Cherie Lily wears many different hats–er, leotards. The absurdly energetic NYC-based performer indeed must have a onesie to suit her every need, be it as musician,
songwriter, dance music producer, group fitness instructor, celebrity trainer, designer or vocalist, dancer (and wife!) of Andrew W.K. I’m winded already. This Wed. the 23rd (Thanksgiving eve) in San Francisco you can sweat it out with Cherie and local party disasters DJ Carnita (Hard French) and Heklina (Trannyshack) at Werk–a night to move your feet before you eat. We warmed up with Cherie to get the scoop on houserobics, her SF debut and how to keep your drink upright when dancing yourself silly.
Queerty: How many leotards would you say you own by this point?
Cherie Lily: Wow…a lot. I currently have over 200 leotards in all shapes, sizes, colors, and designs and my collection keeps on growing…
Q: What’s your typical workout look consist of?
CL: I teach 6 classes a week ranging from cycling to Anti-Gravity yoga (you can view my full NYC schedule at www.CherieLily.com). In addition to the classes that I teach, I love dance classes, yoga, and weight training. I’m currently wearing a lot of THRILLS COLLECTION (www.ThrillsCollection.com), which is a new cutting edge athletic apparel line that I recently launched at NY Fashion Week with designer John Renaud. It’s hot!
Q: What’s on your iPod when you’re working out alone?
CL: I love working out to pop and dance music, especially mixes by my friend’s Sia, Cazwell, Amanda Lepore, Jonte’ Moaning, Peaches, and Roxy Cottontail. I also love my Britney Spears Pandora radio station.
Q: So Houserobics–can you tell us how that started? What is it exactly?
CL: I couldn’t choose between my two life passions (music & fitness), so I merged them together creating Houserobics! Houserobics is high-energy original dance music infused with fitness lifestyle with the sole purpose to get the listener burning calories!
Q: Which came first, the fitness or the music? Or is there a chicken/egg scenario at play?
CL: I came out of the womb obsessed with music, which I get from my Dad. He’s always blasting classical music and I was raised playing piano and guitar. I got into fitness when I was old enough to join a gym. I was always very sporty. I was 16 when I was able to join a local gym and fell in love with group fitness. I really love the group dynamic–the idea of a team getting through an intense event together.
Q: Well I can’t imagine a better pairing than Housearobics and Thanksgiving. Will a night with you on the 23rd at Rebel ensure a guilt-free feeding frenzy the next day?
CL: What you give is what you get, so if you give your best on the dance floor with me on Wed. at Rebel, you’ll see the best results! I can’t think of a more fun way to burn calories before your Thanksgiving feast than dancing the night away with friends new and old.
Q: Can you tell us more about the night? How’d you hook up with Carnita and Heklina?
CL: I hooked up with DJ Carnita & Heklina via the amazing Reggie Cameron! Reggie’s been extremely supportive and I’m beyond grateful. I’m really looking forward to my Cherie Lily San Francisco debut with such an amazing cast of characters! We have the fabulous hosts DJ Carnita and Heklina. In addition to my performance, the night will also feature Lady Bear, Lil’ Miss Hot Mess, Karma Zabetch, & DJ’s Rapid Fire and Nark! Everyone on the bill is fantastic! It’s going to be insane.
Q: I know you must be working up a sweat when you perform–does the audience end up dancing just as hard?
CL: It’s about engaging the audience as much as possible. Getting them excited to dance and move with me. If they end up sweating as much as me (which is a lot honey), then I’m a success!
Q: I can imagine with all the vigorous moves, cocktails can get a little loose in the fingers. Are more drinks spilled at your shows than usual?
CL: If you can do the moves and not spill your drink, you graduate to expert status!
Here’s hoping we all graduate soon. Click here for more info on Werk at Rebel on November
