WORDS MAISIE JANE DANIELS - PHOTOGRAPHY EVA PENTEL
Bimini is back with a brand new single, which has been some time in the making (they don't do things half-arsed!) titled 'Tommy's Dream'. The standout single surrounds vulnerability and determination, two of many traits that make Bimini a favourite for so many. Never one to be put in a box, this self-proclaimed gender-bender is now also a genre-bender, so we can safely say that we are expecting the unexpected, and we wouldn't want it any other way.
Ahead of their special, one-off single launch show at London's Colours, Hoxton last week, F Word's Eva Pentel took some snaps and Maisie Jane Daniels got to catch up with this quick-witted Queen that you can't help but fall in love with.
Maisie Jane Daniels: Bimini, Hello! Are you excited for tonight’s show at Colours, Hoxton? Bimini: I'm so excited for Colours, Hoxton tonight coz I feel like it's been 18 months in the making. And not just working on this show, but working on music, getting the sound right, being experimental... playing into it! It feels like, yeah, this is me and I'm ready to show the world what I've been working on.
MJD: The show is for your brand spanking new single Tommy’s Dream - what’s it all about? B: Tommy's Dream is about reflection and vulnerability but also hope and determination and that you can achieve whatever it is you want to achieve if you want it, if you go for it. And we all have those moments of doubt and that's normal, this is that full circle moment.
MJD: Drag Queen, Author, Model and now Singer… is there anything you can’t do?! No really, I want to know is there anything you’re terrible at?
B: [Laughs] Terrible at cooking! Well, I was better but now like, Deliveroo is me best mate! I love a Pret but I don't know... I think I was never told that I was creative, and I was always pushed more academically so I was always second guessing myself until I fully just lent into what I've always wanted to do and my creativity, I love... yeah...going full steam ahead and trying out anything that I want.
MJD: The music video for God Save This Queen was EPIC! What can we expect from Tommy’s Dream?
B: Tommy's Dream is kind of the introduction to the world... I want people to see what I've been working on for the last year and a half. I want people to know that this is real and this is me, and this is authentic and this is what I've always dreamt of doing and what I've always wanted and I'm so grateful and lucky for the show [Ru Paul's Drag Race] to have given me those opportunities from it and I took them and I ran with them and I've been working on it. We could've been putting out song after song, I'm probably sitting on about fifty... but this is the first one since God Save This Queen so I'm hoping people are going to understand and get a glimpse into the world they're about to hear.
MJD: And what can we expect from the show? I’ve read you state “New sound. New music. New looks.” so feel like it’s going to be bursting with surprises?!
B: I'm so lucky that I got to audition a band and I've got this amazing, incredible SUPER talented queer band and I would not have been able to do this summer without them. We work so well and it's so beautiful to see queer people taking up space on main stages, and long may it continue! I think people will be surprised by the music, I don't know what people are expecting... we did Download festival but I wouldn't necessarily say the music was rock music... it's an array of inspiration. I was a gender bender once and now I'm a genre bender.
MJD: [Laughs] I love that! Do you get nervous before performing?
B: I do get nervous, but not all the time. Mostly I love to just go out there and entertain, and put on a show. The last time I got really, really nervous was back in my hometown on Great Yarmouth and people are probably like 'why?!' but it's because it's where I grew up and the people from around there were coming to see me. Yeah, that was the most nervous I've felt in a long, long time. I can normally walk out and just go for it, but yeah, that's where I felt real nerves!
MJD: Any pre-show rituals?
B: Couple of deep breaths and a glass of wine but I wouldn't recommend the wine so... [laughs].
MJD: What do you ask for in your rider? B: I ask for... an array of nuts, coz I don't know if I'm in the mood for a pistachio or a cashew half the time. I like soft drinks, beers for the band, I drink white wine but I don't drink a lot before, I like to have one... maybe! I also do ask for a London Edition candle because I do love the smell but yet to have that.
MJD: It’s a free show but you’ve asked people (if they can) to donate to Not A Phase, we love that. Can you tell us a bit about Not A Phase and explain why this charity is important to you?
B: Not A Phase has done incredible work and will continue to do so and whenever I get to support it, if I can, I will. And I know Dani St James who was the founder, I've watched them create this incredible charity to help trans people and I think it's so important, especially in the climate we're in. And if I'm taking up space on these stages as someone who rejects gender - I just do what I want - people have got to understand that it's different for everyone and we all just wanna get a good bloody go in life and have a nice time, and why make it harder for anyone else? And I think it's incredible work that Dani does for Not A Phase and I will always support them.
MJD: You’re no stranger to the catwalk - are you looking forward to London Fashion Week, next week?
B: I am VERY much looking forward to London Fashion Week next week. It's going to be a busy one, it feels like the biggest one since obviously Covid so think it's going to be a good season. I'm excited for Burberry and I'm excited for J.W Anderson to be back in London but also there's so much talent in London that I hope we re-claim the thrown of the city of fashion because we deserve it. There's people like Charlotte Knowles and Dilara [Findikoglu), and Poster Girl and so many more that are making amazing pieces and really pushing fashion forward and that's what it's all about.
MJD: What’s next?! Anything exciting you’re working on that we should know about? B: Hopefully you'll get a little EP and an album and I've got the tour coming up with Muna ,which I'm really excited about. I've got another tour that hasn't been announce yet... supporting someone else... and then I'll be putting on my own show - I'm excited for people to see and hear the music and I really just... yeah... hope people see the effort and the work I've put in and know that this isn't just because I can, this isn't just because it's happening, this is because I want to do it and it's what I've always wanted to do it. Like I said, we could've been putting out music after music but we kept it together so get ready baby coz this is just the beginning!
MJD: And finally, what’s your favourite F Word?!
B: Fuck, I don't know [giggles]... it's definitely fuck!
