2019 was the year of Trixie Mattel, 2020 will be bigger for 'Drag Race' legend

Alex Biese | Asbury Park Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Trixie Mattel of RuPaul's Drag Race on country music, gender norms Being a country music artist in drag can get you noticed, but not necessarily taken seriously, as Trixie Mattel explains.

There’s no stopping Trixie Mattel.

Mattel won the third season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” last year after initially competing on the seventh season of “Drag Race” in 2015, and she followed that victory with a stunningly busy 2019.

Somehow, in a mere 12-month period, Mattel:

“All these drag queens who are like, ‘I work so hard, I have a gig in two weeks.’ I’m like, ‘Literally go die. You have no idea,’ ” Mattel said. “Everybody’s been like, ‘At least you had a year off from touring.’ This has been the most intense year of my life, I mean work-wise. Crazy.

“I feel like a YouTuber, when they’re always like, ‘I have so much in the works, I’m so busy,’ these people are not busy. These people live with their moms. You know what I mean? My (butt) is in drag like 12 hours a day. You know what? This is actually my life: I know that I’m too busy because I’ve become the person who’s in drag, sitting at a computer, writing emails. When did this go too far?”

[ The trusted place to find the best home service providers. Find local pros. ]

Mattel is showing no signs of slowing down, either. In 2020 she’s releasing a new album, has a book on the way with Katya (“Trixie and Katya’s Guide to Modern Womanhood,” due out in May via Plume), is set to appear on the inaugural season of “RuPaul’s Celebrity Drag Race” and kicks off her 29-date “Grown Up” Tour at Seattle’s Moore Theatre, with dates at New York’s Webster Hall on Feb. 28, 2020, and Philadelphia’s Lew Klein Hall at the Temple Performing Arts Center on Feb. 29.

AT THE MOVIES: Parasite, The Irishman among the best films of 2019

Where does she get all of her relentless drive?

“I take nothing for granted,” said Mattel. “I always think that tomorrow’s the last day and I’m going to have to live in my car and eat cat food. I live in constant fear of, ‘Is today the last phone call? Is today my last gig?’ Also, I just want to do everything: I love making music. I love writing jokes. I love filming my little specials. I love touring. I love having my makeup company. I love, love doing my YouTube series with Katya and my new Netflix series with Katya. I’m obsessed with it.”

“I just keep trying my luck,” she added. “Wouldn’t you? If you have an audience who is like, ‘We love what you do! What else you got?,’ wouldn’t you just keep throwing noodles at the wall? I just am a one-person improv class where it’s like, ‘That’s a good idea, let’s do it.’ I just go with my gut at all times.”

[ Download our mobile app or purchase a digital subscription for all the latest entertainment news. ]

In contrast with the down-home Americana sound that dominated her previous two records, 2017's "Two Birds" and 2018's "One Stone," the May single "Yellow Cloud" is a slice of summertime electric pop. Mattel said the self-produced track was necessary to test fan reaction ahead of "Barbara," her upcoming LP.

"The people responded to it so well. ‘Yellow Cloud’ did well, so the new record is much more ‘Yellow Cloud.’ It’s like buzzy and fuzzy and happy and hand-clappy," she said. "It’s designed to sort of be like AM radio at the beach in 1969.”

For the first time, Mattel will be taking a full band on the road for "Grown Up" in support of "Barbara." She said the album will be a conceptual affair, with Side A being the soundtrack of a day at the beach and Side B being a set of evening bonfire on the beach music.

“I’ve never done anything like it, but I was writing all this new music in this new genre, this really sugary, fun, '60's-style music, but the heart of me is still folk," she explained. "And so I was like, ‘How do I marry these concepts?’ Because I still want my heartstring folk songs on here because that’s kind of the bread and butter of what my fans know me for.”

Mattel offers a raw look at her life and creative process in the essential new documentary "Trixie Mattel: Moving Parts." Directed by Nick Zeig-Owens, the film had its world premiere at New York's Tribeca Film Festival this spring. It is now available via iTunes and other video-on-demand services, with the accompanying soundtrack set for release Friday, Dec. 20.

The film captures Mattel on tour, in the recording studio and in the midst of a tumultuous period of the professional and personal relationship between her and Katya.

It's an unflinching look at everything it takes to be Trixie Mattel, and also a moving document of the impact her work has on fans around the world. Mattel recalled her initial reaction to the film after seeing it with her boyfriend, producer David Silver.

“He was like, ‘What did you think?’ and I just started crying. I didn’t know I was going to cry," Mattel said. "And I was like, ‘This movie made me feel like I did something with my life.’

"Like, I’m gay. I’m probably never going to have kids. I’m not going to have like a familial legacy. My imprint on this world is going to be a flash in the pan and very small, but this movie made me see for the first time that there is at least a ripple effect in drag, in that world, and beauty and comedy and music, and I had some impact on that. That may sound melodramatic, but that movie made me feel like, ‘Oh, I did something and I am doing something.’ ”

"Trixie Mattel: Moving Parts" is available now via iTunes and other video-on-demand services.

Mattel's 2020 "Grown Up" tour dates are:

Wednesday, Feb. 5, Seattle, Moore Theatre

Thursday, Feb. 6, Portland, Oregon, Revolution Hall

Friday, Feb. 7, San Francisco, Regency Ballroom

Sunday, Feb. 9, Boulder, Colorado, Boulder Theater

Tuesday, Feb. 11, Kansas City, Kansas, The Truman

Thursday, Feb. 13, Detroit, Royal Oak Music Theatre

Friday, Feb. 14, Cleveland, The Agora

Saturday, Feb. 15, Columbus, Ohio, Express Live

Sunday, Feb. 16, Minneapolis, Pantages Theatre

Tuesday, Feb. 18, Milwaukee, Turner Hall Ballroom

Wednesday, Feb. 19, Chicago, Park West

Friday, Feb. 21, Pittsburgh, Stage AE

Saturday, Feb. 22, Toronto, Danforth Music Hall

Sunday, Feb. 23, Albany, The Egg

Tuesday, Feb. 25, Portland, Maine, State Theatre

Wednesday, Feb. 26, Boston, Royale

Friday, Feb. 28, New York City, Webster Hall

Saturday, Feb. 29, Philadelphia, Temple Performing Arts Center's Lew Klein Hall

Sunday, March 1, Washington, D.C., Lincoln Theatre

Tuesday, March 3, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Broward Center for the Performing Arts' Amaturo Theater

Wednesday, March 4, Orlando, The Plaza Live

Friday, March 6, Atlanta, Variety Playhouse

Saturday, March 7, New Orleans, Civic Theatre

Sunday, March 8, Houston, Lillie and Roy Cullen Theater

Tuesday, March 10, Austin, Texas, The Paramount Theatre

Wednesday, March 11, Dallas, Texas, Bomb Factory

Friday, March 13, Phoenix, Orpheum Theatre

Saturday, March 14, Los Angeles, The Novo

Sunday, March 15, San Diego, The Lyceum

For more information on Trixie Mattel, stay tuned to www.trixiemattel.com and her social media channels.