everyone at the time was doing. We walked past this arcade machine and it suddenly flashed Gemini on the screen. When I saw it I knew that was it. I had always seen myself as two beings sharing a body so it was a perfect fit. The DaBarbay I came up with as a kitschy way of saying the Barbie.

Photo by Kobey Lawton

4. How has drag changed your life?

I can't express how much drag has changed my life, its done more than that. Its kept me on this earth. The makeup, the wigs, the eyelashes, it gave me a sense of belonging in a world which I didn't think I could exist. It brought me to a community of like minded people who finally understood me, and saw me for my artistry. Growing up in a predominantly wealthy white town I never had that and I finally did.

5. Who is your biggest inspiration and why did you pick this person?

I can't say I have just one. Early in my drag it was Lady Gaga. She still is, but Ive added a lot more to the list anywhere from Azealia Banks to Kim Kardashian. But there's also the people I get to work with. My drag parents Misty Meaner and Mocha Lite, Avi Munster, Kashi Golean, Angel South, Sybil Syrvice, Philly Pino, I could keep going on honestly haha. I pull inspiration from tons of places.

6. What has been the best comment you've ever received from someone either online or in the audience at a performance?

This was from 1-2 years ago I believe. I was doing a show at Rocks in Albany, NY and had just got done performing Fierce by Azealia Banks. I was out on the back deck smoking a cigarette when a man had come up to me. He started at the time what I thought was talking quietly to a man next to him but I quickly realized he was signing. The man next to him started telling me how his friend had gone completely deaf early in his life but that he could literally feel the song through watching me perform it. He may not have been able to hear it but that didn't matter to him because by seeing me perform it was as if he could. I quickly rose to my feet and hugged him for what seemed like the longest time. Ive always kept that memory right at the front of my mind.

7. What is your favorite look that you've put together so far?

Hmmm my favorite look... To be honest I'm not sure I have one yet. If I had to choose it would probably be this Melanie Martinez, ratchet, pastel, crying look I did for a photoshoot. Its really simple but the photos I took in it kinda tell a story, atleast for me anyway.

8. What is your favorite piece of makeup that you absolutely can't live without?

HIGHLIGHTER. I literally abuse the fuck out of shimmering highlighter. I love that dewy look your makeup gets after a night of drinking and being hot, and with a shimmering highlighter on top of that, ugh... Amazing.

9. Where do you see yourself in the future when you think of your drag career?

I definitely have a lot of things I wanna do. I wanna get involved in the fashion industry in some way, I want some form of makeup product, and music as well.

Photo by Josh Schnopp

10. What is your favorite number to perform and why?

God, thats a hard question. I like all my numbers! Choosing one I'd have to pick my Mean Girls number. I had Bijou Bentley and Liz, my sisters from Tumblr's Drag Race, a few of their friends and Angel South record pieces of audio from Mean Girls as if Gemini had been Regina. Its so ratchet and fun.

11. Favorite and least favorite things about drag in your opinion?

My favorite things is the people you meet, and sense of community, without either things would be very different for me than they are now. My least favorite thing would have to be how so many queens see it all as a competition. We're all so different, we don't need to compare each other in a competitive way all the time.

12. Do you have any secret talents? If so, what are they?

I make some bomb ass fried chicken.

13. Do you have any embarrassing moments that you've experienced during a performance?

Pretty recently actually. I had been performing Sex Dreams by Gaga and if you've seen one of my numbers then you know there's a lot of sexual based... Movements you could say. Less than half way through my number I felt a breeze on the lower half of my body. I had ripped my tights at the crotch through all 4 pairs. These chestnuts were roasting on an open fire honey.

14. What is your advice to other performers who are generally new to the drag world?

Practice makes perfect. No one beats a perfect face their first time, hell I still can't. Don't be afraid to try new things with your look. For awhile I was so afraid and unwilling to try new things that it definitely hindered me a lot. Go out as much as you can, just get your face out there. Lastly be you, remember your supporters and where you come from. Find yourself a good core of people who support you, these people will help you and these people are VERY important. Its too easy to lose yourself in this community, I'm not even gonna lie, it's happened to me before, you just have to stay focused.

Photo by Kobey Lawton