Hi George, we met
at the 27th Psychobilly Meeting in Pineda de Mar. You spoke in
Spanish with me and you have accepted that this interview is in
Spanish that is easier for me to ask the questions I want to develop.
You're from Los
Angeles right? How is the Psychobilly scene in your city? Can you
recommend some bands from your environment? How do you discover
Psychobilly and why do you decide to create your Psychobilly band?
Yes, we are all
mainly from Los Angeles, California. The Psychobilly scene here at
home is a healthy and thriving genre for the most part. A majority of
the people here in the scene are very enthusiastic about the music.
Some bands from California that we can highly recommend are groups
like The Quaranteds, Cigaratz, The Cursed Bastards, Spectre, The
Rhythm Reactorz, and The Lost Boys whom we are all good friends with.
We also recommend other bands who are not too far away from us and
whom we are also friends with such as Intrepid Mutants, Quatro, Klax,
and The Humanoids. Each of us discovered Psychobilly in our own way.
George picked it up from his older cousin Sammy who is the guitarist
and singer for his group Badluck Bandits, Jon picked it up from his
older brother Ricky who is the drummer for Gamblers Mark, and Julian
picked it up from a friend in high school that he would eventually
start his first band with. Radarmen has always been a hobby and a
sort of personal escape for each of us.
Who are the
Radarmen and what instruments do you play? Do you come from other
bands? Which ones?
Formed in 2011,
Radarmen are Jon on double bass and vocals; George, our second
guitarist and vocals, and Julian on drums. Radarmen is a Psychobilly
band that was formed by first guitarist Danny, Julian, and Jon after
Danny met Jon at a Meteors show. Danny left the band in 2013 due to
discrepancies and George, a mutual friend of the band’s already,
would become our new guitarist shortly after one rehearsal
get-together. Each of us do have history with both past and current
bands. Jon originally played double bass and sang in his first band
called The Cosmix before starting Radarmen. George has recently
started practicing again with his band Uhh Random Bunch and plans to
play a few shows soon. He is the guitarist and singer in what he
refers to his: Neo-psychobilly band. Julian comes from a few number
of bands from over the years playing the music. He has been the
original member of two other short-lived bands excluding Radarmen
called The AniManiaX, his first band, and The Kit Boys. He has joined
active bands over the years as well including a group called
ThrillBillyz whom are no longer together and a band that he is also
currently active in called Cannibal Mad Men.
What influences
does Radarmen have? Only Psychobilly or other musical, movie, plastic
or literal genres?
We are influenced
by Psychobilly of all decades as well as both Rockabilly and
Neo-rockabilly, but our influences also range from Post-punk, New
Wave, Dark Wave, Electronic, Indie, Surf, some Spanish music, and
good ‘ol classic rock and roll. Our brand of Psychobilly also
incorporates heavy futuristic and Sci-fi influences that stems from
various space nostalgia and fiction. Being different is something the
three of us really admire and take heed to as well. We always aim to
produce sounds with ambience, chorus, different drum combinations,
and strong bass tones all while maintaining a hint of the classic
Rockabilly style. We also enjoy many Action, Drama, and Horror movies
of all the decades; both American and foreign films.
When did you
start playing and where have you played since then? Is there a good
response from the public in your concerts?
Radarmen have
been playing in backyards and small venues all around California
since 2011. As the years went by we have played at much larger and
stapled venues within the California scene such as venues like the
legendary Spike’s Bar & Billiards, The Vex, and The Airliner
that are no longer standing. We have had the opportunity to travel to
Phoenix, Arizona where we performed alongside The Quaranteds, The
Cursed Bastards, and Cigaratz at a small, but great bar called
Chopper John’s. We were also given an amazing invitation and
opportunity to headline a Mexican Psychobilly festival in the heart
of México City called México Psycho for their second year in 2018.
We were invited by our good friends Quatro. Another amazing
opportunity that we were given was when we were invited to play the
Tijuanamaniac festival in Tijuana, México alongside Demented Are Go!
for the first time also in 2018. Shows small or big, we benefit from
all of them. It has taken some time for us to develop the fan base
that we have now and we always appreciate the large number of people
that come to watch us perform. The response from the public is very
good. We also enjoy performing at shows of various genres that allow
us to gain a broader variety of fans.
In January 2017,
the German label Killjoy Records published an EP of four songs that
sound great. Can you explain what these songs are about? How and when
does Killjoy Records contact you?
Anna Killjoy of
Killjoy Records had contacted us late 2015 inquiring about the EP we
were planning to debut. She had explained everything Killjoy Records
could do for us as far as printing the sleeves, pressing the records,
and doing the distributing and it was an offer that we could not
refuse. It took us the following year to complete the recording
process for the EP and the response has been great. Our songs discuss
certain Sci-fi movie subjects and life lessons. “Invasion of the
Radarmen” is a song that is a statement of the intensity of our
music. “Cosmic Kidnapping,” “Interstellar,” and “End of
Line” are other originals that reference the stories from movies
such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Interstellar, and Tron.
Are you in a good
moment of creation or live performances right now? Do you plan to
release something new soon?
Our performances
and musical creation is going well. We are very thankful for the many
shows we are getting booked for near and far. The feedback and
responses from both our live performances and current recorded
material that is out are nothing short of excellent. The current plan
is to begin recording a 10 or 12 track album of all original material
and have it finished and released by the end of this year. We have
been looking forward to this for sometime now.
Do you think you
can play at the Psychobilly Meeting one day? Who would you like to
play with?
It would be a
privilege to play at the Psychobilly Meeting festival. We do hope our
music and fan base will take us there someday. It would be great to
share the stage with Batmobile again along with the Test Pilots, The
Frögs, Sir Psyko and His Monsters, and The Spastiks. Other acts we
hope to play with someday are The Twilighters, The Ricochets, Mad
Sin, Scabrox, and bands that just recently made a comeback such as
Cyclone and The Rattlers! If Radarmen had a chance to play with
groups that are no longer active, The Krewmen (original lineup), The
Rapids, The Falcons, The Skrunch, Torment, and Rockin’ Bones would
be at the top of the list!
You traveled some
members of your band to Pineda de Mar and surely you would meet
people from other bands. Can we know with which other bands you have
interacted in this festival or in others in which you have been?
Julian had the
pleasure of meeting and making a new friend Panu who plays guitar and
sings for the Finland group Graveyard Bashers. Other artists that
George and Julian both caught up with and met for the first time at
the Meeting included Marco, double bass player of The Frögs, Ray of
Tasteless and The Zipheads, Curtis Lee, guitarist for The Rattlers,
Strangey, former double bass player of the Klingonz and Numbskulls,
and The Twilighters from the Ukraine.
What would you
like to say that we have not commented and have to know?
We would like to
say thank you, Hektor Plasma, for giving us an opportunity to talk
about our band and our view on the Psychobilly community. We thank
all of our supporters who listen to and push our music and all the
promoters who give us the opportunity to play. It is important to
follow your passion and to be original when working on your art. Stay
tuned for our debut album coming by the end of this year, 2019, with
all original content. The invasion has begun...
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario