“Somehow I’ve Never Seen Your Balls”: On the Road With Hunx and His Punx

So you’re going to a Hunx and his Punx gig and want to know what you’re in for? Some things to expect: colorful wigs, candy thongs, and Karaoke Corvettes. Formally known as Hunx and his Punkettes, the West Coast band mix a campy, bubblegum style with a gritty garage punk sound, a blend that begins to gel once you see the John Waters-inspired aesthetic embodied by Seth Bogart, Erin Emslie, and Shannon Shaw (who doubles as the bassist in the iconic Oakland-based punk band Shannon and the Clams). After a 12-year hiatus, Hunx is back with their fourth studio album, Walk Out on This World, and a new North American tour (which makes a pit stop in Brooklyn this week). Before the show, Bogart and Shaw hopped on a Zoom with us to talk about swinging balls, playing dress-up, and the band’s particular mix of silly and serious.

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SETH BOGART: Hi, Shannon.

SHANNON SHAW: Hello, Seth Bogart.

BOGART: I don’t want to get punched in the balls by you. Because if I talk about certain things, I’ve been warned I will get hit in the nuts. I almost got punched in the balls on stage in Portland.

SHAW: But to be clear, it was your idea. Seth told me he was going to promise me something, and if he went against the promise and blabbed on stage, that I could punch him in the nuts. It was all your idea, and I loved your idea because that’s pretty scary.

BOGART: And I will say that I did not blab because I know Shannon will throw down and punch people in the fucking face if they deserve it. It’s not like she’s going around punching people, but if she sees a friend getting beat up or a man is harassing someone really hard, she will knock a bitch out. So I didn’t say a peep about what I wanted to say…

SHAW: But you know I’d never actually punch you.

BOGART: Maybe. So far we’ve played two big shows on our tour.

SHAW: Both sold out.

BOGART: Both sold out, not to brag.  Which was your favorite?

SHAW: They were both so fun. I think I loved Seattle because we got to hang out on that Karaoke Corvette afterwards.

BOGART: Yeah, after we played in Seattle, this person pulled up their ’80s blue Corvette that had a karaoke machine inside and people want to take pictures with us, not to be like a bitch by saying that. This person had just offered to buy me alcohol at the bar and took their pants down and had me sign their butt.

SHAW: What? I missed that.

BOGART: Yeah, you missed that. And this person was hot. So I was like, “Okay, I’ll go outside.” So I go outside in front of the venue and Shannon is crawling on the hood of the Corvette, all sexy style in full leather. And I was just like, “Fuck, I’ve got to get up on that Corvette.” So I immediately took off my shorts and I was wearing these new tighty whities with white socks and white creepers. And later when I saw the photos, I was like, “Oh my god, I sort of have a Lil Nas X moment when he was in his underwear and white cowboy boots the other day at 4:00 AM.” And then he got arrested. So sad.

SHAW: Oh no.

BOGART: How did you end up on top of the Corvette?

SHAW: I think they told me that I could get up there, but I was worried that the hood would dent. Luckily, it’s a really well-made vehicle that can handle a large and powerful woman.

BOGART: Not only a large and powerful woman, but a couple of fags.

SHAW: Yeah, it was fun. It brought out the Tawny Kitaen in me.

BOGART: You were so Tawny. Shannon was on her side throwing her legs up in the air and our guitar player, Alana [Amram], was trying to get on. And then Shannon kicked her off on accident and—

SHAW: Kicked her in the face.

BOGART: And she flew backwards.

SHAW: It was definitely an accident. I would never want to hurt Alana, ever.

BOGART: A lot of times bands will walk out to a song. So in Seattle, Alana picked Edith Massey’s “Punks, Get Off The Grass,” which obviously is a good choice. But then in Portland, right before we went on stage, we were dressed as airline attendants and Jose [Boyer] and Alana were pilots. And then we started an airline, by the way, called Punkette Air. And they were like, “What song do you want to walk up to?” And the only thing I could think of was Vengaboys’ “We Like To Party.”

SHAW: I think that was a really good choice. I feel like it helps round out our vibe. It definitely pumped people up. I hope we do it again.

BOGART: It’s so good. When we walked out on stage, we had these little stewardess hats and I put a wig on, then I put the hat on, and then I put another blonde wig on top of the hat.

SHAW: Let’s talk about our rider. What items did you want that we didn’t get?

BOGART: Mostly Celsius.

SHAW: Yeah, we’ve got to get the Cherry Cola Celsius.

BOGART: It is so delicious. I just had one, not right now, but yesterday. I got sick, actually.

SHAW: You did?

BOGART: Yeah. After our Portland show, I sounded like Lindsay Lohan. I was screaming my head off and lost my voice completely. But I thought I sounded hot. And then I got sick.

SHAW: Oh, man.

BOGART: So what’s on our rider?

SHAW: We got vitamin C shots. Is that what they’re called? Like ginger shots to keep us—

BOGART: Immunity shots. Wellness shots.

SHAW: You weren’t drinking enough of those.

BOGART: Maybe we should take the bottle of tequila off the rider so we don’t get too crazy.

SHAW: We have kombucha, right?

BOGART: I don’t think we even have that anymore. Maybe they didn’t give it to us. But we always have like, fruits and vegetables with dips? I don’t feel like we ever eat it. Can we just ask for money?

SHAW: Yeah, we can ask for money.

BOGART: Next time. We want money.

SHAW: I’m super disappointed we didn’t have more fun shit on there.

BOGART: I know. Okay, so remember when we played on the radio in Seattle?

SHAW: Yeah.

BOGART: We played on this radio station called KEXP and we slayed, except that we had to redo a song like 80 times. And then we did this photoshoot afterwards. Can we talk about that?

SHAW: Oh, yeah.

BOGART: First of all, the lady wanted us to pose in front of Pride flags and I was like, “Oh my god, kill me.” But since there were several locations, I was like, “Okay, fine.” And then we posed outside and we were dressed in our flight attendant outfits. And then what did she say to me, the photographer?

SHAW: She was like, “Come on, loosen up. I know you’re all buttoned down in a suit right now, but people want to see you be crazy in your thong with your balls swinging everywhere.” Somehow I’ve never seen your balls.

BOGART: Really? Wow. You’ve seen many photos of my junk.

SHAW: Yes, but I’ve never seen your balls swinging to and fro or dangling or anything. Definitely balls are not on the stage. But I think she was trying to be hip and funny.

BOGART: Remember that time we played in Paris and I wore a candy thong. And you—

SHAW: Uh, oh.

BOGART: At the sex shop, I found this underwear made out of candy necklaces and Shannon gets a sinister look in her eyes, reaches over while we’re on stage, and snaps the underwear.

SHAW: Well, you’d been eating some of the candy off of it and, yeah, I was being a naughty baby junior.

BOGART: And what was I wearing underneath?

SHAW: Nothing.

BOGART: My favorite forever will be your leather thong with the pocket on the front that you kept little chips crumbled up inside and would snack on them mid-show. Do you still have it?

BOGART: I don’t know. I don’t think so. But I get it confused with these two thongs I got in San Francisco from the used store called Worn Out West. It closed, but they sold leather and Levi’s and horny gay guy stuff from the ’80s. It was so cool. 

SHAW: What would a normal person keep in that tiny thong pocket?

BOGART: Poppers or condoms?

SHAW: Poppers fit in there?

BOGART: I feel like they were, like, sex clubs. So, you put your money in, ID or poppers or keys or I don’t know. 

SHAW: A whole chip didn’t even fit in there.

BOGART: What are you excited about for the East Coast? What shows?

SHAW: I’m really excited for New York, of course, just because New York’s so fun. You’ve not been to Pittsburgh, right?

BOGART: I played in Pittsburgh one time with Le Tigre and Gravy Train!!!! in 2005. But I don’t think Hunx has ever played there.

SHAW: I really love it. It’s such a cute town.

BOGART: It’s so cute.

SHAW: I’m also excited about Chicago because it’s sold out and I love Chicago.

BOGART: The guys in Chicago are hot. They’re really beefy. And we’re going on tour with this band called Tchotchke, who I think has a new record out.

SHAW: Yeah, they have really good music videos. Have you seen them?

BOGART: Yeah. They’re so cute. They remind me of Sparks. Oh my god, we get to play with Sparks, also. What else are we supposed to talk about? Oh, should we talk about the record? Well, we have a new record that just came out called Walk Out On This World. It’s our first record in 12 years and it’s amazing. The title song was written by Shannon. And I’ve had a lot of people tell me they cried to it.

SHAW: Really?

BOGART: Which is what I did when you sent me the demo, by the way. I was crying. I think you’re crying in the demo too.

SHAW: I am.

BOGART: Yeah. I was sobbing.

SHAW: I don’t know if it’s obvious what it’s about, but Cody, my bandmate in Shannon and the Clams, told me that he cried listening to it. And that guy does not really cry.

BOGART: Really? Well, it’s such a great song, and it’s so sad.

SHAW: So my fiancée passed away, and we lived together in Portland, and my family’s in the Bay Area, and Erin [Emslie] and Seth from Hunx were so thoughtful in thinking about me and what to do. They were like, “We don’t think you should go home to the Bay because you won’t be able to take care of yourself there.” Just because I have a family that needs a lot of help. And they were like, “We want you to go somewhere where you can thrive.” So they found me a place to live in a really ideal, peaceful place with a big backyard for my dog. And Seth got me a studio space in his art studio. And when I moved to L.A., I was able to get into group counseling, get a grief therapist, stuff like that. So they helped me make a really easy transition. Most of the songs that I wrote on the album, I wrote up in my little art studio, which was kind of like a weird little tree house belfry thing. But yeah, I remember writing that song up there. I didn’t do any two-dimensional art the whole time I was there. I did some sketches. But most of the time I was just writing music on my Omnichord. And that was one that I really liked. It felt sad even showing you guys, because I don’t want to make other people sad.

BOGART: But it’s sad in a good way.

SHAW: Yeah, good sad.

BOGART: We can be funny and goofy and silly, but we’re also serious sometimes. And we’ve dealt with a lot of shit personally and collectively.

SHAW: Yeah. I think it’s a sentiment that people can identify with. Like, “Fuck, what if I wasn’t here? I can just leave anytime. What is the point?” I think a lot of people think about that and consider that. And I think it’s important to also be reminding yourself of the things that you would miss out on and the people that are rooting for you, you know?

BOGART: It’s a gorgeous song, “Walk Out On This World.” My favorite.

SHAW: I’m glad you guys liked it. And you really wanted to keep the Omnichord in there, which I thought was really sweet, because it was just a demo to me, and I’m not good at playing it, but you guys felt like it was a really important part of the vibe.

BOGART: And we built the whole thing around that. That was a fun song to make.

SHAW: Yeah, it was fun. I like everything you guys added to it.

BOGART: Me too. Well, I’ll see you on Friday at the airport.