New York has its snobs, and so does Los Angeles. I was born and raised over in LA and find myself sometimes missing the people that I so happily fled three years ago when I moved to New York. Not in whole, but in part. This is a very blanketed statement, but there was a healthy populous of snobs back in LA that were still actually very nice people. The brats you encounter here can just be mean spirited grumpy preps, and that really isn’t my vibe.
That’s why I am always so happy to find people that make me smile just by watching them. Whenever I see Daniel Scott Erickson I immediately begin to smile. This cutie is always rocking a friendly, upbeat attitude that totally moistens my manties. I chat with him briefly everytime I see him and he always walks away smiling back at me, as if he is hoping that I am smiling too. After getting to know him I found that that is actually a very accurate way to describe him — he just wants everyone to be happy and have fun.
This attitude and energy is also displayed in full force through his awesomely fun band MKNG FRNDZ. I saw a show of theirs once…and when I say “saw” I mean more like, I attended a show of theirs and was dancing and goofing off the whole time. It was great fun and it was exactly how they like it! In a recent interview with ChiefMag.com he talks about how he loves the people that come to their shows and just dance. “There’s nothing to analyze here, just go crazy with us.”
After flashing some serious thigh and promising him lots of flattering comments about his package, Daniel finally agreed to let me talk to him and publicly admit that I am crushin’ on him.
Ok first of all I have to ask because I am curious….a few months back I gave you a free sample of something. Did you ever use it?
Haha! Actually I put it behind the bar in the lil cubby where we keep our shit during our shift and somebody STOLE it! I have it pretty narrowed down to a few people it might have been but i guess it’s finders keepers when it comes to warming lube at a gay bar. I shoulda pocketed it and tacked the empty packet to my wall. It’s so rare when I ever WIN something.
That concludes my sexual harassment of you for the time being. What is your personal favorite song to perform?
It changes from time to time but right now its a song called Love Cruisin’. Its basically about finding your rhythm with somebody on a dancefloor and hoping to recreate that in the bedroom later that night..I think being able to have a groove with somebody when you are dancing together is much like being able to kiss well together too. It’s not on our page but we have performed it live a few times and it gets better every time we do it. Its one of the 1st songs we wrote together as a band and it just keeps evolving ..I keep adding these lil music parts..It actually has a guitar riff that has never been used but once live. I am still learning to sing and harmonize while working a synthesizer and guitar at the same time.
I heard you are planning a tour? Any NY shows on that agenda?
We leave in a few weeks on our US tour. Our 1st show is in Chicago w/ Leslie & The Lys on July 27th. It’s a benefit for About Face Theater (http://aboutfacetheatre.com/) They are a great organization that is totally all about creating dialogue around gender and sexual politics. They have a great programs for Queer & Questioning Youth. As far as New York Shows go the last one we played in February will be our last until we are back from tour. We will be playing A Summer Kamp Variety Series Sept 9th at Metropolitan in Wburg that is co-hosted by the Comedian Garry Hannon.
MJ is gone! Do you plan on covering any of his songs? My friends and I are trying to convince someone to do a hot cover of Dirty Diana…
NO. We are both totally influenced by his body of work.. If we did anything we might pull some visual elements from the Jackson 5′s last 3 records. Get this…. they are called Destiny, Triumph & Victory. In that order. You have got to check out the video for “Can You Feel It” on Youtube. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xW1fXL3s7bk) This video is INCREDIBLE!
I read your interview from ChiefMag.com where you discussed Madonna at length. Are there any M songs that you feel have influenced your music?
OMG YES. Her first album for sure. I think it is flawless. Like a Prayer is a great record. “Express Yourself“, “Keep It Together“, “Like a Prayer“… basically anything she performed during Blonde Ambition. “VOGUE!” But MOST of all the album Erotica. To this day if I see that record lying around anywhere I still get that super excited devious feeling that takes me back to all the controversy surrounding the album & Sex book when I was a kid years ago. Like in some way still I am listening or seeing something that is forbidden & dangerous. haha! Of course this is a bit before Bikini Kill, Huggy Bear & Bratmobile for me. These 3 groups changed my life forever in ways that only people who know what I mean by simply just naming these bands can understand. We all have our stories so I’ll spare mine for now.
Many moons ago you sent out a letter to the whole of Brooklyn announcing that you were going to be filming a music video. How did that go? Can it be viewed online anywhere?
That is an interesting question… we are gearing up to make a few videos. A lot of things have been going on right now with the band. After our last show back in Feb. My bandmate Tami was hit by a car while biking home from work that left her with a pretty terrible ankle injury that had kept her off her feet till literally around 2 weeks ago. With that everything kind of had to fade into the background (videos, recording, tours etc) where we are just now calling it all back on the wind.. we are touring in August now instead of June & July, making videos for Situation & Sexual Forestz in September & October respectively… we will need people for BOTH of these videos and are really excited about them. Anything we have now are still our old demos on the Myspace page or Youtube videos that are scattered here and there.
If anyone wanted to buy your music, where could they do that?
We are actually preparing to sign a record deal for our debut album with our friends at Last Bummer Records. These girls are fucking RAD and know what they are doing and we are just so pumped to be involved with them. One of the girls works for Vice and penned the article on us that just appeared in Chief # 17 the other is actually the editor of Chief Mag itself. Radical, Creative, Spontaneous & Driven Women. They are going to TAKE OVER.
Is there anyone that you are a fan of that you wish more people knew about and would get into?
2 people immediately come to mind.
I have a love affair with Illustrators and Visual Artists because it is defs an area where I lack any real patience or discipline. I am really humbled and feel like a total bad ass to be living on the same planet as both of these guys. Steven Levan. He is a good friend & Co-Worker of mine @ The Metropolitan. He is an AMAAAAAZZZING Visual Artist whose work really gives it to me. I don’t know why somebody hasn’t given him a million dollars yet. He has these portraits of people that he does that are just so insanely good. It’s an ongoing series titled “You and What Army?” they look like painted photographs. The mood, the lighting, the striking poses..there is this aged, rough timelessness to these faces that i can’t take my eyes away from. I want to know them. They are fantastic. We are lucky enough for him to have agreed to lend his work to our 1st album cover. We are FREAAAAKING OUT!
Arturo Cordova. He moved here about a year back from San Juan & all of his work is incredible and gets me really excited. He does really simple to the most intricate illustrations, animations, wheat pastings, zines, record covers & silk screens. He draws tattoos & makes these fantastic shirts with his friend Ricardo Vilaró. Pretty much any illustration he ever shows me I either want to be living in or getting tattooed somewhere on my body. I want Arturo tattooed on my body pretty much. Arturo & Ricardo are actually doing these awesome shirts for our tour that we came up with using a few ideas he had in one of his books that I am flipping out on. I can’t wait for you to see them!
So I know your night job, but whenever I see your big strong arms mopping up my vom I wonder….Does he have a day job like everyone else?
Haha!! You know my Mom (who is back home in Alaska) actually tagged a photo of me doing just that recently that she pulled from my Facebook page where she captioned me “In my Hometown of NYC, USA” and there I am holding a mop and broom! I commented back saying that “My wildest dreams of becoming a glorified janitor in the big city have finally come true!” But seriously I am lucky enough to have the bar as my sole source of income these days. I have a great boss, Troy Carson aka Basic Black. Between the band and Metropolitan I’ve been able to make it work. Pop in during a Monday Happy hour and I’ll be there..my day job starts around 2:30 then. I’m very blessed as far as my job is concerned.
You always seem like you’re in a good mood, which has me wondering … what are some of your pet peeves that might harsh your mellow?
Ridiculous questions or random bitchy comments my direction at the bar here and there can grate at my nerves. Like “Why don’t you guys take your shirts off?” or when I am collecting glasses and somebody is like ” Oh, make way for the go- go boy” or something really classist or shitty like “You’re nothing but a barback” or “You have no authority here” I’m all “Really?” and just think to myself “Catch me on my doorshift..” or MORE IMPORTANTLY “Catch me on my bartending shifts.” TRUST. It’s always a sure fire attitude adjustment. The thing that gets all of us from time to time is when we are working and the bar is packed and you’re busy and somebody has to say something like “WHATS WRONG?” “ARE YOU OK?” “WHY DON’T YOU SMILE?” You feel like you wanna pull em aside and be like “Tell me where you work because when you are at work Monday morning and you are at the most stressful part of your day, I am gonna reach over your shoulder at your cubicle and ask you “How come you never smile?” I get it. I understand that some people just forget that it’s our job and we aren’t getting drunk and hanging out too.
Ok forget the peeves – Do you have any pets!
3 cats and my roommates Lacey & Jacob. We all take care of each other. I have a SHITLOAD OF PLANTS AS WELL!! I wish I had a yard for a full fledged garden! Then you could come over and we could drink beers and play in the garden, listen to records & have a mini BBQ!
An ex of mine once told me that he went to Alaska and had to drive 2 hours to find the only local gay bar and it was a gay bar/fish restaurant combo. Is this a pretty good wrap up of the gay scene in Alaska?
Where the hell did he live? I grew up in Anchorage which is the city and only true Metropolis in the State. There are gay bars there. No fish and chip combos tho.. I would like to know where this place is? Truthfully there is so much more there now then when I was in high school but things can also be pretty pre- Stonewall up there. Take for instance these guys who work up on the north slope on the Oil Rigs or for the Pipeline, right? Well they will do that 2 – 3 weeks out of the month and have a week or so off so they come down to Anchorage to the gay bars and these guys (a few of them) will be in Floral pattern dresses or Opulent drag & some of them will be in full lipstick and make-up regalia with a full beard & mustache! No video cameras allowed. I have to step back and respect that. It’s so easy to be here in New York and forget that things really are very different in certain parts of our own country let alone the rest of the world.
You have a great attitude, I can’t imagine anyone ever not liking you. But has anyone ever said anything about you, personally or musically, that you felt was served with more haterade than necessary?
Well besides my own bridges I’ve burned and have re mended I can only think of one person. Its this guy who used to date a friend of mine a few years back and just plain has a problem with himself and his sexuality. At a show we played last year he and his friend (including some girl he was kissin’ up on) were like “oh, hey!” and I had no idea who he was and he lost it. Anyway loooong story short he proceeded to boo and chide my friends band & my own the entire night until it spilt onto the LES into a fight between them and a few friends of ours. They told me “you’re band is a sad imitation of [enter name of band i have never heard of]!” haha!.. anyway he shows up at the Met every now and then and he STILL talks shit about that night… I have not reached the point yet but if it continues one of these days I’m gonna just let him know that whatever his problem is with boys & their butts needs to be worked out and the fact that he doesn’t like my band is possibly the best compliment I could ever receive because nothing we do or want to be involved with has anything to do with anybody like him. Besides the fact that it made us feel like a real band! MKNG FRNDZ has haters!! YES!!
New York for life, or New York for now?
I love New York…LOVE IT I can’t do the things I do here like I want to do them anywhere else. That being said tho….the subway is NOT free and the streets are NOT paved with gold. Come on people. And keep in mind who you are voting for. Michael Bloomberg does not care about gay people and wants to shut bars and nightlife in this city down before 2am. Christine Quinn will let him run his illegal 3rd term with her blessing because it’s only my guess that she will be running with his blessing as soon as his 3rd term is over. JUST SAYIN’!
(B: Preach!)
What do you see yourself doing in 5 years if all goes as planned?
Being apart of something much bigger than me or here that includes every amazing artist and homo I know, playing shows, saving money and having fun!
This isn’t necessarily related to you but it’s driving me crazy. DO YOU KNOW WHAT OTTER POPS ARE? Nobody I talk to has any idea what I am talking about!!
Oh! You mean Sir Isaac Lime, Alexander The Grape, Little Orphan Orange, Strawberry Short Kook & Poncho Punch? I know them well. BEST FREEZER POPS EVER. I knew those names by heart before I knew The Apostles or The Beatles.
(B: Just so everyone knows, this response put a HUGE smile on my face and made my heart go pitter-patter!)
I am a big big big fan of tattoos and I always see this one of a lady on your arm. Are there any I am missing? My wet dreams await your response.
I have a few…One is script across my rib cage. Its very Fancy faggy cursive and says “thank you for being a friend” It’s a friendship tattoo with my friend Eric Nathanson. He has Beautiful tattoos!
Whenever I think of mustaches I always think of you and I don’t know why. It’s not like you’re the only person I’ve ever seen with a mustache, but it has some strange power over me. Anyway, I bring this up because someone once told me that they planned to have a mustache for 2 years and then they would be done with it. Is your ‘stache for keeps or does it also have an expiration date planned?
I feel I look very young without facial hair in general. Perhaps too young for my taste right now. All of the males in my family have facial hair for the most part and I do identify with that. I will more than likely always have some form of a mustache. I don’t even know what I would look like without one at this point. I like playing with it and changing the shape aka. fucking it up. I like that men as a whole (biologically or not) are having a real love affair with their facial hair.
Summer or winter?
FALL The best of both worlds and I love fall fashion the best.
What animal do you think you are LEAST like?
Creepy crawlers of all kinds. In Alaska we have a ton of killer shit and poison brush & bark but no scorpions, venomous snakes, 6ft centipedes etc… My brain does not know how to process them well because i grew up having to watch out for bear, moose, devils club and wolves! I could drive 75 on black ice and climb a mountain in keds before I would know what to do with a scorpion in my bathtub or an alligator sunning itself by the pool in my backyard!
What would your dream date with me be like? (I’m partial to flowers and sake)
SAKE AND SHROOM TEA IN MY GARDEN IN MY DREAM BACKYARD WITH ENOUGH ROOM TO DANCE AND DO KICKSTANDS AND BACKFLIPS TO CELIA CRUZ RECORDS.
My birthday is coming up soon in 8 months and what I really want is a full blown photograph of you, naked, sprawled out on a bearskin rug. It will be very tasteful. I’m just throwing that out there…
HAHAHA!! I WILL BE THAT BEARSKIN RUG!! HAHA YOU’RE CRAZY!
Hmm…suddenly the image in my head of the bear skin rug pose is far more enticing (I’m totes Sarah)! Oh Daniel, it doesn’t matter which one of us is the bear, I just wanna reform your brains out! He’s so great and I wish him the best of luck on his tour!
To hear some music from MKNG FRNDZ and to see when they will be playing near you, visit their Myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/makingfriendz! Situation totally gets my balls shakin’!
If only I had a quarter for each time I came to theinqueery.com.. Amazing post!
SUPERSTAR