Har Mar Superstar, like fellow performer Diane Coffee, has the eccentricity necessary to make for the perfect Freakfest performer.
The sex-enthused alter ego of Sean Matthew Tillman, Har Mar Superstar has traversed nearly all of the modern American music genres through four records, impressing his own unique stamp on each one.
The Badger Herald was able to chat with Har Mar before he performs at Freakfest this Saturday.
The following interview has been edited for style and clarity.
The Badger Herald: How is it going? What have you been up to as of late?
Har Mar Superstar: I’ve just been on tour. We just started this thing about four or five days ago, so we’re just rolling through on the East Coast right now, playing shows every day and that’s all the news I got.
BH: Have you had any downtime to work on any new material?
HMS: Yeah, I was just at home for a few months mainly reacclimating to Minneapolis since I moved back there because I was missing it. So [I was] just doing that and starting to think about how the next project is going to go down and getting some ideas rolling. But mainly I was chilling and enjoying summer.
BH: I saw that you tweeted the other say soliciting Stephen King to collaborate. What was that all about?
HMS: Well, I can’t really talk about it yet (laughs).
I always get dumb ideas like that and I’ll write it down, and if its an idea that I need a dream collaborator for, Twitter is just sometimes magical that way. I can just right a random note to anybody, and they get it.
BH: It seems like Freakfest, a Halloween music festival, is the perfect event for you, since you yourself perform under an alter ego. Do you have anything special planned for Freakfest?
HMS: No, we’re gonna have dancers and a bigger production, but we’re going to be doing the show that we’ve been doing on tour. It’s a lot of fun. I don’t know if I’ll have any special tricks up my sleeve [for Freakfest], I just sort of go with the flow, and play off the energy of what’s going on.
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BH: What’s your favorite costume you’ve ever dressed up as?
HMS: Last year I was a violent Jay Sherman. So basically if [the character from] “The Critic” were in Insane Clown Posse. That was pretty sweet. I don’t know, I had a long streak where I was a wizard for a couple years in a row, but I think it was just because I had the costume and it was so easy. One of my favorites, though, was when I was about six, my dad made me an amazing Pac Man costume, and that was probably the best Halloween costume I ever had.
BH: Any final remarks?
HMS: I’m excited. I’ve heard Freakfest is crazy, so I can’t wait to party in Madison. Everyone should get there early to see Sweet Spirit. They’re on tour with us, and they’re really awesome.
