Derry drag artist to release new single

Derry Drag artist Miss Mary Jane is set to release a new single before performing at Guildhall Taphouse during Foyle Pride.

The song is her latest and final instalment of her Mr President EP following previous tracks Mary Jane and El Salvador.

Miss Mary Jane said the project explores the 'demonising' of female sexuality in a patriarchal society.

“Visually and audibly it was really heavily inspired by the aesthetics of the Bond movies and that whole concept of a bond girl and her role within the franchise,” she said.

“One of the biggest references that I had, especially when it came to the actual songwriting of Mr President, was the scandal surrounding Marilyn Monroe and John F Kennedy.

Miss Mary Jane said the song is partly a response to the 'misogynistic cultural norms of the time', which led to the pair receiving very different reactions in the aftermath of the affair.

“Marylin Monroe was so demonised over her sense of sexuality whereas the male counterpart was John F Kennedy and he was just forever revered and there was this situation where this star was left with a stain.

“I wanted to take this notion and instead of demonising female sexuality, I really wanted to weaponise it. So the weaponisation is kind of a big theme that runs through the lyrics.

“I sing about 'behind my golden gun', which obviously has the James Bond reference, but you know, it has those sort of links to the assassination and loads of little cultural references in the lyrics.”

Doing drag was not the original idea when Cahal O'Connell began penning songs as a teenager, however the project came about naturally while he wrote.

“It was all authentic from the beginning. And it's only really been as the character's progressed that I've almost discovered that I was kind of writing like a contextual sort of background for a character that just hadn't even been conceptualised herself.

“The fact that all these songs were written before drag even came along, it's kind of created this sort of inseparable link between me and Mary Jane. So I don't think I ever really could justify that they are two separate people.

“You hear a lot of drag artists who, kind of rightly so, have this mantra where they believe that their character and who they are, are two completely separate entities. But I've always felt like because my primary focus with drag is putting this original music out there – I mean, I don't feel like you can be writing original music if there's not a sense of authenticity ingrained in it - it's not good music if it's not there.”

Mr President will be released on 25 August.

Miss Mary Jane will be performing at the Guildhall Taphouse this Sunday, 27 August for the official closing party of Foyle Pride Festival.