Thanks to their advanced face-disguising technology no one will suspect that these aren’t the real members of Man Man
Man Man’s Honus Honus talks… talks?
Hailing from the fertile independent arts community of Philadelphia Man Man are a difficult act to classify. Attempts to describe their sound often resort to suggesting a head-on collision between two or more diverse genres. Imagine a drug-addled Tom Waits playing saloon music for an audience of poodles raised by Captain Beefheart and you’ll approach the endearing absurdity embraced in every instant of the band’s repertoire. Since the release of Six Demon Bag in 2006 the five-piece has toured ceaselessly earning a reputation for tight live shows featuring all-white uniforms.
“Calgary’s going to be getting us about a month after the start of our tour so the white won’t be store-bought white anymore it’ll be more of a road-weary white” says front man Honus Honus (a.k.a. Ryan Kattner). “Our live show is slightly bombastic but there’s no banter because we have to assume that everything’s new to everyone (and we want to prove ourselves through the music). I could be extremely clever if I wanted to be.”
Thanks to this professionalism and persistence snippets of Man Man’s distinctive avant garde tracks have started to crop up in the strangest of places. Although their songs seemed more than appropriate when used in a recent episode of the pot-centred TV comedy Weeds a series of Nike ads featuring “10-Pound Moustache” took many fans by surprise.
“I think it’s a little subversive” contemplates Honus. “There’s no reason why a band as weird as Man Man should ever be in a women’s Olympic soccer commercial from Nike during the MTV VMAs. There’s no reason we should be on Fox. Obviously I’m not going to license “Black Mission Goggles” to a graphic rape scene in Law & Order and I don’t want to have “Van Helsing Boombox” playing during an anti-abortion commercial or some creationism commercial. So it is a gamble but for the most part our fans are really psyched that in some way we’re infiltrating mainstream media.”
In another step towards a larger audience Man Man is currently on tour with successful Seattle rockers Modest Mouse. Surprisingly the decision to go on the road with a band that enjoys occasional radio hits has generated more ire among fans than anything.
“I think that’s ridiculous” responds Honus “In the world of radio rock Modest Mouse is a godsend. They’re a weird band when you break it down. I feel like they’re a gateway drug to different kinds of music. At first I wasn’t sure what their audience would be like… I didn’t know if it would just be fist-pumping meatheads who really liked “Float On” and would play it when they’d roofie a girl but in reality the fan base was kids who were still psyched and not bitter about music. It’s an important part of their lives and it’s defining the memories of where they’re at.”
Fans attending the show can expect to hear a few new songs from Man Man’s upcoming LP. According to Honus the recording process is finished and the album will be released as soon as artwork and label issues are resolved.
“We’ve put a lot of heart into the new record and it’s definitely way poppier than our first two” he says. “But you know it’s pop our way. What I think is pop isn’t really pop I guess. Just because we’re touring with Modest Mouse it doesn’t mean my head’s going to be straightened out and we’re going to suddenly start writing Rob Thomas love ballads. We’re still a weird band.”
Popular tour mates and commercial exposure aside it’s hard to imagine a world where everyone knows who Man Man is. As Honus says “I don’t know if that would be a healthy world.”
