Is South East London’s DiRRTY HARRY our next pop culture icon?
This is A HOT MINUTE WITH, a quick-fire interview series championing all the rising talent catapulting into fashion, art and music’s fickle stratosphere. From pinch-me moments to bad dates and even worse chat-up lines, think of it as an overindulgent conversation – like the ones you have in sticky club toilets at 4.A.M. Except these guests don’t regret the overshare…
Courtesy of @dirrtyharryx
Jeffrey Thomson: Who is DIRRTY HARRY?
Harry Godfrey: DiRRTY HARRY is an artist born and raised in South East London. Primarily a filmmaker, performance artist and supermodel of the world.
JT: What does fashion mean to you?
HG: For me, fashion is an amazing means of expressing how you feel on the inside. Eclectic, chaotic, glamorous, however you feel can be achieved with the right clothes. I love mixing tacky leopard print with tartan skirts, slip dresses with skater boy t-shirts. For me it’s a way of expressing personal gender fluidity.
JT: I’ve seen that you mentioned your occupation as being a ‘Legend’. What does a Legend do?
HG: Day-drink, listen to NICKI MINAJ, panic dye their hair, chain smoke, support and uplift their creative loved ones.
JT: Tell us about your podcast, Flop Culture. What’s it all about?
HG: It’s kind of just me and SUSIE laughing about dumb shit celebrities have done and looking at hot topics in popular culture, with some current affairs thrown in there as well. But the whole thing is very light hearted and self deprecating. We actually just made a new episode about NFT’s and the artists and celebrities using them and how confusing the whole thing is. We love this one so be sure to give it a listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
JT: Let’s talk about the inimitable photo of the Holy Trinity jammed into a car while leaving the Beverly Hills Hotel (that’s PARIS, LINDSAY and BRITNEY for anyone that doesn’t know). Which icon are you and who would the others be?
HG: Ugh I am just so Lindsay Lohan. I’d love to be Britney or Paris but I am just Lindsay. Gorgeous and cool but a bit more misdirected and chaotic. Remember when she arrived at that hotel, and was caught by the paparazzi leaving wearing a fur coat she didn’t arrive in and she’d stolen it from someone inside? That’s me. Remember that $46,000 bill she didn’t pay from the Chateau Marmont and TMZ leaked it and it was all just spent on the mini bar and cigarettes? That’s me.
JT: Top three pop culture moments?
HG: When Nikki Grahame (RIP <3) left Big Brother and she thought everyone was going to hate her but people literally couldn’t stop screaming for her and shouting her name and she burst into tears. What a moment. Britney and Madge kissing on the 2003 VMA’s stage. Pete Burns’ gorilla coat being arrested.
JT: Who, in your opinion, is the OG?
HG: KATIE PRICE.
JT: You’re planning a night out (pretending that Covid doesn’t exist). Where do you go?
HG: I’m a slut for G-A-Y. I just am. So I’d probably get twatted at home with the besties then we’d dress up and go there. In an ideal world, Inferno - my favourite night out in London- would be on as well, so we could go there after and get slutty and dancey into the early hours.
JT: What does drag mean to you?
HG: Freedom to express how you feel on the inside - much like my answer for fashion I kind of blend them both. Drag and using it within my work is when I feel most like myself. Me and ALICE always joke about how she’s my drag mum because she literally is. She makes me feel unstoppable.
JT: Who do you look up to?
HG: Pete Burns, AVRIL LAVIGNE, NICKI MINAJ, my sister, Amanda Tanen from Ugly Betty, my gorgeous friends and partner, John Waters, RACHEL MACLEAN, PARIS HILTON and NICOLE RICHIE, myself, CHLOE SEVIGNY.
JT: Describe your style in three words?
HG: Shit Hot Mess.
JT: Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?
HG: Fuck knows. Hopefully with a bit more of a stable creative career, doing what I love, making art and people coming to see it. Blossoming and growing with all my loved ones. Having a fag and a gin in the sun.
JT: Biggest pinch me moment?
HG: Being asked to be part of BURBERRY’S Celebrating LGBTQ+ communities project in the summer of last year. It was a video with loads of different people celebrating their queerness for Pride. I’ve been obsessed with the brand my whole life and it’s one of those brands I’ve always associated with South London if you know what I mean. So that felt stunning.
JT: Favourite night out?
HG: BROOKE CANDY performing after Trans Pride was one of the most fun nights out I’ve ever had, she flashed me her tit. And obviously the love, joy, and pride in the room from everyone was incomparable.
JT: Can you tell us a secret?
HG: I’m gay.
JT: Any last words?
HG: Support and look after your queer community.