Mynxie professional goth - DJ & Host FF#21

Photo credit: LUXXXER

Mynxie is a London based professional goth - alternative burlesque artist, drag creature, fire performer, vocalist, DJ and practicing witch - a fascinating fierce powerful pansexual femme, with a fabulous box of creative tricks up her sleeve. Starting out life in alternative Drag and running a freak show troupe, before evolving into her larger than life Professional Goth persona. Regularly seen on the goth, queer and alternative scenes, performing, playing or just being fabulous in a dark and mysterious manner, whether that’s from a genuine dark place, fetish vibes or ridiculous camp Spooky fun. Mynxie will be DJ-in the bar warm-up and throwing fabulous lewks at our forthcoming Fèmmme Fraîche #21 coming up this Saturday 23rd Feb. We had a little chat with Mynxie to get the goss on life as a professional Goth.

Photo credit: Damien Frost

MYNXIE - PROFESSIONAL GOTH

Hi Mynxie, thanks for having a chat with us and indeed for coming to join us at the next Fèmmme Fraîche, which is creeping up on us this Saturday 23rd Feb. We have the joy of your DJ skills and killer kween lewks as our Host - two talents for the price of one!

So let’s start with your wonderfully nefarious self-proclaimed title of ‘Professional Goth’ what exactly does that entail?

Well I practise a lot of different skills and disciplines, and it's all pretty much based around darkness and the parts of alternative subcultures that mean the most to me. Personally I think the word 'drag' can mean so many things, as it's sort of an umbrella term for all types of art and performance in which someone wears a 'fantasy' of sorts, but with mainstream drag turning into something very specific and almost limiting, I preferred using my own term which could give someone an immediate indication of my vibe whilst also being inclusive to everything I do.

I gather you started out in alternative Burlesque and ran a freakshow troupe on the rock/punk/metal scene, which is where your aptly coined ‘drag creature’ evolved from, but how did you first come on to the Burlesque and performance scene and how did your first performances come about?

I actually dropped out of school when I was 16 and went straight to drama college, so I've always trained towards performing. But it wasn't until I moved to London that I realised just how prevalent underground cabaret and nightlife was in terms of being able to carve out a career, which was great because I wasn't really enjoying the straight-laced actor life - so I just started making my own stuff instead of auditioning for other peoples'.

I hear you’re also a trained fire performer too? Was this self-taught? How long did it take you to train and were there a few singed eyelashes in the process?

I've had bits of tuition here and there, and (most importantly) a decent amount of guidance from a professional with regards to health and safety, insurance and risks before I took it to the stage. I'd say I trained/practised on and off for about 8 months before my first live performance, and ever since then I've been gaining confidence and learning new skills. I've been doing it for around 5 years and I'm still nowhere near the best. I've actually managed to keep my eyelashes fully in tact, despite a couple of occasions where I thought mid-act 'nope, they've definitely gone this time'!

So I have to ask about the coffin you apparently have in your back garden, of course I would imagine, no professional Goth could be without one, but how did it come to be? And what’s currently encased in it?

Oh god, I'm so lucky to have a decent coffin without the hefty price tag, but it was such a drama! A warehouse in Reading were getting rid of their Hallowe'en stage dressings, and I jumped in there and offered to send a van, because of COURSE I can provide a home for free spooky stuff. However, they didn't quite show me everything they had, so when the van arrived at my house and the doors swung open revealing two full sized coffins, a 7 foot skull, around 12 pumpkins varying in size up to around 4 foot wide and an array of gravestones, I thought.....oh, fuck, what have I done?! I had to call round my fellow producers who were also staging Hallowe'en shows and donate it around London - so if you were at a drag show in October and saw any whimsical décor, it may well have come from my back garden! I gave away the second coffin to a friend, who has fitted it with a mattress to replace their bed (been making goth dreams come true since 2018, apparently!) and I've kept the traditional wooden one. It's in the kitchen out of the rain, empty at the moment, as the inside needs re-upholstered with red satin and I've just been too bloody busy to find a staple gun.

Love it!! So aside from the drag-goth-burlesque-fire-performing fabulousness, you’re also a singer and DJ - a rather multi-talented queen of the arts and (witch) craftery [We’ll come back to the witchy part in a bit] I gather the singing came first and the DJ-ing followed, did you start out as a vocalist in a band, or was this part of your burlesque / cabaret journey?

It was part of my training. While I was at college during the day studying acting and performance, I also attended weekend and evening classes for dance and vocal tuition. It was really expensive, so I worked as a classroom assistant with the younger kids to earn my fees, so I literally didn't ever have a day off. I've never actually been in a band, though. I do make original music but I tend to make it myself and invite friends to do guest features, rather than collaborate with a set group of people.

So then what made you turn your hand to DJ-ing?

Just the combination of music and nightlife, really. I'm passionate about dark music and the process of stringing it together for people to dance to. I also love a good occasional pop gig, they're so fun!

Ha, who doesn't love a bit of cheeky pop! Ok so what can we expect from your DJ set at Fèmmme Fraîche next Saturday?

I've been putting together a bunch of really sexy electro pop with some dark influences, and a few sneaky remixes. I might even debut one of my own remixes in there too, and see what you all think! I'm looking forward to it - I've never actually DJed at Superstore, so it'll be a first for me!

Fab, looking forward to you dropping your remix and happy to have you for your DSS debut. Now coming back to the witchy part (which admittedly I’m most eager to hear about) as a true professional Goth, I understand you are also a practicing witch. Now we all love a little Nancy Downs and Winefred Sanderson hocus-pocus style witch craft, but what does it entail being an actual practicing witch?

That's SUCH a huge question as it means so many different things to different people. I'm what you would call an eclectic witch - meaning that I take bits and pieces from different practises and chuck them all together to give me what I need. I'm also more Satanic-leaning, and if you've never read the Satanic Bible, you definitely should. It's a right laugh. Very much atheist/anti-religion but for camp dandy tarts like me who like a bit of indulgence in the dark side.

Witchcraft itself, simply put, is a way of focusing/acknowledging/manipulating your own energy - which makes it's ties to feminism very clear, as history has always been terrified of strong women, and utilising your own energy and potential is strong as hell.

Absolutely, and we love strong fierce women and fully encourage it! So finally, aside from Fèmmme Fraîche, where else can we see you DJ, Sing and perform?

EEEEVERYWHERE! You can always catch me at MØNSTER QUEEN, as that's my goth fam and resident party. We have a room every month at Berlin Berlin as well as some really exciting solo events. I'll also be doing my debut DJ set at Yesterday's Shadow in a couple of weeks, which will be more 80s synth/new romantic, and on the last Sunday of the month I'll be doing another of our camp Sunday Showdown evenings at The Glory with Tracy La Bouche. I'm always spooking around somewhere or other, so there are plenty of parties to catch me at - mines a prosecco!

So there you have it, a tiny taste of the world of MYNXIE professional Goth, if you want to keep updated, make sure you follow her on her socials below