Ana Interview

Scissor Sisters returned earlier this year with their third studio album, "Night Work," a full-tilt dance party wrapped up in a nice little package with a butt on the cover. Now the New York disco-pop outfit is out on the road performing it every night, which Ana Matronic, the group's resident female, tells us is much harder than anticipated. The 35-year-old singer, who got her start at San Francisco's very own Trannyshack parties, called us after the band's first tour date in Atlanta. Scissor Sisters play next Sunday at Oakland's Fox Theater.

Q: There are no ballads on the new record. Do you guys just come onstage and go nuts?

A: It's hard core. We were joking that we were going to have Richard Simmons come out for one of the shows and lead everyone in a workout.

Q: Watching some of your moves, it already feels like you guys have studied every Jane Fonda workout video from the '80s.

A: Jake (Shears) loves Jane Fonda's workout tapes. He's a big aerobics fan in general. There's nothing he loves more than a woman with a giant frizzy perm and French-cut leotard with leg warmers. If I came out onstage wearing that, he would cry. I'm not kidding.

Q: One of your backup singers is a yoga teacher. Was that part of the job description?

A: No, that was a nice coincidence. She's very close to having her instructor certification. We also have a trainer on the road with us for the first time, which is new. It's pretty strenuous. We really are getting a workout onstage. You have to be keeping it up. I haven't worked out in a couple of weeks and we just did our first show in Atlanta. There were a couple times during the night I was like, "Don't forget to breathe."

Q: Do you feel in some way responsible for Lady Gaga?

A: She's cited us as an influence. I definitely think you can see that in what she does. I think the really big thing behind what we do and what she does is you can be a show person and you can be grandiose and be outrageous and still be good musicians. That's at the heart of what we do.

Q: Do you miss anything about the Trannyshack days in San Francisco?

A: What don't I miss about the Trannyshack days? I loved the themes. I loved coming up with a song or outfit just to match some crazy queen's whim. Honestly, I miss everything about it. It was such a great, creatively rife time. It was such a time of personal discovery about myself and my own personal boundaries. I really consider it my performance college, really the place I honed what I do. Scissor Sisters is just a bigger, logical step up from that. {sbox}