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Behind the Mask
An interview with Dave “Oderus Urungus”
Brockie of Gwar
By Bob
Ignizio |
GWAR (Oderus Urungus – vocals, Balsac the Jaws of Death
– guitar, Flattus Maximus – guitar, Beefcake the Mighty – bass, and Jizmak
Da Gusha – drums) first came to national attention in 1988 with their
independently released debut album ‘Hell-O’. That debut set the template
the group would follow, featuring a mix of punk rock and metal along with an
over the top stage show featuring lots of blood and guts. The band quickly
got the attention of Metal Blade records, and with 1990’s ‘Scumdogs of the
Universe’ began a successful reign of terror that lasted until 2001’s
‘Violence Has Arrived’. After three years, the band is finally back with a
new label (DRT Records) and a new album (‘War Party’).
Utter Trash: It’s been 3 years since the last Gwar
album. What took you so long?
Dave Brockie: We got to the end of our contract with
Metal Blade, and they gave us another contract and said sign it. And we
didn’t want to (laughs). We thought we’d just shop around a few other
labels and see what other opportunities there were for us. Not that we have
anything against Metal Blade. They were our home for a long time and were
very cool to us. We kind of got sick of getting lumped in with all the
other bands on that label. We got an offer from DRT, who had an interesting
and diverse line-up. Some new attitudes and fresh blood. And Voila, there
you have it: War Party.
UT: The war party tour involved you running for
president, but you kind of got a late start, didn’t you?
DB: Well, the mock the vote tour has now become more
like mock the results of the vote tour. You guys are stuck with the
results, and we get to rub your face in it every night. Everybody in the
world is making fun of us, so we might as well join in.
UT: So I take it you’re not thrilled with Bush getting
re-elected?
DB: I really don’t think it would have made much
difference either way. The whole thing is probably rigged to begin with.
Kerry and the Democrats screwed up totally because they played to their
audience. They made no attempt to reach out to people that traditionally
wouldn’t support the Democratic Party. They just wrote them off, and in
doing so they signed their own death warrant. So we got what we deserved.
UT: Getting away from politics, is everyone in the
costumes still the same as they’ve been for the last few years?
DB: No, we’ve got a new bass player and a new guitar
player, Todd Evans and Corey Snood replacing J.C. Moore and Zach Blair.
We’ve had three different Beefcakes and at least four Flattuses, but I’m
happy to say that Jizmak (aka Brad Roberts) and Balsac the Jaws of Death (aka
Steve Douglas) and me are the same people who’ve been around since ‘Scumdogs’.
I’m the only actual original musician who’s been around since ‘Hell-O’.
UT: The new guitar player sounds really good. There’s
some very nice guitar work on the new album.
DB: With ‘Violence has Arrived’ we made a definite
effort to get back to the metal and get out of the comedy punk rock land we
were kind of squirming around in. And it was really successful for us; it
was the most successful GWAR album we’d had in a long time. A lot of people
who’d kind of written us off were forced to reassess their opinion of GWAR.
So we decided to keep hammering that home. Corey is a really amazing guitar
player, and he really shines on this new record. Whether you’re coming to
see the stage show or get into the music, it’s a good time to be in GWAR.
UT: So what’s the stage show like this time?
DB: Well let’s see, we’ve got all your favorite
celebrities and politicians getting the living shit kicked out of them. I
don’t want to give a lot of the details, except that it’s extremely wet,
gross and smelly.
UT: Is it hard to keep topping yourselves?
DB: Not really. We don’t really try to top
ourselves, just amuse ourselves. If anything, over the last few tours we’ve
kind of trimmed back a little bit. I was looking at a tape we made in
Toronto in 1992 or 1993. We had 3 decapitations in the first song. We kept
trying to do this kind of stuff, and we were just killing ourselves and
spending all our money. Right around when we did ‘Violence’ we made a
decision to cut it back a little bit and focus more on the music and more
traditional aspects of the production, like sound and lights. Of course
we’re still going to hack people to death, but let’s try to be a little bit
smarter. And it’s been working out really great for us.
UT: Do you think the people are taking you more
seriously as musicians now?
DB: We could be up there playing Brahms and people
still wouldn’t take us seriously. It’s difficult to overcome just how great
the stage show is. The visual impact is so overwhelming, it’s not
surprising to me that a lot of people don’t really pay attention to our
music. Especially if you throw on a GWAR album and hear a song like
“Fucking an Animal”. But I think now with the line-up we’ve got, when
people see the band and hear us play, they’re blown away. This concept
wouldn’t have lasted as long as it has if it was a bunch of hack musicians
hiding behind costumes. The music and the visuals are equal parts of
a well balanced fist that’s been pummeling society now for almost twenty
years.
UT: I remember seeing you on VH1’s “Where Are They
Now”, and you were recording and touring just as always at the time. What
was up with that?
DB: I don’t know. It’s like somebody doesn’t get
into GWAR for a while and thinks we broke up. It’s kind of like the
Broadway musical ‘Cats’. You’re not going to get rid of it anytime soon.
They asked where are they now, where were we ever? We’re not like The
Captain and Tenille or anything. We’re still out there touring. But hey,
any publicity is good publicity.
UT: Tell me about your side project, The Dave Brockie
Experience.
DB: For a while, GWAR albums like ‘We Kill
Everything’ and ‘Carnival of Chaos’ was really comedy punk rock. A lot of
that is I tend to write a lot of songs like that. I had so many silly
hardcore songs, and I was like, “We can’t let these songs wind up on a GWAR
album because they’re just not GWAR songs.” So I did the Dave Brockie
Experience to kind of take a musical dump. Get all that stuff out there,
get it recorded, and get it out of my brain so I could concentrate on making
some really wicked, vicious GWAR music. And that’s ultimately what we’ve
done with the last two GWAR records.
UT: So do you have any plans for your company Slave
Pit Productions beyond GWAR? Any desire to make a movie or something like
that?
DB: Oh sure. We do all kinds of weird side
projects. We’re art whores. We’ll do tattoo designs, we’ll do
illustrations. We’ll make movies, we’ll records albums for people. But
generally speaking, GWAR takes up all our time and effort because it is such
a beast. We don’t want to be like Doctor Frankenstein and just let the
monster wander around the countryside maiming farmers. We need to control
our beast, and that’s a full time job.
UT: Do you ever have the desire to do something more
“serious” or mainstream?
DB: You know, I don’t even really know what that
means. As an artist, I’m motivated to produce the art that I think is vital
and relevant and current. I think GWAR, as much as it’s framed in a comedy
aspect, it really is as serious as a heart attack. We take the fact that we
don’t take anything seriously very seriously. As far as mainstream, I just
think if you sit around and try to create art because you think other people
will like it, you’re just a toothless wonder. It’s never about the money or
fame or acceptance. It’s about making the kind of art that we want to do.
Any success we’ve achieved at that is just by accident.
UT: Are you surprised GWAR has been around as long as
it has, and how much longer do you think you’ll keep doing it?
DB: As long as we possibly can. And when I’m unable
to do Oderus, we’ll breed a replacement in our syntho wombs and send him out
there. Son of Oderus, I can see it. Godzilla is going to be around
forever, GWAR as well.
UT: So the concept is more important than the
musicians.
DB: Well, that tends to sound a little harsh. The
musicians I work with now are precious. I think it’s the best line-up we’ve
ever had, and they’re my family. But I can see the concept being bigger
than any one person or anybody in the costume. So GWAR could literally last
for hundreds of years. As far as how we’re doing, we’re doing great. I
feel great when I put on that rubber suit and swing that big sword. It’s
still just as big a rush as it ever was. It’s just as much fun. We supply
a great service to humanity. If you didn’t have GWAR, what’s the
alternative? I don’t know, but whatever it is, it’s horrible?
UT: So what do you do when you aren’t doing GWAR?
DB: I like food, sports, my girlfriend.
Oversleeping. We’re just simple, normal humans. It’s really cool because
the fact we play characters and wear costumes on stage really lends itself
to us being normal people. After the show is over, we take off our rock n
roll persona and throw it in a box. I was at House of Blues yesterday, and
Avril Lavigne was doing a meet and greet there. I felt sorry for her. She
was surround by people telling her where to go and what to do. “No staff
members allowed in the room, and you’re not allowed to look at her in the
face.” What are you, an animal being handled by a trainer? I don’t care
how many records you sell or how rich you get. Nothing is more important to
me than my individuality and my freedom. And I don’t really see a lot of
these people having that. I walk around the clubs before the show and
nobody knows who I am. I think it’s great.
UT: Any closing comments?
DB: Just keep the faith, baby. We love you, we love
Cleveland. It’s been a great run. Let’s do another twenty years.
Visit the GWAR website.
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