’77 Montreal – The Creepshow: “Punk Rock And Psychobilly are Kissing-Cousins”
When you’re at a punk rock show and the band that takes the stage looks a little “different” you might be about to see a psychobilly band. Slick backed hair, mutton chops and the bassist is more than a little likely to be rocking a monster stand up double bass. These are some of the signs that there’s going to be a bit of a shift in musical stylings.
But make no mistake, that band is there to tear it up just as much as any punk band.
That is exactly what is going to happen when The Creepshow take the stage at ’77 Montreal at 2:50 pm at Parc Jean Drapeau this Friday.
We asked a few questions to a founding member of The Creepshow, The Reverend McGinty (keys & vox) about the genre, Montreal and horror movies:
Keith: How did the current lineup of The Creepshow get together? Your bio mentioned a number of lineup changes, but what’s the story of the current incarnation?
Reverend McGinty: When we were looking for a new singer we were lucky that our friend Ben Rispin knew Kenda! Despite living in the next city over, none of us ever ran into her or met within the scene. So when he called and said he found our new gal, we were stoked because it was a perfect fit! Sandro, our drummer, was playing with a friend’s band when we needed him, so that was an easy find too. And our guitar player Chuck, we’ve actually known each other since we were teenagers! Our old bands used to play together all the time so he was also a perfect fit.
K: Did you guys always know you were going to be a “punk/country/psychobilly” band, or was that an evolution that came as the band grew and changed?
RMG: Yeah, that was pretty much always the point. We were all fans of that music so we were always really eager to play that style. We’re really lucky that those scenes were really welcoming and excited to see us play. We probably have the best fans in the world!
K: Rockabilly/psychobilly has always been kind of a relative of punk rock. I remember seeing acts like the Nekromantix and Reverend Horton Heat tear it up at various venues in the city and of course The Gutter Demons from Montreal killed it too. Both punk and psychobilly definitely have their own sound and even their own fashion sense, what do you guys think about the crossover between the two genres?
RMG: Well when Psychobilly was born out of Rockabilly it was to make it sound more aggressive and hard, so I think picking up that Punk Rock influence and sensibility was inevitable. But the two styles go so well together, I think they’ll be kissing-cousins from here on in!
K: Obviously the punk scenes of London, New York and LA are the things of legend, with countless documentaries and books devoted to the history and current state of those scenes. Montreal might be a little less internationally recognized as a punk city, but still has always had a strong punk rock scene. According to your Facebook page you guys now consider Montreal to be your hometown, what do you think makes Montreal’s punk scene unique compared to other cities?
RMG: Montreal just has EVERYTHING you could want. It’s such an international-class city, besides the obvious French culture there it’s also home to so many different people from around the world. And that for sure translates into the music scene, besides Rockabilky/Psychobilly there’s great punk, surf and every other sub-culture genre you can think of. And the crowds have always been amazing for us.
K: Finally, and this one is more of a horror movie question: if The Creepshow could play the score for any film, what would it be? You could either pick a movie that already exists and re-compose the score, or you could pick a writer/director and make up a plot and it would be an original score.
RMG: I JUST finished watching “Martin” the vampire movie that George Romero (may he walk the earth undead forever) made back in the day. It’s so hard to find the movie I didn’t even know it existed! The music’s good, but it’s such an interesting movie I’d love for us to take a crack at re-scoring it. Maybe we could get on it in time for it’s re-release? I don’t think it’s even available on DVD. It’s got to be due to come back out.
The Creepshow hit the stage at ’77 Montreal at 2:50 pm. Tickets and info HERE.
The Creepshow also just announced that they have a new album “Death at my Door” dropping on September 15, in the meantime, check out the official video for “The Devil’s Son” here:
Keith does all sorts of things here on 9to5.cc, he works with the other founders on 9to5 (illustrated), co-hosts our two podcasts: The 9to5 Entertainment System and Go Plug Yourself and blogs here as The Perspicacious Geek.
