1/2
The Frock Destroyers — Divina de Campo, Blu Hydrangea and Baga Chipz — formed during the first season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race UK” and went on to record pop album “Frock4Life.” They are scheduled to tour the United States later this year. Photo courtesy of World of Wonder Productions
March 22 (UPI) — The Frock Destroyers, a pop trio formed on the set of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, are taking over the world of streaming with their four-part Frockumentary series — and will soon be taking on the world in person with a global tour.
The first episode of Frock Destroyers: Frockumentary on WOW Presents Plus explained how the Frock Destroyers — Blu Hydrangea, Baga Chipz and Divina de Campo — formed as part of a “Girl Group Challenge” during the first season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK. The trio of queens ended up together when they weren’t selected by team captain Crystal for rival group Filth Harmony.
“It was even better watching Crystal sashay away after she didn’t pick us,” Blu told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.
Blu, aka Joshua Cargill, and Baga, aka Leo Loren, told UPI that not being chosen motivated them to win the challenge.
“Not being picked gave us more of a drive,” Baga said. “We’re like, ‘We’re gonna win this, and we’re gonna win big.'”
“And we did,” Blu added. “Who talks about Filth Harmony these days? No one.”
Not being chosen turned out to be fortuitous on and off screen, as the three performers soon formed a strong bond.
“When we went into it, it was kind of like, we could all just not get along, and just be bitter about not getting picked, or we could put our best foot forward,” Blu said. “And I think we had this unexpected friendship that formed between the three of us. On the first day, if you had asked me, who’s going to be the closest queens that you meet on this season, I probably would have never said Baga.”
Blu explained Baga “was super confident, and she’s super brassy, and these are all things I’ve grown to love about her, and now we’re really, really, really close friends. We’ve got each other’s backs and we love working together, so I think that’s kind of what has all formed from not being picked for the girl group,” she said.
Competing against friends
Blu and Baga said their friendship turned out to be a help rather than a hindrance when they ended up facing off against one another again on Drag Race UK vs. The World, which ended this month with Blu being crowned the winner.
“I was glad to see Baga there, because I know that Baga is strong competition, and she would have my back and I would have had hers,” Blu said.
“It took any panic away, as soon as I saw Baga being the first one on that stage. In fact, I didn’t just see her, I heard her from backstage before I was on, so I was like, ‘Oh, thank god.'”
Baga agreed that having a friend among the competition led to a reduction in stress.
“It’s good to be with your mates, I know it’s a competition and you want to do well in it, but it’s just less stressful when you have somebody you can talk to, because you’re there for a long time, and you also need to have fun,” she said. “So if you’re with friends, you’re going to have the best fun.”
Learning to breathe
Blu said transitioning from lip sync drag performances to recording 2020 album Frock4Life brought its own challenges — especially when it comes to singing.
“Having to sing, and sometimes sing live, was the biggest difference for me. Baga and Divina are always singing in their live shows, so I imagine that was probably a bit less of a difference,” she said.
“I’ve always sung live on stage,” Baga said. “I think Divina’s recorded before, but I’m more of just a belter in the pub.”
Blu added she is still working on “remembering to breathe” while singing.
“I still haven’t completely figured out the whole live singing thing. Luckily, with the Frock Destroyers, we’re a little bit rougher around the edges by choice, so it allows us to make mistakes and it adds to the charm. People love it,” she said.
The group’s musical influences include girl groups Little Mix and the Spice Girls.
“Our message is — you know like the Spice Girls have ‘girl power’ as a slogan — we’re quite similar, we believe in friendship, being yourself, don’t listen to the haters, very empowering,” Baga said. “Just be yourself, and just be fabulous and don’t listen to any negativity and just go out into the world and live your authentic life and be camp and fabulous.”
Blu and Baga said the Frock Destroyers also took inspiration from RuPaul, who offered them guidance and some sage advice.
“The main thing that I think she told all of us was to pay our taxes. I think that is some really good advice,” Blu laughed. “Ru always gives little nuggets, and taking them on board is how we’ve gotten so far in this career. If you don’t listen to RuPaul, then — why not? … I mean, she’s the most successful drag queen in the world. So, we’ve taken the advice, and that’s why we’re doing so well.”
The future
The next step on the Frock Destroyers’ pop music journey is a world tour.
“We’re going to America in a couple of months. I just can’t wait to travel the world and see these amazing countries, and see all the different cultures,” Baga said. “Because we always get messages from all around the world saying, ‘We love you,’ and ‘Come to Sydney, come to New York, come to every country you can think of.’ It’s gonna be mad just traveling the world, like backpacking around the world with two friends, it’s going to be amazing.”
The bandmates said more album releases could also be on the horizon.
“I think we’re definitely up for it, and I think World of Wonder still think that there’s something there. So there’s definitely more in the future. Leland, who wrote most of the music, every time we come together or we talk to him in any capacity, he’s like, ‘So, when are we doing more music?’ I think there’s nothing stopping us, so watch out for it, I suppose,” Blu said.
The second episode of Frock Destroyers: Frockumentary streams Tuesday on WOW Presents Plus.
