One can expect all sorts of signs, apparel and mantras at a Role Model and Debbii Dawson concert.
From “T Dawg Baddie With Fat Ass” and “Advice for First Pap Smear” to a sign asking for Role Model to be a lesbian couple’s sperm donor — “Maybe someday,” he told Us Weekly — there has been no shortage of hilarious fan behavior on the No Place Like Tour run.
“I can’t say the things I saw on the signs,” Dawson — who opened for Role Model during his North American tour run — told Us exclusively ahead of the release of her latest single, “Chemical Reaction,” out today. “They’re a little scandalous.”
One fan interaction, however, has stayed with the America’s Got Talent alum.
“Somebody shouted, ‘You’re a baddie and a 10,’ or something like that to me. But I didn’t hear, so I thought they were saying I looked like George Washington. So that’s something that I am getting now,” she told Us. “It’s fine. He’s hot.”
While not quite 18th-century, Dawson does channel a retro energy in her ethereal, disco-tinged music. It’s clear that ABBA is a major inspiration for the singer, who was born in Minnesota but spent much of her childhood traveling in Europe.
“I grew up listening to older music, a lot of hymns, classical music, soundtracks and then oldies — English, Spanish, Italian, French and Bollywood oldies,” she told Us. “A lot of dead people.”
If you haven’t fallen for her quirky charm by now, Dawson manages to package outrageous stories and bold proclamations into a polite and poised demeanor — as evidenced by her Instagram presence.
“I recently told somebody about how I just hung out in a cemetery for a while in a country by myself,” she recalled to Us while speaking about her upbringing. “My parents went grocery shopping when we were living in Switzerland, and it’s so expensive. So they went to Germany and my passport was expired and so were my siblings’. So they just left us in a park but found out it was a cemetery after they drove away.”
Upon the first few minutes of speaking to the “Happy World” singer, you realize she’s full of stories just as entertaining as that one.
Dawson uniquely cites Emily Dickinson and Shrek as influences for her music, including EPs Learning (2023) and How to Be Human (2024).
“Emily Dickinson was someone whose poetry I would read a lot, and I just felt like her story looked a little similar to mine at the time,” she told Us. “I was a bit of a hermit and stopped leaving home and essentially then stopped living life. And so I read the end of her story, since it was a while ago, and it was a little scary to see myself reflected in that way, but I also realized that I could change the ending [for myself].”
She continued: “And you know what? They have a lot in common because Shrek is also a hermit and lived in the swamp all by himself. And this whole journey is just me trying to find my donkey.”
This time around, Dawson is entering her robot era.
“‘Chemical Reaction’ is about not really wanting or being interested in romance or relationships or anything, but taking a step back and seeing it from the nerdy math science part of it,” she said of the new single, which shows her as a mad scientist on the cover art. “[It’s] just how a robot would feel falling in love for the first time and going through that process and trying to understand it.”
Furthermore, Dawson says the robotic theme represents her trying to escape her own emotions and dealing with numbness in her mental health journey.
“I used to tell myself when I was not feeling good, ‘I wish I was a robot so I could stop feeling things,’” she told Us. “But then after a while, I think it kind of happens where you don’t feel anything anymore. And so in this next chapter of my life, I feel like I’ve started to allow myself to feel things and experience things.”
“Chemical Reaction” is out now.
