Interviews: Jon Ginoli (Pansy Division)

Having formed in 1991 in San Fransisco, Pansy Division were the
pop-punk pioneer in the "homo-core" movement. The band was a Lookout!
Records staple. Touring with Green Day at the height of their "Dookie"
popularity just further added to the exposure Pansy Division
would get and only made their voice, that much louder. It's not often
that a band as socially important as Pansy Division comes along. They
have had a very busy first half of the year, between a new LP, a book
and a DVD, Pansy Division are as busy as ever. Michael Kane
caught up with Jon Ginoli singer and co-founder of Pansy Division.You can click Read More for the interview.

First of all, I loved the book (Pansy Division:
Life In A Gay Rock Band). Having followed Pansy Division since the
early ‘90s, what drew me towards you guys was your boldness and how
"in your face" the lyrics were. With Green Day and pop-punk in
general, blowing up, did you ever think "maybe if we tone it down a
bit" we could be huge" ?

As indie/pop-punk bands got signed, we discussed the
possibility of going with a major label, but figured we would always
be the low man on the totem pole. To be huge, we would have had to
change so much that it would have turned us into another band. The
idea of mainstream success seemed pretty far-fetched.

When you started Pansy Division, were you aware of the social acceptance you
could/would help bring to the gay movement, or was it just about
making music?
It was both. For me they were inseparable.

How important to Pansy Division is it to make you records available on vinyl?
It used to be important. But our vinyl sales slowed considerably,
compared to CD, so the three we released on vinyl in the ‘90s are all
you're gonna get on LP. We did just put out a new vinyl 45 though. I
like records, but most of our fans don't seem to want them on vinyl.

Being able to criss-cross through the country as much as you
have, where is homophobia now in the US as opposed to 20 years ago?
There's less of it, overall, though there's still more in the deep
South than anywhere else.

Being not only a musician but also a fan, does an
artist's newer sub-par work ever ruin their old work for you? Elvis
Costello is almost there for me and Rev. Norb swears the Clash didn't
release anything after London Calling . No, the old work doesn't get denigrated by later sub-par work. And
even though I like the first three Clash albums best, I still like songs
on their two later albums, but not the whole thing, like the earlier
ones. Funny you should mention Elvis Costello. When punk was new, in
the late ‘70s, everyone I knew who was into punk was into Costello too.
But you'd never know that from reading MRR!

It was great to see you guys at Insubordination Fest. What were the
rest of the crowds like on the tour? Any highlights ?
It got better as it went along, at the end with DC, Baltimore, and
NYC being great, as well as Chicago and Minneapolis the week before.

Who was the last band you saw the blew you away?

Radio Birdman. Saw them twice since they reformed. The first time
ranks as one of my all time favorite shows.

Being a pop-punk veteran, how important is Joel(former MTX) as a
member of Pansy Division?
His pedigree with MTX is nice to point to, though it's all about
sound, not history. We began playing with him out of convenience -- he
was in two bands with Luis already -- but it worked out great, and his
contribution to our latest album That's So Gay is one reason it's one
of our best albums.

What can we expect from Pansy Division or you in the near future?

We just did an east coast tour in June, and in September '09 we'll
do our west coast tour (find the dates at here.
We've just spewed out a bunch of stuff recently! Besides the new
album, the documentary about our band, Pansy Division: Life In A Gay
Rock Band, came out on DVD earlier this year. Plus, my book
Deflowered: My Life In Pansy Division, came out too. So it may be a
while before more stuff makes it out to the public.