Zombina and the Skeletones
Manche Interviews ergeben sich einfach so...
Doc Horror lernte ich im Internet Forum von Deathrock.com kennen und so kam es ,daß ich erfuhr ,daß er Gitarrist einer englischen Horror-Punk Band namens "Zombina and the Skeletones" ist. Bei Mp3.com hörte ich mir einige ihrer Sachen an und war sofort ziemlich angetan, poppiger und melodischer Horror-Gothic-Punk mit Rockabilly und New Wave Einflüssen und grandioser weiblicher Stimme die etwas an die Sängerin der Donnas oder vielleicht sogar an den Charme der X-Ray Spex oder Toyahs erinnert sowie kraftvollen Punk Gitarrenriffs. Als Doc dann im Netz stolz verkündete als Support von The Damned gespielt zu haben dachte ich ,daß es jetzt dringend mal an der Zeit wäre für ein Interview ...
Here we Go:
first of all could you please introduce yourself, on the web page I saw a picture
with 8 or more people, who actually IS in your band?
Zombina: hey, we are ‘zombina and the skeletones’ a five piece band from the u.k.
I am lead vocalist miss Zombina Venus Hatchet, and these ghostly creatures are my skeletones; doc horror (guitars & vocals) grim outlook (guitars) jonny Tokyo (bass & keys) and little miss kit shivers our drummer. Greetings.
-when did you start the band? Any interesting stories about it?
Zombina: the very beginning was back in 1998 I suppose but we were called ‘the deformed’ and jonny and kit weren’t with us then.
Doc: nobody else was really playing the kind of music that we wanted to hear, so we
decided to do it ourselves!
Jonny: but as the line up is now; we’ve been together for just over 2 years.
I’ve seen you recently released your first (?) album… can you tell me anything about the release?
Grim: our debut album ‘taste the blood of…’ zombina and the skeletons is due for release on ectoplastic records within the next two months.
you all look very young, what is the average age of the band? Is there a new, young (and maybe growing) gothic-punk audience in England?
Kit: our average age is 18, so, yeh, we are quite young I guess. We all met each other through high school originally.
Zombina: there is a growing alternative scene over here but all the young kids are getting into the new metal & pop punk stuff. Not really gothic-punk
Grim: I’ve seen a few in misfits t-shirts but that’s about it.
are any band members active in other bands too?
Kit: we all have side projects really. Grim’s in a blues band, jonny has some electronic thing going on. Etc. But nothing really serious.
Jonny: we’d all rather concentrate, on Zombina. (the band that is)
what are the typical topics you write your songs about, are you mostly into horror and comic book imagery or do you write about other (more serious maybe?) topics too… some of your songs, "nobody likes you" for example is funny, but not directly related to horror-topics (am I wrong?)
Zombina: basically our songs are about classic love, and death kind of themes but with a horror twist! anything from radiation poisoning to necrophilia! It can make them quite funny sometimes!
What are your favourite songs?
Zombina: erm… I think it’s got to be ‘nobody likes you’
Doc: that or ‘brain-dead’.
Jonny: ‘first kiss’.
Kit: ‘grave and beyond’…today, it changes.
Grim: ‘please tell the martians’.
what do you actually call your musical style? Are you serious with "bubblegoth"?
Kit: we’ve been called all sorts of different things. The "bubble" bit comes from the cute vocals I think.
Zombina: we used to describe ourselves as horror-punk because that’s what people call the misfits, and it made sense at the time. We’re a punk rock band that writes about ‘horror’ subjects, vampires, and zombies, UFOs. But other bands around at the moment described as horror-punk don’t sound much like us!
Kit: it’s hard to find a category that we fit into! But that’s a good thing I suppose.
What are your influences? There is horror-punk and gothic, but I think you also mentioned bubblegum pop, and rockabilly?
Doc: yes, all of the above and more!
Which are your favourite bands?
Kit: combined we listen to anything from Nick Cave to Alice in chains…BB King to the cure! But we’re all into the ramones, pixies, misfits ect.
How´s the scene in Britain? Most British punk bands we hear of in Germany are either oi! Or old 70’s punk bands like u.k. subs or the Boys. Is there a new punk-rock scene on the island? What is the goth scene like? I heard that there are still many gothic acts playing, and some smaller clubs and festivals (withby gothic weekend?)…
Grim: in the northwest of England where we’re based there is relatively little happening on the gothic scene other than a few small clubs. And although there are an increasing number of punk bands (mainly hardcore at the moment) I think both scenes are a lot bigger in London.
Which bands have you already played with?
Jonny: We’ve supported the damned, clinic, bad manners, and played with loads of other smaller bands.
Zombina: sharing a stage with the damned was a great experience! We’re all really into them anyway, and they were such lovely people.
Doc: they dedicated ‘plan 9 channel 7’ to "the great support band"! hehe
I heard that you will probably play at the undercover of darkness festival in Munster, Germany… have you ever been to Germany before? Will you be on tour?
Jonny: yes, we’ve now confirmed that we’re playing, (the first night I think.) we’re really looking forward to it, a couple of us have been to Germany before on school exchange trips, But never as a band. It’ll be a totally new experience.
Grim: we’re not going to be on tour unfortunately, but if we go down well I’m sure we’ll be back before long.
On what record label will your album be released? Will it only be available in Britain, or has the label got distribution for Germany, or maybe even the states too?
Kit: the album is self financed, and will be released on our own label, ectoplastic. But the Liverpool based lowsley records will be dealing with distribution.
Doc: it’s going to be available in shops in Britain. And by mail order, through our website
www.zombina.comWho actually did the cool comic artwork on your home page, and the album cover?
Zombina: that’s done by Art Balthazar, he’s a comic book artist from the USA he draws ‘Patrick the wolf-boy’ (featured on the album cover) and the ‘I dream of Jeannie’ comics. We really liked his stuff!
Grim: there’s a link to his home page on the merchandise bit of our site. Go see!
What jobs do you have in everyday life?
Kit: I’ve worked in a music shop for a couple of years now, I get to play guitars all day so it’s cool! but I do other bits when I have the time, like, me and zombina were selling mortgages a few months ago!
Zombina: haha...yeh, I’m always doing different things, usually cafes and bars and stuff though.
Doc: I hand out fliers for local clubs- exciting hmm! Grim and Tokyo are just lazy!
Grim:……..yeh.
Are there any bands from Britain (or not), which you would like to recommend or that are friends of yours?
Doc: ghoultown, from Texas, USA. They’re pretty cool.
Zombina: yeh, we’ve become quite friendly with them. They got Jerry Only to sign some stuff for me.
Jonny: there’s quite a few bands we’re friendly with over here, some of the best local ones are; the mighty saguaro (chunky punk rock), flamingo 50 (raw kick-ass punk), ricky spontane (quirky rock’n’roll), and klingklang (kraftwerk influenced). Worth a quick search on the net if your interested.
any last words to me or my readers?
Thanks for listening and we’ll see you all in Munster!
keep on rottin’n’rollin!
Contact address?
Our website is www.zombina.com
or write to; Zombina & the Skeletons,
542 Allerton Rd,
Mossley Hill,
Liverpool,
L18 9UZ,
England.
