“I don’t think it’s anybody’s dream to make art under capitalism.”- An interview with Bianca Xunise

Bianca Xunise has a new graphic novel out, and it’s a cause for celebration! Punk Rock Karaoke celebration!

Bianca Xunise is the Ignatz Award-winning author of comics including GothThrob, Imaginary Boyfriends, Keep Out, and Say Her Name. She is one of the authors of the daily comics strip Six Chix, and has contributed to The Believer and The Nib.

Her new book Punk Rock Karaoke is the story of Ariel Grace Jones, who is determined to make it big with their garage punk band. But in this coming-of-age story, life has some other ideas of where Ariel’s post-high school summer will be going. . . .

TCJ last talked to you in 2021! How have you been since then?

I don’t think I was ready before, but I think now I’m ready to fight God.

How has Six Chix been since then?

Six Chix has been great. It’s wonder to work with such iconic women in comics and then me! Unfortunately there hasn’t been as much hate mail, kind of miss it. It fueled me. This love stuff I’ve been receiving lately…feels wrong. But I’m working it out in therapy.

You’ve just had your first graphic novel, Punk Rock Karaoke, come out. Congratulations!

Thank you!

Prior to this, you’ve done mini-comics and newspaper comics – this is your first long-form book. How was the process different?

It is my first! The process is definitely a lot more time consuming, there isn’t the quick dopamine hit of posting something online or even the camaraderie of trading zines within the underground. It’s a lot of long nights alone in your studio but it’s so worth it. It took a lot of discipline and missing out on some sick shows! But it’s a huge honor to have the opportunity to tell a story like this.

This book was published by Viking, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers. How was your experience working with them?

Great. My editor, Aneeka Kalia is also a WOC, which was super important to me when I was looking for a publisher. I didn’t want to have to explain the BIPOC experience or have it questioned. Aneeka understood right away, I’m really grateful we got to work together on this project. Looking forward to working with her again.

What’s some of your favorite punk music?

X-ray Spex! Duh! The book opens with the queen herself, Poly Styrene. She was a misunderstood genius and before her time. I loved that she and so many other punks who got to see some of the first Sex Pistols shows on the piers were like “I can do that!” And she did, her legacy lives on in this Book!

Can you talk about why music, and specifically punk music, became a centerpoint for what you wanted to write about?

It’s the community that held me. And the Chicago punk scene is like no other! It’s intergenerational! It’s incredibly queer and diverse, but doesn’t feel tokenized. It’s for the people by the people. The amount of activation and mutual aid that exists in the Chicago scene has always been incredible to me. Punk Rock Karaoke is my love letter to it.

Bianca Xunise banner display at Quimby's

You’re from Chicago! Can you tell us a little about Chicago’s punk history? I hear donuts are involved!

Don’t want to give away too many spoilers. The best way to learn about it is to read my book! But I can promise that there are definitely donuts.

How did you come up with the band name ‘Baby Hares’?

I love a good pun. A band with two black femme characters I wanted the band name to be unapologetically black but also give some foreshadowing. Like any young punk they’re bold but they’re a bit naive.

Which of the Baby Hares are you most like?

I always say that every character in the book is some version of me. Me at my worst, me at my most earnest. How I wish I was and who I fear to become. I was once Fatima, sometimes Ariel, maybe even a Hercules from time to time.

Punk Rock Karaoke is set in the summer before the characters head off to college. Can you talk about why that’s an important time?

Absolutely. I wanted to set it at a time when you have a great change in your life, maybe a move, a friend group, a significant birthday. Setting it up post high school worked for a YA audience but I think we have many moments in our lives like this. When the world feels so big and overwhelming. I even feel a bit like that now with having my debut out and sharing it with the world.

It was also important for me to portray different walks of life and different choices that young people may make after high school. Not everyone has the same access and privilege to go to the best Ivy League school in the same way that life after high school was portrayed in the movies. I wanted Ariel and their friends to show what my upbringing looked like. And for young adults to not feel ashamed about their life choice. Let’s be real. It’s hard to be expected to plan out the rest of your life at eighteen.

One of the plot points of the book focuses around plagiarism – something that’s also a forever hot-button topic in the comics space as well as in music (which you’re writing about). Can you talk about why you wanted to write about this subject?

I chose this theme not necessarily to talk about plagiarism, but talk about how it feels to have something stolen from you. To have a piece of you taken and not be given credit for. The hot topic now has been about AI and I share the same grievance towards it like many of my creative peers. It’s the correct response to feel frustrated that we are seeing these programs essentially take a part of our souls and aggregate it out for consumer culture rather than understanding that art has always been a human practice of processing both the beauty and traumas of life. Ethically and environmentally, AI isn’t great.

I think it’s really interesting how you depict Punk Rock Karaoke character Michelle initially as a flake – but then as the story goes on, we find out that she’s helping to support her family and can’t be as present for her friends because of that. Can you talk about her character, and that kind of reverse in her portrayal?

The allegory that exists behind Michele’s character is to show that not everything is as it seems and sometimes when we step away from individualism and decenter our own narratives, we can see that everyone is carrying their own personal struggles.

People you admire turning out to be terrible and disappointing you is a big theme of the book! Can you talk about why you wanted to write about that?

It’s a canon event. I hope by writing this, I can offer some solidarity to those who already have experienced one, and perhaps a little heads up to those who might have to experience one later in life. An overall theme for many of the characters is sometimes what may seem awful may actually be good and vice versa. Don’t make assumptions.

At the beginning of the book, Ariel says, “Maybe trying to ‘make it’ isn’t very punk rock of me. Punks don’t dream of labor.” Can you talk a little more about that sentiment? Is it something that you think applies to art and cartooning as well as to punk music?

I don’t think it’s anybody’s dream to make art under capitalism. It really sucks the joy out of making art. Ariel is a punk but they’re also an artist. They have to fight the uphill battle of trying to put their art out into an inequitable world as a black kid from the southside of Chicago. An unfortunate plight that I still deal with today as someone who is twice (and some change) Ariel‘s age.

Friends are a big theme in this book! Can you share some of your thoughts on the importance of friendship?

It wasn’t just about friends, but the importance of community, and how community is pivotal for our survival.

The complicatedness of crushes and falling in love is one of the hallmarks of the teen experience! Can you talk a little about your and Ariel’s thoughts there?

I wanted Ariel and their friends to be messy and to show that love can be messy and confusing. Nothing is supposed to be a picture perfect or like a fairytale in the book. It was critical to show these complexities to make the story feel authentic to readers and not synthetic.

You have such a cute art style! Can you tell us about your artistic inspirations?

Yoshitomo Nara is an artist that I was drawn to in college. In fact, I did a presentation on him to my teacher’s dismay; he thought his work was too cute. He put me down and told me that cute art wasn’t real art by his definition, so it’s been my plight to prove him wrong ever sense hahaha.

But also my style is a mixture of artists I admire, like Julie Doucet whose punk cute style always felt like an act of rebellion in the boys club of the 80s and 90s underground comics scene.

Your book ends with a Fatima’s Beat zine! You’re a zine-maker too, and you’ve been doing zine-making workshops to promote Punk Rock Karaoke. Can you talk about what about zines you find intriguing, and their intersections in comics and punk?

It’s always been about spreading the word! Zines are an accessible tool that a lot of people can create to share their passions and to share important information. Zines can expand on topics from how to protest or a love for Garfield. Zines hold a huge place in my heart because they are truly the intersection of comics and punk—it brings us together.

Part of Ariel’s last statement in the book is, “don’t ever let anyone tell you that rock ‘n roll isn’t for Black kids and queerdos, because we are the secret ingredient!” Can you talk a little more about that quote, and your thoughts on how it applies to comics as well?

The statement was my final signature to remind readers that rock ‘n’ roll today was invented by a queer black woman named Sister Rosetta Tharpe. You can’t tell the people who created rock that the scene isn’t for them. The scene was created by us to escape the oppressive system of white supremacy. Feel free to join us in the pit but don’t push us out. That’s an ethos you can take not just in music but in comics as well.

Are there other graphic novels you’ve read recently that you want to recommend to people? I know you’ve featured James Spooner’s new book at some of your events!

Black Punk Now is a great companion piece to Punk Rock Karaoke. It’s edited by Chris L. Terry and James Spooner, and has comics, poetry, essays—you name it! It has a lot of my amazing friends in it so if you want to know a little bit more about the black punk scene beyond Chicago, check that book out! I also mentioned Julie Doucet earlier and her book My New York Diary has always been a major influence on my work. It’s an older book, but books are timeless.

I hear some of your events for Punk Rock Karaoke have had karaoke! Do you have a favorite song to sing at karaoke?

Bad Reputation by Joan Jett.

Lately it’s been my motto to let your doppelgängers exist and let people believe what they want while not giving a damn. Especially in an era of such socially acceptable forms of surveillance.