Amrou Al-Kadhi is the founder of “Denim”, Cambridge University's first and only drag troupe. His alter-ego is the leggy and chaotically flamboyant “Glamrou” who leads her drag queens (and kings) in song, dance and hotpants. Back in August Denim performed their first London show at Bethnal Green Working Men's Club to great acclaim and much merriment. Since 2009 the Denim troupe have now performed to over 7,000 people bringing their unique style of drag to gay and straight audiences alike. The act includes live vocals and a full drag jazz band, stand up comedy and sky high wigs.

The thing about Denim is that they never wanted to be a gay-exclusive act. It's a queer night for sure, in every sense of the word, but the appeal is far broader than that and is a big reason for their success to date. Electra Cute, Chrystal Vaginova, Shirley Du Naughty, Aphrodite Jones, Sporty Boy and guests will be making a second appearance at BGWMC later this autumn.

Run-Riot's Emily Shipp caught up with Amrou to discuss Denim's colourful history.

Emily Shipp: Denim has built up into quite an act, how did it all come about?

Amrou Al-Kadhi: Denim came about in my second year of Cambridge. I had a thought to do it at school but I went to Eton for 6th form. When there was mufti-day I used to do these all-pink ensembles and I was always the leading lady in the school plays. But Eton wasn't a good place to do this. I didn't want to make Denim specifically LGBT... I wanted to make a night that didn't have a label on it – just a queer night – and therefore everyone came. The first event had about 400 people.

ES: How did the planning go for the first night?

AA: I borrowed a few hundred quid and found a venue in some dingy bar cellars, so it felt really underground. It hadn't been successful as a venue for a while. I just emailed some friends of mine who were performers and said 'would you all be interested in dragging up?'. I asked a friend of mine who played the trumpet and asked 'will you drag up and play the trumpet?'. But we didn't know it would be so successful. We were anticipating doing ten songs in front of twenty people. We had a week of rehearsals and on the night it was so packed- it was really emotional actually. I cried during the show because the whole thing just felt like a real triumph. That first night the stage was basically in the audience. We all just danced until they kicked us out and then we ran around the streets of Cambridge dressed in drag. It just felt like the place to be. …It really felt like progress. Since then it's just got bigger. I remember a Denim night we did in 2012 and I went to Primark to pick something up. I was in the changing room and heard the shopkeepers saying: “why have 400 men bought all the dresses? There are no dresses left in the department.”

ES: That must’ve felt like a bit of a moment…

AA: Yeah! …and also the party shops sold out of wigs- Dinah Lux went in to buy a wig at the party shop and the rack was empty!

ES: How did the name Denim come about?

AA: I was thinking of a poster and I had in my mind denim hotpants – something quite glamorous. But also, and we say this a lot during the show, denim is a very everyday material in that everyone has a pair of denim jeans. Lady Gaga talks about it in a lot of her videos. ...Its about everyone converting their ordinary denim. So you all start off with the same thing but you all come in with your own version of it. There is also something about the 80s and 90s in Denim. If you've ever watched Paris is Burning (the documentary by Jennie Livingston on drag balls in the 80s) that's something we're trying to get back to with Denim, trying to create safe spaces of expression.

ES: And you have girls who dress up in drag as well...

AA: Yes, female performers- some are gay, some aren't. Two of the male performers who look incredible in drag are straight. It's not really a part of the show at all, the gay thing. ...it's more about gender actually.

ES: I know you're a big fan of Lady Gaga, has she influenced Denim?

AA: People are funny about Lady Gaga but...I do feel like there is a pre-Gaga/post-Gaga way about mass culture. I think the reason she's made it is because she's said she's a mascot for difference, you know: “put your paws up if you're a monster”. But all that shows is that everyone on the planet feels like that, which is why she has the most fans. I don't think she's revealed anything new, these things have been around since the 60s and 70s especially in art, but she's at least exposing how queer the world is anyway. Ever since Gaga everyone's now playing with fashion and playing with gender. And there are quite a few drag queens that have come out of Cambridge since, for example a friend of mine called Dinah Lux who's quite famous now in London. She's an amazing drag queen. ES: Speaking of Dinah Lux and her success; what do you think makes a good drag queen? AA: I feel like it needs to be incredibly personal even though drag is really externalised. A lot of drag queens have such developed characters and it's not like a play script where you find the character and then slot into it. Even in my troupe everyone has their own back-history and it's come from within. So for me I would describe Glamrou as an exterior manifestation of everything that I'm thinking. To be a really good drag queen you need to be really honest. Although it is really artificial, it's visually artificial; you're just channelling things which you feel inside. For me for example, Glamrou is really messy, and really kind of rude and quite aggressive. Which is something I definitely feel inside …like when I was at school being an effeminate man doesn't get you very far sometimes and people are kind of aggressive towards you, but in my mind I'd feel really kinda strong and aggressive in return. So Glamrou's really ferocious and aggressive too.

ES: Does drag let you do things you're not allowed to do in other scenarios?

AA: Yeah definitely. Actually I'm now thinking of one of my drag queens in my troupe, Shirley. As Hugh Wyld he's the sweetest, most wonderful boy; so polite, always apologises. He's too polite, I always tell him off. But Shirley, she's evil and really sexual and kind of terrifying. A lot of men during the show, straight men even, get confused by how beautiful and sexy she is. And I'd say that's already a part of Hugh that comes out as Shirley. Because I think there are so many sides to one person and they aren't all expressed in daily life, you do need other platforms.

ES: When you created Glamrou and you first put that outfit on, how did it feel? Was it a shock to see yourself like that, or was it something you were already comfortable with by then?

AA: I was so comfortable with it in my head that it was just a shock for other people. I was shocked by other people's shock I guess. I was so confident the first time. I just remember there was no time to be nervous about it, I was so desperate to do it. Also I've always enjoyed being flamboyant in all the wrong places. I'm Middle Eastern and so there's a lot going on there. I've always enjoyed – and maybe this is slightly attention seeking – making an impact in places that I know will be antagonistic. I think antagonism and tension can actually be really very productive in bringing about change.

ES: How do you think Denim goes down in London as light entertainment?

AA: I feel like, especially in London where things are quite edgy and subversive, people turn their nose up a bit at things that are joyful. And Denim is quite a cringe night, there's nothing that cool about it. Our DJs will play you Madonna and they will play you every 80s classic, and we're going to sing you every song that you pretend you hate, it's going to be positive. I really believe in positive revolutions.

Denim will be returning to Bethnal Green Working Men's Club on the 22nd November. Tickets available here