From Paris Hilton to Pierce The Veil: The icons who inspired Scene Queen

Scene Queen is the pioneer of her very own genre: bimbocore. But what’s gone into that brilliantly wild creation? Well, loads – including the vulnerable-yet-chaotic pop of Kesha, and Dolly Parton’s legendary country songwriting…

“Everyone calls me ‘metal Kesha’, and that early 2000s dance-pop-but-chaotic-party-girl energy for sure influenced my music. I first heard Kesha in middle-school, and the essence of her music was so rock’n’roll. She’s been so vocal about everything she’s experienced in her life and so open about it, which is super-admirable. I’m chronically online and share everything about myself, so having someone be so real but also pop, where everything is manufactured, coming forward and saying everything she’s gone through is super-cool to me.”

“All of his music is really short, it’s super pop-driven, but has that rock influence. I listened to The Ready Set right before he had his big break – he was one of the first artists I saw blowing up in my presence. I’ve seen him 45 times at this point. His entire fanbase became a part of my life – I have lifelong friends that I met through his music. For Bimbocore Vol. 2, I got to write with him and will hopefully get him in for the full-length – he’s one of the coolest people in music, and such an influence on me.”

“She knows how you perceive her and uses that to her advantage. That’s the whole purpose of my project: taking stereotypes people have about me and thinking, ‘Fuck it, I’ll use that as my power to spite you.’ She clearly does whatever she wants, and does the opposite of what anyone expects from her. Her aesthetic has influenced my music a lot – I have a song called Pink G-String which was definitely dedicated to The Simple Life.”

“Her whole shtick is calling herself trash and acting like she’s kinda dumb, but she owns half of North Carolina and is an insane businesswoman. She’s so huge but also still so kind and down-to-earth. She’s donated a million books to children and she does so many amazing things with the hand she’s been dealt. Before I was doing this I was working as a songwriter, and that’s how I wanted to come into music, knowing that Dolly was a songwriter before. When I was a kid I wanted to be a country singer, and I found Dolly Parton, which transitioned into Taylor Swift, which turned into pop.”

“Seeing Pierce The Veil for the first time was the moment I knew I wanted to do music. I name-drop him in the song Pink Whitney and I sent it to him before it was mixed, and he thought it was so cool. I found Pierce The Veil when I was a teenager going through emotional shit, and they got me through some of the worst times of my life. They’ve dropped an album for every major transitional moment in my life. Their newest one [2023’s The Jaws Of Life] came out at a perfect time when I needed sad songs, as I was kind of confused career-wise, and it perfectly aligned with everything I needed. I can’t say enough good things about Vic Fuentes.”

Scene Queen tours the UK from October 2 – get your tickets now. This article originally appeared in the autumn 2023 issue of the magazine.

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• Scene Queen: “If there’s not a door that’s open for me, I have the full ability to kick it open”