Waiting all night with Gravemist

Greetings and fangs for having the time to answer to some of my questions, what´s up?

- Not alot, Preparing for the upcoming tour,
Listening to Bobby Darin.

Let´s get started, who are you what do you do?

- I am Jason Mortualia Demise, I sing and play the snare
and Upright Bass for GRAVEMIST.
I am also a Legally Ordained Reverend and a Ghost Hunter.

What is Gravemist? How did you get started? Brief history if you may.

- (From our website http://gravemist.com)
"It was a dark night in 1956."
These are the tales of Mr. Jason Demise, Ghost hunter
and entertainer extraordinaire and my lovely partner
the talented songstress Natassja Noctis. We both play music
as part of the "Phineas Stein Creepabilly Travelling Show."

The CREEPERS/GRAVEMIST story is an unusual one
of two partners in musical journeys. Sadly The duo were killed
in a car accident on a dark night in 1956.
The story is still shrouded with mystery and
the facts are even fuzzy to this day. What we do know
Is that they came back to life in a local Chicago Graveyard and
have been seen playing lounge and nightclub gigs.

How can this be you may ask? Some suspect it may have something
to do with the Absinthe they had consumed in 1956
that was prepared by a poisonous hand, a bitter rival enemy who
wanted nothing more than to embarrass the duo.
Some say It helped in their ressurection?
The world may never know..."

Could you tell us more about the complilation CD´s "Tribulation" and "Trials"

- 10 years of music crammed into two DIY released discs,
all proceeds help fund GRAVEMIST because we take nothing
from our own pockets to make the band move.

All of your music has been released independently, is this something you want to continue doing or are you driving towards bigger labels?

- The Music Industry is full of weasels and snakes but If
a decent non-lying company would step up we'd be happy
to work with pretty much anyone, unless you want us to do
some crazy or unethical stuff.

You made a video of the song "Solitude", who directed it and are you happy with the result?

- Natassja directed it and we filmed it with a digital camera
and put it together using the computer. It's not even a "video" really
just the song and some pics of me acting weird.
We have yet to make a real video. Don't worry they are on the way.

Your music is labeled as creepbilly, gothabilly etc. how would you describe your own music?

- We dont trust "scenes", " genres" or labels. That stuff is for grocery stores.
We sound like GRAVEMIST. We dont like to be put in the "billy" category.
We live in the city, can read, we are not xenophobic and we are not alcoholics.
That's unheard of in their whole genre and scene. Some purist people say we are an
"insult" to rockabilly music because we are not ripping off the old bands sound and look.
But who cares what they think?

What inspires you to write music? Music, movies the undead?

- Its what we are, musicians, If we dont write music or do art you go crazy,
Look at Louis Farakkkhan.

You are from Graveyard of Chicago, how is the scene there?

- We dont have one. Retarded scene people are actively trying to silence GRAVEMIST.
We are blacklisted and banned/ignored from all "scene" type events,
mainly due to the fact we don't have political leanings
we exploit for advancement while being in a band.
The Local "goth" scene has been our biggest enemy,
setting up gigs the same night as ours, bad mouthing us, etc...

I read somewhere that you are the first openly "LGBT" rockabilly act, there is alot narrow mindness in the world, how have people reacted? Any encounters with morons while playing live situation?

- Most "music scene" people so far have been real
ignorant assholes to me and Natassja both.
It's a competition with everyone to see who can be the most
"popular" band, etc...total nonsense, Like High School.
But, There is always the balance of folks like you and
our regular supporters. When we play live only our friends
and supporters come, so we always have a great time.

More about playing live situation, do you have a steady live line-up or new guys on every new gig?

- It varies from show to show...
There are a few people who sit in more than others.

What is next with the Gravemist?

- We are touring the US this spring & summer,
and a new album is on the way.

This is about it, fangs again for the interview and it´s time for the final question, who is Dr. Reichenstahl?

- A Nazi Bastard who keeps harrassing me.
He's harmless though, most Incorrect people are.
:)

http://www.gravemist.com

http://www.myspace.com/hauntofgravemist

All text contained herein; © 2006-2007 Talesfromtheshadows. All Rights Reserved.

Zombie A-Go-Go 8.4.2007

It´s springtime for zombies and ghouls! This time the most ghoulish
club in town delivers us some undead and rotten tunes.
Be there to experience the performance of the Finland´s
finest post-punk band Suruaika. Also for your entertainment
2 fine DJ´s : Kaitsu (Schatten) and
PogoMara (If you scratch yer brain you might just remember
her from the BoneBoogie clubs)

The venue is the same as always with Club BongaBonga:
Lepakkomies
Address: Helsinginkatu 1

http://www.myspace.com/clubbongabonga

http://www.myspace.com/suruaika

Listening to the dead dog´s howl with Two Witches

Greetings and congratulations are in order, it´s been 20 years of gothrock, the pioneers in the Finnish scene, how are you?

- I'm fine, thank you. Busy as always. At the moment
we are touring heavily. We played in Austria the last weekend
and this week the tour continues in Russia for ten dates,
then we are going to UK with Pro-Jekt and so on.

At the same time I'm also finishing the second album
of my side-project, SinMasters. The album comes out this spring.
We are also composing new songs for the next Two Witches' album.

And, of course, Lumous Gothic Festival takes a lot of my time.

Could you tell our readers your current line-up?

- There two guitarists, Heidi and Marko, both lives in Berlin.
A guy called Jesse for the live show. And my vocals.
Unfortunately Anke left the band a few months ago
and we haven't found anyone to replace her yet.

Back to the fact that Two Witches has been around the block for 20 years, many ups and downs I assume, So far, what has been the absolute highlight of your career?

- Every tour and single concert is a highlight for us,
but maybe the biggest highlights have been the concerts
in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Russia.

To celebrate you 20th birthday, you´re organizing a European tour, tell us more about the dates and countries.

- Basicly we are touring the same places as always.
This year we are playing one concert in Finland as well.
That is pretty rare for us nowadays.

We are also going the second time to Russia.
This time for a real tour, ten gigs in ten days.
We are really waiting for it.

The other new countries for us would be
Czech Republic and Portugal.

Life itself is your biggest influence but what bands have inspired you?

- Huh, too many to mention them all. David Bowie, Christian Death,
Virgin Prunes, Bauhaus, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Japan,
The Mission, Fields of the Nephilim, Psychobilly, 70's punk rock,
Visage, Ultravox, The Stray Cats... It would take a day to
mention all of my favourite bands.

Let´s talk about the gothic scene in Finland, the state of it, what are your views about it? Any brother/sisters bands you relate to?

- The band scene in Finland is so small
and everyone knows each others. Of course
we, as well as any other act, are having some fellow bands.
Otherwise the scene is good in Finland, especially
in Helsinki and Tampere. Many clubs, some record labels,
magazines, etc. If I'm thinking of the last decades and nowadays,
I must say I like how it is at the moment.

For some reason, for long time Two Witches has been misunderstood and belittled by the Finnish music press, why do you think this is?

- I guess we have done something wrong?
To be a pioneer is not easy. But this is not just
a question of the Finnish music press but
quite often inside the scene as well.
Maybe the reason is simple, we are just crap.

So, next is the tour but after that, the future of Two Witches? Will Two Witches be immortal?

- I hope so. At least it feels like
we could survive the next years as well.

This is about it, fangs for the interview
and feel free to promote and say hi to the fans.

- I hope to see all of you in our concerts!

Bites,
Jyrki Witch

www.two-witches.com
www.myspace.com/twowitches

Pictures by www.exeria.de and www.tinacassati.de

All text contained herein; © 2006-2007 Talesfromtheshadows. All Rights Reserved.

Club BongaBonga Digs up Gold!

It has happened!
The biggest act in the Club BongaBonga history!
MrMezola was able to do
it and the news is that on
June the 3th,
the Canadian Psychobangers,
THE CREEPSHOW
will be performing at Club Lepakkomies!
More details will follow as the batphone delivers them!
Stay tuned for more
news from the grave!

http://www.myspace.com/clubbongabonga

http://www.myspace.com/thecreepshow

Eating their brains with The Creepshow

They are the creatures of the night, rock n roll demons! Out in the night to take your soul, they are evil and they work for the reaper! Beware or the reaper will sing your song! Come in and read what the most attractive ghoulette hellcat had to say about their mission...

Please give a brief history of the band, including current line up

- Well, let's see here...
we've been around for
about two years, put out an amazing record
($ell your $oul avaiable at Interpunk.com)
and we've been touring pretty
much non-stop since...
Current line-up is:
Matt Pomade on drums,
The Reverend McGinty on keyboards,
Sean 'Sickboy' McNab on doghouse bass
and my sister Sarah 'Sin' Blackwood on guitar and lead vocals. She's filling in for me as I'm expecting a little Hellcat of my own in May.

The Creepshow just released it´s debut album "Sell your soul" in 2006, was it a difficult project and are you pleased with the outcome? And how have people responded?

- I wouldn't say it was a difficult project to write or anything.
We had a lot of fun writing and recording it, that's for sure...
Honestly, we couldn't be happier with the way people have responded.
It's been CRAZY really... I mean, our record is selling huge
all over the world right now, places can't keep the thing in stock ANYwhere...
it's a little overwhelming sometimes when I actually get
the chance to sit back and think about it (which I don't get to very often...)

What would you call your music, describe the sound of The Creepshow, to those people who yet don´t know about you

- That's a tough one, each of us draws from so many different influences
that it's really hard to pinpoint any specific genre...people are
calling us psychobilly or rockabilly or even horrorbilly but, to me...
it's just plain
old good time rock n' roll that will get your ass shakin'.
There are some songs about horror-themed type stuff but there are
also songs about life on there you know? Love gone wrong songs etc... it's
ALL in there.

On your myspace site, you´ve made a cover of "Halloween" song by the legendary Misfits, what other bands have inspired you?

- Personally I am influenced by a lot of '50s artists, I like a lot of
old doo wop stuff and rockabilly stuff.
I really dig old crooners from the big band era too.
But certainly, a lot of punk stuff too ya know?
Cramps, Ramones, I'm a big Green Day fan...
there, I've admitted it... deal with it. My record collection is a very eclectic one really...

Creepshow is from Canada, how is the rock n roll scene there?

- There's a GREAT scene here!
Canada boasts some really great bands up here...
The Matadors, The Gutter Demons, Alley dukes, The Brains... the list goes on and on... I could literally fill the pages of your
magazine with how many great bands there are here. But, enough about them...
let's talk about ME and MY great band...tee hee..

Let´s talk about touring, you are coming to Finland in June and July, is this your first time in Finland, what do you expect?

- Well, Finland is a place I've always wanted to visit. Unfortunately,
our last European tour did not take us that far.
I've always loved Pekka Halonen's paintings of Finnish landscapes
and would love to see them with my own eyes... BUT...I'm not going, I'm
expecting a little hellcat of my own in May and so my sis will be
filling in for the tour! She'll be rockin' in my shoes until I return.

More about touring and live shows, what is the worst experience in a live situation so far?

- I think last year when we were touring in California...
we were supposed to play a show in San Jose but
I was unable to perform due to exhaustion.
It had never happened to me before or since.
I now know to make sure I eat well on tour no matter how busy I am.

What makes a good The Creepshow show?

- Every Creepshow show is a good one.
From the first note to the last we will have you dancing
and singing along all night! We are a top notch live act.
It's what we do.. We consistantly deliver a high intensity
rock n' roll show that will not soon be forgotten.

Little about the future, have you done any new songs, and if so when can fans expect another Creepshow release? What is the direction you wanna take Creepshow to?

- I have begun writing many songs over the last year.
The new songs are a bit of a departure from the
last record but not too much. The newer songs are a little
darker but still infectiously catchy. But, you'll just have to
wait...

Thank you very much, say your last prayers!

- Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray to Lucifer my soul keep,
and if I should die before I wake...
I can at least be happy that I left the hottest corpse
on earth behind me... *wink*

http://www.thecreepshow.ca

http://www.myspace.com/thecreepshow

Pictures by: Gordon Ball and DrMarten

All text contained herein; © 2006-2007 Talesfromtheshadows. All Rights Reserved.

Into the Batcave with The Last days of Jesus

Since 1993 they have been one of the most unique deathrock groups of Europe, they hail from the Batcaves of Bratislava, Slovakia.
Let´s see what they had to say...

The Last days of Jesus was formed in 1993, how has things changed since then?

- You know, the things have changed as we
have been changing through the years.
When we started we were approx. 20 years old.
Now we´re over 30. Some illusions are lost
but some new are still coming up.
Probably we are more straigth in our music
as well as in the lyrics, more ironic,
full of sarcasm....

What is the current line-up?

- The line up is the same like on the Alien Road album.
Fessy - guitars, Anjou de Cou-Cou- keys, Vajco - drums,
mary0 the robotjoker - voice...
we just use some different nicks for every album as
our mental illnesses are changing every year...

You are currently of Strobelight records,
how did you end up with them and how has it been so far?

- We contacted them, I think it was somewhere in 2003,
to get some promo copies of their bands for our BatCave.sk
webzine we are running here. Well, and then we finished the
songs for the Alien Road album and realized
we had no label. So, then it went very quickly,
a question, an answer, a contract, an album, great;-)
They supported us intensively and we stayed in contact,
so now there is another contract for the upcoming album in our safe.

So far, what has been the most important musical experience with your band?

- As we have been existing for almost 14 years
there were a lot of experiences in our past.
Well, some of the most important experiences
was the contract and fucking bad cooperation with EMI-Monitor,
but first of all it is about all the moments and adventures at our
live concerts and tours, as well as the already mentioned good co-work
with the guys from our current label Strobelight.

Let´s talk little about your childhood,
What was the first record you bought?
How did you get involved with Deathrock?

- Let me think... Hm, as I can remember my first record which I bought
by myself was a cassette tape of the Slovak hard rock band Tublatanka
in 1983 or 1984 ;-))) However, then I was a big fan of Depeche Mode
& New Romantic. First contact to Deathrock
was Christian Death... and that was in the
second half of the Eighties.
In those times I also started to listen to bands
like The Damned or Lords of the New Church.

What is the status for "Dead Machines Revolution"?

- The modern age is an unrelenting struggle of humans and
their devices and there is no winner. We can see it all around us?
the human race lives in consume, anything new, modern,
attractive is going old and out within a flash of second.
"Dead Machines Revolution" is the reaction of old but
viable and functioning engines against the empty values of the modern age.

How did you start making music? For example, are there any special routines in your songwriting, like you need a certain kind of atmosphere around you before you are able to write new music?

- Hm, we had something like that in the past.
Now we can say that we are happy when we have enough time for rehearsals.
Usually we are so tired of work that you can hear our frustration
in our lyrics as well as in the music.
That´s why we are more straight, ironic and rough as well.

MaryO and TLDOJ manager martin aka DJ Sexdwarf, run batcave club in Bratislava, Tell us more about this?

- Well, the Batcave Party has been organised regularly since 1996
and became the oldest and most famous Old School Goth/Deathrock/Electro/Punk n Wave
party in Slovakia. We organise also concerts and other events.
We do it totally away from the pseudo-gothbands on MTV and
in the glossy so-called Goth-magazines, we want to dedicate our webzine,
the parties and the selection of live acts to the Originals and
everybody who can uniquely exploit the heritage of
classic bands and the roots of the genre...
We already such bands playing live, like Antiworld, All Gone Dead,
Devilish Presley, Miguel and the Living Dead,
Quidam, Deathcamp Project, LT-No, Scarlet & the Spooky Spiders
and many many others.

Following the previous question, how is the scene in Slovakia?

- Well, the situation in Slovakia is very similar to the
other countries in CE region. People mostly listen to the so called Gothic Metal,
Dark Techno Industrial or whatever you´d call this shit.
But we have no real old school goth/deathrock/horror punk scene,
even as mentioned our parties are more or less into this
music and the situation in our hometown Bratislava is different
and much better than anywhere else in Slovakia.
Our Batcave parties have regularly 100 - 300 visitors.

Bands you can recommend from Slovakia?

- The Last Days of Jesus ;-) ...Well, there´s not so much to recommend.
We have a quite good electro-industrial scene
(check out the hard industrial band called Einleitungszeit for example)
and a strong punk scene (Zona A for example).
But there´s no other interesting band in goth/deathrock in my opinion...

You have toured across Europe and in north America too, when is Finland´s turn?
- Next week, with all pleasure;-) ...you know, it´s always up to the
organizers (our mail address is on our website).

This is the last one, what do you hope from the future, careerwise?

- We hope people will enjoy our new album.
Then, hope we can meet a lot of new nice people & friends...
And, of course, we would like to earn really big money with our music...

http://www.myspace.com/thelastdaysofjesus

© Pictures by Jozef Barinka

All text contained herein; © 2006-2007 Talesfromtheshadows. All Rights Reserved.

Traveling with the Vampire Show Calabrese

Many buckets of blood has shed since we last talked with the brothers of Calabrese. The greatest horrorpunk band has returned with fangs sharper than ever, releasing new album and touring is not enought, the Calabrese brothers are here to conquerer the mortal world, let´s have a bite to eat with Calabrese...

Cut to the chase, Calabrese just released it´s 2nd full length album, are you happy with the outcome?

Bobby -- Most definitely! There’s always gonna be ideas
and riffs and lyrics we wish we used, but
you gotta go with the flow and
let the evil take its course. We’re happy with it,
and we’re even more happy hearing about how
the album is controlling people’s minds and souls!

Davey -- Hell yeah!

You just held your CD release party, how did that go?

Bobby -- I will say that it pretty much bordered absolute chaos.
One of the greatest shows of our lives! We seriously had a blast,
and everyone who came to the show (all who left with bruises!)
really turned it into a rock and roll night
we‘ll never forget. There was stage diving, crowd-surfing
and enough boots to the face to last a lifetime!

Davey -- It was awesome!

The Traveling Vampire Show is the name your your latest work, if I understood correctly, you let the fans decide the name, why did you end up with this solution?

Jimmy -- We held the same type of contest for
"13 Halloweens." We want to involve our fans
as much as possible. We don't just think of ourselves as
musicians, we are also entertainers and
we feel the best entertainment is interactive.
Be it at our shows or with our CD's...we want people to
participate!

Let´s talk about the recording process, was is a painful experience or did things go smoothly?

Bobby -- It was a lot easier the third time around.
We had a clear vision of what we wanted to do,
allowing no time for sleep, stressing out or
totally sucking. We just went in and rocked!

Jimmy -- We have mastered a perfect combination of
caffeine and the occult, which makes
the recording process a blast.

Vampyrism seems to the theme on your new album, where do you dig up your inspirations?

Bobby -- Anything from comics to movies to video games.
For me, a lot of song lyrics and ideas usually come from horror novels,
the weirder and stranger the better!

Jimmy -- My vampirism is fueled by the creative mind of
Joss Whedon and the controversial E.C. Comics of the 1950's!

You´re shooting a new music video, of what song and who will be directing it?

Jimmy -- Brian Pulido, president of Chaos! Comics and
founder of Eternal Entertainment is directing our next
music video for the song "Voices Of The Dead."
Brian has written or co-written over 260 comic books
including Lady Death, Evil Ernie, Purgatori,
Chastity, Smiley, the Psychotic Button, Bad Kitty, Jade,
Lady Demon, Bedlam and The Undead, among many other titles.
Brian is also an Award-winning filmmaker
whose horror short film, "There's Something out There,"
has played 40 international film festivals and garnered 8
"best of" awards.

Davey -- To say the least...we are excited about this project!

To me it seems that you got a quite big fanbase in Europe,
when are going to bring your coffins to European soil?

Bobby -- Hopefully soon! You never really know
when Calabrese decides to invade!
But I must warn you to keep your eyes peeled and
your back against a wall at all times.
We’re coming for ya!

Jimmy -- We want to come over on our terms and
with our full show. We've had gracious offers
from labels and bands but it's just not in the tarot
cards...yet!

Final question, if you held a big monster party, who would you invite? Pick five persons - dead, alive or undead.

Bobby -- Ah, this is a good one. I
’m sure I could go on forever, but here we go:
I’d personally invite Vincent Price, Penn and Teller
(hey, they count as one!) Darth Vader, Cthulhu and Dracula.
I now just realized I didn’t invite any women,
turning this into a total dude (and giant squid) party.
Oh well. Pizza and video games!

Jimmy -- I would want rub elbows with my idols, Glenn Danzig, Rob Zombie,
Joey Ramone, Johnny Cash and P.T. Barnum.

Davey -- Elvira, Bruce Campbell, Chewbacca, Michelangelo
(the sewer-surfin’ ninja turtle) and a clone of myself, because I kick ass at parties.

http://www.calabreserock.com

http://www.myspace.com/Calabrese

Also remember to read the old interview I made with the guys HERE

Pics © Diana Price
All text contained herein; © 2006-2007 Talesfromtheshadows. All Rights Reserved.