Dita Vox, lead singer of local garage rock band Thee Emergency, has a pretty good handle on Ballard's nightlife.

Since Thee Emergency formed in 2004, Vox has played often in the Ballard area, and she has been working at King's Hardware on Ballard Avenue for almost a year.

On top of that, she was named Seattle's sexiest musician by the Stranger in February and included, alongside nationally-ogled acts like Dave Matthews and the Fleet Foxes, in that newspaper's April survey of sexy musicians.

The Ballard News-Tribune had a chance to ask Vox a few questions July 7 while she walked her dog.

Ballard News-Tribune: What are some of your more memorable Ballard?

Dita Vox: We’ve had so many good ones at the Sunset before. It’s funny because before I was even in a band I saw some of my favorite bands at the Sunset. Like the River Boat Gamblers used to play there a lot, and the lead singer would climb up on the rafters from the stage and walk out on the crowd. He would crawl on people and walk on their heads and shoulders. It was awesome. So of course we try to be as outrageous at the Sunset as possible because we’ve already seen the most outrageous stuff.

BNT: What is one thing you've always wanted to do onstage yourself but haven't?

DV: I really haven’t ever crowd surfed the way that I think is cool. I totally would love to do that. It’s hard to get up the guts to do it. I’ve always seen that famous clip of, I think, Pearl Jam doing the stage diving from the Paramount balcony. I wouldn’t want to do that. But, crowd surfing is really what I’d like to do.

BNT: What are your impressions of Ballard's nightlife from your experience working at King's?

DV: It’s funny. It’s totally awesome on the weekdays. It’s really cool. All the locals come in. All the people from the different businesses around will come to King’s after work. And then on Friday and Saturday night, it’s like this weird explosion or transformation happens where all these people you’ve never seen before and who totally aren’t Ballardites show up at your doorstep and want to be drinking so much. I think people come down from the University District and other parts of town wearing polo shirts, and stiletto heels and makeup for miles. It’s so crazy. It’s kind of like two different nightlifes. The cool one and the one that gets really annoying.

BNT: What are your thoughts on the music scene in Ballard?

DV: Ballard’s always had really great shows. The Tractor always has great shows. The Sunset. The Josephine now. I haven’t been there yet but I’m excited to go. They’re an all-ages type of deal. That stuff just gets shut down so fast in Seattle. That’s what is kind of disappointing about the Seattle music scene. One hand’s not watching what the other hand is doing. The all-ages scene is so far removed from the 21-and-over bar scene. And people say we’re so supportive of the music scene here, but poor little kids can’t go anywhere.

BNT: What was it like being named Seattle's sexiest musician? And, what was it like being later out-voted by Dave Matthews?

DV: The sexiest musician I was actually put in by a friend of mine. She submitted a photo from Bumbershoot she took. So I technically was Seattle’s sexiest musician. And then there was a different poll that came out a month later that was what musician would you like to sleep with. It was a weird and nonsensical thing. It’s not reality. It’s one of those things where you’re like, ‘This is not real.’ I was kind of flattered to be on something like that. The funny thing is that the caliber of the rest of the people on that list were completely national, and we’re extremely regional. It was funny to be put in with all these national acts because only a few people in Seattle would know who I am. Everybody else on that list is nationally known, especially Dave.

Thee Emergency play July 10 at the Sunset Tavern, July 11 at Nectar Lounge and August 29 at the Tractor Tavern.