Daily Inspiration: Meet Snot Rokette

Today we’d like to introduce you to Snot Rokette

Hi Snot, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My origins in this art form started off like any good long-lasting infection does: subtly and slowly.

It all began when I started questioning my identity in 2019. I was in the middle of earning my BFA at art school. Being in such a thriving hub of growth and exposure to ideas that I’d never considered for myself before, I really wanted to explore who exactly I was. I just didn’t necessarily know how to. It all laid dormant in the back of my mind until we were shut into our homes halfway through my time in college. All of those days locked indoors with my thoughts really made me ask important questions to myself and I knew that if I ever had the opportunity to see people in group and crowd settings again, they would see the true me. With the urge to grow in mind, all I really needed then was a medium to help me navigate the change. I was very lucky to find that through drag. I always was aware of it, but never aware of just how diverse it was. How multi-faceted it could be. How it could be for me too even if I wasn’t a cis gay man who wanted to do female impersonation. I was already impersonating a female everyday I woke up and made others more comfortable by presenting in a way that made the most sense to them. It was exhausting! The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula and digital drag shows by artists that I found through that show really changed my world. Each performer that I saw on the show and watched excitingly on live streams further and further solidified that if I wanted to play with my identity and gender, this was the way to do it! I would mess around with makeup, outfits from my closet I’d throw together, and doing a lot of jumping around in front of the mirror to wacky music. Whenever–and if ever–the ability to go out and explore drag in person was available, I was gonna be there.

And I was! In 2021, places began to open back up, and I was drawn to go out to the first show I could find. Fortunately I knew a friend who knew these drag artists that were just phenomenal and they were performing live on the south side of Columbus at a bar that no longer exists, Daddy’s. My first time at a bar, my first time watching a drag show at a bar, my first time seeing drag that wasn’t just a man dressing as a woman live and in person. I. Was. Hooked. I attended shows as frequently as I could and eventually instead of showing up as a pedestrian, I started showing up as Snot. Dressing up in the kookiest outfits I could throw together from my closet, doing my makeup as unusual as my skills would allow, being present in queer spaces, and only introducing myself with a sickly smile and a nasally ‘Hi, how are ya.’ I came to meet so many individuals from so many different walks of life that took an interest in my… unique demeanor. After a year of watching show after show, meeting and chatting with local drag artists and fellow queer folk, and dancing the nights away at any chance I got, I not only came to find myself and my own identity, but I also got my first opportunity to actually perform on the stage. It was with the first drag artists I had seen once lockdown was over at District West (this group had changed venues after the shutdown of Daddy’s) and it was my time to show folks exactly what I’d been itching to show them: who I was.

From that night on, it’s been a fantastic snowball of chances and moments I’ve been given to perform for folks onstage to show them just how freakily fabulous I can be. Since starting I’ve worked alongside a handful of Dragula and Drag Race cast members, co-hosted and hosted drag shows all over the city of Columbus, secured a spot as a permanent cast member of a prominent alternative monthly drag show: Freakshow at Cafe Bourbon St, and now hold the season 2 winner’s title from a local competition at District West known as Jack Of All Trades! Three years as a nasal non-binary drag thing has been a roller coaster ride that I simply refuse to get off of. Each day that passes is a new opportunity to set a new goal, try a new idea, learn a new skill, learn something new about myself. My ultimate hopes are to spread my germs and non-gender as far as my tendrils can reach and, truly, I’m just getting started.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Oh absolutely not. Drag never is. You learn a lot of what you can and can’t handle fairly quickly. The toughest struggles are truly those where you’re in your own mind. It can be a scary place, especially when you hold yourself to the standard of “you’re only as good as your last performance.” Getting costumes together and up to par in time for the show, hoping that you know all the words to your mix or song choice, practicing your choreography or song beats over and over and over to make sure you hit everything you wanna hit when it’s time to get up there and be entertaining. Not to mention it can be a little tough on the heart when you’re the only wacky green goof in the room. But ya gotta be tough, know who you are, know your worth, and know your own mental and physical limits in this art form. It comes with practice, but those are the biggest hurdles I’ve encountered and continue to leap over.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I perform live for audiences in a wild display of lip syncing to tracks, jerking around in the most unusual movements I can muster, and sometimes even actual dancing! Additionally I occasionally host or co-host drag shows that feature similarly strange talents for bar-goers and fellow queer people to enjoy on their nights out on the town. My specialties lie in the more alternative side of drag, which is a form of drag in response and a challenge to the more traditional route of drag that is beauty and glamour. This non-traditional side of drag branches off in many directions from there but for me all of my looks and numbers center around horror and camp concepts. The goal being to be as terrifyingly uncanny as I can be while getting a few giggles of comfort out from the crowd along the way. I’m most known for my musicality, costuming, and cartoon-ish paper wigs. All of these factors give me a look straight out of those seedy and weirdo pulp comics your mom told you not to read or they’d rot your brain. I am most proud of–and thankful for–my community and how they continue to inspire and encourage me to go even further with my nutso ideas. The thing that sets me apart from others is I’m a horrid disease in disguise just itching to infect the masses with my contagiously outrageous self. A.K.A. My aesthetics and concepts.

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Oh absolutely. If you’re not taking risks as an artist, you’re never moving yourself forward in your work or challenging yourself to be better. Now I’m not talking about risking your health physically by doing a jump split off a 7 foot speaker in platforms when you’ve never done a stunt before, or mentally by using every ounce of energy your mind has to run yourself into the ground to get things accomplished. What I mean to say is that if you’re thinking about trying a new idea out, if you want to try your hand in something you’ve never done before, if you want to see how it goes to wear a different style, or make an attempt in more competitive settings, hell even wearing a new shade of lipstick you never thought would look good on you. Do it! See what happens! You only have more to learn about yourself no matter the outcome.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @snotrokette
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083231465500
• Other: https://linktr.ee/SnotRokette