Ddare bionic: “Music is Magic!”

The Path requires Patience and The Creative Life is the Cure

I met Darrious Varner in St. Louis, Missouri, where I lived for several years and worked with him often in the STL theatre community. To be honest, I knew right away we would come to be pals. I’m not sure if it was his contagious good energy or the fact that he was an artist always willing to explore and try something new – but either way, I’m so grateful we’re here today to talk about his art, because I think you all need to hear this.

Under the stage name DDare Bionic, Darrious highlights healing. His music, aesthetic, and life are all a testament to the Black and Queer experience. He is the type of person that literally anyone can just vibe with. While he jokes about enjoying of short walks to the coffee shop, snacking and wearing sweatpants 87% of the time, he’s also an artist that thrives by connecting to his roots.

I asked him where the name DDare Bionic came from and he told me about the time when he was about 8 years old and his brothers all made music in their basement. He knew then that music would always be a huge part of his life. While he tagged along, the oldest brother gave him the nickname DDare. Coupled with the title track from Christina Aguilera’s album “Bionic,” the artist known as DDare Bionic came to be.

Look at those masculine and feminine energies aligned and perfectly balanced. The music! The makeup! The magic! But it wasn’t always self-love and empowerment. Darrious said he connected with “Bionic” because he felt robotic in his life, always masking his emotions and his struggles with mental health. Creativity gave him an outlet for healing, something he says deeply influences the way he moves in the world.

“I am a Black, Queer artist, emphasis on Black and Queer,” he wrote. “My art is based in my experiences as both a Black man, but also as a Queer person. Gender expression, love, mental illness, everyday things, I experience all of that through the gaze of a Black Queer man. I also really want to educate Black people about mental health and how to address, change, and heal from generational trauma that we collectively experience.” 

When you click on his linktree, you’ll see a pop-up about actively spreading awareness and driving donations in support of justice and equality, right alongside his art and social media links. Darrious is not just using art as a personal outlet, but as a way to challenge the status quo and encourage people to move whatever mountain stands before you — especially when that mountain is a 400-plus-year-old cis-het patriarchal system built on white supremacy, violence and oppression.

From where I’m sitting, it seems Darrious actively chooses to see the world as a place to make more beautiful through art and community. I think it’s a true act of faith in humanity when people decide to grow in spite of the collective trauma, like wildflowers popping up through cracks in the concrete. They’ll keep growing until the nature of truth eventually overtakes what tried to destroy it in the first place. Healing generational trauma is like that, and it’s important to remember that every growing thing needs to be watered. This is especially prevalent in the Black and Queer communities, where people like Darrious enact radical change by simply being themselves, being visible, and being proud.

Darrious expressed his gratitude for his family as he navigates his creative life. He told me his mother has been to every single play he’s been in or directed. His siblings are supportive and constantly encouraging him in his art. His partner, Ronnie, has been a cornerstone in his life since they began dating and his friends are always there to help him through creative choices. 

Something about Darrious just brings people together for the better. He uses art and his life to say: if I can, you can, and best of all, we can do it together.

It may have something to do with the shadow work he’s done on himself in order to grow and heal, and it may have something to do with his life as a performer. I asked him to tell me about his experience in theatre, as it is how I met him. I want to quote him here, because I think a lot of people will resonate with this: “I started doing theatre because I didn't want to be myself. To be frank, I hated who I was so much in high school (not because I'm Queer, lemme make that clear). I was so depressed and sad that I couldn't stand myself.” I felt that right in my chest: many young artists have found solace in playing pretend when we couldn’t truly know or be ourselves. Luckily, theatre has been a great building block toward a brighter future — Darrious said, “Theatre was my escape and from there it took over as my passion and led me right back to music and singing.”

This inner child healing created a stamina for performance, and that is what has brought him to self-produce not one, but two albums. That’s right, he is a one-person production, writing music, marketing, taking and editing all the pictures for album art, making music videos and getting himself on the St. Louis stage. There’s no question that Darrious is a creative powerhouse, with a will and determination to overcome any self-doubt and keep making art.

Statuesque Haute Mess is his latest album, recently released and available anywhere you listen to music. It’s deliciously witchy, upbeat and fun, but also mesmerizing in a way that lets you live inside the world he’s created, incorporating his family and following the highs and lows of life. The album is named “Statuesque Haute Mess” because it is magical, but is also a way to highlight how Darrious felt at his best and worst: a story about how he always seems so put together, but often feels like he’s falling apart.

I think that’s something everyone has gone through at some point, which makes this album so strong. He showcased this concept in the photoshoot you see here, which he designed as well: being dressed up but the jacket is ripped, his makeup done but he’s in tears, putting on a show but still allowing himself space for vulnerability. It’s incredible how he is able to use his diverse talents to create a multifaceted work of art to highlight his songs.

Darrious said everything was intentional. “MUSIC IS MAGIC!” he wrote. “Lyrics are incantations. We weave bits of healing magic into every note and lyric and beat.” He went on to say, “I wrote every song with the intention of invocation, manifestation, love, light, and healing.” And to that I say, hell yeah! Music is powerful beyond measure, and can truly shift our emotions and perspectives as we use it to create the soundtrack of our lives. Using this energy to let in the love both can and will change the world.

Creativity is a magic all its own, and whatever way it shows up for you is exactly how you’re meant to express it. From choir to theatre, from makeup to art and ultimately ending up at music, every single act has brought Darrious up and up. From the child making music in his basement with his brothers to today, he has manifested the artist known as DDare Bionic — a name I think we’ll one day hear announced on the Grammy stage. 

All in good time, though – Darrious knows success doesn’t happen overnight, and is working to build his community one song, one show, and one connection at a time. Patience is key, Darrious said, and is the biggest lesson he’s learned so far in his creative practices. What’s most admirable is the way he won’t take no for an answer: for every “no” you hear about your art, there are a plethora of “yes”es right around the corner. Once you hear that first “yes,” don’t stop, because you never know where it might lead you. “Take it from a gull who knows,” he joked.

As is customary for the Free Art Friend interviews, I like to ask my artist friends for a word of advice they’d give to anybody who felt like they couldn’t be an artist, or for someone that had no motivation to keep going. Darrious said, “If you feel in a creative rut, take a step back. Take some time away to be, feel, and experience different things. If you think you can't do something, change your mindset. Is it something you really wanna do? Do it and don't think about how scared you may be.“

That’s the best advice: Do it scared. Do it knowing that change may not be immediate, and your creativity may lead you down a number of different paths. Do it knowing that people might judge you. Do it knowing that you can and should use your art to tell your story, use your voice, and share your heart — because somebody out there needs to know about your experience. The world needs to hear it in order to grow. And it will help us all feel a little less alone.

Looking for more inspiration from the mind of DDare Bionic? You can check out this linktree, where you can listen to Statuesque Haute Mess and find your way to his first album, Reasons. Give him a follow on social media (@ddarebionic on instagram and tiktok) for a behind-the-scenes look at the life and times of this amazing, joyous, multifaceted artist. But if you’re in St. Louis, do yourself a favor and head to his next show at WerQfest, a festival celebrating Black Queer artistry, identity, and inclusivity, happening at The Big Top lot in Grand Center on July 9th, 2022 — you can catch him on the Sattelite Stage!

What are you waiting for? Go listen to DDare Bionic to get inspired — then I dare you to get creative, too (…pun intended. Sorry!).