Meet Jay Kurt

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jay Kurt. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jay Kurt below.

Hi Jay Kurt, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

My mom grew up in a lower-middle class family in Türkiye, and her greatest pride of joy was her academic achievements. She believed that with hard work, she can not only elevate herself, but also her family and her mom who sacrificed a lot for my mom’s success. As I was growing up in Istanbul, she instilled those same ethical values in me. If I wanted to dream big about my career and my life, I was taught that there is nothing holding me back except for myself, and if I work hard enough, I can achieve all my aspirations.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I’m an LA-based Turkish drag performer. As an artist, I like to be in control of many aspects of my art, which is why I have taught myself how to design, pattern and sew outfits from scratch, taken classes on music production to produce my own songs and mixes, and enrolled into different genres of dance classes to elevate my performances. Jay Kurt is a club kid at heart with a bit of an edge and is known to tell stories through their outfits, most of which have transforming elements to them. One of my favorite outfits is a seemingly tiny looking black unitard with a vest that transforms into a larger dress as soon as I pull off the lapels. My socials (@thejaykurt on IG and TikTok) are where I get close and personal, sharing get ready with me and makeup transformation videos to connect with my audience. During this past summer, I had an opportunity to not only take my performances to the next level by participating in an event YelpLA hosted, but also received, singer/songwriter/producer credits for a neurodivergent queer artist project sponsored by the LA County where one of my songs is featured in a collaborative album that is coming out later this year.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

My music knowledge has helped me in so many different ways as a drag artist. Growing up, I had learned how to play the violin, piano and singing with classes, but also taught myself how to play the guitar and the ukulele. These skills allowed me to perform with my school’s orchestra and high school band, which was my segue into stage performances. Not only that, but also my musical knowledge allowed me to plan out my performances in a way some other baby drag performers may be struggling with more.

Another skill that has been useful is my eye for detail. Granted, this can also cost me some time because I want everything to look perfect before I bring anything on stage, but it also helps me tremendously in polishing my art. When I do my makeup, I make sure to allocate myself at least three hours so that I am not in a rush and can focus on very minute details such as blending out the edges of my eyeshadow, having a clear line on my cut crease, or even adding the tiniest bit of concealer in the corner of my lips to make my mouth pop out. All of these details are essential because while half of the performance is to do with my body movements, the other half is connecting with the audience through my facial expressions, so I greatly care about how my face looks.

Lastly, and this is not a specific skill but rather a combination of a few, my skill to be able to teach myself any knowledge area I am curious about has helped me excel in the industry. For example, I went into sewing knowing nothing about garment making. I had a vision for a few outfits I wanted to make, so I did a deep dive by watching sewing videos, learning about the art of pattern drafting, even reading parts of pattern making books for it, and investing in a good quality sewing machine. The more you learn about a topic you are passionate about, the more you realize the learning never stops and it is a continuous process where the learning curve becomes less and less steep, but you constantly keep gaining new skills and knowledge along the way, which is the beauty of the process.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

When I decided to come out to my mom, I wanted her to keep this as a secret from my grandma to not upset her, but she insisted that my grandma needed to know. I was wrong to believe that my grandma would not be able to understand me because she has been my greatest supporter ever since. The day my grandma saw my first drag performance, she absolutely fell in love with Jay Kurt. One of the first outfits I have ever made was a replica of the iconic Alexander McQueen dress that Björk had also worn, and I pair that dress with my white knee highs for an angelic look. The first footage she has seen of me in drag was with that dress on, performing to G.U.Y. by Lady GaGa, and she said I look like a cute kitten in white boots. Ever since then, both my mom and my grandma have been giving me tips on enhancing my moves on stage, how to host a show, and finding ways to better engage with the audience. My grandma sees a great potential in me, and her faith keeps me going at times. While I am doing drag for myself right now, I will keep doing it in the future and evolving as an artist for her legacy.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @thejaykurt
• Other: TikTok: @thejaykurt

Image Credits

Willa Salam
Abraham Ramos
Kat Theadora
Calla Faeria
Pix by Felix