Today we’d like to introduce you to Victoria Valenzuela.
Victoria, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Yes! At this moment in time, I am best known for being DJ Vick Jagger and being the mother of the queer, drag based, POC collective, The Haus of Flamboyance. I am also a writer, a model, a wardrobe stylist and an aspiring actress and musician. I have always been obsessed with music, color and glam. Those things have always been very apparent to me even from childhood.
Needless to say, music made the biggest impact on my identity. I was exposed to Tupac early on because my dad was a huge fan, so I’ve learned a lot through his poetry & vulnerability. My mom introduced me to the love of my life, Prince. Purple Rain was quickly one of my all time favorite movies as a teenager. Great music was everywhere in the early years and what a blessing that was. At 15, I became obsessed with The Beatles, 1960’s counterculture, & just rock n’ roll in general. DJing didn’t come to fruition for me until late 2015, but I officially spearheaded the process in 2016 after Bowie and Prince passed away just months apart from each other. After the tragic deaths of two of my favorite musicians, I was in a deep, dark & extremely depressive state. My heroes died and I was in dire need of an escape. I needed so desperately to wipe away the tears, beat my face, dress up in my flashiest look and just dance. The only problem was that no one was playing what I loved to dance to. I would get into full glam, go somewhere and leave even more disappointed. I started to notice a trend, every DJ was a hetero dude and every DJ played Top 40. I just wanted to put on some platforms and dance to funk, disco and rock n’ roll, but it was so hard for me to find that at the time. I pretty much decided right then and there that I would become the DJ that I was searching for.
The journey at first was a bit of a struggle and most definitely intimidating. I was entering a male-dominated playing field and mostly every guy I met wanted to “teach” me how it was done, always with an underlying tone of machismoism. Still, I stuck to my guns. I taught myself & with every gig that took a chance on me I got better. To this day, I am in awe by the response I get from people of all ages who show me so much love. To see their bodies move all night is the greatest compliment and the reason I’ll never stop spreading this funk. The message remains the same today: bringing good music back to the forefront, spreading love & simply making my people feel good. Now, I DJ with FemmeC Mel. She brings a whole new lively aspect to my sets and it’s just such a blast.
Since then I’ve DJ’d for the likes of Cuco, LALIFF (Latino International Film Festival), Outfest, DTLA Proudfest and many other incredible, independent artists in Los Angeles & the Inland Empire, different organizations, different bars, different crowds, USC’s LATINX Banquet, Burlesque Shows, Strip Clubs and of course a handful of my collectives own events.
This is where the drag aspect of my life comes into play. My younger brother is a fierce ass drag queen named Sedusa Richman. In high school, I started watching Season 3 of Drag Race and fell in love with Raja Gemini. She was avant garde, she was fashion & she was walking art. I always saw my little brother in her even though he was only 10 or 11 at that time, but I knew they were always destined to be a performer. In 2018, Sedusa was born and the rest is herstory. We always dreamed of creating our own world that was reminiscent of Studio 54 & Andy Warhol’s Factory, but making it LATINX and of course our own! The Haus of Flamboyance is pretty much that. We married the idea of great music, drag performances, fashion and community. We are a collective of queer, POC folks from LA and the IE. We specialize in throwing drag based events all throughout SoCal.
This year alone we have thrown 30+ events, which have consisted of four monthly residencies, a drag brunch show, and a viewing party for the incredible show POSE at Queen of Angels (LA’s One Stop Drag Shop). We only started the collective at the beginning of this year, but we continue to grow and learn so much along the way. Our overall vision for the collective is to create safe spaces for queer people of color as most queer spaces are predominantly white. With that being said, our doors are open for everyone, including our allies, but we wanted folks like us to have a space made with them in mind. As 2020 quickly approaches we want to also use our platform for political based activism. We’ve begun political get togethers that are still in the early stages, but come next year we will be taking to the streets and canvassing to register voters. That is the vision for the future.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
When it comes to DJing the only thing that can be a struggle is getting inside of my own head. Sometimes, when you’re on a lineup with a well-known DJ or a huge audience your inner saboteur can kick in. It’s always important for me to remember that my sets don’t just consist of beautiful music, it’s also energy, it’s cosmic, it’s light and it’s pure love. I just remind myself that I am doing what I love and the second it feels like work or I psyche myself out the love is lost.
When it comes to the HAUS, planning events is never an easy task. There is so much work that goes into it and the public doesn’t see that because they see the glamorous side of it all. However, we get our hands really dirty. It can become stressful booking talent, securing a venue, setting a date, promoting and coming up with a budget that usually comes from our own pockets. Some events have been a total success with people elbow to elbow and some events only 10 or 15 people have attended. It’s most definitely a balancing act and an extremely humbling experience.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
Aside from DJing and Haus events, I regularly audition for different gigs as a model/actor. I also have costuming & wardrobe experience and want to continue working towards that for tv & film sets. Most importantly, I also support Puro Political Party, a monthly get together where myself and a few other people write letters to unregistered voters in predominantly red districts in hopes of flipping them! We are always looking for more volunteers to help us!
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I just love to make people feel good and hopeful. When it is with our HAUS events, giving people a platform to perform, a safe space and the opportunity to live their fantasy is everything! With DJing, making people dance and groove. We live in such a cold world and making people happy really does the same for me. That right there makes it worthwhile.
Contact Info:
- Email: vickievalenz@gmail.com
- Instagram: @vickjagger_ @hausofflamboyance @sedusarichman @brownssugar_ @femmecmel @Icecoldkoke
Image Credit:
Red Heart Media, Hey Parker Day
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