Interview: Gottmik is “Gorge”

I recently spoke to RuPaul’s Drag Race season 13 finalist Gottmik about her time on the show, New York Pride, and more. She was everything I expected and more — just a sweetheart. Out of drag, Gottmik is a transgender man named Kade Gottlieb. A trailblazer, in season 13 Gottlieb became the first trans man to compete on Drag Race.

Gottmik: Hello!

Derek: Hello!

Gottmik: Hey gorge.

Derek: Hey gorge. Hey Gottmik, how're you doing?

Gottmik: So good, how are you?

Derek: I'm great. I'm interviewing you and I'm a big fan, so that's awesome.

Gottmik: Oh my god, gag.

Derek: First off, Minneapolis is so excited for your First Avenue performance on Friday, July 16. What can we expect?

Gottmik: Oh my gosh, you can expect me to go in because I just got off tour and I'm finally ready to like do my own thing again and get new outfits and looks. I think it's just the most fun I've ever had, just stopping to where I don't have to wear that one same outfit anymore, I’m excited.

Derek: That's great. You've become an inspiration for so many. How has the outpouring of support felt for you?

Gottmik: It has been so surreal. I still haven’t, I really haven't had a break since the finale so I haven't even been able to take it all in, but sometimes I'll just be, like, in my DM requests and seeing everyone's stories that people send me and just the amount of love and support I have and it just still to this day blows my mind. The second I have a second to like, breathe and like really take it in, I think I'm just gonna, I don't even know probably just cry because this is like, all I've ever wanted in my life and sometimes I have these “pinch me” moments that are gaggy and I just can't wait to keep going.

Derek: Amazing. You've been publicly interacting with Paris Hilton since winning the Snatch Game as her. I know you've done her makeup before too. How did you first meet her?

Gottmik: Paris Hilton was actually the very first celebrity client I ever had. And I was going to school for fashion and it was actually my, I think it was one of my finals, and my teacher was so mean and like wouldn’t let me get out of the final to paint her. And so I literally just missed the whole final. And luckily I was really good at that class, so even with a full F on the final I was like, I passed somehow. But yeah, I literally was just obsessed with her my whole life and then I got the opportunity to paint her. It was for the cover of Plastic Magazine, too, and it was like my first cover and my first celebrity client. I was like, I'm not missing this for a test, sorry gorge, and then painted her and it was just a dream come true.

Derek: That would be a dream come true. She's awesome.

Gottmik: She really is.

Derek: You were on the Drive ’N Drag Tour here with Rosé, how exciting was that?

Gottmik: It was so exciting. It was definitely like crazy because I was saying earlier that I got off of the finale, and then me and Rosé went pretty much straight there. We went straight from the finale then we got home, rehearsed —Rosé was rehearsing during the finale — it was literally like crazy ‘cuz she didn't live in LA. We were rehearsing for like a week maybe getting our costumes together and then leaving for two months. So it was very fast and very crazy but it was just the most amazing thing in the world. I've got to tour with some of my best friends I've ever gotten to work with and met my entire life, and I've learned so much on that tour, so I'm really happy even though it was hard and I'm very tired. I am so happy to have it because I learned like the craziest life lessons and drag lessons I definitely needed to learn before I would go into this life right now.

Derek: I reviewed the tour and it was amazing, I loved your performance.

Gottmik: Oh, thank you.

Derek: Yeah and when I was there I noticed you did get to take selfies with some lucky fans. How did it feel to meet fans face to face?

Gottmik: It was crazy because I’m like a very touchy person so I love like hugging people and meeting people and so since obviously the pandemic, I wanted to do that. The second I was fully vaccinated — I got vaccinated so fast, I like was like what strings to pull to get this vaccine like in 1.5 seconds — so I got vaccinated. The second it was out in this world. So being able to go on tour and meeting other vaccinated people and hugging them it was just the best thing in the entire world. Like, having people tell me their stories. I saw people with my face tattooed on their bodies and redoing my makeup and it was just… it’s so insane.

Derek: Wow. Yeah, that must be an honor to have someone tattoo your face on them, like, how did that feel?

Gottmik: Oh my god, I love it. I’m like, literally obsessed with it. I want everyone to have Gottmik tattoos. I just, I made it a highlight on my Instagram story of like some of my favorite ones. They're just some of them are like really, really good, too. I'm like, do I want my face tattooed on my body? It’s insane. My best friend in the world Nats, he just got my logo tattooed on his neck, I'm like, I'm just trying to convince everybody to get me tattooed on them.

Derek: Oh did you say Nats?

Gottmik: Nats.

Derek: Gigi Gorgeous’ [husband], yeah, awesome. I want to switch gears to your music tastes, what's your favorite song?

Gottmik: I don't know. I have the worst… I like have the most dramatically insane, like different music tastes in the world. I will full be listening to like Hole, and like, like rock and like crazy music like punk music and then I will literally in the same note listen to like “Yoü and I” by Lady Gaga. Now actually I listen to country music. I literally listen to everything. I don't think of a song right now I'm obsessed with, though — I don’t even know. I totally literally listen, I think I’m still like on the Chromatica vibe and I feel like it's because I haven't like danced to it at the club that hard yet, well I guess I have now. In New York I danced to Chromatica at a club and it was the last day of my life. I think my favorite off that would be “Replay,” so I think “Replay” from Chromatica is my favorite right now.

Derek: That's a great song. How did it feel to be able to actually dance again, like, what clubs did you go to? ‘Cuz it sounds amazing.

Gottmik: Yeah, New York Pride was like very — I think I was like — pretty much, I had to go. My schedule is very, like, set for me, and then luckily I was out with [Vanessa] Vangie [Mateo] and Violet [Chachki], and they had their Prides where they wanted to go to and so between the three of us, we went out like I've never been out before… it was so fun. We literally went everywhere and all the clubs are super dope in New York because they, like, make you show your vaccine card, and your ID in the same moment. Like, they check both at the same time so everyone's vaccinated. Everyone's having the best time, it's just everything.

Derek: That's great. I wish places here did that with their vaccine [cards], I live in Minneapolis, they don't do that.

Gottmik: A few cities I’ve been to do that; it's the best thing in the world. Chicago does. I haven’t been out in LA yet, but I hope they do that, too, because it's everything.

Derek: Yeah, everything. Do you have any advice for drag queens looking to take the next big step in their career like you did?

Gottmik: I would say my advice for drag queens wanting to make it their career is find what makes you special and just like go for it, because that's what people want to see like they don't want to see a drag queen that has every drag trend in the world on their body. They just want to see a new face and a unique story, and a unique talent, so find what makes you “you” and find what makes you different, and ride it out.

Derek: Definitely, and I have a final question. What's your favorite memory from RuPaul’s Drag Race season 13?

Gottmik: I think my favorite memory would be probably just those, those like one-on-one talks that I got to have with RuPaul. Literally, me and RuPaul got along so well and she would make me laugh so hard and I would make her laugh so hard. So it's like the moments where we are both like crying laughing and not even talking — and, like, the people around us were confused — and those are like my favorite moments in the entire world.

Derek: Yeah, that must be surreal being able to talk to RuPaul that long. I only got like five minutes at DragCon. It was, like, one of the highlights of my life.

Gottmik: Gosh, she, she's just so — I swear — just so funny and our humor, I don't even know why we connected that hard, but we just like did and it was so fun. Like off camera we would just like laugh so hard.

Derek: Well, thank you so much Gottmik. I think that's most of our time and that's all my questions, so have a great day.

Gottmik: Thank you so much. You too.

Derek: Thank you so much. Bye bye!

Gottmik: Bye!