Them
"[I]: "No, we're doing Horrorpunk!"
[she]: 'And what type of Metal is that?'!"
https://www.facebook.com/THEMHorror
Graveyard Greaser Gang: "horrorpunk is not a genre,
it's a scene"! what does this mean to you?
Richard Upton Pickman: It is nearly impossible to put the sound of what is called "Horrorpunk" into a box. You just can't find a typical way of playing it. Even though most bands play rather typical "american style" Punk Rock and spice it with lots of "doo wop" and howls, there's still more to it. There're Billies and Metalheads in the scene spicing the music with new influences. So that's mostly why you can't call Horrorpunk a genre. But on the other hand there's nearly no clear line drawn between fans and bands. When you go to a regular concert, you hardly see the bands mixing with their fans. On a horrorpunk show it's different. It's more like old friends meeting. I myself met some of my best friends on our shows.
GGG: how would you describe horrorpunk to people who are not familiar with the music/scene?
RUP: Imagine an Abbott and Costello meet Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees forming a Punk Band. And now imagine the Mummy, the Gillman, Dracula, Frankensteins Creature with his bride, Chucky with his girlfriend and all other weird creatures going to that shows. And now you only add shitloads of fun and there you are!
GGG: what was your first contact with horrorpunk?
RUP: Mid eighties, The Misfits, Last Carress. And a little later The Cramps, TV Set.
GGG: why did you start/play in a horrorpunk band (not a regular punkband for example)?
RUP: Since I'm already a little oder i was fed up with being in a typical band where all you try is to sound like some band that's kinda successful. You wanna be successful and make money? Go jump on someone elses train. Happened before. Nirvana jumped on the Grunge train when Grunge was already dead. But I wanted to do whatever is fun to do, so the Horror Music scene was the only available option.
Richard Upton Pickman: It is nearly impossible to put the sound of what is called "Horrorpunk" into a box. You just can't find a typical way of playing it. Even though most bands play rather typical "american style" Punk Rock and spice it with lots of "doo wop" and howls, there's still more to it. There're Billies and Metalheads in the scene spicing the music with new influences. So that's mostly why you can't call Horrorpunk a genre. But on the other hand there's nearly no clear line drawn between fans and bands. When you go to a regular concert, you hardly see the bands mixing with their fans. On a horrorpunk show it's different. It's more like old friends meeting. I myself met some of my best friends on our shows.
GGG: how would you describe horrorpunk to people who are not familiar with the music/scene?
RUP: Imagine an Abbott and Costello meet Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees forming a Punk Band. And now imagine the Mummy, the Gillman, Dracula, Frankensteins Creature with his bride, Chucky with his girlfriend and all other weird creatures going to that shows. And now you only add shitloads of fun and there you are!
GGG: what was your first contact with horrorpunk?
RUP: Mid eighties, The Misfits, Last Carress. And a little later The Cramps, TV Set.
GGG: why did you start/play in a horrorpunk band (not a regular punkband for example)?
RUP: Since I'm already a little oder i was fed up with being in a typical band where all you try is to sound like some band that's kinda successful. You wanna be successful and make money? Go jump on someone elses train. Happened before. Nirvana jumped on the Grunge train when Grunge was already dead. But I wanted to do whatever is fun to do, so the Horror Music scene was the only available option.
GGG: what does horror in general means to you?
RUP: I grew up with it. As a kid i used to watch the old black&white flicks Like Creature From The Black Lagoon (my all time favourite) and Them! (yeah, the movie our Band is names after) on TV, and I loved it. Then, growing up in the eighties, i got to watch all the great and weird Movies from the 70's and 80's of course. And of course I've been reading books and comic books about it. I even prefered horror pen&paper Role Playing Games over all the other stuff, and whenever i had a choice i chose a horror game for my computer over shooters. That never changed. Horror doesn't scare me. It makes me feel home.
GGG: there are millions of horror fans in the world (movies etc). in your opinion, why do people barely know about horrorpunk?
RUP: For most "Horror Fans" it's all about stories. Music, if at all, is only horror when composed for a soundtrack of a horrormovie. I don't understand why that is. And it can't be because of the Punk Rock thing, because there's even Hip Hop artists out there comcentrating on horror lyrics. But even most musicians don't know that there's a thing called Horrorpunk out there. But we are, and we're here for good!
GGG: most horrorpunk bands say that it's difficult to get booked for a show. in your opinion, why is it like that?
RUP: Mainly for the same reasons as stated in reply to some questions above. People don't know what Horrorpunk is and they're afraid of everything new. They check out the homepages on the internet, listen to songs, and then decide to book the band that kinda sounds like that other band that is successful. Only a few outside the scene realise there is a scene. Even though nearly every Metalhead heard the Metallica covers of some Misfits classics, wears a Crimson Ghost patch on his jacket or listens to Danzig, there is still an amazingly high number of them who don't know that there was (and kind of still is) a band out there names The Misfits and that they Helpdesk giving birth to Horrorpunk.
GGG: how did the horrorpunk scene develop/change since you are part of it?
RUP: Hard to say if it developed at all. I've seen companies, that dealt with Horrorpunk, die, I've heard Horrorpunk bands say the awful words: Horrorpunk is dead!", but on the other side I've also seen new bands coming forth. Ok, most of the Bands are based in the U$A now, but still we have a great deal of awesome bands in Germany. What I dislike most is that more and more it get's to a point of "who knows who". Of course we've also shared stage with some of the bigger names in the scene like Crimson Ghosts, The Fright or Dead United, but that doesn't make our music any better or worse.
GGG: what's your favorite memorie when it comes to horrorpunk?
RUP: It's the old lady I've met on that private Metal Festival thing we've been booked for.
I was already in make up waiting for the other band to finish so we could start. Suddenly there was this elder lady next to me, looking at me really close. I said Hi, and she replied: "So, you are playing Black Metal, right?"
I told her "Nope, we're not."
She looked surprised and said: "But you're wearing facepaint, you have to play Black Metal!"
I replied "No, we're doing Horrorpunk!"
After a while of staring at me she asked: "And what type of Metal is that?"
Left me speechless.
GGG: what are your three favorite horrorpunk bands?
RUP: I can't really answer that because there's shitloads of awesome bands out there but if I have to answer I'd say Misfits (Danzig and Graves era), Dead United and DieMonsterDie.
GGG: what are your three favorite non-horrorpunk bands?
RUP: Bauhaus, Joy Division and Dead Kennedys
GGG: if you'd have to describe your current band with five words, which words would that be?
RUP: Fun loving Rock and Gore
GGG: what are your next plans with your band?
RUP: Right now we're going through rough times. Mr. Jack Killmore, who was a founding member, and Frank Della Morte, our third drummer left the band some weeks ago. But Mr. Caterwaul and me decided to try and find some other Ghouls to fill those Spots and keep the Band alive.
Silence shall be broken and Rock'n'Gore will shake the stages and clubs again.
GGG: thanks for your time. anything you wanna add?
RUP: This goes out to all my beloved Ghouls and Ghoulettes:
Stay true to yourself and don't forget to Rot On & Stay Ghoul!
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