Some of you may have heard the infamous “Fuck you Gertrude” beat tag throughout the years on SoundCloud. Despite being a seasoned musician, Gertrude also known as Pageant Queen, has remained a relatively enigmatic character. I had the opportunity and pleasure to sit down with the man behind the screen and talk about his music, comedic twitter, love of Umaru Chan, and a whole mess of other topics.
UU: Thanks for taking time out of your day to answer some questions! What have you been up to today?
Gertrude: I made a song I didn’t finish and made a beat for somebody for their album, and I napped *laughs* I’m pretty boring
Sounds good to me! Naps are always great. I guess a good place to start would be your childhood and upbringing, what was it like growing up?
Growing up was lame, being native you grow up around alcohol and dealing with drunks at a young age . It was annoying, but music wise I always listened to what my older brothers were on and it was like, Slipknot and Insane Clown Posse around like 5-8, and 8-13 was metal bands like Suffokate and Heaven Shall Burn, it wasn’t until like 14 I got into heavier bands and underground rap
That sounds rough, I hate annoying drunk people. At least your brothers got you onto some good music! Is metal and ICP still a big part of what you listen to?
I still listen to metal, like Cattle Decapitation and Devourment are my all time favorite bands, but ICP not really *laughs* I still got some favorite songs but they’re washed. Horrorcore rap in general is tight too.
You’ve been on SoundCloud for a little while now, with your earliest public song dating from two years ago. When did you decide to start making music and what inspired you?
I first uploaded to SoundCloud in 2014 with a full project called Teenage Misanthropist but that shit was trash and I deleted it. My earliest song “fucked” that’s still up was a beat I made when I first had FL Studio and my friend Gizmo said I should upload it. I was hesitant at first because I was a rapper at the same time but it ended up blowing up and is now at 620K and still growing. It kinda sucks because it made people recognize me and I wasn’t ready for all that because I was a lazy ass artist and didn’t know what I was doing at the time.
That’s wild, is there anywhere Teenage Misanthropist can be found or is it all gone now?
Nah, I had that on my old laptop, that’s ancient history now.
I see you tweet a lot of pictures of Umaru-Chan, when did your love for the anime character begin?
I can’t really remember. In 2016 I’d send pics to my ex and she’d call me weird or something, but that anime is cute and gas so if anybody is into slice of life anime I’d 10/10 recommend it.
For those that don’t know, you currently work the night shift at a gas station, I see you tweet a lot about weird encounters, what has been the strangest experience working the night shift?
Other than plugs trying to get me to buy, I’d say it was this weird old white guy who is really religious and mans found out I was native and said some weird prayer shit and then claimed me as his god son, I didn’t have any clue about what was going on and I tried so hard not to laugh in that mans face because I’m not religious at all. *laughs*
What’s your favorite song you’ve done or been apart of and why?
Producing would be a song on my SoundCloud called “if god is always there he’s never made me feel safe” because the sample is from RE7 and I flipped it so well. It was a turning point for my mixing but I HATE the reverb on the snare – it’s gross. Rapping is a song still on my SoundCloud called “Carnage” because me and swami mags made a hit together. It was supposed to be just him mixing my vocals but he wanted to be on it.*laughs*
For those unaware, you sing/rap under the name “Pageant Queen” now, where did the name Pageant Queen come from?
It’s another name I would use just cause it sounds fire to me, like one of my first characters on Bloodborne was named Pageant Queen, and I didn’t wanna rap anymore under gertrude so I rebranded to go in a different direction with music using a different name. I still produce under gertrude tho because everybody loves my tag smh
You’ve collaborated with a lot of artists, if you could collab with anyone who would it be?
Lil Ugly Mane because he the god.
What’s your favorite Lil Ugly Mane project?
It’d be between Mista Thug Isolation or Oblivion Access, I couldn’t choose to be honest.
What’s it like living with Swami-Mags?
When I first moved in we hung out all the time and went out and did shit but nowadays we basically just live our own lives, plus our work schedules are polar opposites so when he’s home is when I’m at work type shit, but that’s my brother and I’ll always be grateful for everything he’s done for me.
Who do you think is underrated in the scene right now?
Kaiyko for sure, and for those that listen to her just know I bother her about it everyday so new music from her should be soon. *laughs* My friend sedative beauty is another one, I push his music pretty often. My brother scum needs more recognition but I know he gonna glow this year for sure. I don’t know, there’s a lot of artists and producers that are underrated.
What’s your biggest pet peeve?
People in general to be honest. *laughs* I hate when they stare at me, or if I can hear them talking, I get annoyed easily and people just annoy me the most with the smallest things, this why I just stay inside all day.
Who’s your favorite artist or band not in the trap scene?
Probably Cattle Decapitation, I’ve been listening to them since I was like, 12 maybe, if anyone is vegetarian their music is talking about people and gore in an animal’s context because they’re vegans or some shit like that and talk about animal cruelty, it’s tight.
What’s your favorite food and why?
Probably a cheeseburger, all I eat is like junk food and shit and I’m a picky eater so when I try new shit it doesn’t work out, I suck. *laughs*
What’s next for Gertrude and Pageant Queen?
For Gertrude I’m still making beats still collecting the bag, for pageant queen who knows anything can happen, collab with scum coming soon, maybe Original God if I ever stop being lazy, many others too.
You’ve got a really solid amount of plays and a good fan base under your belt, any advice for anyone starting out with production or rapping?
If you start producing just know there isn’t a wrong way of doing, if what you’re doing gets the sound you want, who cares. I didn’t learn shit from YouTube video all my methods I stumbled across on my own, and rapping just learn how to rap on beat and you’re fine. Oh and use energy, nobody likes lifeless rapping unless that’s your actual tone you’re trying to achieve.
Thanks for being apart of this interview! Before we let you go, is there anything else you’d like to say to those reading at home?
Music is genuine, please don’t make this shit to be cool, being fake sad isn’t tight, fake liking metal isn’t tight, and most of us artists can tell when you’re throwing on a front. Just be you because at the end of the day you’re all you got.