Still being a nightlife queen, Mayday has her places to go out in her home city. After the party at the Moxy Amsterdam Houthavens, Mayday had several options of where to go.
Her first major gig would be in 1997 at the MTV awards. MTV came to Holland and asked her to seek out an attractive crew from all different walks of life. “I brought out crazy nightlife creatures, club kids and drag queens to be in front of the stage, so when the film shoots, they have nice looking people. Because you know how it is, you have people, but they’re all boring. So, I got the whole bunch out, and everyone was there —the Spice Girls, Backstreet boys, LL Cool J, Bon Jovi, and Bjork. All of those major artists came, and I was like hanging out with them backstage after the show. It was so mind-blowing because I don’t care really about celebrities — some are assholes, some are nice. I mean, they’re still just people and have a great job and a fantastic life.” It was there that she really felt the glamorous life she had lusted after.
Dressing up seems to be second nature to her, she recalls a time from her youth that many of us can relate to, “you put on a cowboy hat and played cowboy or Indian, or you know Native American —let’s be politically correct.” It was there she discovered how to be the center of attention and find an escape from the world. She just had to grow into a new identity. Then, on a “crazy night” from her school days everyone was trying something new. Mayday decided to perform “Like A Virgin” by Madonna in a wedding dress, of course. Everyone’s shock fueled her. It solidified her path to to the world of Drag. She’ll be the first to admit since then, not all the attention received has been positive, but attention is attention, and that’s her source of energy.
After that, Mayday went out to discover where else she could feel this same type of way. “There was a lot of Queens back in the day that did drag, but just in the gay scene. Host the bingo night or like do a lip sync here or there, and I thought I would see how far I could get by being a drag queen.” But quite quickly the press took notice of her. People would be reporting on if or if not she was wearing making and who she really was underneath it all. “She is a he, and this is how she looks like without makeup,” she recalls the headlines. Over time, her image transformed into simply who she is today as Mayday. “I’m more seen here in my home county Holland as a personality.”