Fun Fest Chats: Crazy Talk with Man Man's Honus Honus

You guys released your last album in 2008. What have you been up to?

We have another record that we’re mixing, it’s going to come out around April. It’s called Live Fantastic.

Where did you record? In Philly?

No, we recorded In Omaha, Nebraska. [Pauses] I heard about their steaks, so I was like, “You know what, if I can get a good piece of meat there, that seems like a manly thing to do. I’m gonna go to Omaha.”

Are you guys pretty manly?

No, but our name is.

Why twice?

You know, to really make it stick and to make it --- to make Google searches interesting.

What else comes up when you Google search Man Man?

When you search Man Man? What do you think would come up?? [We laugh.] Google search Gun Oil and see what comes up. You tell me. Stuff comes up, you know. Everything comes up.

[We check the recording device to ensure it’s on and realize we’re going to hear a lot of Ariel Pink that is playing outside our tent.]

What do you think of Ariel Pink? What else have you seen this weekend?

Ariel Pink? He’s funky. I saw Weird Al last night.

What did you think of Weird Al? Had you ever seen him before?

It’s what I thought it would be. No, but it was cool. Like, the twelve year old in me was freaking the [beep] out.

Did you see Chris Hardwick? The twelve year old in me was freaking out for that.

I did. I did. [Laughs] I know, I was like, where’s Jennifer McCarthy?

Jennifer, huh? Serious relationship there?

Ha, yeah. Jen? Jenny? [Laughs.] Oh yeah. Well, you know she’s older now, you know. She doesn’t believe in medicine, or sunscreen.

She was dating Jim Carey, eh? I didn’t see that coming. But ya know, who knows?

She was. Yeah, look up Gun Oil, you’ll see it coming. [We both laugh.] I’ve never looked up Gun Oil, but a friend of mine told me to look it up.

Okay I will, but I hope that you remember to do so as well. Should we make a pact?

What? We’re going to look it up at the same time? Yeah, we’ll do Chatroulette and look it up at the same time. I may be a Turkish man or a small Asian boy in Germany. [Laughs]

Have you ever done Chatroulette?

I did it once. I was amazed by the skill of the people masturbating. Not how they were doing it, but how quickly they were typing on the computer and how quickly they could turn the computer camera down on themselves. They could do it way faster then I can press space bar. That’s why I’ve only done it once. [Pauses] For ten hours.

Do you guys hang out in Philly? Do you all live in Philly?

Three out of the five guys do. Me and another guy are kind of nomadic.

Where have you been?

I mean, I’d like to live somewhere eventually, but I technically live out of a storage unit.

How much do you pay a month?

Like $150 bucks. I don’t live in the storage unit, you know.

No, I know. Do you get temperature control?

Well, I have a lot of dumb stuff that I store. A lot of taxidermy and instruments and stuff. Nothing of any real value. The animals are taxidermy ,but they’re in formaldehyde, so it has to be climate controlled, yeah. It’s cool though. I have a baby, white buffalo. It’s really rare. They’re kind of spiritual. I bought it on eBay, believe it or not. I had to drive out to South Dakota to get it.

How big is it?

It’s a baby. It’s a fetus basically. They’re, like, spiritual creatures. I was just like, I want one, and I want one in a tank, in formaldehyde.

How often do you even see it then? I’d hope you’d have some sort or relationship with it at least.

Not that often. I have a live feed camera on it so I can check in every so often. When you drop like a year’s worth of rent to buy something spiritual and unique, you put in it storage. It’s a dead animal. As much of a relationship as I can have. Have you ever seen an Australian possum? [No.] They’re so cute. They look like bush babies. They look like toys. We were fortunate enough to go to Australia a couple years ago and we were at a house party and I saw one in a tree. They look like a Monchichi. Do you know Monchichi?

No. What’s a Monchichi?

You can look that one up to when you look up Gun Oil. Look it up second, you’ll feel less guilty. Or grossed out. I’m sure you’ve seen them, they’re like little toy dolls they have little pointed fingers and they can stick their fingers in their ears and mouth and nose. Maybe I’m just being weird. I don’t know, I had one when I was a kid. They look like monkeys. The Australian possum looks like a Monchichi. You should Google it. If you haven’t realized yet, I work for Google. My hands are burning holding [your] Verizon phone. I’ve got a big Google tramp stamp. You won’t see it...yet.

You love the Internet, huh? How many hours do you spend on the Internet daily?

I’m addicted to the Internet. Probably only like 10 minutes a day.

Are you going to go see Monotonix? I think I’m gonna go check that out next.

They’re playing now. I’m glad I don’t have to play on the same stage as him, because I hear he sticks his microphone in his bottom.

Are you having “Fun Fun Fun”? Are you going to stick it out and hang out tomorrow? You’re here with your father, how’s enjoying the festival?

I am now I guess, I don’t know. I am going to stick around tomorrow and check out some shows. He’s an old hat to the rock scene. He comes to a lot of our shows. He’s all, “I think I need to get ear plugs this year.”

Did your mom come?

My mom did not come. She lives in another part of the country. Oh, weird. Crazy, modern family dynamics!

For next time.