BEKS Is In Her Prime: Talking “Melodrama,” Drag Race, “TERF WERK” and Queer Pop
Every now and then an artist comes along who sticks with us — and in BEKS’ case, we mean that quite literally.
EQ Music first encountered the Australian electro-pop firecracker in the wonderfully chaotic surroundings of SXSW in Austin, where we watched her perform “All The Good Boys Are Gay” at 1:30 in the morning and we didn’t know what to expect and BEKS turned it into a proper pop party. We walked away smitten — and the promo sticker for the single we picked up that night remains proudly stuck to our turntable dust cover to this day.
Our paths crossed again when BEKS came along to our EQ Music Live show starring Madison Rose, and since then it’s been rather satisfying watching the rest of the world increasingly catch up.
And 2026 is proving to be quite the year for her.
BEKS stepped into the Drag Race Down Under vs The World universe as a guest judge, while her brilliantly theatrical “Melodrama” was used for a lip-sync battle on the show. The track subsequently took on a life of its own, helped along by drag artists including M1ss Jade So and Michael Marouli, fan-created content and a seemingly unstoppable social media resurgence.
Then came another transformation: VNSSA reworked “Melodrama” with Bentley Robles, pushing it much deeper into the club. As BEKS rather perfectly describes it below, if the original feels like 9pm, this remix feels like 3am.
But there’s more going on here than fabulous wigs and very good pop songs.
With “TERF WERK,” BEKS has channelled her support for the trans community into a provocative piece of satirical dance-pop, with proceeds supporting a trans rights charity. It’s another example of an artist increasingly willing to say exactly what she thinks, without forgetting that pop music should still be fun.
So this felt like exactly the right time for EQ Music to properly catch up with someone who has been on our radar for quite a while.
BEKS, welcome back to EQ Music…
We first fell for you when we saw you perform “All The Good Boys Are Gay” at SXSW in Austin. You completely stopped us in our tracks — and the promo sticker from that song is still stuck to our turntable dust cover! What do you remember about that SXSW moment, and how do you think the BEKS we saw then compares with the artist you are today?
OMG!!!! I can’t believe you were there, it was 1.30am, freezing cold, maybe 50 people but damn we made it a party! Looking back, that version of BEKS was still figuring out exactly what the project wanted to be. The energy was there, but now I think everything feels much more focused. The common thread has always been writing songs that are fun, emotional and catchy enough to be on a bumper sticker, but today I feel much more comfortable taking bigger creative risks and speaking up about the things I care about.
We were also lucky enough to cross paths again when you came to our EQ Music Live show with Madison Rose, so we’ve watched your journey from fairly close quarters. You built such a strong following through queer venues, Pride events, drag shows and festivals. How important was that community in giving you the confidence and freedom to develop BEKS on your own terms?
Yes, I remember that show because a) Madison was amazing and b) the crowd were so there for the music. Queer events and drag venues gave me permission to be bigger, take up more space (quite literally just look at the timeline of my wigs), and be more outrageous, less clothed. Playing Pride festivals, drag shows and queer clubs also taught me something really important: people want to feel part of something. That has shaped every show I’ve made since.
“Melodrama” has had this amazing resurgence, with fans creating their own remixes and the song picking up Spotify editorial support. Did you ever imagine that a song you had already released would suddenly find this whole new audience, and what has it been like watching fans take ownership of it creatively?
Well I really have Drag Race and M1ss Jade So and Michael Marouli to thank for putting “Melodrama” on the map. As an artist releasing music in such a fast-paced market, I think we’re conditioned to believe a song has one chance, and if it doesn’t explode immediately you move on. “Melodrama” completely challenged that idea for me. I mean I’ve become a meme in the Philippines for posting the song too much to the point that even celebrity Drag Queens around the world have been jumping on the trend so the song has become a sort of communication tool well beyond what I ever thought was possible.
Now you’re giving “Melodrama” another life with your new remix featuring Bentley Robles. What attracted you to Bentley as a collaborator, and what did he bring to the song that made this version feel different from the original?
Bentley and I have been bumping into each other for awhile so I HAD to ask him. His writing and vocal style sits perfectly in that glossy queer-pop world, so he didn’t feel like someone was being added to the song, he felt like he’d always belonged in its universe. I think how VNSSA reworked it to give it that gritty circuit sound, made it feel more 3am where the original feels 9pm, so I guess Melodrama is out all night now!
You’ve also gone viral again with your track “TERF WERK,” which is a much more direct response to the changes to trans rights and legislation in Australia. What prompted you to write the song, and at what point did you realise you wanted to turn that anger and frustration into something that could actually make a difference?
The song came from frustration, but I knew I didn’t want to make something that actually made a very clear point, like catchy but educational and factual. Satire has always been one of the most effective ways to challenge hypocrisy, so I wanted to write something people could dance to while also making them question what they were hearing. Once the response started building online, it felt obvious that if people were willing to support the song, it should support the community it was written for.
I love that “TERF WERK” isn’t simply making a statement — you’re putting your money where your mouth is, with proceeds going to a trans rights charity. What do you hope people take away from the song beyond simply enjoying it as a piece of pop music?
I hope people who believe the trans community feel celebrated. And I hope if a terf hears it, and hears what they ACTUALLY sound like it might make them think twice. The song by design is meant to make TERFs feel uncomfortable and I hope it hits that nerve. If it also raises money and introduces someone to a charity doing important work, that’s even better.
Your music has always felt unapologetically queer, but there’s a difference between making queer music and using your platform to actively stand up for the queer community. Has becoming more visible as an artist changed the way you think about that responsibility?
I mean, I’ve never really seen it as a responsibility in the sense that I feel obligated. My natural reactions to queer issues, just come from my passion for human rights in general. I have worked just as much alongside non queer foundations like the Fred Hollows Foundation, Women’s Safety and Domestic Violence Support. I’m not saying that to sound like a martyr, just that humanitarian issues are a passion and I believe LGBTQIA+ rights are human rights. I’ve spent years benefiting from queer spaces and communities, so when those communities need support it feels pretty natural to stand alongside them. Music has always been political whether artists admit it or not.
And then, of course, there’s Drag Race Down Under vs The World. What was it like stepping into the Drag Race universe as a guest judge, particularly when drag and queer performance culture have been such an important part of your own artistic journey? Was there anything about the experience that completely surprised you?
Walking onto the Drag Race set felt strangely familiar because so much of my career has been built around drag artists and queer nightlife. What surprised me most was how much care goes into every single detail. Everyone talks about the glamour, but seeing the amount of work behind the scenes gave me even more respect for everyone involved. Standing in front of cameras and lights in 6 inch heels with wigs that cut the circulation to your head, its an actual endurance sport as much as it is glamour.
Between the glossy pop aesthetic, punk attitude, guitars, club culture and your increasingly outspoken activism, there are quite a few different sides to BEKS. Do you see all of these things as naturally connected, or are you deliberately trying to push the boundaries of what people expect an Australian pop artist to be?
I don’t see them as different worlds. Punk taught me to say something, get a bit dirty, it doesn’t have to be perfect. Dance music taught me how to make people move. Pop taught me how to make people remember it. They’re all just different tools for telling the same stories. Even with everything I’ve gone through in my career so far I still feel like I’m playing with my sound and edging closer and closer to my signature brand, setting myself up to hard pivot like how Slayyter or Gaga does.
We’ve been championing you since that first SXSW performance, so it feels like we’re watching a really exciting next chapter unfold. With “Melodrama” finding a new audience, “TERF WERK” generating so much conversation, your Drag Race appearance and more music on the way, what does the next era of BEKS look and sound like?
It feels like everything has accelerated over the past year. Sonically, this next chapter is bigger, louder and even more playful. There’s still plenty of dance music, but I’m leaning further into guitars, satire and songs that say something without forgetting to be fun. The hair keeps getting bigger, the fans keep getting kinder and honestly I feel like I’m in my prime.
The post BEKS Is In Her Prime: Talking “Melodrama,” Drag Race, “TERF WERK” and Queer Pop appeared first on EQ Music.
