The Fashionable, Famous and Fierce: NINA FLOWERS by John Kater, JustCircuit International
If ever Denver, Colorado had a golden nugget, it is certainly the Puerto Rican native who has taken the drag world by storm and has inspired millions as a recent finalist on “RuPaul’s Drag Race” the hit television show featuring drag contestants from all walks of life. Although Nina Flowers (aka Jorge Flores) came in second place, Nina won the hearts of viewers, who considered her the true winner, due to her compassion for the art, unique presentation and gracious attitude towards the other contestants. She’s FIERCE!
Nina Flowers has been well known in Denver nightlife as the popular resident DJ and performer at Track Nightclub and Charlie’s. Tracks’ once a month “Drama Drag” features celebrity drag performances from artists everywhere and was a creation of Nina’s. She’s booked through 2010 at Chris Harris’ EPIC events in Boston and is also the resident DJ at Club Ritz in New York City.
Promoter Chris Harris reflects on the early days, when Nina grew up with his business partner Rafael in San Juan. “When Rafael (Gay Mafia) asked me to book his friend Nina from Puerto Rico, I was like who??? And to my amazement, Nina won me over as a performer and a DJ. Now that she has done the Logo show, the whole world gets to see what a talented and sweet person Nina truly is.”
Nina came from Puerto Rico to Denver “out of love.” She met partner Antonio Purcell in San Juan and carried on a long-distance relationship, but decided it best to move to Denver to be closer to Antonio.
JustCircuit met with Nina Flowers following her return from a vacation in her home country of Puerto Rico and only hours after the tragic earthquake in next-door Haiti shook the area and caused the world to converge with support and assistance. She was extremely pleased to be back at home and close to husband Antonio. Nina adds, “He’s the reason why I moved to Denver. When we first met, we established a long-distance relationship for awhile and I decided to come over and be closer to him.” It was a more desirable situation than one that had featured a long-distance relationship between the cities of San Juan and Denver.
JC: The earthquake yesterday in Haiti is in a very close location in the Caribbean to your hometown and family in Puerto Rico. Does this make you nervous? What were your first thoughts when you heard of the Haitian earthquake?
NF: Absolutely. I only heard about the earthquake today. I just came back from Puerto Rico and only today I found out. It will have a great impact on everyone in the Caribbean. It’s devastating. In the future, I would LOVE to be part of an event that would be able to help those people who need help.
JC: Should you have won the RuPaul Drag Race contest?
NF: (Laughs) In my mind, I believe I won. I feel they chose BeBe because she was probably more what they were looking for. I feel I won because I was there 100% from the beginning to the end. I never felt defeated and was always very “strong”. Travelling across the nation this year, people have been approaching me. They tell me I was their favorite. I feel I won. It’s all good! It’s been great!
JC: How did exposure to a national audience change your career?
NF: Actually, right after the show, people started contacting me to do a lot of performances all across the states. I’ve been to Vancouver twice. The show put me on a different level and definitely opened a lot of doors for me. I have been fortunate enough to work with Power Infiniti in Atlanta for Gay Days and I had the opportunity to approach him and tell him how much I admired him. I said OMG I want to be like you! Power is the bomb.
JC: Would you consider your own reality TV show?
NF: I was approached by a producer in LAX who wanted to do a reality show, but that never happened. If given the opportunity, I think that would be awesome! I would love to. I think people should know more about what we do and how to get involved.
JC: Do you consider yourself a DJ or a performer?
NF: I consider myself both. I started DJ’ing when I was 16 when I got my first gig in Puerto Rico. I went to school for makeup and got involved in drag. DJ’ing and music have been my passion. I want my DJ career to happen just like what happened with Nina Flowers. Especially in the Circuit scene.
JC: Nina, now tell us about your life in Denver. Tracks? Charlie’s? How do you manage so many DJ and artist residencies?
NF: So far the three I have maintained have been pretty similar residencies. They let me know what kind of crowd they’ll have and want to make sure I don’t go to crazy or dark with the music. In that way, it’s easy for me because it’s basically my style. Vocals. I make sure my playlist is exactly what’s current and updated. Raphael and Chris Harris don’t want me to go too far…too dark with the drums. The big crowd wants vocals. Denver is a smaller city unlike LAX or ORD or NYC where the music can go to different levels. In Puerto Rico, we LOVE Tribal House. When I started, I was hard with my Tribal House and drums. I was told that “This is not San Juan…this is Denver” and with that small talk, I updated my game. If that’s what they want, that’s what I give them. I LOVE the vocals…as long as I have really hard remixes. I’ll always go for the vocals.
JC: Tell us about your Drama Drag nights at Tracks Nightclub.
NF: We’re still doing it! This past year, I was bringing one cast member in a month…I brought all the girls here…EVEN REBECCA….we were bringing in RuPaul in January…but after negotiations, she cancelled at the very last minute. So with the sponsorship of the Abolut vodka, we’re bringing in all the members of the show…a Drag Race Reunion. The new season starts on February 1. We’d like to bring in new performers including Power Infiniti, Anthony Lamont and others. Fierce!
JC: Can you define “FIERCE” in your mind?
NF: I think of attitude and also bold…doing things no one else does…unique. To me, fierce comes with how you feel it and how you project yourself. It’s not what you wear but HOW you wear it. It’s not what you do but HOW you do it.
JC: How do you see your role in the new Circuit, with its “new” venues such as cruise ships, big beaches, pier dances, etc?
NF: I hope that it happens for me. I really haven’t been that much in touch with the Circuit scene in the past couple years. I’ve been a club performer. The biggest event I did during the year was with Tommy D in Vancouver with Tony Moran. I’ve not been in touch but I’m hoping to be really, really involved with the Circuit.
JC: “LOCA” is a hot track and climbing in the charts. Is this your own project or were you approached by DJ Ranny to do the vocals?
NF: Ranny and I were friends for a couple of years. We always talked about it. Right after RuPaul’s Drag Race, we said, “We have to do this…we’ve got to make it happen.” So we did! We recorded the vocals and he contacted the remixers. I’m in SHOCK with the response we got. I think because of the popularity with RuPaul’s Drag Race, and how people indentify to my persona, it’s a hit.
JC: What is your favorite mix of “LOCA” currently?
NF: I LOVE Ranny’s remix, but I also love Joe Gauthreaux and Gustavo Scorpio mixes. Joe’s mix is very Circuit! William Umana’s mix is really great also. William sent me a MySpace friend request. You don’t get requests from famous people often! He sent a request with a comment saying he wanted to remix my work before you get famous! That was the start of our friendship. We eventually made 4 tracks made together that he hasn’t released yet due to all the noise that LOCA is doing and we’re about ready to release that project - probably by February.
JC: Have you performed the mix as a show from the DJ booth?
NF: (Ponders) Haven’t done it yet! That’s a GREAT IDEA! I‘ll buy it…I’ll buy it!
JC: You’ve said, “Drag is back in style.” Do you take some of the credit for this? What others have helped it come back into style?
NF: No. I wouldn’t take the credit. I believe a lot of credit goes to the show. I believe there are different styles in this art. It took drag from the underground scene to the next level.
JC: Where would you like to be this time next year?
NF: Oh, I would ABSOLUTELY want to be a big DJ!
JC: Will drag always be part of your life?
NF: I think in a way it will be. People have approached me and said I’ve inspired them. I would love to keep on doing that. As long as my work inspires others, I think I will have the strength to do it and even move forward with other new projects.
Visit Nina Flowers website at www.ninaflowers.com for upcoming show dates and DJ engagements. Look for the Drag Race Reunion coming soon.
