Five years ago, Patrick Allen Joslyn made his debut on “RuPaul’s Drag Race” as his drag persona, Joslyn Fox. Prior to his stint on the show, where he placed 6th, Allen was DJing gigs in the Worcester area. Recently he has reignited that passion for music as the 2019 resident DJ for Airspray, Worcester’s only queer dance party.

After spending time focusing primarily on his drag career, Allen re-entered the DJ world because he “really had that itch to get back into it,” he said, in an interview. After nabbing a gig spinning for Airspray’s September '90s/2K throwback dance party — which he claims is his “[musical] forte, for sure” — he was asked back for Airspray’s Halloween and Christmas parties. Allen was offered a once-a-month gig at the end of 2018. Airspray upped that offer to all 2019 gigs after his first party in January.

Allen’s philosophy as a DJ is to balance his sense of artistry with a conscious awareness for the crowd’s wishes. “It is important for me to bring my sense of artistry to the night but also not let ego get involved and be selfless,” he says. “I apply that to the dance party and make sure I’m bringing both what audience needs to hear and wants to hear.”

Airspray’s dance parties serve an important role in the Worcester community. The twice-monthly, high energy party, hosted at Electric Haze on Millbury Street, is the only queer dance event within a 50-mile radius of the city of Worcester. Allen describes the community at Airspray as diverse, open and accepting “The energy is that everyone’s welcome. There is no judgement,” Allen says. “It’s be and be seen and hang your upsets at the door.” He says there is a great turnout each night. The average crowd ranges from college students to people in their late 30s, and from people who stay at the bar nursing their drinks to those who never leave the dance floor.

In the wake of his success on “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” Allen is aware of the responsibility he has as a role model to the thousands of fans he gained from the show and touring afterward. “It is strange to acknowledge the mark I have made on the world, but that’s what I set out to do. It gives me motivation to do better and keep doing what I’m doing, try new things, be adventurous and have the faith to just go for it.” His Joslyn Fox persona has more than 226,500 followers on Instagram, 106,000 on Twitter and 77,000 on Facebook. Allen says he often wakes up to Instagram direct messages from fans who share how he's inspired them, and even some who have gotten tattoos in his honor. His efforts as a community role model were validated when he was recently nominated for New England Pride TV’s Central Massachusetts Person of the Year award.

Allen credits his ongoing success to Worcester's community, and says the career opportunities coming his way reaffirm his choice to remain in Worcester after “Drag Race." “Worcester is the common thread," he says. "All opportunities I have gotten this year have been local celebrations, and all of that is a beautiful sign that it was meant to be.” Upon his departure from "Drag Race," many fans wondered where he would take the next steps in his career. He chose to remain home because, “It was important to me that I continued to make Worcester a part of my story and respect Worcester. I remember receiving a lot of negative feedback for that choice, but Worcester owns my heart.”

Joslyn Fox will participate in both Love Your Label’s Queer AF: Art & Fashion Show at 7 p.m. March 1 at Bull Mansion and DJ for the Airspray after-party immediately afterward at Electric Haze. Allen says that merging both passions is a “definitive, very rockstar” moment in his career, and his major goal for the future is to continue to combine his love of drag and of DJing. He plans on continuing to use his platforms to make a difference: “I’m 32 years old and still hungry for something more. There’s still so much more of a mark that I want to make on the world.”











