We met up with Aaron one night during an art experiment with his roommate Edina,
and visited him one Saturday morning to catch up.
Ask a New Yorker: Good morning Aaron. What did you do last night?
Aaron: Went to the art shows, the Williamsburg art thing that they all do.
We had plans to go to about 12 of them, but we stopped short. We, Edina and
I, are quitting smoking, but we got some free wine and we saw some good stuff.
You know, then we went straight for the martini and shared half a pack.
AskaNewYorker: So quitting smoking isn’t proving to be so easy?
Aaron: I don’t know, man. I’m doing really good. I haven’t
had a cigarette in about…what time is it? Eleven hours! I think I’ve
tried everything but the patches.
AskaNewYorker: Where are you from?
Aaron: I’m from Nebraska, right outside Lincoln. The town has 8000 people.
It’s been that size for a long time, and will be that size for a long
time. The town is not really dying off or growing. It’s just a place right
off the interstate with the rainbow water tower.
AskaNewYorker: This is a great studio, loft apartment. How did you find it?
Aaron: This used to be Tom Price’s place. He was the lead singer in the
band Fat Fuck. A local band, you know them. http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0009,schlesinger,12873,15.html
Everyone knows Tom Price and Fat Fuck, getting drunk and naked on stage. If
you like drunk, naked, sweaty fat dudes with hair, which we all do, then you
like Fat Fuck. Falling off stage, getting kicked out of venues all the time.
Anyway, he’s a friend of mine, a good beer drinking buddy, and this was
his rehearsal space.
AskaNewYorker: Tell me about the Muppets and Jim Henson.
Aaron: Jim Henson. I wish he was a great friend of mine. I love him and I love
the Muppets. I love the creatures. I like figuring out how they stick their
hand in there. They’re fluffy. I’ve always had a fascination with
Muppets, growing up, and also Mr. Rogers. I like that kind of make believe world,
and I stuck with it. I guess my way of thinking about stuff is pretty idealistic,
basic, and childish. And colorful.
AskaNewYorker: Where do you work?
Aaron: I work at Cowgirl, a bar/restaurant in the West Village. http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/7117504/
AskaNewYorker: I think I’ve heard about the Frito appetizer there.
Aaron: Right, the Frito pie. They cut open an individual size Frito bag and
dump chili in it. At Cowgirl, I type in Barbie Pie (as an order), and they know
what to make. That’s what they call me at Cowgirl…Barbie.
AskaNewYorker: Why Barbie?
Aaron: This is strictly drag. It started in 2000, when I was inspired by drag
queens. You know, that’s one of the things about being in New York. You
see things you would just never see in Nebraska. In Nebraska, this would be
completely taboo. You just don’t do things like this. You’d get
your ass kicked or go to hell or both. So, I ran into some people who were very
influential in my life. I started doing drag. I always heard “you look
great with a wig and lipstick!” My name was Barbie Q, and then changed
because I like my sideburns a lot, so I was renamed Barbie Q Chops. I’ve
tried to bring my performance art into it because I deal with sexual identity
and gender bending in my performance art and painting.
AskaNewYorker: You’re in a band, too, correct? Tell us about it.
Aaron: The band is Peter and the Transsexuals. We’ve been together for
about a year and a half. We started as sort of a fake band, called Blind Snatch.
It was strictly an art show, no music, no sound. Since then it has changed to
Peter and the Transsexuals and we do lots of covers of Judas Priest, Germs,
and the New York Dolls.
AskaNewYorker: I see you have a picture of Danielle Dixon.
Aaron: Danielle Dixon is a stripper. My grandpa and I got drunk and we happened
to meet Danielle Dixon in Abilene, Texas and we won these pictures playing cooter
ball with her.
AskaNewYorker: Cooter ball…I won’t ask. It sounds like it would
make a good game, though. Thanks for sharing, Aaron, and happy holidays!
