Bambie Thug became Eurovision’s latest breakout star in 2024. Dressed as a horned demon amid a circle of candles containing a pentagram, the pop-disruptor sang Ireland’s entry Doomsday Blue — a blistering exorcism of hyperpop, metal and rock — as 163 million viewers watched on. The performance placed Bambie at sixth on the final leaderboard, earning Ireland its highest Eurovision finish in nearly 25 years.
It wasn’t merely their thrillingly nightmarish fantasy stagecraft that got Bambie — real name Bambie Ray Robinson — noticed, but also the way the 32-year-old drew attention to real-world issues with their performance. While performing Doomsday Blue, Bambie, who identifies as queer and non-binary, stripped down to reveal a swimsuit adorned with the trans flag. They initially intended to inscribe the words ‘freedom’ and ‘ceasefire’ on their body in ancient Irish Ogham script (Bambie had also spoken out against the European Broadcasting Union’s decision to include Israel in the competition amid the war in Gaza), but this was vetoed by Eurovision’s organisers.
‘I just wanted to showcase my art,’ Bambie tells M. Attributing their fearless streak to being born in Cork (historically known as the ‘Rebel County’), they add: ‘There’s no way I could ever go into something with as big a platform as Eurovision and not highlight injustices, or push for the queer and trans community, or call out the awful atrocities in the world.’
'It’s important that we continue to give queer and trans artists more platforms.'
While Eurovision may have been many viewers’ first introduction to Bambie’s genre-blurring ‘Ouija pop’, this self-described ‘goth gremlin witch’ had already built up a cult following in the metal and alternative scene. The subsequent success of Doomsday Blue (which now has over 29 million streams) has added a fresh influx of fans to their coven, with many of those coming to see Bambie perform on their first European tour (fittingly called Crown the Witch).
How might this following influence their creative outlook going forward? ‘Although I’ll never dilute myself, it’s made me more aware of putting fewer expletives in my music so it can travel further,’ they laugh. ‘It’s opened my audience to such a wide demographic that I’m slightly more aware of what I’m putting out.
‘With this tour, some people have been saying I’m the first queer person they’ve ever seen [perform] in person. It’s important that we continue to give queer and trans artists more platforms because kids need to see that opportunities are waiting for them, regardless of whether they fit into their small-town society.’
With a background in ballet, dance and musical theatre, Bambie initially went in more of a bubblegum-pop direction with their music career. But, after turning 27, they started to work with north London producer Tylr Rydr, with the pair discovering the freakish, no rules mash-up sound that is Bambie Thug.
‘The “27 Club” was real for both my birth name and that person!’ Bambie tells M. ‘When I accepted myself and came out, and then changed my name and project name to build a more authentic, witchy world in music, the universe started rewarding me. When I started as a songwriter, I tried to fit into what I thought people wanted me to write. But the Bambie Thug project has no constraints: I shapeshift.’
Doomsday Blue was written by Bambie, Tylr, Wargasm’s Sam Matlock and kindred pop maverick Cassyette. Bambie frequently collaborates with the latter, including on Cassyette’s debut album This World Fucking Sucks.
‘It’s almost like a therapy session whenever we work together,’ Bambie says of their writing relationship. ‘We chat about whatever we’re going to be writing about quite deeply. Songwriting is an amazing tool to pull apart the puzzle pieces of what’s happened to you. Even in therapy, I’m more guarded about how I talk about things, whereas if I write a song, I find weird metaphors for things that don’t directly say what’s happened — but, in my brain, I know. It then fixes how I view things. It’s like there’s a brain in my hand operating my pen that knows me better than I know myself!’
'Songwriting is an amazing tool to pull apart the puzzle pieces of what’s happened to you.'
Bambie’s constantly morphing, phantasmagorical image — which has seen them reference Powerpuff Girls villains (on Egregore) and The Lord of the Rings (Hex So Heavy) — has its roots in their childhood love of theatrical melodrama, Disney films and the darkly beautiful realm of Tim Burton.
‘I like building a world outside of reality,’ Bambie tells M. ‘My whole persona and body changes depending on what I wear. If I have a blonde wig and am more femme presenting, that has an impact on how I perform and feel. If I dress as a spider creature — like in the Hex So Heavy video — I feel crazy, badass, hot and weird. I love causing a reaction in people through imagery.’
Due in part to Bambie’s soaring popularity as a live performer — typified by them going from Download Festival’s smallest stage in 2023 to opening its main stage the following year — the artist has found it difficult to make time to write new music in the studio. The hope now, though, is to delve into the stockpile of songs they previously wrote with Tylr (the pair used to prolifically ‘vomit out’ multiple tracks per day, says Bambie) for a new release in 2025.
‘I have ADHD so I have object impermanence, meaning I forget about songs I’ve written and need to go through the archives of the last few years of my brain,’ Bambie explains. ‘I can’t wait to have some time to go into the studio and write what I need to get out of me again. But thank God I’ve written so many songs that I’ve saved in the vault for when I don’t have time to do that.’
2024 proved to be a breakthrough year for Bambie Thug — and the next 12 months only look set to build on that momentum. ‘2024 felt like being in the middle of a tornado, trying to hold on as all these experiences fly around me,’ they conclude. ‘2025’s only going to get wilder.’
This article is taken from M's special Future Makers edition — you can read the magazine in full here.
