Meet Duo-RAW, Sweden’s Premier Seven Foot Disco Goblins

Image: JFK Photo

Sweden is a godless paradise, and as such gay culture there is some next-level glittery shit. Drag queens don’t look like lords dressed as ladies, they look like motherfucking Satan dialing a collect call pizza with extra dick from the year 3000-and-rad.

Engaged Malmö couple Duo-RAW, Ronny (Mr. RAW) and Andreas (Mrs. RAW), walk the walk, talk the talk, and on their third video “Devil In Me”, sing the sing.

While their Clive Barkerish phalanx of electrified queermo might not be everyone’s thickshake, anyone who describes themselves as “seven-foot disco goblins” is inarguably great. “’Two tall drunken whores’ was taken,” sighs Ronny.

They’re not the shyest real-life cenobites around either. Especially not when it came to a non-transsexual winning ‘Drag of the Year’ at this year’s QX Gay Awards, an annual LGBTQI awards night run by Qruiser mag and sponsored by the Stockholm Pride Agency.

Noisey: You had a lot to say about what happened at the QX awards on your social.
Ronny: Ugh. We were nominated in the category ‘Drag of the Year’ here in Sweden. We didn’t win, and that’s OK with us, but the person who did win was Peter Jöback, a Swedish actor who played a transsexual in a musical. It was the second year in a row that this prize went to an actor who played a transsexual in a play.
Andreas: We feel that it is very sad and wrong that our own community can’t seem to tell the difference between an actor, a transsexual, and a drag queen. Because this show is aired all around Scandinavia, it sends out a very confusing message to everyone who is not familiar with the gay scene. It is very insulting to the transsexual community and to the drag community.

Why do you think your own community can’t tell the difference between an actor, a transsexual, and a drag queen?
Ronny: I think that they know the difference, but somewhere it went wrong. My personal opinion is that they wanted to have a famous actor nominated in this category to get better viewings and press for the gala. But when this happens for the second year in a row we, the drag and trans community, must raise our voices and say, “Enough.”

Andreas: There are already too many people confusing drag queens, transsexuals and transvestites, and we can’t stand by and watch our own community carry on confusing everyone.

Ronny: I once got a dumb question regarding one of my transsexual friends from a straight man. I think it was: “Does she still have her dick?” My response was that I guess that’s a very personal question and I don’t think you have anything to do with it. But that made me think that I had no idea if my friend had transgendered fully, if she considered herself a man, woman, or whatever. I realised I did not even know how old she was. I only knew that I considered her my dear friend and no labels were necessary. That was a great insight for me.

Give me some insight into your lives.
Andreas: I was going to be an architect, but after my bachelor degree I had to take a sabbatical to have time to work on Duo-RAW. I will finish my masters some time in the future. I am only 24. Before that I was a professional swimmer in the Swedish junior elite team, but I had to quit to have time for an education. I was done with that chlorine water. Now I am a full-time disco goblin [laughs].

Ronny: I started working as a stylist after high school, and worked with that for about eight years. I did everything from music videos, runway and magazines and so on doing makeup, hair and wardrobe. At the same time I worked extra as a go-go boy. I got bored and started studying design theory and patternmaking. I am currently finishing my bachelor degree in graphic design. I only have one term left, so I can’t really take a sabbatical like the other queen.

Image: Elin Schipper

Your costumes are hideously cool.
Ronny: Well thank you. We make everything ourselves. Couture is our passion, and we take it very seriously. Even if we sometimes question why the hell we chose to do it when it would have been so much easier just to put on a thong or something store-bought and call it a party… but then again, anyone can do that.

Andreas: We love to make our pieces, and we can spend insane man-hours making them and coming up with different concepts, like this latest piece we made with pearls took about 500 hours to make. It has grown into a big part of our image to look like this, and we have to keep it up and top ourselves [laughs] every time.

My fave is the tartan demons.
Ronny: I know! That is one of our favorites too! And surprisingly comfortable. I’m guessing it’s the breezy skirt that lets our butts breathe a bit.
Andreas: We made it for a gig we did in Glasgow with Sharon Needles. We got inspired.

Image : JKF Photo

Are you inspired enough to tour Australia?
Andreas: We would love to come over for an Australian tour! At this moment in time we don’t have any plans of going, but hopefully someone will book us and then we can start working on it. Sydney Mardi Gras 2015 can contact us it they want to! [laughs]

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