Leland's How-To-Guide for Musical Excellence with Trixie

hello faggoty people we are here katya is still out everybody's been asking like with katya out and sick everybody's been wanting updates and the update is that i look really good right now my skin has been really good and um anyway our guest today is a musician a songwriter a funny person so handsome self-made endlessly talented you know him from writing pop music for all the artists you love as well as writing basically every musical interlude rusical anything music of quality that happens on drag race is attached to this person's faggoty little computer ready scott ladies and gentlemen yeah we have lucian piani here but no seriously leland you guys know him from basically i'm gonna reenact what they know you from which is every time some a bunch of men with no eyebrows are seated on the main stage and they're like i've never been in a recording studio before they walk in they find you in some kind of high-waisted something right oh my you're so right with some kind of statement jewelry tight can barely breathe having to stand for three hours variations on blonde hair yes yes well because we never knew what we were gonna get that's the truth every time my friend came over to do it we are back rupaul's dying your hair before the day literally literally has one of those plastic caps we're trying out wigs we run out of wigs we just dye it again yeah my god but we have leland at the studio everybody i texted you what two hours ago what are you doing today you said i have a writing session at 2 30 i said can you come down yeah i had no writing session no i do i do who are you writing with uh this girl hayes warner and uh who is starring in a tv show called the shards oh yeah which is coming out yeah yeah yeah ryan murphy program yes exactly and john shave who is an iconic uk producer gay not to out him but he is married to a man with kids and he has done everything from kylie minogue to brad how was he married to a man with kids and he has done to married did i say to a man with kids oh sorry did i leave out some really important words i thought he was like paulie he was married to a man with kids oh god my god no no they have kids oh together in their wedlock and he is so and he is so talented and uh and so we're writing today it's like yeah it's really nice but i'm so happy to be here so everybody knows you from drag race and i wonder obviously you have written for troy you've written for didn't you write for it rare by selena gomez yes yes yes competing beauty company it's okay it's okay well i i'm wearing rare foundation today incredible well one of us i don't think she's sitting home wearing trixie cosmetics so i think one of us is pulling ahead you never know you never know you never know she's my autoimmune diva sister i can't say that you can i can that's my culture thank you i one time was at something no that's not true making something up no i was wondering if i if i'd met her before i don't think i have what is she like so sweet yeah so the story behind that song is my friend madison love and i that that was the first time we'd ever written together and we wrote that song and we wrote it with selena in mind i i love uh i had a long chapter where i was like i love writing with selena in mind whether it ends up with her or another artist justin tranter and julia michaels had written hands to myself and all and that album and i was loving it so i was like i've i've got to be a part of this they don't need me but i've got to be a part of this and so we wrote rare um you let yourself into the studio yeah literally i'm a part of this now i am a part of this uh and justin was like who are you but uh but yeah so i we went in wrote this song selena turned it down initially and then that's encouraging a year later when we when another artist had taken the song um we were we heard that she did want the song after all and uh and so we were like fuck you know never want to do that to another artist the artist um was one that we loved but then we were like oh the but the artist that we wrote the song in mind for wants it and so then you know you do the things of like we're so sorry here's other options of songs or we can uh dedicate two weeks of writing songs with you just for you and all of that to try to smooth it over and um and then yes selena ended up taking the song and and putting it out and then the beauty company came shortly after and wow and i still like don't know how to do makeup after all of that so well my god that is true one time you and i were on tour you were opening for troy do you know what i'm gonna talk about stockholm yes okay you were opening for troy and i was playing the same rooms as troy but i was doing seated and obviously you guys were doing like standing pop stadium vibes um and i came backstage because i was doing i play guitar for you when you're promoting middle of a heartbreak yes i'm still in it i'm still in it love that song this is my dead-on impersonation of the musical pieces in the beginning blue blue is it pretty close that's what you did yeah yeah okay yeah that is it and i came backstage and i was like oh this is leland's little and you guys it was a big tour so it's you guys traveled with troy so it's like the there was like chef right troy's parents were there just food listening to his butthole every night yeah um his mom films every single show unlike her iphone on her iphone love every single show show from start to finish and then you know what is so sweet is she does watch them back it's so it's not like they're just sitting there she watches them back my mother would never do this my mother would be like get this shit off my phone oh she got her ipad like get this off here every single one close yeah it was incredible i really want troy's mom to start recording the show with an ipad pro yes yes well and troy's dad loves a drone so there's gonna be a drone hovering on the left side of the stage and i'm gonna be like oh my god i'm gonna be like oh my she's gonna have her ipad pro fierce and i love it it's so sweet is there anything better than an old person taking pictures with an ipad well they were like my parents on tour and so it was just so nice and they are like an extension of family anyway so they're just the best well they're also real family they're not like an extension of family that's troy's parents well my oh leland's like it's like they're related to him it's like they raised him i remember i came backstage and you had a mac studio finish camera and you were like oh my god i'm gonna be like oh my god i'm the top of it was punched out and it looked like you applied it with a pickle every day or like a little cornichon the plastic cover was broken and so half of it was missing so there were just microplastics in the microplastics it was like it exposed obviously like a 10 year old concealer yes i think there was a blush maybe maybe an eye pencil maybe brows i mean i mean that's why i say i get all my makeup at estate sales you know all of it i want to a 40 year old dead person's concealer yes yes expired yeah i have a question you have written pretty much every rusical that people know in the in in i didn't do madonna okay i didn't do share there are some incredible ones that i like did not do but yeah my first one to ever touch was all stars 2 i have a procedural question do you get to pitch the idea of a rusical or do they come to you and say like it's a pharmaceutical theme or it's careful who who picks the theme or do you pitch them ideas it changes every single time if i'm feeling inspired by something uh whether it's the sound of rusic or moulin roux or something like that then i'll pitch it but then sometimes tom will be really inspired by something or um or when we did fanny the hard knock ball you know will that thankfully timed really well with cats the ball that's happening on broadway right now so it can come from a million different places if rue is loving something if there's a movie rue loves um but yeah but i there's very much like it's an open dialogue anyone can bring whatever is inspiring them and then we sort of just know when we're chatting like okay it's the year to do this one it's the moulin roux year it's the moulin roux year and that was still the toughest one to do because i knew rue's uh catalog inside and out but taking each song making it work thematically with other rue songs other drag race songs um changing the genre completely but making it one complete song we had the love medley all these different things that was wild it was i felt like i don't know like just a crazy person snipping and like cutting and being like okay this melody can sing over this and this key but when it came together it was it was really special brain rot fully it honestly it's kind of like how rotted is your brain but still intact enough to make this polished yeah yes yes but don't you think it's almost like you're because it's exactly these line up and you can hear in your head like djing you can hear in your head if these are going to work before you do it but it's so nice you just have to know the this music inside and out to then be able to hear it differently for surely what drag race is is like we're genre flipping all the time all the time i remember when we did did you do the um did you do divas live yes have you done all of them did you do the not all of did you do the the super bowl one was my fave bring back my girls yes yeah love that that was so fun and then do you guys still we worked with christina bianca on who did all the impressions mike and then von zell did uh the beyonce vocal von zell eats i worked with her on do you remember that show matt had that show yes yes yes on quibi gay um it's not called gay but it was called like gay show game show game show i did the music for it you did but i think "God You Remember," yeah, yeah, yeah, yes. singing live yes yes it was so cool i was like is that funzel and they were like oh yeah yes yeah gabe and i did all the music for that and did the theme song and all the little snippets and that was so fun i think i was on tour when that show was filming because i wasn't on set but gabe was there yeah oh my god speaking of obviously we lost gabe like gabe lopez who's your co-collaborator who worked on everything in the world but a lot of drag projects queen of the universe yeah have you gotten to go in and make something without him yet is it odd yeah this uh was the first time making things without him in seven years or something and so you know with you know this like with tv like deadlines don't change and so you're kind of forced to confront what's going to be an uncomfortable experience and just like yeah uh without getting too like spiritual or anything just like bring him along and so it's been really interesting um and everyone has been so lovely and obviously understanding and all of that but uh if anything he would just be like you keep it moving keep it moving and we and we have to so yeah it's been a an interesting life chapter uh navigating doing all these things for the first time without him well yeah because you guys had worked together so much i'm sure you were like on shorthand that's exactly right the language was um had been reduced to basically just noises grunts and and facial expression yeah and uh and so yeah it's not really it's it's weird when it's not your choice for things to change right in such a big way so um but yeah i mean it's a dream job everyone at world of wonder is just the best and we all just adored gabe and so thankful for that chapter that we had with him because he was like i love doing this he and and it's not to compare but he even more just like for it put on this planet to do that literally fast literally do you remember we were doing queen of the universe if you guys when i did queen of the universe leland also basically produced all of those tracks with gabe it was like 65 songs it was like a dozen an episode yeah the speed at which you guys churn those out so crazy yeah when you're in that environment where like we just have to do like a dozen leaves you just what look at the clock and go all right that's a cut next like and you think about the money and you do it you think about the money and you think about them no no and you know rupaul's outside with a sniper and if you don't finish that track you will get killed executive produced by rupaul queen of the universe that's a really oh my god good point yeah yeah yeah um that was such a crazy experience that was so fun i love that we got to live in london and the summers together yeah we never well we have to keep it fair so like i was a judge yeah and you're producing yeah so we like wouldn't talk too much on non-elimination days because like la la la la i don't know i don't know what's going on exactly and i'm like producing things up working on arrangements working on structures uh helping with the duets of the original songs and all of that and not trying to uh keeping you in the darkest to like producer conversations that are happening but it was so fun and i remember uh just having to go and give these queens pep talks before they would go on because they were so nervous and the price was 250 000 that is so much that is so much money that's so life-changing and you wanted everyone to do well and so it was really heartbreaking like being on set on drag race sometimes it's so heartbreaking i don't i leave before the elimination happens i don't like to watch the emotional labor yes besides even when i judged i left do you watch the lip sync or no yeah because on drag race i don't know if people know this everyone who works there piles in to watch the lip syncs well and that's when you know yeah that's when you know like a rusical or a girl group challenge or something feels special when uh when the whole crew and everyone else is doing it and you're like oh my god i don't know what to do with this comes to watch it's really fun it's crazy it's like a culture of every like remember what job you're at unless you're a camera operator it's like you can go watch the performance you see like the pa eating a bag of chips watching the girls lip sync for their life and you're like when you're up there being eliminated you're like trying to perform and you see like the guy that drove you to set that day like just watching uh-huh whatever sure right so you can pretty much see the whole set oh because even though the lights and everything are super bright but i guess yeah oh yeah wow and i do this thing that i don't think they like which is stare directly at the cameras a lot and they never use do you know how much time i spent on all-stars staring right at the camera and they just never used i thought i was on the office i was like oh well because now we're doing shots on the stage and we're you know all of that yeah where that we want these moments so what do you think about last season being the um for elderly people oh my god what do you mean i just worked with darlene and she was 35 oh got it and you know that that's about 25 years older than they have on drag race usually she's retiring any she oh yeah second she didn't even know she was i had to pick her up from the home to me 35 and not just to me 35 is so young it's yeah i don't really think about it is that what you tell yourself i guess so i guess so uh but you know what it is it's because you're a producer and a dj and a lot of ways you don't really get to have your milk and cookies even that old right all the d like when you're a dj the old djs are like veterans who are respected totally and they're like 40s because we can do songwriting and all that stuff forever you don't really age out of that so it is wild of course drag is such a physical uh job as well so that i guess is something that you can start to feel like you're you're old for i guess i don't really know but yeah thankfully i can just sit that's all i have to do and like write a song mutter some words one word one third i think you walked in and said the word rare and left honestly i mean madison cranked that song out i didn't do much i know i did i did yeah yeah no um god yeah it's so fun thing writing sessions because obviously you've done so many of them they're so weird when like an idea comes out of thin air and then sticks and everyone's like oh yeah let's like that's now permanent until we need to change it or rewrite it or something it's such a strange thing to do when even something i love is when a lyric becomes a song title becomes an album title becomes a tour title and then you see it on merch becomes a makeup company becomes a makeup company that that is the weirdest thing of like a word that didn't really have much significance to you that day or wasn't associated with anything then becomes what someone is going to go promote for the next three years and she passed on it right oh right initially i love songs about artists doing i mean i know you know some of them like kelly clarkson break breakaway was avril right avril wrote it yes yeah yeah that totally sounds like an avril it does uh but now of course i think of it as a kelly song but i'm like wow it sounds like truly like avril let go era avril which i loved i i like remember sitting in my car listening to that album and and break away so much i have a picture of troy and i from the grammys uh last year with kelly clarkson that troy and kelly look amazing i can never post it why i tried a smoky eye that day oh at the last second oh that's good as we were walking yourself no the the sweet makeup artist didn't tell me no but you didn't like the makeup well we then got caught in the rain okay and stuck outside banging on the doors of the building trying to get into the grammys because uh the the storm was wild it was actually this was two years ago yeah when i did the smoky i learned my lesson and did not do that last year but uh i have a really special picture of troy drew barrymore and myself a really special picture of troy and kelly clarkson and i just i can't post them because i look insane katya's pretty heavy-handed with face app uh-huh you could let her kind of do something i'll send her everything she'll yesify you please actually she'll probably make you old michelle like michelle we do this honestly maybe don't send it to her i'll send it to michelle collins our friend oh she'll handle it yeah yeah she'll she's got it so i almost um called her in today because she's in town right now oh that's right her show we're trying to go um hang out with her next week you know she's obsessed with survivor right i think she's going to high tops to watch survivors i might just go down to see her let's do that you know my anr at sony publishing um thomas who is gay was on survivor you're just i'm adding people left and right he was on survivor last season we're doing what competing surviving competed uh and and he was like a fan favorite i mean careful i watched up until he got eliminated then i was done with it but he was on it how cool can i tell you something i go to high top sometimes if i sometimes somebody invites me to drag race or something i'll go one time i went to a one time i went to a viewing party for drag race and high tops these faggots talk through the whole thing right i'm straining to hear these drag i'm watching one episode a season about i'm averaging i don't know their names i don't know who anyone is i'm straining to try to hear who anyone is it was last season i think the challenge where they were doing like rock music okay rock music girl groups rock music i don't i love how you're saying rock music it was a rock music i'm like it was rock music and i'm i'm like and i'm almost like now i look crazy because people are like is that tricksy stand standing close to the right right they need to pass out headsets like a disco yes or like in your car when you're at a dry a drive-in theater and you play it from your radio they need they need that but that's why when it's an episode that i've worked on i'm watching at home with my surroundings sound and i invite like 10 to 15 people and we order whatever the fuck and we and i watch it and i shush because i want people to hear we've worked so hard on this music yeah you know don't laugh don't clap don't don't respond don't come ball gags don't come don't and don't come yeah um you don't come till i say oh it's kind of like a kind of like a group jo kind of thing when people come over to watch the musical i wish i'm like sure that's what i'm doing girls guys whoever you know whoever whoever i wonder when you're putting these together if there was one musical you were working on that you were like we're in the zone baby this is the one like what's your what's the one who would be the three right okay yeah i mean wig loose has a lot of my god i know you can't even say it's what it is immediate yes i know wig loose for a drag queen though kind of a nightmare concept right right of course i'm flying uh but because of what was going on in america at that time when like in tennessee they were banning drag and because of yeah it was really um such a special just like reflection of what's happening in culture at that time and to have that cast and um i was the voice of carl played by sasha colby which was very fun and we had some just yeah the songs that all came together one of my favorite parts of doing these is because i think we all know you know they'll do the musical sometimes twice for different camera angles and all of that and uh in between takes i'll go up to the judges desk and chat with rue and michelle and whoever is there and it's just really fun to chat and hear rue's initial um because of course we've all worked on them but then for rue and the judges to see it come to life in that way and and and one of the special parts is we've got all the songs you know we've got 10 different songs or 10 different pieces and interludes and whatever and then when you're you put it all in logic or pro tools whatever we're using and piece it all together so it's one 10 minute piece and you listen to the flow for the first time that's when we're like this is this is special or this needs work or we've got a cut or we need to add things that's when really the final pieces are um like reveal themselves it's like what we need to do yeah because you're writing it for drag queens but you're also writing it for the main stage of drag race for the drag race audience so it's kind of like you're freedom but also you kind of have parameters of like these people who love the rusicals you know the people freak out for the rusicals the people are like that's the viewing party they throw at their house is for the rusicals wild do you sit home and be like am i gonna wake up tomorrow and have people be like that was the that was the that didn't live up to wig loose or you know if that does every single time oh they get mad yeah but you know what it is people who love drag race and they're so critical and i was gonna say and they're so creative about it like that's the thing it's all good i was thinking one time you know when people just like lose their shit over a rusical or something i'm like you do it you do it thank you you know what you do it you know what by all means you do it go out to the garage get your casio you plug it in do it i can't wait to see what you come up and i was like that's my book title you know what you do it all right because if it's never gonna be good enough you do it i'm sorry my julie andrews version of call me mother didn't work your pussy literally i'm sorry literally that's the sequel that's the next book i'm sorry my julie andrews call me mother didn't work your pussy i i have a few that i loved i did love social media the musical yes yes yes if you say the musical does rupaul just shoot you yes it's like going to snl and calling it a skit when it's a sketch you know it is a rusical it's a rusical i know rupaul but you know rupaul what is it like to work with rupaul so closely and like all that i i think like it's just yeah i feel just like you're afraid yeah i can't actually next yeah no uh it's the best like you know rue and i would uh with lucian would like have lunch years ago when drag race was just on logo and i was there when um so many like iconic songs were made and so i really got such a special crash course in all things drag race and i remember um i watched drag race for the first time at tyler oakley's apartment for a drag race viewing party he was having oh my god that's right you've known tyler for you everyone knows you dated right yeah very briefly and i feel like tyler's like stop calling at that tyler tyler tyler tyler's on tyler tyler tyler's on twitch high as hell she don't care about you and i'm just watching and i'm just off twitch high as hell tyler's just sitting with massive pecs and a mustache playing pokemon she don't care what happens to us i love on tiktok and it comes across tyler live and he is in the most insane gremlin costume or something or a pikachu or something yes yes and i just just vibing adore him but yeah the first time i saw drag race was at his apartment and my life was changed the first drag race thing i ever worked on was um bitch perfect the acapella challenge season eight they're coming through that was my voice that low low low uh bitch perfect with the with the flashlights yeah if i dream with the two groups competing yes yeah so that was the nerdy girls like the bad girls yes yeah that was my first thing oh yeah ever to work on and then we did the rusical for all stars too and then and then it's all it always just changes some seasons it's the girl group and the rusical sometimes it's just the girl group i trade off because there's other like incredible writers that work on it yeah and so we we just trade off on whatever makes sense whoever's right for it it's kind of like you can feel katina we re-watched season seven a while ago they really put their whole pussy into glamazonian airways god i mean that's just the blueprint isn't it track that kind of is the first it really isn't i think so no i guess the bitch ball was like a rusic okay but like i don't know what you would call that like a lip sync it was kind of like a lip syncer reference too because it's an original track it was an original track it was an original track it was an original track that's made to sound like it's clips from movies and stuff that's exactly right and it was genius it was so genius all the the screams and the hard edits and the and the the editing the pacing was perfect perfect absolutely perfect and i think that was such a great example for me when putting future rusicals together was understanding the pacing the comedy finding the comedy in the instruments like in uh not just in the lyrics but in everything in the lyrics and all of that yeah i mean glamazonian airways is just genius plus i guess you're not involved in choreography etc so i want to be you don't know what they're gonna do yeah you go watch them do the track and i bet you're like i mean drag queens will find a way to make something funny that wasn't even written to be funny we hope yes yeah but yeah no i wish there was a gopro in my studio when we're making these because i am doing full out choreo i mean that's how we're honestly that's how we try things out it's to like see if the song is going to be funny or not is working or to see if something's working i'm like crawling on the floor doing some sort of choreo and like tom is watching me being like okay come back you know but i i love it and it's it is fun especially with a girl group challenge to see choreo wise what they do that's going to surprise you or make you laugh or play with the lyric or or also what i love is when something has nothing to do with the lyric and it's just funny on its own yeah like i hate people the willow song was such chat with the queens for finale songs oh yeah and get their talk or find out what they what's inspiring them we talk about references the world they want to build and willow was like just just go for it and so i did one of my high hikes and i came back and i was like i hate children and willow was like what about i hate people and i was like fine and it was amazing i still think i hate children would have really hit it but that could be a remix that could be for someone who's you know um but i hate people i was like yeah you nailed it that is that is absolutely right and it's relatable absolutely relatable and then sarah hudson who i wrote dj play a christmas song with for share and sarah wrote dark horse and levitating sarah is the voice of that song so i've had my friends cycle through my songwriter friends and sing different songs now uh we're in an era where the queens are singing their own vocals which is really fun too well oh sometimes right i'll you're asking me if i'd like to hear von cell or you are setting your wake up you don't even you're setting yourself up right now you are setting yourself up she really is one of those people can sing anything god i just love her so much and love her voice she was originally from american idol right yeah i think she had a stint on idol um i swear to god her voice once you recognize it it's in everything and she's just so yeah you're right you're absolutely everything and she's in everything and she's in everything and she's in everything and she's so lovely to work with i would love to have another chapter whatever it is like working with her yeah yeah are you dating wow uh aspiring to date sure yeah aspiring to date the the last guy i went to dinner with is uh dating someone so that doesn't count i don't think and then um i was gonna go to dinner with someone else and then he invited a friend so i'm aspiring to do like one-on-one dinners what kind of date is that - I'm gonna bring a friend. - It's not. I realize it's not. Yeah, so no, the answer is no. But I'm feeling for the first time in a long time that I'm ready to, I was going to, I was going to DM Chelsea Handler. Do you know that she's helping gays find love? Oh, she's like fully, fully helping gays find love. And, uh, and so Troy sent me her story where she's like, send me your information and then I'm going to post and, and she's been like matchmaking for people. Successfully? Successfully. Yeah. I really love that. Cause now, you know, now that I'm off the market, I'm, I'm trying to pair up every single person. I know. I think that everyone should be in love and they have no choice in the matter. So either you find someone or I will appoint someone like a public defender. I actually think an arranged marriage for me would be such a relief. Yeah. Cause you're open. Yeah. You don't have a type. No. They just have to be what? 20? Jesus Christ. No, I'm just kidding. 21. No, that's old. Um, but no, uh, but no, just like funny, sweet and like be able to hang out, you know, and like have the freedom and flexibility to like hang out, you know? So yeah. Uh, do the men recognize you online from Drag Race? Sometimes. It's that, it's that weird, um, what is the Las Culturistas category? It's like not, I think it's like gay guy famous. Yeah. You know, it's that it's very, very limited. Um, but sometimes. So. Yeah. They're like, I saw a picture of you, Kelly Clarkson and Troy. You look different. How the hell did that picture get out? Why do you think it's so fun to make fun of Troy? Oh, you do love that. Do you think he hates it? Uh, I don't think he hates it. I just think he's like, I think he's like, does Trixie like me? I do like him. I know, I know. And he knows. I do like him. I know. I think he's just, um, so sweet and kind and talented and handsome that I just feel like, well, that's kind of fun, right? I think it's, I mean, I love giving him. And getting him worked up and all of that also because he never sees it coming, which is so sweet. He just believes the good in the world. And I like to play with that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I love it. More. Amp it up. Okay, good. And I know he loves it. I need to get you back out there. What's the perfect date? I mean. Right. Um, I, I. Are you drinking? I'll have a glass of wine. Yeah, you will. I'll have a cocktail. Yeah, you will. You know? Um. What about one of the pit crew guys? You're at work all the time. Why don't you just swing by and be like, hey. Aren't some of them straight? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But you have girl clothes. That's incredible. I've seen them. Incredible. I do have, I do have many, many. Do you have a wig at your house? Many. Okay. And a trunk full. They're usually in the trunk at all times. And we've seen you with the smoky eye. Yeah. Okay. So I'm pretty much there. You're pretty much there. Oh my God. We did, last year you and I were in Australia together. Yes. I don't know what it is about you and I. Never hang out in LA. No, no, no. Only international. And then you crash my shows. And then I show up at your shows. I tell you, I tell you that I'm VIP now. Yeah. Everyone's scrambling. Yeah. You DJed Mardi Gras and I literally invited myself and stood just backstage and watched. No, it was a dream. It was the best. Because sometimes I'll book shows as like Leland and friends and I'm like, well, I don't know who's going to come or who's going to be my friend at this show. And so it honestly is always such a dream. I'm excited to see where we end up together next. Jail. Jail. Absolutely. Jail. I find your DJing refreshing because I feel like in DJ world, it's not cool to feel your oats. Like it's not cool to dance or feel your oats. And it's especially not cool to lip sync. Right. Like it's cool to look like you don't even like your own music. And then once in a while you do this. Like, I'm not kidding. They don't do anything. And so when you DJ or we DJ together, I feel kinship because if we're going to play the faggy music, can we dance and smile? I am. I'm so in it. You are in it. It is like church. Like it feels. It feels so, I'm, I'm most times high, but I'm also just like high and like vibrating. You DJ high? Absolutely. On weed? Yeah. Yeah. Explain. You can. It's so, I know sometimes the tempo gets a little slow. The music stops and you're like, you're still talking like the music's playing. What? No, I can't believe you do that. You know, I can't even, I can't even really drink during those. Or I get in my head that like, if one alcohol touches, my lips, I'm like, I'm drunk. I'm going to mess up. Wow. You don't get a little high and be like, am I the only one who hears the music or something? To me, it makes me do like, one, it makes me not care as much in a really good way where I like fuck around with my transitions or anything like that. It just sort of lets me like, absolutely. And less like nervous. I used to take, I still do of course, but I used to take it so serious when I wasn't good at it yet. And I would have my, when I DJ'd Poof Doof in Sydney for Mardi Gras a few years ago, I had my like printout of every transition to the second of when I was leaving one song, going to the next one, my time codes and all of that. And I was like referencing. And so now full Geek Squad, people were taking pictures. Like Hawkers who booked me was just like, could not believe it. But that is me very much to like show up super, super prepared. Try hard bitch. Very much so. That's like, that's it. And, uh, and now I will show up to a gig and not know what I'm going to do. Because I'm like, what do I want to listen to? Yeah. You know, what do I actually feel like listening to? But watching you every time I'm standing next to you while you're DJing, I learn so much, uh, of what not to do. No, I learned, we did another back-to-back at that pool party in Australia too. Oh my God. Remember that? That was so fun. But I do learn, learn so much when I watch you DJ, because it's so fun to just also see the music that you love. And I mean, obviously we both know this, but a fun part of DJing is like, what remixes that are taking pictures of the CDJs when there's a remix that you love and, and going back to back with someone, especially with you is so fun. I always have a really good time. You're very generous and we just jump on each other's shows all the time. You should, you know, you should back to back with two, um, Mateo plays all the time in LA. You should go jump on one of his shows. I would love to. Have you done Hot Dog? No, but that is the party that inspired me to start DJing. You should do Hot Dog. The music is the best. I would love to. They have great music. Shout out to Mark. And the whole Hot Dog team. I'm not kidding. Nicest go-go's. Yes. Best drinks, strong drinks. Yes. Great vendors. Yeah. I love shopping there. Love shopping there. But honestly, the DJs are the best. I have had so many special like days into nights at that party. And that is what I was like, okay, I, I need to learn how to DJ. And now it's also just like to bring the DJing skillset into the studio. Now, um, I'm like telling with Troy or whoever, I'm like, oh, I can do this. I can hear this in my set. And that sometimes is a really good indicator of when a song is like coming to life or where it would live in the set or like, fuck, I cannot wait to play this song because you know, it's going to have a specific feeling or block party vibe or late night 3:00 AM or whatever. But when you can hear a song in a set, that's when I get really excited. Now, are you an Ableton person? Uh, logic, logic person. You love it. Yeah. Yeah. I, I mostly work with producers. I'm a co-producer, I would say, and I'll start song ideas. But when someone else is like so much faster and better, technically, sometimes I feel embarrassed turning over my like first draft of a remix because when I give it to a real producer, who's like a technician, I'm like, please don't call me back laughing at this. Like, I know this isn't right. You just have to not care. Cause I'm the same way. My initial versions of Rusicals or girl group songs as I'm putting the songs together and then I pass it off to help, uh, have, have me like, or have them co-produce it and bring it to life. I'm like, just relax. You can hear through it. Obviously all of that. So, but I, I love it. And then I can like cut a vocal, you know, sometimes if I'm in the studio, I can cut a vocal on pro tools and I, I do enjoy comping a vocal. There is something very calming. It's like assembling a puzzle. Totally. Where you lock it in and you're like, oh my God, four hours have gone by. Yeah. I'm like in the zone. And then you play it back and you're like, you get horny. Um, you know, who can cut a vocal and comp a vocal is Ariana Grande. She comps her own vocals. A lot of people click, click, click, I love when she posts those videos of her comping vocals because she's so good at it and she's, you know, got the microphone right here. So she's stacking vocals and harmonies and the workflow is on lock. That's what I love. She also, um, obviously her, uh, on her untouched vocals is a great start. Hey, it helps to actually sing like her. Yes. I love when I catch clips of her where she, um, the comments would be like, she tapped the microphone. I don't know what's on cause you can hear mouth sounds and like you could hear her handle real microphones. She really be singing. Yeah. She ain't worried. And then of course, it's the softest like she popularized the hands through the, it's so cozy. It's very cozy singing. Although I really like on Tik Tok and all that. I really hate to see like, sometimes I'm like, we don't need to be cooking like this. The girls be doing like meal prep. Pull your fucking. Pull your fucking sleeve back. Incredible. You pig. Incredible. You help. I'm like, what's your algorithm? Yeah. You know, um, I, yeah, Ariana is the best. And one of my favorite, favorite songs that I've ever been a part of is dance to this, which is a duet with her and Troy. Yeah. And we wrote that song. Um, and then when you're in a session, you'll be like, oh, I could hear this as the converse. Someone says it. I can hear this as a duet. And then you start to like, like I could hear Ariana on this or I could hear, you know, but this was one of those rare cases where we were like this could be a duet this could be ariana and ariana was also recording at the same studio that week and it was maybe 24 to 48 hours later that from the song being written her vocal was on it and it and and you can also hear you i know you do this too like you can hear a vocal on it in your head just the way that you can with transitions with songs you can be like wow she would sound so good on this and they almost become like your model and then if you're lucky sometimes you show it to them and they actually want it and then you're like when she brought it to life with the ad-libs and hearing it in the high octave and all of that and it was great especially the verse when she sings the verse i think the first lyric is like dear beloved bring those 501s a bit closer and to know to hear what i thought it was going to sound like versus what it sounds like which was just insane but that it's a weird moment you for a lot of these artists you've worked not that they weren't big before but some of these artists you've worked with have gotten so big since because you were working with charles xcx before like brat summer charles yeah yeah i was used to play your track 1999 is you right yeah i used to play that all the time and that was maybe my first charlie track that i like really loved it's charles but yeah technically at charles yeah technically a troy track i don't know yeah absolutely well yeah i mean that song existed to a certain extent and then um charlie's synth the song to troy and asked if he wanted to do it and then we wrote a verse and uh to a song that already was just incredible but yeah i mean i and she knows this but like i've been such a massive fan of charlie for so long that um that maybe this was eight seven eight years ago now when one morning i got a we had met maybe not that long before and then i got a text from her asking if she wanted to write that day and i was like she was like are you free to write and i was but i was like oh of course yes yes yes and i was so excited so to me like charlie has always been as big as she is now like to me i've just been such especially her uh influence in my writing uh and so to spend time in the studio with her is the best until like i went on the sweat tour with her and troy and just like hang and she also is just the sweetest and so cool and so creative and what i really appreciated was that she is such truly one of like the most gifted songwriters but to want me there and to acknowledge and listen to my ideas and take them serious is all you can really ever ask for and so it's it's cool that like she brings what's what she's so good at but then also is open to other people's ideas so same with troy i guess probably you work with so many artists i bet everyone's a little different but it sounds like what you're saying is there's a offering a lot yeah but but accepting of a lot otherwise why would you be there you know which is so cool to remind yourself of like oh yeah i'm here for a reason to contribute to give ideas not to see how many of my ideas stay in the song but just to like offer just to offer thoughts and ideas and be a sounding board and even if they just need help finishing lyrics to something like i love starting from scratch with artists but i also love if an artist sends me a song and they're like can you just finish this or can do you hear anything or what would you change and i'm like no it's great or yeah i hear a few things i love being brought in in the last like 20 too that's also really fun did you always know you were gonna do this kind of i like didn't really have a an option i really your parents forced you right right faggoty pop music well you know my parents my parents are big songwriters and their parents are big songwriters yes yeah imagine not at all not at all are they musical at all where you just not really i know and they were like that's fun yeah not really i had these managers come over one time when i was in high school and i sang at the mall i opened for jesse mccartney i won a radio contest yes have you seen him on tiktok pretending to be he's very busy on tiktok he's killing it he's absolutely good lip syncs to judge judy on a level that i'm like is this an original audio he's in the cast next season of drag race fierce you know you know um my god i don't even like saying that he was just on hacks oh really okay i haven't finished yeah i think deborah gets him for like a birthday party oh and he comes and sings happy birthday i uh opened yeah my god i mean i i don't don't even want to use the word opened i played a few songs on my keyboard at the mall before he came and performed don't say it and you know what i mean you know what i i played i got my casio from the garage yeah this was 2022 you know no this was like you were like in high school i was in high school that is crazy and um did you get to meet jesse i did meet him briefly that must have been so thrilling yeah just like coming close to uh just someone that was like doing it you know which was so cool but um but then yeah just to be like and then many years later he wrote bleeding love the leona lewis song he wrote bleeding love with ryan tedder oh my god yeah so he that song really killed it amazing absolutely killed it and that whore can really sing and and you know her we know her from queen of the universe yes you know she's also in mafia because i went to one of vanderpump's restaurant openings and she was there right so i think there's like an la british mafia and she had has had a coffee shop i think in studio city or somewhere around there she's a mom now yeah yeah remember yes that's how we got mel b in season two i think because i think i think um miss leona was truly pregnant yeah we started filming that she was like nine months in a day yeah her right i just love her love her what a beauty yeah oh my god babes yeah yeah very that british people what are they doing what's up with that the big question finally you know i haven't been to the uk in a while and i have been like really horny for the breakfast offerings lately uh that's why you have to go to soho house because sometimes the ones in the u.s will still do uh the english breakfast i love an english i know i usually stay at the where do you stay in the uk in london it usually stare at stay at the merrill bone marley bone what the the marley and they have a really cunty breakfast that i'd be done yum wow i'm trying to think of what i've i definitely stayed at like a soho house there or something but um and i the standard when we finished remember i think you came over when we finished queen of the universe season one i rented like a fun room at the standard oh yeah for us to all hang in wait a minute you have to go soon do you remember when we finished season two of queen of the universe and we all thought mel b left oh my god do you remember this and we were blasting so we were blasting wannabe but we looked out the window and she had been camped out on the front but we thought she left hours ago she'd just been on the stoop i think she was just hanging out so all the pas who work so hard the whole season this is like their final day off and they've been dealing with these you know schizophrenic international drag well and we like raided craft services for what was left over for the uh for the a rap party yeah we had a little informal rap party in like the in like the queen dressing room or something yes so and then i had my phone i was just playing songs from my phone and i was like oh my god i'm gonna be like oh my god i'm gonna be on my phone and i played wannabe because i was like she's gone surely she's gone she walks upstairs in the middle of wannabe do you remember it was like a record scratch it was like the office it did feel like that she walked in kicked open the door started lip syncing started lip syncing so here's a story from a it was such a relief because i thought she was gonna have us executed no she loved it and we it was such a special moment i think i have it on video and then also anna one of the vocal coaches was like doing an irish jig during it or something like that something and like it was no chaos in the best way it was so fun well i remember asking her about wannabe i was like is it weird that that song is still she said she said no it's just like baby shark she was like it's kind of like baby shark it's in your head it's annoying i was like it is kind of like baby shark which is a great compliment to baby shark uh she adored you i i really love her shout out to melby yeah shout out to queen of the universe shout out to world of wonder and and shout out to you for all your offerings this is so nice this is so fun can the people follow you can they date you let them know how to find you dm me just dm me yeah i'm not uh i need to trying to gain access to my tiktok we're going back and forth on emails i can't get any of the questions right the security questions so follow me there but not yet and then instagram i've got access to that why is rupaul better at tiktok than you are i i gave up when they were like they asked me all these personal questions and i was like i don't know i don't know i don't know and i got them all wrong i guess and i was like and they were like sorry we these are wrong and i was like well then i guess i don't know you on one of your marijuana hikes literally trying to answer questions they're like where are you from and i'm like the moon and then they're like that's wrong so you're on the side of a mountain i don't know where i am so i'll get back into my tiktok eventually but also i'm like setting a new algorithm of all these people that are just buying french chateaus and restoring them and it's all gay couples and they're gonna go through their savings but i do want to do that at some point go through all my savings uh by buying a chateau that i don't know how to restore so that's my algorithm right now so i'm happy to have this new tiktok account until i gain access wait you have a new one now because you couldn't get in the old and it's just like letters and numbers you guys i don't know i know i've said how brilliant leland is but also not that bright so i don't know thank you so much for coming down here i love you love you oh do you have a message of healing for katya uh um take your time because i'm going to have to go to work because i'm loving this don't come back home bye We'll see you next week.