#14 Bimini
On Maltese samosas, mushroom coffee, and their mum’s leek and potato soup
Blending artistry, grit, and activism, Bimini is someone who can’t be contained in one neat label. After capturing the nation’s hearts on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK back in 2019, they’ve established themselves as a vocalist, dancer, actor, DJ, podcast host, and more – the list truly goes on.
Raised in Great Yarmouth, Bimini found freedom in London’s DIY queer club circuit. “At 18, I was out every night having the best time – finding myself. I definitely am so thankful for the hedonism and expression that I got to have, because I felt like an outsider in my hometown. When I got to London, I was like, ‘OK, there’s weirdos like me – there’s actually people weirder than me!”
They’ve been signed to Relentless Records for some years, releasing a variety of sounds from punk to Euro-dance and ‘90s house revivalism on tracks like ‘Take It All’ and ‘Heartbreaker’, while also remixing the likes of Self Esteem and Switch Disco. They’re adamant they “didn’t want to just do generic stuff. I wanted to do my music, whatever that was. I’ve experienced so many different clubs and spaces – I worked in bars that played world music, everything from reggae to Latin. Then I go in the club and I’m hearing techno.”
Bimini’s latest is a collaboration with ABSOLUTE., titled ‘Keep on Dancing’ – all radiant piano arpeggios and vocal stabs. The pair first met at a club back in 2014, and the track comes at a time when venue closures are rife. “It totally worries me,” they say. “Not just for trans people or queer people, but for people in general. These are wild statistics that's happening in real time,” they say about the figures that show a third of UK nightclubs have closed since the pandemic.
They’re quick to point out the deeper legacy of club culture, too. “Music has always been inherently political,” Bimini says, drawing parallels with the defiant spirit of the ‘80s and ‘90s rave scene during Thatcher’s crackdown on acid house. “People needed somewhere to go to hear the music change. Nightclubs and bars need to become places of cultural significance so that nothing can be done to them.”
Colour Factory and Electrowerkz are their favourite spots to party in the capital at the moment, and they are involved with a new upcoming night, called BASH, at the latter. They’re also a newly-announced DJ resident at party series HE.SHE.THEY. Below, I caught Bimini – fresh from a workout at Barry’s – to talk about vegan haute cuisine, Indian food in the Mediterranean, and their “wanky” rider.
Your entrance quote on Drag Race was “I’m vegan, haha!” Are you still plant-based?
I am, mostly…. I went on a show – which isn’t out yet so I can’t tell you what it is – where I ended up eating non-vegan food, because I had to. Then I’ve been a bit bad with eggs, I’ve had some eggs. I went vegan in 2016, but before that I was vegetarian. I’d wanted to be vegetarian since I was 10, but I had to turn vegan. Ethically, I don’t agree with mass animal agriculture and the way it’s consumed, compared to back in the day when you’d have meat once or twice a week, now everyone has access to it every day. There’s so many environmental implications, so that was a big turning point. But I also had to for my health, because when I was 22 I got diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and stopped having dairy.
What was the catering like on the show?
We had to stop halfway through filming because of Covid. So the first part of was good catering, it was like breakfast, lunch, dinner. But then the second part was just Deliveroo, because we couldn’t have catering. I never wanted it but everyone always wanted to order Domino’s. You can’t be doing 16-hour days and having pizza! The catering was decent, it was like stuff you’d get at school: healthy, carbs. Like meat and two veg. Kinda basic, but good enough to fill ya.
Are you much of a foodie – do you like cooking?
I love going out to eat and I love being cooked for. I went to one place that does really good vegan food – a Michelin-star restaurant called Gauthier, in Soho, that was incredible. It’s like 10-course, you can have a wine pairing with it. So good.
Are there any meals you’ve had that you think about a lot?
I was in Malta and we went to an Indian restaurant there, and I had the most banging curry. But what was the best was the vegetable samosas. I’ve been to India, and these were better. These were the best, I dream about them. They came with this mango chutney, and were just so golden and crispy on the outside. It’s weird, because it’s just a vegetable samosa.
But also I’d say my mum’s leek and potato soup. She’d kill me if I didn’t! She used to live in the Bahamas and they called it Heather Soup there – her name’s Heather – and I don’t think it was very common there. So she used to make it for everyone. That’s where ‘Bimini’ comes from, it’s an island in the Bahamas. A cluster of islands.
Is there anything edible on your rider?
I request nuts, protein bars, fruit… It’s actually a really healthy rider. People are like, ‘Why the hell do you get that?’ And sometimes I am like, ‘Why have I got all these nuts?’ But it’s good to take them home. And I also request a particular mushroom coffee by London Nootropics – which I’ve never actually had yet. It’s very hard to get, it’s just me being a wanker! It’s one of the only mushroom coffees that actually works. Those ones are bang bang.
I’ve heard of people putting mad stuff on there that’s a nightmare for the promoters to source.
I heard Charli xcx used to ask for her dressing room to be trashed upon arrival. So she’d turn up and it’d be like she’d had a party in there.
And finally, here are some tracks I’ve been listening to, which you might like too: