I.E.: Everything is Totally Gay

Margot Padilla, known to many as I.E., is preparing a brand new issue of her DIY celebrity gossip mag,Totally Mag!, for Totally Gay Night, part of the ongoing performance series L.A.’s Got Talent, on view now at Sancho Gallery in Echo Park.

The rave-queen of the DIY scene and I chatted about aliens, glass dildos and gay celebrities.

Margot and Erik have the best rave lights + beats. Photo: Carnage.

What made you want to start playing music, and perform publicly?
Margot Padilla: I always wanted to play music, dude. Anything I could find I just wanted to make something with it. I just like sound—for instance I had an MRI today and it was rad, because it’s just like a noise machine. It’s just like raaraaraaraaraa-dadadadada-reeah-reaah, like a car alarm but crazier, and there’s all these other sounds like whoawhoawhoa in the background and fwwt-fwwt the whole time, and you feel really weird, but at the same time it’s comforting. It was pretty cool, I was like “this is fucking freaky but it’s making some cool sounds.” I just love music, I love sound, and I’ve always felt like that. Anything I can get my hands on.

So you’re performing on Totally Gay Night in addition to presenting the new issue of Totally Mag!, any new songs in store?
MP: Yeah I should have a new song by Saturday actually—it’s fucking fast dude. I’m going to have that song and maybe a couple others.

What makes Totally Mag! the perfect fit for Totally Gay Night?
MP: Yeah Totally Mag! and Totally Gay–one thing is that Totally Mag! is made by a gay person, and another thing is that I like to talk about gay celebrities in it. I think there’s a lot of that, ‘cause celebrities are gay! They pretty much are, and everything’s gay! [laughter]

What’s the gayest thing in pop culture right now?
MP: Dubstep. Dubstep is totally gay.

So are air horns totally gay?
MP: No, those are masculine, those are very heterosexual.

The new Totally Mag! cover. Image: Margot Padilla.

In your radio show and in Totally Mag! you use a lot of X-Files references.
MP: I love X-Files! I used to wiggle my teeth and watch X-Files every Friday, when I was little with my family. I would eat pizza and get the room all dark and yell at everybody “If you’re gonna watch it, come in and watch it! Guys, get outta here if you’re gonna talk because I have to watch this show, this is a serious show!” and now when I watch it when I’m older it’s so goofy, but back then I was like “No, there are fucking aliens outside I see them!”

So you did believe?
MP: Oh yeah! I still believe.

Oh man I used to go to all the X-Files conventions and such myself.
MP: I unfortunately didn’t go to conventions when I was little. I unfortunately didn’t know about them, but now when I’m older I go to every one of them. They’re awesome; it’s like my favorite thing to do.

Do you have any crazy I.E. stories, from growing up there? Weird roommate situations, etcetera?
MP: If it’s too close with too many people it’s bound to get wacky. I lived in a house in Riverside, a giant old house with all these people. That house seemed kind of haunted or something, it was an old ass house, and I just used to get bugged out in that house. People used to get crazy, like somebody threw shit out the window one night, people would get in a fight, a guy got beat with a glass dildo out front, there were all these trannies coming by.

Wait wait, a dude got beat with a glass dildo in front of your house?
MP: This guy, he blew glass or whatever. He lived with his mom in the back house, and they grew weed, and he blew glass. He made this wiener and he started playing with it outside, and he got in a fight with some fool down the street. The guy ended up chasing him and got his glass dildo, and he started beating him with his own glass dildo. It was terrible but it was funny, we all laughed.

[At this point Ana Rodriguez of Portland band Magic Johnson stepped in the room]

Ana Rodriguez: Are you guys still doing the interview? Do you want a beer?

Yeah we’re just talking about Totally Gay Night and aliens and such.
AR: What do you think about Katy Perry?

MP: She’s gay! She’s alright, well no, I dunno dude, she gets mad at Lady Gaga for some weird bullshit, but she doesn’t get mad about Kanye saying all that weird fucked up shit not accurate to aliens at all on her song “Alien.” He’s like “first I disrobe you, then I’ma probe you, I abducted you, I’ma tell you what to do, what to do, what to do!” and I’m like “what is that?!” I feel like Katy Perry might talk shit about me when I walked away.

[We proceed to watch the video]

MP: My girlfriend downloaded the version with just Katy Perry, because she doesn’t like the Kanye part, I don’t like the Kanye part either. And of course I still bob my head!

AR: This reminds me of Björk, I feel like everybody’s kind of Björk right now. She talked shit on Lady Gaga?

MP: She talked shit about Lady Gaga, saying that she disrespected the Catholic Church with that “Alejandro” video. I was like “What, girl? Why do you care anyways?” and she’s okay with Kanye being like “I’ma probe you and I’ma disrobe you.”

Haha yeah she’s actually one of the few performers to get kicked off of Sesame Street for being too sexual.
AR: She was wearing an ice skating dress, and there was mesh over her breasts and showing too much cleave.

MP: Too much cleave girl!

AR: What do you think about Beth Ditto calling her a “boner dyke?”

MP: She did?! Oooooh!

AR: Yeah a boner dyke is when you do gay things as a woman to pleasure a man, like modern girl on girl porn.

MP: Yeah at the end of the video, I kissed a girl, she didn’t really kiss a girl it was just a dream, or just a nightmare.

AR: Haha Lindsay Lohan kicked her out of a party too! She was like you’re not fucking gay, you’re a poser, and I’m gay!

[We watch the video for Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl”]

MP: Ha, can you screenshot that and put—“just a bad dream after all.” Actually she looks pretty happy about it, maybe she liked the dream. She looks pretty satisfied. That guy is just straight up passed out.

AR: He’s really a girl.

Okay, back to Totally Gay Night—do you ever get involved in the pro-gay political movement at all, do you think that needs to be a part of it, or can these events be completely separate from that?
MP: I think it can be separate and just fun. I do believe in doing things for the gay community, and supporting the gay community. I like having a place where everybody’s welcome and it says that gay people are welcome and that this is a friendly place for you to come and not worry about issues.

Have you ever played in a gay bar?
MP: I’ve played at Ashland’s nights. He’s DJing Totally Gay night, he’s DJ Total Freedom, and he does Mustache Mondays. [The Totally Gay Nights at Il Corral] were for people that are gay, and also for the people that want to support them, and show that they care that they’re around, so it was cool. I think sometimes when people do things that are just specific, like a gay night and it’s not for other people, it ends up doing the same thing that other bars do to people who are gay. I don’t want to exclude anybody, just like – everybody come out, it’s going to be a lot of fun, and especially if you’re gay! Also gay doesn’t just mean gay, it also means happy, so just come out if you’re happy.

Connect with Margot & I.E.

Visit Totally Mag!

TOTALLY GAY NIGHT
FRI 9PM-2AM $10 incl. beverage