Chi Chi LaRue is literally shrieking through the phone from her Los Angeles home, making a sound that can best be described as a high-pitched blaring siren, one that’s volume is set on 11. But it’s all for good reason. She’s recreating what the majority of Electronic Dance Music sounds like to her; it’s a sound that attendees of Saturday night’s GayDays Evening Pool Party should not expect to hear when LaRue takes the reins as the party’s disc jockey from 10 pm to 2 am.
“I don’t wanna hear some tear-your-face-off music without any words in it,” LaRue says, in describing what she believes currently passes as music in today’s clubs. “I understand there’s a certain point of the night when everyone’s booze and drugs are kicking in and they wanna hear darker music and get all weird. But, Jesus Christ”¦ it’s like someone’s car alarm is going off? Oh, that’s the music? Oh, fine! Someone’s skinning a cat! No, that’s just the music!”
LaRue says that people on her dance floors should consider her a drag queen jukebox.
“I’m a happy gay DJ,” LaRue says. “I like to hear the Britneys, the Nikki Minajs, and then toss in a little Salt ‘N’ Pepa, an old Madonna, or something like that. That, to me, is fun. It’s happy fun dance music with words.”
It’s a sound that LaRue is taking worldwide. June alone will find her doing gigs from Little Rock to London, and more. And this weekend’s appearance won’t be her first in Orlando. During last year’s Gay Days LaRue played a memorable, well-received event at Pulse”¦ until about 1 a.m. when someone snapped an electrical cord that couldn’t be repaired, putting an abrupt stop to an otherwise highly-successful party.
But it’s not just DJ gigs that has LaRue earning frequent flyer miles. She also travels the globe filming adult movies for Rascal Video, a division of Channel 1 Releasing, the adult film studio of which she is co-owner. She’s directed hundreds of movies, and worked with enough adult film stars to fill an orgy that would make even Caligula proud. One of those films was partly shot onboard a cruise ship that sailed from Port Tampa to Key West and back, all in the name of raising funds for the non-defunct Tampa Pride organization.
“Ah, yes, the Rusty Nail of the Sea,” LaRue says when reminded of that excursion. Still, she’s quick to give credit where it’s due regarding the Pillage and Plunder Cruise, in that it sailed and returned on time, did not get stuck at sea, and didn’t have poop running down the walls of the ship ““ factors all that have plagued more recent (and certainly more mainstream) oceanic voyages. Speaking of human waste, LaRue practically refers to it when describing her current state of affairs.
“Porn is in the toilet, honey, and not in the good way,” LaRue says when asked the biggest changes she’s seen in the industry from that December 1999 cruise to now. “It’s being stolen and given away for free online. The money to made these days is in toys and novelties”¦ and DVDs have become a way to promote those items.” Yes, just as it’s become commonplace to see Iron Man drive an Audi, Superman eating Twizzlers, or members of Starfleet Academy getting their policies through Esurance, product placement and tie-in marketing campaigns in porn are already here.
“It’d be stupid not to,” LaRue says of utilizing cross-promotion tactics in her line of work. The director has filmed X-rated scenes of adult film stars enjoying Rascal brand toys, with more to follow. And if you’re in the Los Angeles area, you can even purchase those DVDs, toys, and more at Chi Chi LaRue’s, an adult store recently opened in West Hollywood.
But easy accessibility isn’t always a good thing, even for her business.
“We’re an oversaturated society, with everything: with food, with liquor, with porn,” LaRue says. “Everything is so easily accessible. Today you can turn your phone on and see a hard dick in 2.3 seconds. When I was young I had to sneak into grocery stores and look at Playgirl Magazine!” When porn is so readily available, it affects the business’ bottom line, and for LaRue that mean reduced budgets, and shorter shooting schedules. Nonetheless, LaRue remains confident that her directing and time-management skills ““ as well as her creative prowess ““ will keep her at the top of her game.
Also helping to keep her energy up: a 100-plus pound weight loss for LaRue since having gastric bypass surgery five years ago this August.
“It’s good,” LaRue says. “I can’t eat any sugar. It’s been a little bit of a struggle with alcohol. It’s not good to eat carbs. I really have to watch what I eat. And that’s ok, it’s discipline. And I’ve kept the weight off, which is a good thing. But some people don’t recognize me. They’re still expecting a big giant 360 pound blonde mountain.”
And if you still can’t recognize her Saturday evening at the DoubleTree by Hilton Orlando at SeaWorld Main Pool, just look for the bombshell under the headphones. She’ll be the one playing all those songs you know all the words to, and have been singing along with all night out on the dance floor.
CHI CHI LARUE
DJs at the GayDayS Main Pool Party at the DoubleTree by Hilton Orlando at SeaWorld
Saturday, June 1, 10 pm-3 am
Your celebrity crush? Scandal’s Guillermo Diaz
Favorite snack? Wasabi Pea Trail Mix
Favorite theme park attraction, ride or show? A face in the men’s bathroom.
Last book you read? Vogue.
Favorite ice cream/frozen yogurt flavor? I don’t eat either.
Superpower you’d like to have? The ability to see through clothes.
Favorite TV show/Guiltiest TV pleasure? Judge Judy
Who should play you in your bio-pic? Old me: Rebel Wilson. New me: Jinkx Monsoon.
Something about you people are surprised to learn? That I don’t direct porn in drag.
A typical night’s sleep for you lasts how long? Six hours.
Fallback karaoke track? “I Love Rock and Roll” by Joan Jett.
Competition reality show, real or imaginary, you’d certainly win? Big Brother
