Photo by Aaron Richter

What a treat to hang out with pioneering film icon and author John Waters backstage, just before the second of his two spoken word sets at the comedy tent. He’s possibly the coolest character to emerge from my home state, Maryland, and we covered a ton of topics, nearly all of which deserve mention.

Why he came to Bonnaroo:
“I think it does well for my street cred. I keep getting older, and the audience keeps getting younger, which is great. People are surprised. ‘You’re playing at a rock festival?’ There’s some irony in that. And it was packed! I’m excited! I’m competing with the greatest rock’n’roll bands of today, and I love it.”

If he were to curate his own Bonnaroo opening acts:
“If I picked the acts to play with me, I’d want [Sarah Palin’s almost-son-in-law] Levi Johnston, to show his penis, K-Fed, who I really like. I think it’d be great if he came out and rapped. Or a Nancy Spungen stripper.”

If he were to put together his own festival:
“I’m so old I have a CD collection. But I’d have — who’s that rap act from South Africa? Die Antwoord. I’d have them. I like their music. It clears all the older people out of my house. Shuffle makes all music good.”

On Baltimore’s resurgent music scene:
“I like Beach House. I think it’s great. Spank Rock and all that came from Baltimore. When I grew up, Baltimore only had black rhythm and blues stations, so white kids never listened to white music. Baltimore’s always had a good tradition of music. People are moving to Baltimore because it does have an edge. And it’s cheap! You can get to any city on the East Coast.”

On being cool wherever you live, despite the homogeneity of America:
“The good thing is no one has to leave where you were born. You can make your own community cool, thanks to Netflix and the Internet. You can just take what your town tries to hide, exaggerate it, and turn it into a style. That can become a community.”