Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian Ochoa, Coco D. BauCherry.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Absolutely, well first and foremost, I’m a fairly new/young Queen. I started doing Drag on April 12th, 2018 at my University’s Spring Drag Show my junior year. Since attending UCSB, I went to every Drag Show possible because I loved the welcoming environment and love that was in those spaces. After every show, I would tell my friends, “That’ll be me one day!” Finally, I had drawn up the courage to submit the google doc forms to state I was interested in performing.
That day was so magical! It was everything I could have ever imagined it to be. I performed and the crowd was LIVING! I had a whole posse of supporters that came to watch and cheer me on. At this performance there were a couple of representatives from the Pacific Pride Foundation. “Pacific Pride Foundation’s advocacy and education efforts meet the ongoing and emerging needs of a diverse population in order to create a thriving and visible LGBTQ+ community and to prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS.” (Pacific Pride Foundation- Mission statement).
One of the representatives came up to me and congratulated me on a great first performance. He invited me to compete for their annual Queen of Pride pageant where local queens compete for the title of Queen of Pride Santa Barbara. I said I would think about it, and the more I did the more ideas came flowing into my mind. Having only been doing Drag for about three months, I was surprised to have won the title that year on July 28th, 2018. From there, my goal was to take even more pride into what I do and work on helping the community I am a part of. As a gay Latinx Drag Queen- I wanted to represent my community strongly.
Over the past year, I have performed in Santa Barbara, Ventura, Santa Maria, Los Angeles, Pomona, Ontario, and now Long Beach. I have done a couple of competitions, and I am not stopping any time soon. I am currently competing at Hamburger Mary’s Long Beach for season 6 of Facade- Hosted my Psycadella.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The road has not be smooth- let me tell you! At first, when I started Drag I thought I looked beautiful. Hahaha, I have spent countless hours practicing makeup be myself at home, with mentors, etc. I am constantly trying to grow as a performer and that means expanding. I want to perform, and I want people to watch and fall in love with my art in some way shape or form. I travel a lot! I used to travel to Ontario from Santa Barbara every week for 14 weeks to compete at Hamburger Mary’s Ontario. The mental and physical toll this had on my body was immense, but I did it because I love it. Now I’m competing in Facade, but that is every other Sunday with our last show date being June 28th.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I am a Drag performer, so that means I dress up and transform into whoever I want. My stage name is Coco D. BauCherry, but I have transformed into a Laughing Clown, Yzma from The Emperors New Groove, as well as Regan, the possessed young girl from the Exorcist. I am not a wonderful makeup artist, but I enjoy being someone else than Brian. My drag sets me apart from others because I am extremely dedicated to my art. If I have to travel to perform for the rest of my life I wouldn’t think about it twice- I would do it. The goal though is to be in a place my life where I do not need to do that. I also consider myself a Broadway queen, because I love show tunes- I take pride in having a tight lip sync (that means knowing my words very well).
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success to me means being happy with what you have done while remaining true to yourself. A lot of people would define success by the physical things attained in life. To me, success means making a difference in the world that has shed a positive light.
I want to be able to use my platform to continue to bring awareness issues our community is facing. That comes with time and learning. I want to continue to grow my knowledge and bring change however, that may be.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.cocodbaucherry.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @cocodbaucherry // @thatnerdbrian
Image Credit:
Main photo// photos with pink wig and blue dress- “Photo by @willakveta / Willa Kveta Photography”; Dark photo with tape on eye-” Photographed by ‘Beto’ Estrada // @Basedinwhittier Instagram”
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