Bobby Conn might be the most authentic poseur making music today. By day, he handles expensive pieces of art for rich people, although, making your own money by working for those who already have it isn’t very rock ‘n’ roll. By night, he brings to the stage one of the most uncontrolled and over-the-top examples of glam-rock excess imaginable. The Kane County native took some time to talk to the Northern Star about duality and soap operas.

Conn will play at 8 p.m. Thursday at the House Cafe, 263 E. Lincoln Highway.

Northern Star: What does being an art handler entail?

Bobby Conn: It means I touch and caress and finger expensive artwork.

NS: All day?

BC: Yes. A lot of stroking and gentle touches.

NS: How did you get into that field?

BC: By accident, really. It’s just that combination of flexibility and pay that’s so hard to find for the aspiring artist or musician. It’s like the jobs that most creative people have. You know, some people are waiters and actors, other people are art handlers and musicians.

NS: How do you feel that your job as an art handler has affected the music you make?

BC: Well, it’s given me some insight into what people do when they have a lot of money, which is kind of absurd. The priorities for the wealthy are different. You or I might have a table; they would have a table that’s worth $100,000. You or I might spend that $100,000 on a house or something; they would instead buy $70,000 wastebaskets. Basically, the needs of humans in America are all basically the same: We all want food and shelter. When you’re extraordinarily wealthy, you wind up getting the same things that everyone else does; you just pay a lot more money for them. And the real question is whether you’re actually getting more for what you pay. Certainly, these are people who never have to worry about living on the street or paying for health insurance for their kids, but that’s true for most people. If you work, you can usually cover those basic needs pretty well. But, when you earn many thousands of times more than that, it’s interesting what people do with that. And, in general, wealthy people are just as selfish as anyone else, and they spend that money on… stuff. I help them handle that stuff so it doesn’t get broken.

NS: Not too long ago, you injured your hand at work, and that had an effect on the recording of your latest record.

BC: Yeah, I broke my thumb. It really just changed it in that I didn’t get to play very much guitar on the record. There are four guitar players on the record, myself included, and the other three are all doing things that I couldn’t do with a broken thumb.

NS: Are you playing guitar on this tour?

BC: Yeah, my thumb’s all better. I did play some guitar on the record, too. I broke my thumb in October and recorded the record in February, so it had a few months to heal. But, for the rehearsal part of it, things were difficult. I missed a lot of work, too, so I was able to do a lot of work on the record compositionally, on the computer with just one hand.

NS: The new record, “King For A Day,” sounds a lot more reserved and introspective than some of your past releases. What prompted that?

BC: It was really just the evolution of what I’m interested in. It has become harder to reconcile the reality of my life with the fantasy of my music, and the record is kind of a reflection of that. It’s also just kind of how these songs came out. We watched a lot of soap operas during the recording of this one, specifically, a vampire soap opera from the 1970s called “Dark Shadows.” That soap really kind of set the tone for the album – it’s really got a darker, murkier feel.

NS: You’ve played DeKalb a number of times before. What kind of a reception do you usually get?

BC: It’s varied. Like a lot of the places I’ve played, some people, for whatever strange reason, really like what I do, and others are extremely confused by it. And that’s really the story of my career. I grew up in Illinois and I went to high school in Kane County, so I’m familiar with towns like DeKalb. I know how nice it is when there’s something to do every night of the week, because it gets boring otherwise. I’m very glad to be able to offer that. And the fact that this is my fourth time playing DeKalb is either a testament to my popularity, or to poor judgment on the part of the promoter. We’ll have to see.