Interview With a Club Socialite

By Jordan Eggers

Sitting alone, outside on a black, iron chair and sipping his iced latte waiting for his shift at Sephora to start, you wouldn’t suspect that Daniel Oxford had just gotten off work eight hours ago from his other job as a night club host.

Well, maybe you would.

From a distance I could see his fierce platinum blonde hair and polished face covered with Makeup Forever foundation powder. With his all-black day-job attire on, you would forget that just the night before he was wearing nothing but tights and shiny gold spandex shorts.

This morning his face looks refreshed with just the powder on, but last night his face glimmered with glitter surrounding his heavily black-lined eyes and cheeks cotton-candy-pink with NARS’ Angelika blush.

With friends like the infamous Jeffree Star and others in the nightlife aristocracy, Daniel Oxford has transformed himself into the night creature Daniel Hilton, and it’s no wonder why nightclub photographers flash cameras at him from every angle.

But behind the glitz and glamour of the nightlife scene lies darkness, and Oxford is no stranger to what this means: the leechers, the discrimination, and the drugs.

TBT: How did clubbing began for you?

DH: The first time I went clubbing was so funny. I didn't know what to expect, but all I knew was that I was with some of my best friends and I wanted to dance my ass off. When we got to PopsceneSF I was kind of shocked at how small it was. In the movies, clubs look like huge buildings with tons of levels and cages on the walls. I instantly fell in love with Popscene and just clubbing in general.

TBT: How was alcohol accessed?

DH: Lets just be honest, there are so many stores in SF and the Bay Area—shit, the whole damn country—that doesn't even ask for IDs, and if they do they don't care if it looks like you're a tall blonde supermodel and you're really a short troll with horrible roots. They want the money, honey!

TBT: When did you first drink/use drugs at a club?

DH: The first time I went clubbing I drank alcohol. I remember it was green apple vodka. That was my favorite drink for a while until I decided to drink a whole bottle of it before a club and spent the night puking my life away. Now with drugs, that's a different story. Those scare the shit out of me. You see those around the club scene no matter where you are and it’s sad. You think you know someone but when you find out they're tweaking your whole perspective on people, in general, change.

TBT: Which clubs did you go to first?

DH: Popscene was the first club I went to. The Crib SF was my first gay club I went to. That was definitely an experience to say the least. I never thought I'd see two gangsters making out then taking their clothes off and swinging around on poles.

TBT: How did you become the persona Daniel Hilton?

DH: I've been going by Daniel Hilton since probably 10th grade. But the Daniel Hilton of then and now are totally opposite. Thanks to my cousin and my best friend Jeffree Star I have so much more self confidence than I ever have before. He's taught me to be myself and screw what anyone else says.

TBT: How were you received at the clubs once you took on this persona?

DH: Well thanks to Myspace, so many different clubs/club promoters added me, asking for me to come check out their clubs, bring whoever I want, and free drinks all night. So VIP it was from then on. But sometimes when I walked around clubs I'd hear things coming from people calling me a slut or a bitch just because of the way I carry myself—confident—and that's sad, but once again, who gives a fuck what they say. It only matters how you feel.

TBT: Being gay have you ever encountered homophobic people in the clubs?

DH: Oh yes. It’s a scary world. I've been jumped a few times, even robbed at gunpoint. It's life and it will always happen. Hearing ‘queer’ from [far] away isn't only happening in high school. Even at clubs that are for the LGBT community, I’ll get called a fag, which makes no since to me but whatever.

TBT: How did that make you feel?

DH: Honestly you just have to laugh at it. While it’s sad and hurtful, just think about how sad those people’s lives must be and how disgusting they are. Plus they probably just want to make out with you.

TBT: For people who want to pursue this, or live this lifestyle, what's your advice?

DH: To do this you have to have a unique persona. I go to clubs that have a strict dress code: wearing booty shorts and diamonds glued to my face. Now come on! Just be yourself. Trust nobody but yourself. Even your best friends will stab you in the back. Don't let people walk all over you and just have a bomb time.

About Hilton:

Hilton is a night club host where almost every Friday and Saturday he can be seen in clubs around the San Francisco Bay Area. He has been on tours with many musical artists like The Millionaires, Chiodos, The Maine, Attack Attack, and Every Avenue. He has been invited to New York Fashion Week, clubs all around the Los Angeles and New York areas, and is a part of the Sephora traveling team.