Status: Married to the grind
Most Crushable Qualities: “People love to talk to me about my body… For me it would be my girl next door, teddy bear vibe.” Empathetic, talks like a therapist
Least Crushable Qualities: Super flighty, “I don’t return phone calls; I’m very busy.”
Looking for: “Everything. You know, a good communicator. Have your own stuff. Don’t have other crazy women I have to deal with.”
Not looking for: “Someone chronicling our life over social media…” clingy, someone who isn’t reflective and doesn’t learn from mistakes
Favorite Spots in Little Rock: The Veg, South on Main, and Playtime Pizza
Favorite adult beverage: Port wine (“I call it wine whiskey”)
Who are you in the movie Hook: Maggie (”because she’s very innocent, and she has a solo”)
Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael Jordan, Adam Levine (marry, screw, kill): Kill off MJ, Screw Leo, and Marry Adam (“can you imagine our little mixed race singin’ babies”)
This past Friday we met up with Bijoux at South on Main right before her show with Rodney Block & The Real Music Lovers. Conducting the interview in South on Main’s stylish green room, we had to contend with the not-so-faint sound of Rodney Block practicing the intro to “This Christmas” and a steady stream of gentleman needing Bijoux’s assistance with pinning corsages. Despite these pleasant interruptions, we managed to finish the interview before it was time to turn Bijoux over to the crowd. It started with the basics, but became clear immediately that there is nothing basic about Bijoux.
A lot has changed since Bijoux was last on the market. “I’m dating immature. I got married when I was 25.” Now single, Bijoux has encountered a brave new world of dating sites/apps, social media, and hookup culture. “You can’t catch and release like you used to, with DM’s and whatnot.” She also confessed “I found out that drinks means sex.” In fact she’s discovered that most things mean sex to people. “Everyone who meets me thinks they can sleep with me.” But they can’t. “You just can’t. Or it’s at least going to be 6 months to a year before you can. If you don’t have keys to my house, we aren’t sleeping together. And I’m not sorry. And I’m not frigid. I’m just not sleeping with you.“ Bijoux is also reluctant to enter the now ubiquitous world of online dating, but not because it’s creepy— “It’s not that. I feel like I could find the man of my dreams on a dating site. I just don’t want anyone in my business.”
It is a mystery then why Bijoux agreed to do this interview because you better believe we were all up in her business. Furthermore, when we asked Bijoux what she thought of being on our crush-blog she comically replied “meh.” Yet when we asked her if she had any crushes of her own, she did not hold back. “I crush a lot,” she said, giving us a handful of local names. When asked if she lets people know that she has a crush on them she said “Absolutely… not.” She did, however, tell us the story of the inception of one of her main crushes. “We had one bomb conversation in 2008 about Gargoyles (the cartoon). And that’s when I knew ’oh this is a problem.‘” Hey man, if you’re reading this, you know who you are.
Although Bijoux made it clear that work is her priority and described dating as “tiring,” she has found time lately to go on dates. She even said that she has never had a bad date because she is grateful to anyone that she goes on a date with that they “had this experience together.” She did, however, identify her best date: “It was at Museum of Discovery. I crawled through a maze, built things with blocks, and at the end I laid on a net outside and felt the rain.” Although you will inevitably have a fun time with Bijoux if you take her on a date, it’s clear that to be in a relationship with her you must be very secure. “I’m not going to give up work. And when I’m at work, I’m wearing a tight dress and smiling at folks” she said. "I make baby eyes at people for a living… I’m a flirt. I’m an amazing flirt.” In the end she summed up her dating philosophy as “Have a good time, make your boundaries clear, and don’t ask me to drinks.” And don’t expect Bijoux to change if you start dating. "I was busy when you met me. Isn’t that who you liked, someone who was busy? I’m still busy. I might give up some sleep to be with you, but not work.”
We discovered that there is far more to Bijoux than her stunning good looks, beautiful voice, badass work ethic, and amazing flirtation skills. Reflecting her many facets and eclectic tastes, Bijoux spent much of the interview effortlessly dishing about everything from mid 90’s to early 2000’s SNL (her favorite character is Molly Shannon’s “Superstar”), to southern gentlemen’s proclivity for full bodied women (“This is the South Baby. If you want boys to like you, eat some cornbread and go to sleep.”), to why some people don’t like the movie Hook (“It’s because the aren’t people. Like what don’t you like about Hook?”). She even enchanted us with the story of her most paranormal experience. When she was in high school she was in bed going to sleep when “saw a shadow walk across the door,” but decided “I’m not going to worry about it.” She had been told before of a “witch sitting on your chest” and she woke up to that exact experience. There was a demonic presence sitting on her chest and she couldn’t move. So she said “the blood of Jesus” (which you are supposed to say when being ridden by the witch) and instantly the being transformed into a tall benevolent presence standing at the foot of her bed.
As the interview neared its end and Bijoux prepared to take the stage, we asked her if there was anything important about her that she thought we had missed. “I’m sure there is,” she said calmly, “you just have to be around me… I’m a lot.” Then after a short pause, she lit up and quickly said “Ok here’s your quote” —as if she hadn’t supplied us with a book of quotes already— “I am Bijoux. I can only be Bijoux. It’s not just a twitter handle. It’s a lifestyle.” And right on cue, Luchini by Camp Lo started magically playing.
