The Honus Honus Interview: Swept Off My Feet Like A Fish.

We love Man Man. It’s obvious, we’ve stuffed it down your throat even more than Victor Victor Band. We are such big fans that Sister and I, between the two of us, have seen them in five different states in slightly over a year.

In their own way they started our unhealthy obsession with local and indie music. If you get the joke in the name of our Web site then you know that the music and experience of Man Man plays a huge part in what we do here at HEFF.

So when the opportunity to sit down with frontman Honus Honus presented it’s self we were psyched! We packed the car with vegan snacks, tempted Nataly’s crappy car radio to make it the 3.5 hour trip, and headed south into rainy, dark traffic on I-95, all to catch up with them at the 9:30 Club in Washington D.C. (Okay, okay, we were going anyway, duh! But, getting to talk with them was an extra “rad” experience.)

I sat down between sets to speak with Honus Honus. We grilled him a little about their long absence from Philly, and his feelings on relationships. We covered a wide and strange array of topics like, death, parenthood, skydiving and his inspirations. We had to stop a few times for the bands to play, so a few questions went unanswered, but don’t fret whether you like it or not, you will be hearing a lot more from Man Man on our little site.

HEFF:How come we haven’t seen you guys in Philly for quite a while?

HH: I don’t know. It’s like we haven’t been avoiding Philly we just for some reason or another haven’t played Philly. It’s almost been a year.

HEFF: Your R5 relationship is still good and strong?

HH: Yeah that’s still good. (Slight hesitation and laugh). No, no it’s good. There really hasn’t been a reason why we haven’t played Philly…. We all feel really lousy about it. We don’t sleep well.

HEFF: I don’t think we have seen you in state since last Halloween.

HH: Well I mean we don’t like playing Philly all the time anyway because we don’t want to wear out or welcome but a year is kind of ludicrous. We kind of feel at this point that we need more new songs, or a new record before we have the right to play Philly again anyway, so thats on us.

HEFF: So Chris (Drummer Pow Pow aka Christopher Powel) said you did have some new songs.

HH: Yeah we are going to play a couple tonight.

HEFF: Tell me about them.

HH: They’re new.(laughs)

HEFF: Is there an album behind it?

HH: Oh I mean thats why we haven’t been touring very much. We’ve just been trying to write a new record. I keep telling myself it’s the hardest one to write. What a bitch. But then I think back and they were all pretty terrible to write. So we are kind of in the thick of it.

HEFF: What’s your writing process? You all have a certain sound that you bring to it. So how do you do that? Does one person write?

HH: It’s like group therapy, a lot of putting out family fires.

HEFF: How did you guys find each other?

HH: Through Match.com(laughs)…. He [Pow] was always my favorite Philly drummer, so when my first drummer bounced, I got someone else and then I got Pow.

HEFF: Your fans are either die hard or “I can’t listen to that crazy clown music”.

HH: (Laughs)Clown music?? Wow that’s cool.

HEFF: Why do you think your music can draw so many people and turn so many people off?

HH: I dig it, you know? I like eliciting some response. I’d rather it be an extreme one than a middling one where some one just bops their head. I’d rather people just go ape-shit with happiness or just be completely reviled. I like that we can piss people off its great.

HEFF: Who are your fans?

HH: I think, anyone who the child isn’t dead in them. You know? Someone who is at least open. I mean I feel like your either into it or your not. I feel like I am the same way personally so it works for the music too.

HEFF: Are your love songs about hope or about heartbreak?

HH: Hope that heartbreak doesn’t happen again. But being open to it possibly happening again. I don’t know both.

HEFF: Do you believe in painless love?

HH: I wish. I mean I haven’t been in a relationship in years now. It’s worth trying… I don’t know.

HEFF: So when you write about love, not having been in a relationship recently, are you pulling from the past?

HH: Well I mean I wasn’t able to write songs for like about a year or so, just because I just didn’t feel like I had anything. I didn’t want to go to the well basically.

We take a break to watch Opening Band Who Shot Hollywood play.

HEFF: How do you go from being Ryan to Honus? I mean you are so quiet and nice right now?

HH: (Mischievous laugh)Ahh. Its funny, I went to go to the Dirty Projectors show the other day but just to catch their sound check, because i wanted to watch the Phillies game and one of the girls in the band (we played a couple shows with them) she walked by me a couple times and we finally got to talk and she said she didn’t recognize me cause she was used to seeing my legs. Maybe thats what it is?

HEFF: What do you want to be doing when your 64?

HH: I want to be dead!

HEFF: Dead by 64?

HH: We are all dead by 2012! … I hope I have something figured out by 64.

HEFF: What is it that your trying to figure out?

HH: My shit.

HEFF: Do you want to be playing music? Do you want to be settled down?

HH: I don’t know. I’d hope that the “shit show” that’s my personal life, I hope that it settles down a little bit, yeah. I’ll probably just be a little more mellow.

HEFF: Are you happy?

HH: Are YOU happy?

HEFF: Most of the time.

HH: Yeah? What’s the secret?

HEFF: Honestly… for me it’s my kid.

HH: Well than yeah, its not your life anymore…. that’s the last thing I need to have is a fucking kid (laughs)…. it would be terrible if i had a kid.

HEFF: Would it? Why?

HH: Nah it would just be bad.

HEFF: Your kid could be so creative and crazy and fun.

HH: My kid would be a mess or he’d just grow up to be really conservative.

HEFF: There you go that would probably be it.

HH:… generally how that happens.

HEFF: Back to the music. What are you listening to?

HH: I’ve been listening to a lot of early R&B. My friend got me into this record Tarheel Slim and Little Annie. It’s really cool like early Sixties R&B. I am a sucker for R&B and Do-woop

HEFF: Yeah it’s obvious.

HH: ( laughs)Yeah. I did a cover of Cry To Me by Solomon Burke. A friend of mine (Charlyne Yi) she was in our Rabbit Habits video. She remade a scene of Dirty Dancing with that actor Channing Tatum… They reenacted the sexy, sultry dancing. They couldn’t get the rights to that Solomon Burke song so she had me cover that song and it was painful. Solomon Burke is like 400 pounds, 90 grandchildren, full of soul. I mean I have some soul but my soul is broken and fucked. So it took two days to record my vocals for it. And the first day I made it like 3 hours and I had to leave and go to bed at 5 o’clock at night. I was like I don’t know how to do this. I can’t do this. But I figured it out. I don’t know where that story came form.

HEFF: How did you get together with Charlyne? How did she get involved in your videos and opening for you?

HH: A friend of a friend, and then we just clicked. She’s pretty fearless she’s got some big balls on her. When we first stared hanging out we went skydiving together that was a lot of fun.

HEFF: Oh shit, how was that? Was that your first time?

HH: Yeah for both of us. It was probably our last time, well I want to go again.

HEFF: I always said when I’m 84

HH: (laughs)Yeah when your 84?… It’s gonna be written into my will, [that] I want my mom to go skydiving with my ashes.

HEFF: And spread them?

HH: Ah huh ..I’m going to give people pieces of my ashes to do something with. Like my one friend Angry Mike, I want him to have my ashes and go snorkeling in the Bahamas you know and spread um in the water, he can’t swim so that would be awesome. And my moms like, “If i jump out of a plane i’ll have a heart attack.” I’m like, “At least your dying with me.”

HEFF: How did you conceptualize, was this your musical sound that comes through in Man Man?

HH: It’s kind of my answer all the time but its the truth: I couldn’t afford therapy and this is how i get my shit out of my system. But its ironic because it just got to the point where if I didn’t have this I would just be….

Then they called him for set time!!!

Philly Fanatics

I have been referred to as an obsessed fan on several occasions.  I take that with pride and valor.  I get that you can love a band’s music so much that you feel moved, inspired or even transformed.  But I have never been compelled to grope, confess my undying love, or steal from a band I like.  Those of you who know me really really well might be saying to yourselves: what about that time you told Fiona Apple you loved her?  Well, screw you because I do!  On with my point.

I just never understood fanaticism that involved crying over Elvis or fainting over the The Beatles.  What good does that do?  You’re blinded by your tears and you miss it all if you pass out.  You paid good money to see The King. Why faint and see the insides of your eyelids instead?  Does the music move you so much that your organs, circulatory system and lungs give up? PUH-LEASE.

Jump to modern day.  Still no point in crying over bands you like.  What’s worse is the “I LOVE YOU, fill in the blank”.  No, you don’t.  You don’t know them and they don’t love you back.  At least not in the same way.  You never know.  They could be republican, racist or bite their toenails, all unloveable traits.

Gets worse: How about the grabbing and touching?  That is borderline molestation last time I checked.  I think it’s safe to say the band members do not enjoy the reaching for their privates unless it’s by a wife, girlfriend or mistress.  What do you think will happen if you cop-a-feel?  Their talent will be magically transfered to you? Or maybe you think they will feel your touch and thus forth, only have eyes for you?  Not likely.

So maybe you think well, touching their nuts didn’t do it so perhaps I’ll just get myself a little keepsake.  That’s right I’ve seen it with my own eyes!  Fans stealing from the very bands they love so dearly.  Picks, drumsticks, instruments taken.  Will these things complete your shrine?

Musicians are people just like me and you.  Granted they are talented, and that makes them sexy but people just the same.  Every musician wants fans that are enthusiastic, supportive and eager.  However, I think it best to just enjoy the music, the sexy musicians, and a respectful crowd.  Be moved, inspired or transformed but please keep the tears, fainting, molestation and larceny to a bare minimum.