Meet Keith Chilvers

MEMPHY wears DRESS by ROBERTO CAVALLI, SHOES are STYLIST’S OWN

MEMPHY wears DRESS by DI PETSA, SHOES and SOCKS are STYLIST’S OWN, BRADY and BRANDON wear PANTS by THE ORIGINAL PATTERN, SHOES by MANOLO BLAHNIK

SAUSHA — Okay, so what’s up? I was honestly excited when I was asked to do this, because I love any chance I get to be on my Wendy Williams shit, so I’m going to really try and embrace it.

MEMPHY — Let’s get into it.

S — But first, let’s talk about how we met because the first time you ever even came into my consciousness, I was at Spectrum or something, chilling by the bar. It had to be 2016 or ’17, something crazy like that. Maybe a little bit later. All of a sudden, I hear somebody from behind me being like, “I just graduated high school today. Yes, I just graduated high school.” I turned the fuck around like, “Who is this little girl? Somebody get her out of here.” I was so shook at the time. It was so funny.

M — [Laughs] And then I looked at you like, “This little girl is me. What’s up?”

S — What was it like growing up in New York?

M — For me, it was cool.

S — I know you fucked your high school bully a little bit.

M — That I did. Honestly growing up in New York was lit. In school we had “out” lunch, which meant that we could leave for the hour so we never really had a cafeteria moment. There were also no proper school sports — I feel like most high schools have a football team or bleachers, whatever.

S — You were just on the streets from a very young fucking age.

M — Yeah. Lunch break and the girls are crossing the street, smoking their cigarettes outside. I was always super down to explore. I would always go to Tompkins and hang out with the skaters, that’s how I really started meeting people. It’s how I met Gia who took me to one of my first raves.

S — And you were always around older people, which I related to. I was always the young one, until you came around and took that crown from me. So, let’s talk about how you got into music. I feel like a lot of people don’t know about your dad and his music legacy.

M — So my dad was in this band called The System in the '80s. Growing up, he was always making and recording music, and my mom was also into music too. When I was a baby, she would hold me on her hip when she DJed. They owned this spot called SpaHa Cafe in Harlem.

S — When did you start making music yourself? 

M — My dad was always pushing me to do it. When I was 16, he bought me my first DJ controller and that’s when he really tried to get me into it, then I went to a summer camp that had us DJ and it just came natural to me. When you and I met it was around the time that I started. Being around other people who were in the scene and taking control and doing the thing made me want to do it more. 

I remember when we would literally DJ parties at HOLO for $100 and it just spiraled into the bigger moment that it is now. It was always so much fun when me, you and Fashion would get booked together. 

S — Yeah, we DJed a lot of parties together, the three of us. Back when we were listening to Cuban music all fucking day, you used to always make these little rap demos that you need to get back into. 

Anyways, let’s talk about the scene a little bit. Without putting anyone on blast — what's working for you and what isn't?

M — End of last year, beginning of this year, I've honestly been bored of going out.

S — For sure.

M — After DJing for so long and going out all the time, it’s not as fun.

S — No, I had this moment a few years ago. I can't unless I'm getting paid now. If it’s obviously a really special night, then I'm down to go out... I'm very zero to a 100, I'm either there or not there.

M — For me, I don't feel as comfortable getting lit or turning up when I'm out because I feel like there's so many more eyes on me and so many more people coming up to me where I'm just like... I would never want to be that girl that people talk about like, "Oh, she's so messy. I saw her doing this and this and that." It makes me not want to go out anymore. In New York, there was also this time of warehouse parties, warehouse raves, and things like that that weren't so business-related that I miss. I miss the DIY version of everything.

S — Yeah, post-COVID, that's just harder to do, because it's very expensive. What's not working for you?

MEMPHY wears BIKINI SET by ISA BOULDER, BRADY and BRANDON’S SHORTS and TOPS are STYLIST’S OWN

M — I understand booking people from out of town like Europe and other places, but we're in New York, which is such a hot pot of culture and cool original people. I wish that more people would book native New Yorkers.

S — That's fair.

M — We're in New York City where all this amazing culture comes from. Why aren't people taking advantage of that and booking the people who are from New York, you know? 

S — For sure. What’s the most trifling thing you've seen at the club?

M — Honestly, the most trifling thing I've seen at the club is probably the gays fucking — I can't even lie.

S — What’s the most trifling thing you’ve done at the club? 

M — Probably the same thing. 

S — Exactly. So we’ve survived the Miami friendship test, gone to L.A., Berlin, Mexico City together. From all of our psychotic, fun, messy trips together, which city brings out your inner demon most?

M — Berlin for sure.

S — What was your favorite trip that we've been on together?

M — My favorite trip that we've been on together was probably the Mexico City trip, because it was my first time in Mexico and we were with such a cute group, exploring and doing new things. I remember we went to that one sex hotel with the slide, pool and DJ booth in the hotel room.

S — Oh my God, yes. Okay, hair, makeup or nails if you had to pick one.

M — Hair.

S — Hair for me too. Your hair stays done.

M — Yeah, I feel insane if my hair isn't done. How people say shoes and accessories make an outfit. I’m like hair. 

S — Yeah I agree with that. We're very hair-oriented girls. Would you rather be stuck in a gay orgy afters or a Bushwick nonbinary convention?

M — Gay orgy afters. 

S — Why? 

M — I love my gays. Sometimes they just have to do what they have to do and Bushwick is lowkey getting a little too edgy.

MEMPHY wears DRESS by NATASHA ZINKO, SHOES are STYLIST’S OWN. HARRY wears BRIEFS by DSQUARED2

S — Okay. I'm also going to take a page from Watch What Happens Live because I'm a Bravo whore. And I don't know if you've ever watched it, but Andy Cohen does this thing called “Plead the Fifth.” He asks three questions and you can only “plead the fifth” to one of them. Okay. So the first one, you've worked with both Rihanna and Beyoncé, who was better to work with? And who was more trifling?

M — I plead the fifth!

S — Second question, what’s the most embarrassing shoot you’ve ever done?

M — Probably when I first started modeling, I feel like they tried to really force me into this edgy, non-conventional look instead of glam because I was trans.

S — It was also very of the times.

M — Yeah. I feel like they'd always put me in a crazy-colored, synthetic wig back then. 

S — They had you out here giving build-a-brick. [Laughs]

M — I'm such a glam-oriented girl, I just wish that people would let me feel that more. It feels like people are often like "Oh, you're trans. Let's make you look like a prostitute or a sex worker or a drag queen."

S — Okay third question and you can’t plead the fifth anymore. I feel like our friend group and our scene has been mused and abused and we stay on mood boards — like with that whole thing about Doja Cat allegedly copying Fashion at the Grammys this year. I always say it's fine to mood board if you do it right. Who is somebody who probably has you on their mood board and hasn’t done it right? 

M — Not to come for anyone's necks, but I will say I've heard a couple of times that I was moodboarded for Victoria's Secret and other lingerie brands pushing for inclusivity years ago. I was probably one of the first trans girls to model in this generation for an underwear brand when I modeled Savage x Fenty, so I feel I'm always on the mood board when it comes to inclusivity, but I feel like nowadays most dolls or trans girls that are getting booked are white girls. The industry tries to push this narrative of inclusivity but only in terms of what is most consumable it feels.

S — Yeah totally. 

M — Like don’t put me on the mood board, just book me. Hire me to creative direct!

S — Exactly. I do wish it came with coin. I also don't really care, I just wish people would do it right. When people do it right, I'm real quiet. Well those were all my questions, what else should we talk about? 

OFFICE — If you could describe each other in three words, what would they be?

S —  Fiery. They're definitely fiery….

M — I’ll start first! I’ll say perfectionist, but at the same time messy, but also really funny. You’re really fun. You like to keep people on their toes. [Laughs]

S — Okay. I'm going to say fiery. You're always confident even when you're wrong, but you're also super caring. [Laughs]

M — Period.

O — How do you keep your lives exciting?

M — Recently I've been really enjoying forcing people to have people over more. 

S — [Laughs] Not forcing… forcing is crazy. 

M — Hosting—

S — You definitely give forcing, that’s the thing.

M — Whatever, I just feel like it's more interesting and fun to hang out with people in someone’s house. You get to have conversations and actually get to know people. 

S — Yeah, I’m definitely more into that than the club. 

M — You get to brainstorm together, you get to come up with ideas, you get to work on stuff. I feel like that's how I keep it more interesting, maybe talking about throwing our own parties and stuff like that. And obviously we DJ, so we are always coming up with new sounds and new sets. I feel like whenever I'm going out, I try to not play the same music that everyone else plays. I feel like when people DJ, they play the same genre the whole time. It's giving “techno time” and you're just kind of bored.

S — Yeah.

O — When was it that everyone stopped wanting to be a photographer and decided to become a DJ? 

M — Literally.

S — It’s crazy.

M — I guess it’s become a way to be an artist and get booked without fully becoming a singer or a rapper. 

S — There's a lot of money in being a DJ. There's way more money in the DJ industry than even performers get, but it’s annoying — it's so saturated. I don't know though — I'm kind of glad, because I would rather people try to be DJs than photographers, because that was not hitting. A bad photographer is worse than a bad DJ to me, because at least a bad DJ can just stop or not attend. Bad photography in your face is the worst.

MEMPHY wears DRESS by ROBERTO CAVALLI, SHOES are STYLIST’S OWN

O — [Laughs] Aside from bad photography, have either of you had any scary or paranormal experiences?

M — Hmm, when I was a kid this one time I was sleeping at my dad's place uptown in Harlem, and it was in the middle of the night and I swore I heard someone running across the hall or kids playing or running really fast back and forth in the hallway. So I went out to look and my parents were ... Or my dad was asleep and there was no one there, so I was like, "What?" And then I turned my head and then I saw ... we had pans hanging from the ceiling in the kitchen and I saw them swinging and I was like, "Whoa, let me go back to bed." I don't know. Have you had any paranormal experiences?

S — Every time I leave my house it's paranormal outside. 

M — She stays haunting bitches. [Laughs]

S — These bitches are haunting me! I guess this isn’t that crazy, but I’ve definitely astral projected in my sleep before. I can’t say what caused it, but let's just say there were some malfunctions going on in my brain. I had sleep paralysis for three nights straight and then on the third night of that, I got pushed into this crazy astral projection where I was in bed then I left my body and I saw myself above my bed and I realized what was happening. I flew out of my window for a second then I woke up, but I got a full bird’s eye view of my neighborhood and everything. It was great. 

O — Did you feel yourself come back?

S — I just remember waking up all of a sudden. 

M — I’ve had sleep paralysis before, but I haven’t astral-projected. 

S — I was carrying, that's why. It was definitely induced. My brain was trying to recover. 

O — Do you believe in God?

S — Yes, 100%. I’m not religious, but I’m definitely spiritual. 

M — Yes, but not like old white man from the bible. 

S — Yeah, what else should we talk about? 

M — The shoot I did for office kind of played off of DL/chaser culture. Touching on that subject, I feel like guys now are more willing to be out and open with trans girls, especially post-Euphoria, you know? There feels like more of an openness because we are becoming more popular in pop culture, so it's almost become a way for them to become relevant.

S —  There's definitely an element of that, for sure.

M — I feel I was never the type of person who was down to hook up with a guy who's DL, because I know I’m a badass bitch. If you're not down to be about me in public, I'm just not down for that. It was never really my vibe. Some guys can just be deceiving now more so because it's like, okay, they'll fuck with you, but is it because you're trying to become cooler or is it because you actually fuck with me?

S — We live in a bubble, first of all.

M — It’s weird how we’re in this space and culture where transness is being normalized, and we want trans girls, but then people are like, “Oh, here’s this trans icon,” pretty much clocking us all the time, which makes it so identity-focused when it’s like, girl — I’m just a girl.

But also every trans person's experience is different. I hate this overarching theme of, "Oh, everyone's accepted. Everyone should be accepted." Not everyone deals with that or it's just different for everyone. Some people have parents that accept them, some people have one parent that does and doesn't. Some people's parents don't accept them, they kick them out and they have to start a whole new life or some people's parents don't even know that they transitioned.

S — Daddy issues make bad bitches anyway.

M — Period. 

O — Considering how you two met, and the experiences you’ve had together since, do you two believe in fate or some kind of universal force that guides you in a certain direction? 

M — Yeah, I do. 

S — I think so too.

M — I feel like in life, there are things that are just meant to happen to you, everyone has their own life path. I believe that everyone’s had past lives and we’re all going through every life trying to reach our perfect last life. 

O — Do you feel like you would've met even if you weren't both in New York at a certain point?

S — Maybe on the internet. 

M — If we didn’t have mutual friends, weren’t both into going to raves, and if we weren’t both trans, I’m not sure. 

S — I feel like we would've met at some point, but probably later on. 

M — Well, not if you had stayed in Miami your whole life. 

S — Well, that was never going to happen. It’s a really small world, honestly. You'd be so surprised, especially being a tranny, it's like, Hey.

M — True, we all know each other. I feel like everyone who I know was always meant to be in my life, so it probably would’ve ended up happening anyway. 

O — Could you two have been friends in a past life and are just getting to know each other again?

M — Boots! I feel like we could’ve been sisters.