Art Simone has won titles, featured in her own series Highway to Heel! and finished runner-up in 2021’s RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under, all the while looking fabulous.
But the Geelong-based drag performer is only just getting started.
“People sometimes think I’m an overnight sensation, that I just got lucky like a lot of celebrities do, especially reality TV celebrities,” she said.
“But I’ve been slogging it hard for the last 12-plus years. I’m very grateful of where I am, but to say, ‘oh, I never thought I’d get here’ would be not applauding myself for all that hard work.
“I think if I went back in time and met myself and said, ‘by the way Daye, you’re actually going to be almost famous’, I think instead of being surprised I’d be more like ‘good onya girl, good onya!’”
When 16-year-old Jack Daye prepared to go on for his very first drag performance at a Minus18 event in 2009 it was the chance to transform himself – and fear – that was foremost in his mind.
“Like a lot of queer kids, I was trying to find myself and I didn’t really like the skin that I was in,” Art said.
“I got into the world of drag through my love of makeup. Using makeup and drag as a form of escapism during high school was really special for me.
“Going into that first gig, I was so frightened, so scared, because although when you’re doing drag you’ve got a lot of armour on, you’re also very vulnerable.
“Not only that, I was wearing my sister’s deb dress that I’d pinched for the show, so not only was I afraid of not being good enough, I was also afraid of damaging her dress and my mum finding out.”
But Jack, it turns out, was good enough; the crowd adored the show. And the story of Art Simone began.
“As soon as I got on stage the crowd was so wonderful and supportive,” Art said.
“It was really motivating. It was almost like I was addicted from that point onward. I thought, oh my goodness, this is where I’m meant to be, I have to do more of this.”
Art went on to win her first drag competition in Melbourne a couple of years later, and things “just snowballed”.
“I was performing everywhere and I got to do lots of exciting things,” she said.
“But it all just started from a love of makeup.”
As Art performed more and more to bigger and bigger audiences, drag began to take on a different meaning.
“When I first started I was very… self-centred in my performance; it was all about me and what I was feeling,” she said.
“That’s a very valid thing for performers, but I soon realised the joy for me was connecting with others and using the medium of drag to break down boundaries.
“Instead of making me feel like the most important person in the room, it’s about uplifting the smallest person in the space; I want to find them and make them feel like the biggest person in the room.
“I’ve done a lot of my work here in Geelong, and when we first started we’d have people from all walks of life come see a drag show. They’d discover new things about themselves and it would help them have conversations with other people in their life. Drag is a very special medium.”
Art began performing at the original Piano Bar seven years ago, holding drag night once a month, and she said Geelong has played a huge part in her career.
“Geelong’s been so important because it’s taught me how to connect with an audience,” she said.
“On a whim we started doing shows monthly on a Sunday night, and almost instantly it blew up, people loved it. Then it was fortnightly, then weekly, then we were doing events two or three nights a week.
“Now we’re doing shows all around regional Victoria now. It’s been so special, so much so that I’ve moved out to Geelong because I love it so much.”
Art said being a part of the growth of drag in regional Victoria was really important to her.
“Working in Geelong has also created so many opportunities for other drag artists, and that’s something I’m very proud of as well,” she said.
“We started with two drag queens, now there’s 20 or more that have regular work and are able to connect with audiences throughout regional Victoria. It’s wonderful.”
While Art has a lot in the works at the moment, including a podcast and a tour of Australia and New Zealand with RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under, she once again brought it back to the local scene.
“For Geelong, the next gig I have will be hosting the Piano Bar staff drag event on Sunday, September 4,” she said.
“We’ll be getting all the Piano Bar staff into drag and they’ll be putting on shows. It’s crazy.
“We’ve done a couple of them over the years, and of course due to COVID we haven’t for a while, but they’re finally coming back. It’s very funny.”
The future of drag is bright; more and more, mainstream audiences are lapping up the colourful, extravagant experience that is drag performance.
“Drag is all over the world now, and it’s so wonderful to see it so celebrated,” Art said.
“And now it’s more readily-known that drag’s not just for a gay man to dress up as a woman; anyone can do drag. It’s very powerful.
“And to take it back to regional crowds, I remember walking down the street to gigs and getting stuff yelled out to me from cars. But it’s really changed.
“Now people will wind down their window and shout out, ‘Are you from Piano Bar? Can’t wait to see your show there!’”
