Meet Hellvetika, the New York City drag queen from Conception Bay South, Newfoundland

It takes about three hours for Andrew Power to transform completely into Hellvetika, the bearded heavy metal drag queen.

And it's taken him about six years to transform Hellvetika into a drag queen superstar.

Now, after six years of dominating the New York City drag scene and amassing more than 43,000 followers on Instagram, Hellvetika is finally coming home.

To Newfoundland.

Andrew Power, 27, the man behind the Hellvetika persona, grew up in Conception Bay South.

"Some people were following me before they knew I was from C.B.S.," he said. "So when they see that I'm posting photos from Manuels River, [they say] 'What, Hellvetika's in C.B.S.?'"

"I'm like, yes, b'y."

Hellvetika makes her Newfoundland debut

7 years ago

Duration 1:54

Meet Hellvetika, the New York City-famous hair-metal drag queen from Newfoundland.

This week, he's performing as Hellvetikain his home province for the very first time, with a show on Saturday night at the Valhalla Tavern.

"I've always wanted to bring it home.I've always wanted to give people the opportunity to see what it is I do," he said. "I've been doing it for so long now, I'm excited to finally be able to show people, like people I went to high school with.

"I wasn't even out in high school. People thought I was just, like, this nerd."

Power first got into drag six years ago for a Halloween party, after he had left C.B.S. to go to art school in Baltimore. After that, he kept it up, setting up photo shoots in his house and posting the pictures to Instagram.

He's a graphic designer, and his design and makeup skills, coupled with his penchant for swords, sky-high hair and thigh-high boots, quickly picked up followers.

"What I take all of my inspiration from is '80s heavy metal, hair metal, that kind of thing just rock and roll of the '80s."

Oh, and there's the beard.

Bearded drag queens are fairly uncommon, and Power wears his beard with pride.

"I always just really liked having a beard as a boy and rather than having to shave it every time I do drag, I just decided to work it in," he said.

He colours it to match his vibrant wigs, and it's become the trait he's most widely known for.

In fact, many fans of RuPaul's Drag Race have beencalling for a bearded queen to finally compete on the show. Hellvetika is often at the top of their list of queens who could stand up to the fierce competition and the judges' critiques.

Sashay, you stay, b'y

Power said he'd love to bring the beard to Drag Race, but the rules for the show stipulate that contestants must be American.

"But if they ever changed the rules or if there was a Canadian Drag Race or something "

And if there ever was a queen from C.B.S. on the show?

"I think Newfoundland would go nuts," he said. "Too bad it's not a voting show!"

Power has the support of his entire family "And that's most of C.B.S., right?" and he knows the province would be behind him.

All about the metal

It's not just Hellvetika's beard that sets her apart.

While most drag queens build their presence through performing, Hellvetika doesn't get on stage very often maybe two or three times a year, if audiences are lucky.

And when she does perform, she doesn't lip sync to typical drag queen songs by artists like Beyonc or Lady GaGa.

She performs to full-on hair metal.

"[My shows are] all about swords and metal and just crazy wailing, screaming," he said.

Power said most nightshe'd rather stay at home and keep taking pictures. But it's his love of metal that gets Hellvetika on the stage.

"I really just want to expose people to metal," he said. "I really just like the opportunity to play songs that I love super loud. I just want to bring that to a place where people can experience it and I can live it out.

"It's not going to be anything like you've ever seen in a drag show."