PRESS Pansy Division: Life In A Gay Rock Band
philly.com MUSIC/NIGHTLIFE Posted on Fri, Jul. 18, 2008 Pansy Division: See the movie, hear the songs The gay rock band is presented by the Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. By A.D. Amorosi For The Inquirer In 2008, we've had angry punk-rock documentaries (The Gits) and lovingly intimate punk documentaries (Patti Smith: Dream of Life). It's time for some splashy fun to go with our socio-conscious punk rhetoric. Bring on Pansy Division, the queercore band that came out of the closet upon its arrival in 1991, recorded CDs for the Lookout label (touring with pals and label mates Green Day) and made brusque loud music gayer and more muscled than Judas Priest. The band even made its own movie, Pansy Division: Life in a Gay Rock Band, which the director, band bassist and vocalist Chris Freeman, will screen before PD plays tonight. Freeman and longtime guitarist/singer Jon Ginoli don't tour much, so this show's an event. "As Jon and I entered our 40s, we decided we needed to create stable income sources and keep the band active enough to pay for the things we want to do, like make records," says Freeman. "Nothing we ever did was going to turn us into huge stars, which is what we hoped would happen. Not necessarily because we 'need stardom,' but because we wanted to live in a world where an out gay band could have a number-one hit." Maybe the smash never came, but they're currently finishing their eighth album. They're un-shy about the camera lens - they were part of an earlier flick on gay rock, Queercore: A Punk-U-Mentary ("Yes, we'd rather have someone else play us in the movie of our lives but how many actors are 6-foot-5?" says Freeman, laughing). They've created a legacy of social upheaval and sonic reduction. And Freeman just graduated from film school after having long made Pansy Division videos for songs like "I Really Wanted You." So, with two fellow students, Freeman gathered old live footage and interview clips, and filmed a bold happy ending with Pansy making a new record, enjoying themselves and the process, and talking about how they'll keep going as long as they can. As for a gay audience, Freeman says Pansy Division has never really had much of one. "Most of our fans are straight. There aren't too many gay men into rock at all - most are into disco and show tunes. I didn't get that gay gene. I'm into the Beatles and Kiss. The people who embraced us first were punk, so that's been our alliance. But we're still the only band in this genre that's survived, so we have the whole room to ourselves." The 14th Annual Philadelphia Gay and Lesbian Film Festival presents Pansy Division at 9 tonight at the Trocadero, 1003 Arch St., following the screening of "Pansy Division: Life in a Gay Rock Band," at 7:30 p.m. at the Arts Bank, Broad and South Streets. Concert admission: $10, $5 with film ticket stub, free with an All-Access or VIP badge. Phone: 267-765-9700, Ext. 701, www.phillyfests.com and www.thetroc.com.http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/musichttp://www.phillyfests.com/http://www.thetroc.com/shapeimage_4_link_0shapeimage_4_link_1shapeimage_4_link_2
Philadelphia City Paper, July 17, 2008
 Pansy Division: Life in a Gay Rock Band
 
Pansy Division's name and punk billing can be misleading: They're punk in the way Ween is. But their story, that of an openly gay indie band with very gay lyrics breaking at the time mainstream America was starting to fall for acts like Green Day, is compelling and instructive in how much things have changed (they feared for their lives prior to going on their first tour). The Spinal Tap-esque list of drummers is fun if ultimately cliché, and the talking-heads interviews can become tedious. Ultimately it's the music — hearing the band evolve from a kind of sloppy novelty act to a well-oiled pop-punk machine and culminating with the current incarnation together performing the new "20 Years of Cock" — that makes Michael Carmona's doc so engaging. Which works out nicely since the band will be performing immediately following the screening. —Brian Howard
 
A special thank you to all of those who have written about THE FILM We appreciate it! CLICK HERE TO LISTEN
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LISTEN TO A “BATCAST” WITH JESSE LUSCIOUS AND CHRIS FREEMAN HERE: LISTEN TO AN INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS FREEMAN ON FREE RADIO SANTA CRUZ/FREAK RADIO http://www.freakradio.org/
LISTEN TO An interview WITH queer radio’s John frame (4ZZZ, http://www.queerradio.org/) AND CHRIS FREEMAN on “this way out” HERE: http://www.queerradio.orgshapeimage_10_link_0
http://www.queerradio.org/Chris_Freeman_PD_11thJuly2009_x_John_Frame_for_TWO_extended_mono.mp3http://www.queerradio.org/Chris_Freeman_PD_11thJuly2009_x_John_Frame_for_TWO_extended_mono.mp3http://www.queerradio.org/Chris_Freeman_PD_11thJuly2009_x_John_Frame_for_TWO_extended_mono.mp3shapeimage_11_link_0