Yes, it’s the month of ghouls, pumpkins, spiders’ webs and vampires. We managed to secure an interview with the latter. How clever are we? asks Maria Robinson.
Violinist, LGBTQ+ activist, drag artist and vampire – Nik Jovcic-Sas might not drink blood, but he’s happy to call himself a creature of the night. Coming from Serbian parents, Nik grew up in Midsomer Norton and has spent the past 10 years performing and living in Bath.
You’ve probably seen Nik playing their violin by the Abbey. “Busking adds art into the street, and a real sense of joy. One of my favourite things is when I’m busking, seeing people dancing and just having a spontaneous party in the street, that’s really special.” Apart from some solo stringwork, Nik is also a member of Ninotchka, a trio playing Balkan, Klezmer and Irish folk music. They have performed at Glastonbury four times and often play in the city. Lending his musical talents is only one of the ways Nik contributes to Bath’s creative scene. Known by the name ‘Mother’ Nik began performing in drag around the same time that they became a producer for Bath’s drag night Wig!. Drag and busking are obviously different types of performances, but they have a connecting effect that draws Nik to both: “What’s important to me is that sense of community and transforming spaces. And drag has this ability to create queer spaces that feel inclusive and fun, they have a real power to be transformative.”
Wig! began in 2018. Starting small, Bath at that point didn’t have much of a drag scene. In Nik’s words, “We had to get all our performers from London and Manchester.” Imagine a gaggle of queens on the sticky floor of Moles now commanding the stage of Komedia alongside Rupaul’s Drag Race alumni. Nik notes how Bath has developed its own style of drag, and that Bathonian queens are travelling and winning competitions around England. Watching the drag scene grow and become a safe haven for many people in Bath is what Nik is working towards. When asked what his dreams are for Wig! moving forward he responded, “To continue building this kind of inclusive queer community here.”
Nik has been filmed around Bath, sharing the queer locations of Bath’s past for Bath Pride, the first large scale Pride event for the city. Already having a strong interest in queer history, Nik was keen to show a side of Bath that might not come to mind for most. He explains, “It’s not all Jane Austen and debutante balls, but maybe something a little bit more racy and a little bit more diverse as well.” With a city that is so tied to its history, Nik comments how that can limit people’s perception of Bath, “Sometimes that historicity stops us from thinking about diversity. We sometimes have this very straight image of it being very uptight and restrained… Yet you have figures like Mary Shelley who was friends with fellow author Lord Byron, both of whom showed interest in the same gender. On top of that she aided trans men in obtaining fake passports to run away to Paris with their lovers.” Bath Pride allowed that spirit to continue on and be celebrated. Nik reminisced on the march, “We had over 1000 people marching through the central city to reclaim the streets and say; we’re here, we’re queer, and this is our city. Just felt absolutely magical.”
Building the queer community in Bath is a lifelong mission for Nik. From organising drag events in town to hosting workshops in schools, he emphasises the importance of inclusivity and access to open discussions. Especially for younger people, “Sometimes being able to have a really frank, open discussion with young people is great, especially when I’m working with Year 8, so those who are aged 12 and 13. They have a lot of questions about this kind of stuff, and sometimes, their parents or teachers might not have that kind of ability to answer those questions specifically. But especially at that age, it’s great to be asking those big questions, and having someone who can give you the information.”
Giving people access to this kind of information can help them not only understand themselves better, but also their peers and others around them. Nik hopes to help bridge that gap for people and emphasises the importance of schools being a “safe space where we can have these discussions, because it’s to the benefit of young people and wider society.”
For Halloween at the end of this month, Nik, or rather Mother, is hosting a showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show at Komedia in collaboration with FilmBath. When asked about his feelings of showing a Frankenstein retelling in the city where the novel was written Nik, who has self-described his drag to have a “real Frankenfurther energy to it,” responded, “I’m so excited to be bringing Frankenstein home in an even more gay way than Mary Shelley would have ever dreamed.”
This of course led to the discussion of what Mary Shelley’s drag name would be. Unfortunately we couldn’t come up with anything clever, “Frank Stein? Oh, that’s a sh*t drag name.” But with all his vampiric mysticism Nik promised to ask the author herself from beyond the veil, “When someone finally stakes me through the heart. I will talk to Mary Shelley, and I will try and send you a message from beyond the grave about what exactly her drag king name will be, because I’m sure it’s hilarious.”
Nik is not really a vampire, no one needs to worry about blood letting or spotting a rogue bat in the Komedia rafters. His mainly black wardrobe and love of Lord Byron is the inspiration for the title. It’s also a homage to his Serbian heritage, “Vampires kind of seamlessly blend into high society, and yet they have all the danger and threat of something queer and something Eastern.” Vampires (which, fun fact, is the only Serbian word in the English language) have a long history of queer fear and then being reclaimed as a powerful figure for the LGBTQ+ community. Being based in a city as drenched in its history as Bath, Nik brings that gothic edge to the city, “I love Bath, and I give my queerness and my Balkan energy to it – that is my gift.”
The Rocky Horror Picture Show is playing at Komedia on 30 October at 6.30pm. Book your ticket at komediabath.co.uk