WET MESS
"GAY! THE PUZZLE OF LIFE! THE MISSING PIECE!" - I interviewed the incomparable Wet Mess to learn about TESTO & beyond
Before I got to yapping with Wet Mess I was quite nervously sitting inside the overtly gentrified hipster paradise that is Millfields Coffee in Lower Clapton. I didn’t think I’d be nervous, why was I feeling that way? I’d only ever met Wet Mess (WM) briefly in passing but I’ve seen them perform countless times and without a doubt they’re in my top 3 performers ever.
Maybe I was nervous because I was not-so-secretly a fangirl?
OMG was I blushing?
No…no I hadn’t even taken off my scarf yet, I’m sure I looked fine.
Maybe I was just excited to finally get to know them more: what makes them tick etc.
Before they arrived what I found so endearing about their performance persona was their ability to surprise, their comfort on stage, the fact that every performance felt spontaneous although it was meticulously rehearsed. No matter the number of times I’d seen them perform I can assure you they always brought something new to the number even if I’d seen them perform it before.
XF: I hope people see you as a beacon of the freaks. You hold that bastion very well
WM: I love freaks SO much
Strolling into Millfields Coffee WM carried a disposition capable of lighting up any room. They’re nature was welcoming and they were funny without forcing it. Their charming smile lingered long enough to invite me in on the joke without a word ever being spoken. It’s a noticeable magnetism that carries over into their live show. They have an authenticity that carries over ton the stage where they delight in the absurd and their bold sense of humour settled me into the chaos unfolding, inevitably I found myself grinning back at them. With the attention of the entire audience captured and in their control, Wet Mess was at their most potent. They forced the audience to crack and you could feel the tension in the room collectively unravel because we were all now in on the joke, still without a word being uttered. True magic from our new favourite jester.
Hailing from an eclectic background in performance art beginning in Cambridge and meandering here, there and everywhere else, Wet Mess bounded into the Queerdo-Drag-nightlife scene of East London with aplomb in the late teens (2013-2019). The first time I saw their makeup I knew they got “IT” and once we got yapping I found out where their desire to claim “IT” as a form of expression came from…
WM: I think the place I grew up really shaped who I am, a very small, rural village that had a primary and a secondary school in the village so basically I didn’t leave until sixth form age like 16 or 17, very white, very insular. Very like “everything’s fine we don’t need to talk about things” and in lots of ways very safe but yeah. Now I’m like “have some fucking life! have some fucking sex!” because I’ve got to release that
XF: I was on tour with a friend and she leant me a Leigh Bowery biography and I was reading the book and something happened and where I was in my life and I was like “that’s it, it’s over” and everything was essentially like black and white and grey before that then suddenly I realised colour could be in my life
WM: I feel the same way which is so cringe because of the rainbow *laughs*
XF: Fucking Dorothy coming out of the house
WM: We’re like “Oh, I’m stepping into my colour” Yeah I feel that way as well it’s actually bonkers, get that tagline in “all the colours of the rainbow are for you” *laughs*
XF: *laughs* It’s so cringe isn’t it
Despite our deeply unserious nature here, Wet Mess’ appreciation for beauty, self-styling and art as a means of coming into one’s own identity is something to be celebrated. Transition is complicated and despite the abundance of online discourse, the feeling of not knowing where to find comfort when you don’t necessarily feel compelled to either binary options on offer feel challenging and painful. Not to get all “woe is me” but it’s empowering to hear how much comfort WM got from being vulnerable in such a complicated space. TESTO is a testament to that process in action.
TESTO is a show they’ve been touring since 2023 and was meticulously pieced together from interviews they recorded with friends and acquaintances. It was integral to WM the interviews included people from various age groups,
XF: How long were you interviewing each person?
WM: I’d say an hour but if we were yapping it might go on for 3 or 4
XF: and then you had to edit it
WM: I was swimming
XF: *laughs*
WM: DROWNING in the audio, it was too much, you can imagine
XF: Yeah, it’s horrible
WM: But then you have to trust that the clips stay with you, the most important ones and you come back to them.
This year alone Wet Mess has performed at Edinburgh Fringe, taken TESTO to Cambridge, Bradford, Hastings, Brighton and recently swung through Oslo and Dublin before two nights in the Purcell Room at the Southbank Centre this very weekend.
The Friday night is already SOLD OUT and only a few tickets remain for the Saturday.
If you have yet to see Wet Mess live I assure you they will be worth every penny that makes up the £27 (+£3.50 booking fee).
I hope you enjoy reading our casual yap together and learn a bit more about the extremely wonderful, loveably freak that is Wet Mess.
XF: and how are you getting on with your show TESTO, on tour.
WM: really good, Southbank next week. We’ve been doing it for a long time now and I made it a long time ago and I’m emotionally quite far away from that place
XF: right
WM: and then I’m really grateful for the journey that’s gone on
XF: Is it kind of like when you release a song and then four years later you’re still going back to it?
WM: This is my Britney ‘Toxic’ *laughs*
XF: yeah *laughs* so is it a case that although you’re still performing TESTO, it’s kind of left you?
WM: Yeah yeah, I love performing like that’s my craft and each place is so different like places where there’s really no queer scene at all, not even a queer bar and people were just having their minds blown and that feels so precious. But then people think you’re in that place and come to you after the show, yeah
XF: How do you react to that?
WM: I feel like grateful that it’s having that reaction and I think maybe it kind of creates this space for people think or feel in their gender that often we don’t really get and they want to share that and talk to you about that, but it is hard sometimes.
XF: It’s an amazing idea to take the soundbites from friends, especially when lots of artists tend to lip-sync to internet memes or gay iconic songs, but instead you bring the voices of people no one has ever heard but they’re close to you, it made me realise I wish I had recorded my Nan shouting her one-liners at me
WM: Is she gone now?
XF: She’s gone, are there any things from your family or growing up that you wished you could have brought in?
WM: oh my gosh so many things just came to me, I want to talk about lip syncing and recording but then um. I guess
XF: lets do lip-sync
WM: I’ve got so obsessed with lip sync as a form, I just taught this workshop and it really made me be like okay what would I want to say to people? And I think there’s a really interesting combination of drag using both really political and current audio from politicians that happened this week or in the news or the most random pop culture and we smash these things together which I love and I really like bringing those things together. Then with TESTO there’s more of a using people you interview and lip syncing to it and bringing these forms together because they actually are same craft and it is ultimately a queer art form and being able to archive, people talk about lip sync being a Queer education and it’s an archive and it’s also a live experience and you get to choose how you tell the story or what you’re bringing to life with your body but you’re also creating archive if you’re interviewing your friends. Like these voices are around me and need to be playformed and I’m learning from this and I want to share it with you. I actually had way more audio in the first version of TESTO, I did a 40 minute version but it was becoming too educational
XF: a 40 minute lip sync?!
WM: No, sorry, a shorter version of the show, it was a 15 minute section that was all interviews but it was becoming too educational for the audiences so I thought “hang on a second I need to roll back”
XF: What in particular made it feel too educational?
WM: I felt weird putting peoples trauma on stage, or how to hold that and what energy you want to create and pass on. I was like “this is going to educate people” but then I wanted it to lean into feeling and abstraction and the body rather than be wordy.
XF: What was the reaction of those friends you interviewed when they came to see TESTO?
WM: I felt so nervous about that. At the beginning I hadn’t actually taken testosterone and that’s when I started, and then I stopped, yeah. I was really nervous to edit but then Travis (Alabanza) was like you’ve got to trust that those people trust you and you’ve got to use it actually how you want to, that was a journey though. Yeah, I think they liked it! *laughs*
XF: Was it people you knew firsthand or was there an outreach to find them?
WM: it was a bit of both, started with friends to get comfortable with it. It was quite scary, it’s quite intimate as well.
XF: Well you’re good at talking
WM: I love to yap
XF: *laughs*
WM: I love to get deep as well. Most people were actually really open and wanted to talk about it. I think there’s a lot of fear around transition and asking people about their transition and people will share what they want to share
XF: There is a lot of fear around transitioning but maybe not really an opportunity to talk about it
WM: Yeah I think so
XF: It must have been so cathartic
WM: What I found healing was admitting some of the confusion and some of the difficulties which you never really see online
XF: I really like that the interviewees are inter-generational
WM: Yeah I knew I needed some older people, friends of friends who were recommending people. I actually meditate before the show about Trans Elders. It feels really like that missing piece of the puzzle of life. That sounds so fucking gay - gay in a bad way - don’t put that in! GAY! THE PUZZLE OF LIFE! THE MISSING PIECE! *laughs*
XF: Immediate tagline *laughs*
WM: I think there’s just wisdom and peace that you get from people that have lived longer that I wanted to put in the show. Do you know Nando Messias?
XF: No
WM: She’s a Trans Femme Educator, we’re doing an R&D together in a couple of weeks so I’m excited about that.
XF: Amazing
WM: I’ve got ideas, but they’re all kind of seeds
XF: What are the ideas?
WM: I’m not ready to tell *both laugh*
XF: You were gonna say something about your Grandma?
WM: Oh yeah so at the beginning of TESTO I actually interviewed a lot of people that aren’t Trans that had experience with taking hormones for different reasons and I think that’s when it was getting a little too educational. But I then interviewed my Grandma as well and it was quite sad, because I said if there was anyone before me that’s been Queer in the family erm, and she just said “no, but if they were no one spoke about it” and then I found out just last week that her generation are called the Silent Generation. Erasure. At the end of the show there’s a word that just disappears as it’s repeated and it’s kind of euphoric but I also feel a lot of grief in Trans elders disappearing or us disappearing.
XF: There’s something about how the 21st century has accustomed to comparatively celebrating being out and proud but now we’re watching it be rescinded and that some people will be actively not coming out again, so I can understand where the Silent Generation were coming from
WM: Self censorship
XF: It all goes to shit?
*silence*
WM: I actually said self censorship but I like “it all goes to shit”
XF: OK Quicklfire round. You just have to reply, one or the other
WM: OK right, wow, this is black and white
XF: Well it can be, you’re not a great black & white person so we’ll see where this goes
WM: *laughs* great
XF: Blazer or Trenchcoat?
WM: Blazer
XF: Cake or chips?
WM: Chips
XF: Denim or leather?
WM: Denim
XF: Jester or clown?
WM: Jester
XF: Rubber or Latex?
WM: Rubber I think
XF: Football or pool?
WM: Pool
XF: Jumping or leaping?
WM: *laughs* leaping!
XF: Chequerboard or stripes?
WM: Chequerboard
XF: Shoulder-pads or parrots?
WM: Shoulder-pads
XF: RVT or Superstore?
WM: RVT
XF: Spikes or chains?
WM: Chains
XF: Scratch-cards or bingo?
WM: Bingo
XF: Ballet or boxing?
WM: Boxing
XF: Tassel loathers or brogues?
WM: Tassel loathers
XF: Shame or denial?
WM: Denial
XF: Lights, camera or action?
WM: ACTION!
XF: I have a spreadsheet called ‘FILMS TO WATCH’, can you give me 3 films to add to the list?
WM: Ok, erm, have you seen Conspirators of Pleasure?
XF: Who?
WM: By Jan Švankmajer
XF: I’ve seen some of his films but not this one
WM: Have you seen Dogtooth? That’s by Yorgos Lanthimos.
XF: No
WM: Have you seen D.E.B.S.?
XF: No
WM: It’s like a lesbian girl gang, it’s Camp and it’s a really funny abbreviation…Discipline, Energy, Beauty, Strength *laughs*
XF: *laughs* I need to see it. Something was cooking in the 2000s
WM: *laughs* something was cooking!
XF: Oh before I forget, one of my special interests is making keyrings so I brought you a keyring
WM: *looks at keyring* Eurgh, so fit, what the hell
XF: So fit
WM: This is the perfect bisexual, iconic desire *laughs* look at that anal
XF: yeah, deep!
WM: some people can really take it up the arse
XF: Some people really can
WM: and I’m impressed
XF: I’ve seen some things
WM: I’ve seen some things… and been involved in some things, you know what I mean?
XF: I know what you mean
WM: But life is long, that’s what I always like to say with anal
*both break out into laughter*
XF: So what are you doing for the end of the year and beyond?
WM: I’ve got TESTO this week, R&D w/ Nando, a Top Surgery fundraiser in December
XF: Do you have a rough trajectory for 2026?
WM: With TESTO we’re going to New York, Toronto, Vancouver, North Carolina
XF: All in one chunk?
WM: Kind of yeah and then we’re doing Sweden in early Summer
XF: You’ve achieved so much going from that level of performing arts, night life from basements to theatres to now being in this space in an amazing achievement and it’s rare and takes a lot of drive to be able to achieve what you’ve done so far, so give yourself a pat on the back
WM: Aw thank you, that’s so nice. I’m excited for the next thing. Also I always feel like wanting to ground it in the drag scene and feed it because it is so precious and it’s so transient and it’s dying or, recognising it comes in waves but how to foster some of that because there are some amazing artists who have inspired me and some people get obsessed with “oh you’re the first to do this” and it’s like no i’m not, this has been happening for fucking years and there’s lots of people that have inspired me that do some something very similar you know.
XF: Have you seen a shift in drag in terms of what’s being performed and the culture around it?
WM: The thing about drag, especially when you step out of the mainstream version of it people are really seeing their own freak and it’s so unique to that person and that’s what’s so beautiful about it. The scene was very competition based and that shifting in terms of how competitions are run but also they’re not happening so much, so yeah how people enter and get a bit of a name for themselves is becoming different and harde to do.
XF: I hope people see you as a beacon of the freaks. You hold that bastion very well
WM: I love freaks SO much
XF: I knowwww, you just do it so seamlessly
WM: I think the place I grew up really shaped who I am, a very small, rural village that had a primary and a secondary school in the village so basically I didn’t leave until sixth form age like 16 or 17, very white, very insular. Very like “everything’s fine we don’t need to talk about things” and in lots of ways very safe but yeah. Now I’m like “have some fucking life! have some fucking sex!” because I’ve got to release that
XF: I had a similar thing of making that switch when I felt like I was allowed to
WM: Permission, this is very Leo of you
XF: Yeah, really?
WM: They show other how how they’re not living to the fullest when it’s not in alignment
XF: I was on tour with a friend and she leant me a Leigh Bowery biography and I was reading the book and something happened and where I was in my life and I was like “that’s it, it’s over” and everything was essentially like black and white and grey before that then suddenly I realised colour could be in my life
WM: I feel the same way which is so cringe because of the rainbow *laughs*
XF: Fucking Dorothy coming out of the house
WM: We’re like “Oh, I’m stepping into my colour” Yeah I feel that way as well it’s actually bonkers, get that tagline in “all the colours of the rainbow are for you” *laughs*
XF: *laughs* Oh, it’s so cringe isn’t it
WM: But it’s true though
XF: It is true!
WM: What colour are you into for 2026?
XF: Kind of like Muave
WM: Like your lipstick?
XF: Yeah. I’m getting a 9/11 rug
WM: What’s that, a picture of 9/11?
XF: Yeah but it’s like an Afghan rug with poppies
WM: That’s exciting
*shares picture*
WM: Oh wow, that’s beautiful
XF: Do you do Kryolan?
WM: Yeah
XF: I used to wear it going to work when I worked in Beyond Retro
WM: That’s chic
Wet Mess can be found on Instagram and have a glorious website, just follow them, you won’t regret it.