Featured Queen: Coralyne Chloride

Coralyne Chloride is the drag persona of Shayne Jennison (also known of Slappy Cider), a 19 year old queen from Roanoke, Virginia. Jennison started drag in early 2015 after meeting his boyfriend Dillon; a fellow queen who goes by the name Amazon Robe. He met his boyfriend when he went to see Manila Luzon perform at a club. They've been together since, and Dillon later introduced Shayne to drag. Shayne now performs at clubs in Roanoke as Coralye Chloride.

Read our Q&A with Coraline below.

What inspired you to start doing drag?

I've been making YouTube videos and short films for years now and my main aspiration in life is to direct and edit films, but after a while - making short videos on YouTube just gets a little tiring. So I decided to have my mother judge the contestants on RuPaul's Drag Race, one of my favorite shows, to see how the older generation would react to something so different. To my surprise, she actually loved it. Her interest and intrigue in drag kind of made me want to push it one step forward - so I decided to do it myself. With the help of my boyfriend, Coralyne Chloride was birthed and my first time doing drag was not only my first time wearing the clothes and the makeup, but I performed the same night.

How does drag make you feel?

Coralyne is an extension of SlappyCider, and SlappyCider is an extension of Shayne. Shayne is kind of my base

form. Shayne works at Kohl's and dislikes rude customers. Shayne can't afford much and avoids sodas because they make his stomach hurt. Great. SlappyCider is my online alias. It's who I portray in all my videos, kind of an over the top and outlandish form of Shayne. If SlappyCider worked at Kohl's, he'd be fired within a day. Coralyne is an extension of SlappyCider and is a gothic female representation of dark indulgence and mixing tongue in cheek goofiness with a Halloween schtick. Basically, Coralyne makes me feel like I'm diving further and further into myself. I feel like every extension of me is getting me one step closer to figuring out who I actually am and what my purpose is. Maybe someday Coralyne will get an extension as well...

Who are you inspirations for your drag persona?

I take a lot of inspiration from music. My whole thought process when it comes to creating a look and a performance always starts in my iTunes library. I scroll through, randomly click things, and when I hear something that makes me feel a certain way, I branch off of it. Crystal Castles is a band that constantly inspires me to create new things. All of their songs are killer and really have a dark edge to them. Same with iamamiwhoami - a Swedish electropop group that really opens my mind up to different landscapes.

Who are your three all time favourite Queens?

Katya will forever be my baby. I was fan of hers before she went on drag race and I'm a fan of hers afterwards. Usually that isn't the case but hot damn, she's impressive. I honestly don't think at this point that anyone else can compare to her.

Do you have a specific look you like to go for, or does your look vastly vary?

All of my looks are easily differentiated. You can tell what is what and what the concept behind each is, but they all have a very dark edge to them. I think it's important for queens to stick to one sort of look and then branch from there. I decided to go the gothic route for two reasons. Reason one is that there is SO much you can do with scary stuff. There are so many different ways to shock people, it's almost neverending. Reason number two is nobody in my town is doing spooky drag. Some people get kind of edgy and decided to do Halloween-ish things, but it's just pageant queens with big pads lip syncing to whatever song is the most popular right now... Sorry bout it.

What would be your ultimate ambition you would like to achieve through drag?

I just want people to know me and to have fun with what I'm doing. I want to revolutionize things in a way and make drag more accessible for a younger audience. The teen queen community is constantly growing and there is so much hate inside and outside of it, I want to bring together these queens in different ways. I'm starting my hosting a drag competition for younger queens, which kind of serves a makeshift Drag Race replacement right now. It's called SlappyCider's Drag Battle and seeing what these young queens can do is absolutely astounding. What we have in store for season 1 is amazing and I feel like bringing these queens together was something I've been destined to do for a long time. As for the future of my drag, I have a lot planned for the digital world and the real world... Keep your eyes peeled and your ears open.

Do you perform in drag? If so, where?

I've performed a total of 5 times in Roanoke, VA and every single one of those performances I'm super proud of. From coming out on stage drenched in blood or throwing shade at the audience members during a robotic comedy routine, I love conceptual and twisted performances that make the crowd as much of the performance as you are.

If you perform, what are some of your favourite songs to perform?

Northern Lights by Kate Boy is kind of a go-to right now... I dunno, it's a fun jam. I also like Cold Stone by KILL J. It's kind of dark and whimsical, and it kind of encapsulates what I do in drag. My first song I performed to will forever be my favorite though - Million Years by Nico Vega. It's a powerhouse of a track and really brings the crowd to the edge of their seats. Someday I'll perform it again, but right now - I think I'm too burned out of listening to it.

If you could only have 3 makeup products to do your complete drag makeup look for the rest of your life, what would they be and why?

Ketchup, Mayonnaise, and Mustard. Seriously though, I think I can work with anything... as long as I have lots of black liquid liner, some dark lipstick, and some cheek contour that you can see from the back row. I hit up the dollar store before every performance so any products over 10 dollars is a godsend.

What is your one favourite piece of fashion or accessory from your wardrobe?

My black wig with straight bangs. It's perfection. It was cheap as hell and I wear it all the time. Something about long black hair makes me feel like a Japanese ghost about to pounce on somebody and vomit in their mouths. It works with almost every outfit and I just love the way it flows.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?

Hopefully on the cover of the New York Times with the caption "SLUT" written across my face. Really though, I just want people to know my name. Hopefully within five years, Shayne Jennison will have his first feature length film out, SlappyCider will continue doing SlappyCider's Drag Battle and shaping the digital world of drag, and Coralyne will be entertaining on stage and pushing boundaries.

What's your opinion on the recent increase in popularity of drag, due to things such as RuPaul's Drag Race?

On one hand, it's fantastic! It's opened the door to so many creative queens and new styles of drag, and really has made the community a helluva lot more interesting. But on the other hand, when something gets more popular - it brings the haters along with it. I have never seen more hateful people than the people I've seen hating in the drag community. If drag didn't get popular though, I don't think I would've met so many amazing people who just recently started doing drag.

Anything else we should know about our drag persona?

Coralyne was originally going to be a one trick pony whose only story was that she was a bride who killed herself on her wedding day and cries all the time, but that was just boxed into one performance. She also has an album coming out next year with a dark witch house theme to it. The first single is actually already available to hear. It's titled 'Latex Nightmare' and basically is a big 'F U' to all the people who have doubted Coralyne in the past. Coralyne also is a member and founder of the #HAUS OF CHROME, a drag collective started by Coralyne Chloride and Amazon Rome. (Chloride + Rome = Chrome. Hehe.) The collective hasn't really opened it's gates to the public yet but when they do, things are going to get interesting.

--------------------------Thank You To Coralyne For This Q&A--------------------------

Add Coralyne on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009366823773

Like SlappyCider on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/slappycider/

Subscribe to SlappyCider on YouTube for drag related videos and more: http://www.youtube.com/slappycider

Subscribe to Coralyne on YouTube for performances and more: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU7WDccYPRW2kVbEwwHTi4g

Listen to Coralyne's first single here: https://soundcloud.com/user-187254558/latexnightmare

Follow Coralyne on Twitter: @slappycider

Instagram: @Rest_Is_Drag

Twitter: @Rest_Is_Drag

and Like our new Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/RestIsDragBlog/

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