Drag artist and creative director from Birmingham Fatt Butcher wanted to perform and entertain for as long as they can remember and their dreams came true when they received a four-chair turn from all the judges at the Voice UK this month.
Judges - Tom Jones, Will.i.am, Olly Murs, and Anne-Marie - couldn’t help themselves when they heard the drag artist singing Kate Bush’ 'This Woman's Work’ and all of them turned their chairs in a nod of approval of the performance.
Days after this incredible performance, Fatt Butcher aka Adam Carver spoke to BirminghamWorld about their experience and journey so far.
Judges - Tom Jones, Will.i.am, Olly Murs, and Anne-Marie - couldn’t help themselves when they heard the drag artist singing Kate Bush’ 'This Woman's Work’ and all of them turned their chairs in a nod of approval of the performance.
Days after this incredible performance, Fatt Butcher aka Adam Carver spoke to BirminghamWorld about their experience and journey so far.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Thank you Fat Butcher for joining me today.
00:03 I'm Asmita Sarkar from Birmingham World.
00:06 It's lovely to have you.
00:08 You are a performer, a creative director, a singer,
00:13 and now you're on The Voice.
00:14 Where did it all start for you?
00:17 - Ooh, well, I've been performing and I guess singing
00:24 since I was a child.
00:27 But really I started performing as Fat Butcher,
00:30 the glamorous icon that you see before you.
00:33 During the pandemic, I started at the very beginning
00:40 of lockdown and I basically decided I was gonna quit my job
00:45 and start pursuing my own sort of creative projects
00:49 full time in February, 2020, which was, you know,
00:52 just the best time to leave your job, would recommend.
00:56 And I had been touring a show that I directed
01:01 for the few years before that,
01:03 that worked with a lot of different drag performers.
01:05 And suddenly overnight, they all lost their income.
01:09 And this was before they finally pulled
01:14 self-employment support out.
01:16 So suddenly everyone just lost their money overnight.
01:18 And I guess I was sort of looking for an outlet
01:20 and things to do.
01:21 And so I started hosting an online bingo on Zoom.
01:26 During the lockdown.
01:27 And I kind of created Fat, or at least a very early version
01:32 of what you see before you now.
01:34 Hosting bingo every week on Zoom as a way to raise money
01:39 with artists who had lost all their work.
01:42 So they could just sort of come to me and be like,
01:44 I need some money for bills or for food or whatever.
01:47 And everyone would pay to play.
01:49 And we'd keep some of the money back
01:50 as like a sort of kitty, basically.
01:53 And then it ended up that I stole all their jobs.
01:55 So now this is what I do full-time.
01:57 (laughs)
01:59 - That's been quite a journey.
02:01 That's incredible.
02:03 As an art form, like drag has been very popular,
02:09 you know, in the recent past.
02:12 And there are some people who believe
02:15 that the sanctity of the art form,
02:18 you know, it's getting lost
02:21 because it's becoming more mainstream.
02:24 But what do you think about that?
02:25 - I mean, it's a big question, right?
02:28 And I think there's space for lots of it.
02:31 I think that what has been really great
02:33 about the sort of rise in popularity
02:37 or rising kind of awareness of drag
02:41 is that we've got to see like this whole other art form.
02:45 And I think it's one of the most like unique
02:47 and exciting art forms because you are sort of,
02:52 you have to do everything.
02:53 You have to kind of do your makeup and your costume
02:56 and perform and put so many parts of it together.
02:59 And for me, it's like an artist
03:01 that gives me a lot of control, I guess,
03:03 over lots of bits.
03:05 And so it's great if you're a control freak.
03:08 (laughs)
03:09 I think that, yeah, I mean,
03:11 drag exists in lots of different spaces.
03:13 And I think often people have this quite a limited idea
03:18 about what drag is and what it's supposed to look like.
03:22 And I think that that is something
03:24 that has come out of the popularization of it.
03:28 But actually it's like any art form, right?
03:30 It's like plays or, I don't know, painting or something.
03:35 Like there's so much range and variety in what's in there.
03:39 And you know, all drag is valid.
03:41 Doesn't mean all drag is good.
03:42 But it does, I think, offer, it's a toolkit.
03:48 It's a style that kind of allows you
03:51 to create lots of different things and to live.
03:55 And it's very much attached to identity as well.
03:59 And I think it's very much attached to the way that we live.
04:02 So I don't know, I think that absolutely
04:06 there's a mainstream idea about what drag is.
04:10 And I don't think that my drag
04:11 always fits into that idea either.
04:16 So I'm delighted to be able to put what I do out
04:19 onto a national platform at the moment.
04:21 But I think, you know, if you think drag isn't for you,
04:25 then they probably haven't just found the right drag yet.
04:28 - Okay, yeah, fair enough.
04:30 Since, I mean, since drag is all about identity,
04:37 how would you describe your drag persona?
04:41 - Ooh, how would I describe Fat Butcher?
04:46 Talent.
04:47 I always say that I'm like the forgotten love child
04:52 of Elton John and Pam St. Clement.
04:54 I don't know, I think that Fat is a sort of a fashion clown
05:01 and a musician and an artist.
05:04 I like to pull lots of different ideas together.
05:07 I'm really inspired by 90s club fashion
05:12 and by kind of couture runways,
05:16 but also like keeping a bit of jazz
05:19 and a bit of Brummie madness in there as well.
05:23 Yeah, I'm like a melting pot.
05:25 - So you have performed in Birmingham quite a bit
05:31 in like in front of audiences,
05:34 big audiences, in live performances.
05:37 How would you describe the audience in Birmingham
05:42 and what your experience has been performing in the city?
05:45 - Well, I mean, I'm a Brummie, I grew up in Birmingham
05:50 and I've lived here consistently now
05:53 for the last sort of 10 years.
05:55 I guess like audiences here for me always feel like home.
05:58 I think that Birmingham's got a really exciting drag scene.
06:05 I think there's like a lot going on
06:06 and I think the audiences here,
06:09 like they're really up for good time.
06:11 They wanna have a laugh, but they're tough.
06:13 A Birmingham crowd can be tough.
06:14 You know, if they don't like you, they'll let you know.
06:16 They're not polite like they are in London.
06:18 Yeah, I think like there's a lot of love in Birmingham.
06:23 There's a lot of people who care passionately
06:27 about this place and this city.
06:29 And I think like we're in a really difficult time period
06:32 right now.
06:33 And so I do think that like audiences are out for good time.
06:36 They want to be entertained.
06:38 They want to be able to escape the world
06:41 that we live in a bit.
06:42 But I find that Birmingham audiences also like,
06:45 they'll let you push them a bit.
06:46 They'll let you like take them somewhere
06:48 that they didn't think they were ready to go.
06:50 And that's one of the most exciting parts
06:51 about what my job is I think.
06:53 - That's great.
06:56 What venue in Birmingham would you say has been the best
07:02 for you so far?
07:03 - Do you mean like performing?
07:07 - Yeah, as a performer.
07:09 - God, I've got to do so many amazing things in Birmingham
07:16 as a performer.
07:17 I mean, every year, let me start that again.
07:22 I get to do so many amazing things
07:26 as a performer in Birmingham.
07:27 I have had the honour of hosting for the last three years
07:32 the community vigil that starts Birmingham Pride.
07:37 Which is on the main stage of Birmingham Pride.
07:39 And it's an opportunity for people to come together.
07:41 It's a free event that is about kind of marking
07:44 why we come together as a community
07:47 and celebrating ourselves.
07:49 And I think it's an opportunity for us to sort of
07:52 try and uplift ourselves and come together
07:54 in a moment of solidarity.
07:56 And it feels very much about connecting to community.
07:59 So for me, like that is always a real honour
08:02 to be able to do that.
08:04 And to have thousands of people there
08:06 who come to listen and to be part of that,
08:10 that's always a joy.
08:12 So yeah, probably that.
08:13 - But if you had to choose,
08:16 would you prefer the queer clubs or the stage at The Voice?
08:21 - Well, I'm a lot less nervous in the bars
08:30 and in the clubs than I was doing The Voice.
08:33 Obviously The Voice has become an amazing platform.
08:37 And it was an amazing opportunity to get what I do
08:42 right into the homes of so many people
08:44 who might otherwise never come across drag
08:47 and me as an artist.
08:50 I don't know.
08:51 I mean, I love a live audience.
08:54 I love to have people who've come specifically
08:58 to listen to you, who are there
09:00 and we can have a dialogue with each other.
09:03 And I guess like doing a lot of that for cameras
09:05 is like, it's a very different experience.
09:08 And it's very exciting and it went quite well.
09:11 So, I mean, every day you perform for legends,
09:15 is it like Tom Jones?
09:16 So I guess like, it's an experience I am overjoyed
09:20 to have had, delighted to have had.
09:22 And I guess, I'm excited to get back out
09:27 into the stage again.
09:33 - So like the experience of The Voice,
09:36 like I think all of us saw it, it was so amazing.
09:39 Like your singing was like purely powerful.
09:43 Could you tell us a little bit about the choice
09:46 of song that you had?
09:48 - Yes.
09:50 So you go through quite a long process
09:54 preparing for the show.
09:57 And we go through lots of different options
09:58 about what it is that you might sing.
10:00 And every time we just kept coming back
10:03 to the song I sang, which was this woman's work
10:05 originally by Kate Bush.
10:07 I'm a huge Kate Bush fan.
10:09 I've kind of loved her music my whole life.
10:11 And I sort of knew that if I was gonna get this opportunity
10:15 to go out and sing something for the nation,
10:20 I wanted to take something that was very important to me
10:23 and felt very personal.
10:24 I think she's probably one of the, well, not probably,
10:28 she is one of the greatest artists of our time.
10:32 And I've been so happy that she's had a resurgence
10:36 in the last few years with "Running Up That Hill"
10:38 and "Stranger Things" kind of bringing Kate Bush back
10:41 to the popular consciousness.
10:45 So I guess it was like, I wanted to pick something
10:47 that felt powerful and personal
10:52 and that I'd worked on the arrangement of.
10:55 So the version that I'm performing there
10:57 is a version that I've adapted for myself.
11:00 And it's a song that I very rarely have performed
11:05 in my live shows, but actually it's something
11:08 that feels very personal and that I feel
11:10 very emotionally connected to.
11:12 So that's why I chose it.
11:13 - Talking about the voice, what is it like performing
11:21 on a stage of this scale?
11:24 Like what went through your mind while you were up there?
11:28 - Honestly, I don't remember very much
11:33 about that experience.
11:35 It was such a long day.
11:36 We were there for, the point I actually got on stage,
11:39 we'd been at the studio for about 13 hours.
11:44 And so like at that point, you're kind of like,
11:49 you're really ready and you've been raring for it
11:51 for a while.
11:52 And then I kind of got out there
11:53 and just had to kind of try and be as in that moment
11:57 as I could.
11:58 So it feels like a blur.
12:00 I feel like I don't really remember a lot of it.
12:04 And I just sort of had to tune everything out really.
12:07 The band is with you, you've got the focus.
12:10 You wait for about 30 seconds on stage
12:15 in complete silence before you start,
12:18 whilst they're adjusting the sound
12:20 and getting everything ready.
12:22 And that felt like the longest time of my life.
12:25 And I think you can see it right at the beginning
12:26 of the audition, I'm like, "Woo!"
12:28 So I really just had to kind of pull myself
12:33 out of thinking too much about it
12:36 and just sort of listen to the music and go for it.
12:39 And then obviously once the judges started turning around,
12:43 I was like, "Great, this is a real boost
12:44 so I can just keep going."
12:46 - Was there anything that the judges said
12:50 which maybe did not, it wasn't broadcasted,
12:54 but is there something that you will take home with you
12:59 for the rest of your life?
13:00 - A moment that we didn't get to show on the TV
13:07 is that the Will.i.am caught out the corner of his eye,
13:10 my friends who were with us.
13:12 And obviously he mentioned it a little bit during the show,
13:16 but actually he invited everyone up on stage.
13:20 So all of my friends who were with me,
13:24 who were amazing artists that I get to work with
13:26 in the city as well, all ran onto the stage
13:30 and we all have this big sort of group hug
13:32 in the middle of that process.
13:35 And I guess no one got to see that on TV,
13:37 but for me, that's my takeaway memory of it.
13:41 I mean, the judges had amazing things to say.
13:43 It was really, it was incredible.
13:44 And it was kind of overwhelming to hear that.
13:49 I, yeah, I don't know.
13:50 I think Tom really connected with the emotion of the song
13:55 and that's ultimately why I picked him.
13:57 And you know, obviously he is an absolute legend.
13:59 And I was thinking like, "Oh, when the final hits,
14:02 if you make the final, you get to do it with Tom Jones."
14:05 So yeah, those were kind of the moments,
14:09 I guess, that will stay with me.
14:12 - So what happens like going forward,
14:16 you being part of Tom Jones's team?
14:20 Like what happens next now for you?
14:22 - So the next phase,
14:24 I don't know how much I'm allowed to say.
14:30 I can tell you like what the next round is.
14:37 So the next round is,
14:42 each of the judges has their team
14:44 or will have a team of 10 artists
14:46 by the end of the auditions.
14:48 And they take their teams
14:50 and kind of put them through a process
14:54 of getting to go from 10 artists to three.
14:56 So we get given songs by the judge
15:01 and we have to kind of give our own interpretation
15:03 on our own arrangement, our own version
15:05 of what that sounds like.
15:07 What does that lucha sound like singing this song?
15:11 And that's the next point really,
15:12 when they make a decision between us
15:15 to get the teams down to three artists per team.
15:18 - Sounds really competitive.
15:22 When do we get to see you next on TV?
15:26 - Yeah, I don't know what I'm allowed to say about that.
15:36 I can say that there's a few more weeks
15:41 of the blind auditions and then we'll be back.
15:45 The series is ending, it runs until the end of December.
15:48 So you'll catch me again on the screens in December.
15:52 - Oh, that's great.
15:54 And just like a couple of more questions,
15:59 like why did you pick The Voice
16:03 as the Go National?
16:06 - I think I wanted to do The Voice
16:15 because it was a challenge.
16:17 It was a good opportunity to be like,
16:19 to reach a whole new audience.
16:22 But I think also that the format of the show
16:24 is really exciting because like this visual is a lot,
16:29 it's a big thing and it's a big part
16:33 of what audiences see and take in
16:35 when they first encounter a Fat Butcher show.
16:38 And to take that away and to say that
16:43 all these judges are gonna be able to assess you on
16:48 is what they hear.
16:50 For me, that was really about like testing myself
16:53 and sort of going out here and saying,
16:55 well, actually, first and foremost, I'm a singer,
16:57 I'm a vocalist and I want you to judge me.
17:03 And judge me based on that
17:05 and prove myself a bit based on that.
17:08 'Cause I think when people see drag
17:11 and they see drag singing,
17:12 like often maybe their expectations are
17:14 that it's gonna be fun, it's gonna be silly
17:16 and it might be, you know,
17:18 that the singing might not be amazing,
17:19 but we'll all have a good time.
17:20 And actually for me, it's like,
17:22 that's a really important part
17:23 that the singing is really good as well, hopefully.
17:29 - And just like coming back to Birmingham
17:32 as your home city,
17:33 is there anything that you would like to tell
17:38 the people of Birmingham in terms of,
17:40 you know, the acceptance of the queer community
17:47 or do you think that Birmingham
17:48 is just doing a great job at it?
17:50 - Um.
17:51 Oh, it's a big question.
18:02 - Sorry about that.
18:06 - No, no, no.
18:07 Look, I think we are living
18:15 through really difficult times at the moment.
18:18 And in Birmingham, as well as nationally,
18:21 we've seen that there's been a massive rise
18:24 in incidents of hate crime,
18:25 and that includes homophobic and transphobic hate crime.
18:28 And just generally like a sense of hostility.
18:31 And sometimes I think just sort of navigating the world
18:36 as an LGBTQ+ person,
18:39 like can be difficult, it can be.
18:41 What I'd say is that there's an amazing
18:44 queer community in Birmingham.
18:45 This is a city that has shown me so much love and support.
18:50 And I think that we have to remember that like,
18:54 this city is made up of all the kinds of different people
18:58 that are here, all these different communities
19:00 that coexist and fight and struggle
19:03 and celebrate and love.
19:05 And I think actually like the only thing I would say
19:08 to the families out there is like,
19:11 we've got to just embrace each other
19:13 because we are all in this together.
19:16 And we should celebrate all the different facets
19:19 of our community.
19:20 And I think the queer community
19:21 has always been part of Birmingham,
19:23 it will continue to be part of Birmingham.
19:25 It's not going anywhere,
19:26 so people got to get used to it.
19:28 But also that there's so much joy and light
19:31 and celebration to be found in our communities
19:36 and what we do.
19:37 And I think we should be proud of that.
19:39 And because times is hard,
19:42 and there's so much misery going on in the world,
19:46 that actually we owe it to each other
19:47 to spread a bit more joy and a bit more love
19:51 and a bit more acceptance.
19:53 I have actually released my cover of this woman's work
19:57 as a single that you can download.
20:00 And this is because the 1st of December is World AIDS Day.
20:04 And it's available to download now
20:06 from fatbutcher.co.uk/music.
20:10 And 100% of the profits are gonna go to support
20:14 the National AIDS Trust,
20:16 who are an amazing charity that support
20:19 and advocate for the lives of people living with HIV.
20:21 So if people wanted to support the song,
20:23 I did not make any money on it,
20:25 it's all going to the National AIDS Trust.
20:27 And my second thing is just a bit of shameless promotion.
20:31 Which is to say that like,
20:35 if Brothers of Luton for things to do,
20:38 my solo Christmas show is on at the Old Joint Stock Theatre
20:42 on the 30th of November and the 1st of December.
20:44 And tickets are available now.