ONYA NURVE

Grapevine recently had the opportunity to sit down with Cleveland Drag Queen Onya Nurve, who is currently having a successful run on Season 17 of Rupaul's Drag Race. Onya Nerve is the first queen to represent Cleveland since the show's debut season in 2009.

INFLUENCES

We all met working at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - a Cleveland staple - and we know that you’ve mentioned inspirations from musicians like Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Nina Simone, and Eartha Kitt. How do you see their influence come about in your work?

“I feel like aside from them being wonderful Black artists, I think all three of them bring something to the table that is a side of Blackness that people don’t usually see in some aspects. I think their music is good but also interesting to listen to, and their inflection and how they say things and perform things. When I listen to their music it’s more of a performance than a song sometimes."

“So, I didn’t get in drag saying that “Oh, I’m gonna perform Screamin Jay Hawkins, Eartha Kitt, and Nina Simone,” they kinda just like found me naturally through trying to figure out how I wanted to express myself, and those were the top three that I think of when it comes to my drag, along with Tina Turner, too.”

MX. ZEPHYR

As the first Mx. Zephyr winner, how did that experience prepare you for your time on RPDR? What are some memorable lessons you learned from Mx. Zephyr?

“It was a commitment. The show was every Friday. Sat - Thurs it was all about preparing for the next week (if you made it to that week). It taught me about perseverance, to keep on going.

When it comes to preparing me for drag race, it was the turnaround of show after show after show that got me used to that, and I learned a lot about interacting with other queens and the same queens weekly, so I learned how to navigate that as well as trying to win a competition."

"Before [Mx. Zephyr] I hadn’t even been doing drag for a year, so after competing it kind of accelerated… or exacerbated? accelerated?... how much of a seasoned performer I was. It kind of fast-tracked all of that. EXPEDITED, THAT’S THE WORD I WAS LOOKING FOR!”

"[Mx. Zephyr] made me focus on the fun of drag more than making everything perfect because the show must go on and everything’s not gonna be perfect." 

CLEVELAND DRAG SCENE

What distinguishes Cleveland drag from drag in the rest of the country? What are some of the characteristics that make Cleveland drag unique? Why do you think that is?

“If I was to put it [drag] at a tier of performance in Cleveland, a lot of people may not know, burlesque has a longer history in Cleveland than drag does. So, I feel like the diversity of performers in Cleveland is not like anywhere else in the U.S.

We have a lot of burlesque influence, there are a lot of kings here, obviously pageant queens, and a lot of newer entertainers, like from Kent and colleges, are spilling into Cleveland as well. I feel like it's kind of like a mod-podge of everyone and everything, and you don't really get that everywhere else. As far as I have experienced so far, it is [elsewhere in the U.S.] usually very [drag] queen forward. So, I love that [there is variety] in Cleveland, because it keeps me inspired.”

"There should be queer spaces that aren’t just like alcohol and music. Drag queens, drag kings, drag entertainers, we can perform everywhere, honestly."