I first watched Clifton perform at the LES bar Home Sweet Home, at an after-party for one of the Envoy Gallery shows, my apologies for not remembering which one it was, but it was a fun night, I remember that much. He entered the bar to a host of screaming and wailing friends and suddenly snapped into his performance. In a matter of a few seconds the whole bar stopped their chatter, enthralled by his enigmatic vocals and his tight choreography. His performance at one of our EVB parties a few weeks later was, as promised, both strange and wonderful.

Clifton photographed for EVB by Steven Chu

Richard Welch: Describe yourself in ten words?

Clifton: I am the new. There, I did it in four.

Clifton - Free Me

RW: Tell us a little about where you grew up, your family background..

C: I’m from small town called Lusby, Maryland. There’s a sign as you leave that reads “God Bless Y’all Real Good”. That’s pretty much all you need to know about that place. I grew up in the same house my grandfather and mother grew up in. Hated it, always needed to leave, so I did. I’m sure a lot of people are familiar with this story.

RW: Have you always wanted to be a performer? When did you first start performing?

C: Pretty much. I have been doing theater since elementary school. I moved here to New York to go to school for it. But I’ve also been playing the saxophone since the fourth grade. I have always, I guess, wanted to produce something for others to enjoy. I often wish I could draw or paint but I can’t. I’m envious of that skill. That draws on that not-so-nice side of my personality that wants to be the best at everything.

RW: Besides performing, what are you the best at?

C: Giving my opinion [laughs]. I talk a lot - mostly because I have a lot to say. I do believe that people should be opinionated. I also believe people should be adequately informed about what they are talking about. More often people are not. Sad really.

RW: What needs work?

C: I have no patience. I really need some. Life would be much easier if I had it.

RW: Describe your sound and style of performance?

C: I’d like to think my sound is just like everything you’ve heard and like nothing you’ve heard before. In the song “Shine”, for example, I went for a very catchy pop tune but by the end of it the three main instrumental melody lines are done by ragtime piano, harpsichord, and sitar. American black, European classical, and Indian sounds all together and it doesn’t sound strange. It’s my musical manifesto. When The Beatles made pop songs, and that’s what a lot of them were, they stretched the idea of what a pop song could sound like. That is what I’m trying to do. Too much pop music today sounds just alike. It seems like they give it no thought. They give you songs where the chorus is just one word like “Womanizer”. I don’t know about you but I feel like my intelligence is being insulted when I listen to the radio these days.

Clifton - Shine (remix) [download]

As far as Performance goes I have a theater background and I use it. I want the people who see my shows to see that I care enough about their time as to not waste it. If I’m going to perform for you, I’m going to be prepared because I respect you. I feel disrespected often when I go to shows and they just stand there or jump up and down with that “I’m so awesome I don’t even have to try” attitude. It’s been done, and usually they should be trying.

RW: Your performance for EVB at our party last fall was fantastic, and thoroughly thought through. I know you’re a perfectionist as you spent the entire day setting up the stage and rehearsing. Can you tell us a little about your creative process. Do you create the songs and performances together or otherwise?

C: I always create the songs first. Concept, music, then lyrics. I work with Adam Joseph on the songs and it works really well because he understands that there is a concept to each of the songs. They are each their own entity. The performance is informed by the songs, but again, it’s all about a concept. I have to try to figure out what can bring these songs together and what story can I tell through them. I could perform the same three songs over and over again and as long as I changed the concept you could get a completely different show each time.

RW: In terms of pure performance who do you think is worth paying attention to right now?

C: Grace Jones, still. There is an example of someone who wears a look but doesn’t have a look wear her. She is artistically crushing performers much younger than her. Also, Kanye West. The glow in the dark tour was a major piece. It was on the scale of an opera. Everytime he does a show there is a lot of thought in it. His VH1 Storytellers, was gorgeous.
RW: Introduce us to your group, there are three of you - do you each have specific roles? Tell us about the group dynamic?

C: Well we’re not really a group. My group of friends and I are essentially an art collective. Everyone is spearheading their own thing while being involved with everyone else’s thing. The two that were in the EVB show were my friend Linwood and I’m sure a lot of you know Xander, though in future shows there will be more people.

Xander and I work on the theatrical throughline and concepts of the shows. He knows how to pull ideas out of me and add to them in a great way. That’s something you don’t find everyday. My friend Linwood is a trained dancer which is also a great perk of our friendship. I also work with DJ Nita on music, who did an amazing remix of the song “Ice Creaks” for me. Our friend Troy does graphic design, and some of the clothes I wear when I’m performing are designed by my friend Ben Copperwheat, who just launched the COPPERWHEAT fashion line. Everyone has something to add and a purpose in our group. I’m lucky to have found them.

Clifton - Ice Creaks

RW: Your music is intimate yet energizes the whole audience, how do you build this interesting energy?

C: Like I said I’m there for the listener and the audience. I guess the music is different enough that it makes you want to listen but you still want to dance.

RW: Who would you like to collaborate with? Who would you like to see influence your performances?C: Honestly, I would love to work with Kanye. He’s taken his genre of music to a new place. I would also love to work with TV on the Radio. They are geniuses. Of course David Bowie - he’s the bar as far as I’m concerned.

RW: I hear you’re amazing in drag. When did you start doing it? Have you performed or is it just for personal pleasure?

C: Oh yes, that! I guess drag was also a way for me to be out performing. Not in shows necessarily, as I only did two, but as a character. Being someone else for the evening. My drag name is Nanya Bidness. I do occasionally do shows as part of a trio with One-Half Nelson and Erickatoure Aviance called “En Subtitles”. It is a performance art side venture for all of us. It’s drag if you consider three giant cupcake people murdering, and cannibalizing themselves to Marilyn Manson’s “The Beautiful People” a drag show. We have no boundaries as to what that project can and will be.

RW: Do you think traditional drag is still relevant to young audiences?

C: Yes. Drag queens will always be relevant. I think the success of RuPaul’s Drag Race, has proven that. Everyone loves a good queen!

RW: What do you think of the New York gay scene at the moment?

C: Honestly I think it’s tired! Before anyone notices we’re going to be like Paris - a museum city. A pretty shell. When friends come from Europe you have to really look for fun things to do that are only in New York. It used to be that you could do something great every night of the week. Sadly that’s not the case anymore. There is no gay scene. Really it’s just a bunch of small groups identifying themselves as something like bear, twink, jock, leather daddy, art fag, etc, and having parties for just themselves and people like them. That exclusivity is not how a community works or thrives. I noticed that the best parties are the ones where everyone is represented. I’m including heterosexuals as well.

Also, I think that the gays tend to be too easily amused. It’s disconcerting to me when I see 40 year-old men with the same taste level of a 12 year old girl. I’m not judging, I’m just stating a fact. If, out of all the music that has ever been made in the world, you think Lady Gaga is the pinnacle, there’s something wrong. I think even she would agree with me there. OK, now I’m judging [laughs].

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