7QUESTIONS+PLUS

Dan Pavelich, a cartoonist, music reviewer and local musician. The 41-year-old, who lives with his 11-year-old daughter, Mari, and wife, Ellen. says he’s convinced they haven’t tossed him out yet because he can keep them laughing. When he’s not trying to get one of his comic strips syndicated or playing guitar with The Bradburys, he’s patching plaster in his 1929 house.

Dan Pavelich will now take your questions ...

When will the new mayor become a regular character in the strip? He made an appearance when he was first elected, but, so far, his administration has been pretty mild and low-key. Here’s hoping there’s a scandal brewing. Who knows, maybe we’ll eventually find out that the cable-knit sweaters he favors are made in a Guatemalan sweat shop
.
Your comic routinely skewered Dr. Destruction and Mayor Antaramian. Did one or the other ever put a hex on you or let you know what they thought? Dr. D is a friend of mine and gets the jokes, so there’s no problem there. I’ve heard that Mayor Antaramian hated the way I made his hair look, which I changed in the last few strips. I think he was a good mayor, though. The “skewering” was my exaggeration of Voice of the People letters and calls to “Sound Off.” I’ve heard that he wasn’t amused.

How come you change the names slightly of some of your characters — is that to protect you legally, or to keep people guessing as to who they are? I just think it’s funnier. Everyone knows who I’m talking about, right? They wouldn’t get much if they sued me anyway, except my autographed photo of the cast of “Different Strokes.”

Who do you base your characters on in Kenosha County? Gramps is based on all those agitated “Sound Off” callers. It’s hard to read those without doing it in an old man’s voice. The boy is based on me and the mom is just sort of there as a buffer between the conservative and liberal.

As a music aficionado, who do you prefer and why — ’50s Elvis, ’60s Elvis, ’70s Elvis, or the occasional new Elvis release that he puts out as a secret code to his fans that he is still alive? Definitely ’60s Elvis — love all those movies. They’re basically a beach movie set at a drag strip. I also love the part where he tells his co-stars “It’s, uh, it’s like ... something’s tearing me up inside.” Then he sings a song about motor oil with Nancy Sinatra.

Who is your favorite person to draw? Who is the hardest to draw? I like to draw Dr. Destruction, but they’re all pretty hard for me to draw. Sometimes I get more ink on my arm than on the paper.

You have done some self-portraits, do you like the way they turned out? What do others say? People say it looks like me, so I guess the drawing isn’t too bad. I might have been a little too generous to myself in the hairline department, though, since I’m losing more every day.

You’re a cartoonist, musician, music reviewer. Is this the dream life? Have you a real job, sir? I’m the stay-at-home parent at my house, which in itself is a full-time job. Where my housewives at? Can I get a what-wha? Seriously, I also do a lot of freelance writing for magazines like Shepard Express, Maximum Ink, Amplifier, etc.

What topics will you not go near in the cartoon? Race and religion. Those are just too personal to people.

Why don’t you like music that comes from “American Idol” contestants or anything that might be considered too mainstream? Actually, Blake Lewis’s “Audio Daydream” is incredible. To me, he sounds like an updated version of Howard Jones. Carrie Underwood and Phil Stacey aren’t too shabby, either. I don’t dislike mainstream music as a rule, though. Recent albums by Jonas Brothers, Mariah Carey, Counting Crows and Alicia Keys have all gotten positive reviews from me.

How did you get interested in music? One Christmas when I was a kid I got a record player with three records: “The Muppet Movie” Soundtrack, The Beatles “Live At The Hollywood Bowl” and one by The Osmond Brothers. I also loved The Monkees TV show and The Beatles cartoons.

If you could play with anyone, who would you choose? Why? I’d much rather sit in the audience and watch. Probably The Beatles performnig at The Cavern, circa 1962. Front row center for Jimi Hendrix would be up there, too.

What’s an aspect of Kenosha you are unabashedly proud of? How friendly people are here. When you pass them on the street, nine times out 10 they’ll say “hello” or “good morning.” I think so many people relocate here because they feel really welcome. There’s also so much going on around town. Most weekends there isn’t enough time to do it all.

If you were mayor of Kenosha, what would be your first order of business? My knee-jerk reaction is to say “bulldoze the boat barn,” but without things like that to joke about, I’d be out of a job. I’d love to see the city get behind the restoration of one of our historic theaters in a major way. Or, maybe we could empty out the jails for an afternoon and have the inmates fill a few potholes, eh Gramps?