Punk, Psychobilly and Gothic – it's a broad church you have there, and clearly a very lively
congregation – how you think the three elements are best illustrated as having real
character in your work. Which genre provides which aspect?
In fact you could have added Orchestral – the classical crowd would never know the d
ifference, and then you widen your audience still further.
Nick Feratu: I've been a record collector since I was a teenager and I've always been a fan of the
bands that create new sounds by combining old ones. Bands like the Damned, the Cramps, the Gun
Club, Public Image Ltd, the Quakes... So when the decision was made that Joel and I were going to
start our own band, it seemed very natural that we would mash all of our favorite things up into one
heady stew.
The punk thing is probably the broadest of all the influences. Everyone knows who the Ramones are.
The Clash, Sex Pistols, these are all names that get thrown around with every Punk narrative. What
about the Damned and the New York Dolls? They were just as good (and in most cases better) than
their more commercial contemporaries. Someone should be a torch bearer for these bands.
When punk was first shoved in my face, I felt like the doors were blown open to the universe. I dove
headfirst into that scene and drowned myself in CDs, records and books. Anything that was
associated with punk rock, I craved. Eventually the whole "three chord, 4/4 beat" thing became a bit
predictable and I started diversifying my tastes. That's where the rockabilly and goth thing come in to
play.
It's surprising to me that most Americans, when questioned on the topic of "goth" immediately
reference abominations like Marilyn Manson. They wouldn't know what a Sister of Mercy or a "Bow-
hoss" was if it wanked in their soup. The whole scene is completely lost to most young kids, and I
think it's a shame.
In an immediate sense, the idea is to combine the frenetic energy of punk rock, with the surrealistic
edge of post punk and deathrock. Just for good measure, we try to filter those elements through the
Psychobilly trio format. If nobody in the crowd understands the influences, that's okay too. It's all rock
and roll.
I presume you're mainly there in the Psychobilly scene but able to adapt to most places.
Does this all go smoothly. Way back at the dawn of time (the early 80's) there were deep
suspicions between scenes and often tribal violence. Any of that stupidity remain?
Nick Feratu: We seem to be thrown in with the Psychobilly crowd most often, but we've actually found
that are the most fun are the ones that have no idea what we're all about. It's great playing shows with
straight forward punk bands. Many times, the punk crowd has never seen an upright bass used
onstage before. People have asked us what kind of instrument it was... one person I remember
distinctly saying "That's a HUGE violin".
Most of the time it goes smoothly. We've really tried to boil our live show s down to two simple things -
high intensity and solidity. I think people can sense when the band is having fun onstage, so the
energy is very reciprocal in that sense.
I've heard of "Psychobilly gang riots" out in Los Angeles, but that kind of thing doesn't seem to go
down in our neck o' the woods. I guess people out in LA have more to prove, so they take it all very
seriously or something like that. There's definitely still a lot of stupidity around. Real rock and roll
should be stupid and dangerous. It's all about grunting, partying, oozing and shaking around. Idiotic
stuff. But good fun.
Nicholas David: I guess it's worth noting, too, that the scene in LA and the surrounding counties is
much bigger than what we have out here. Which I see as a plus (for Arizona) because it makes the
scene more intimate and open minded. It's really interesting to see people that haven't heard of us
before enjoying what we do. A good example would be our last show in Lake Havasu, AZ. Someone
attending the show commented on how he doesn't normally listen to psychobilly yet enjoyed what we
did because of our goth influence.
I have to ask Nicholas about the upright bass. First, why upright and not 'double bass'?
When is a double bass not upright? More importantly, the awkward nature of its size. I ask
specifically because I saw a kid the other day, maybe about ten or eleven years old,
struggling home from school with a cello, which may be smaller and you probably only
carry one of those on your day off, but for a kid it must be a cross between a total pain in the
arse, or a labour of love. Didn't you ever think there could be easier instruments? Driven out
of rage do you launch revenge attacks on clarinet players? Those bastards have it too
damn easy.
Nicholas David: There is an easier instrument for travel and such, and that's the bass guitar. Only
problem is you can't stand up on it while belting out "Black, White and Red" or "Psychobilly Jekyll and
Mr. Hyde."
The pro's exponentially outnumber any con you can come up with on an instrument such as this, yet
you're right, it can be a bit of a hassle as far as traveling and maintenance go. Yet when I'm playing
with Nick and Juan, there is something to be said about using an instrument from the past and
combining it with this musical expression of the present, which is really what psychobilly is; a
synergetic combination of the past and present. As far as calling it 'upright' or 'double', I don't really
give a fuck what anyone calls it, as long as it's not 'broken'.
When I'm playing on stage nothing else matters accept for this massive piece of wood I have in
between my legs (the bass is pretty cool, too).
I've read the history, such as it is, and from this I forensically deduce that Nick and Joel
knew each other for ages, possibly since infancy, and maybe even beyond that. How did
you meet? And why did you decide you should work together?
Nick Feratu: Joel and I went to high school together. We never took any of the same classes though.
We'd just kind of give eachother knowing glances when we'd make eye contact in hallways and such. I
don't remember the exact instance, but eventually Joel broke the silence and we united over a mutual
interest in underground music and playing guitar. I'm a few years older than him, and had been at the
strings for a bit longer, so when we eventually started putting together our songs, he switched over to
bass to fill in the gap. We were both terrified at the idea of singing, so we had our more boisterous
friend Ben-Rod take that position.
For a cruel bet you chose The Non-Dairy Creamers as a name for your band? What the Hell
for?
Nick Feratu: I used to craft my own horrible jokes for the specific purpose of making friends groan.
Every single one of them was complete crap, and I knew it. I'll spare everyone the headache and just
suffice to say that one of these little jokes involved a super-villian named "the Non-Dairy Creamer"
whose gimmick was running around and ejaculating into people's coffee. I made a remark that it
would be a funny band name, and it stuck. No pun intended.
What was it about the Garage approach there which you thought The Limit Club would
make more compelling?
Nick Feratu: We made ourselves out to be a garage band as a mask for the fact that we truly sucked
at making music. Things like chord progressions, guitar solos and stage presence were all a big
mystery to us. But our outlook was - "Hey, we're just a garage band! If you think we suck, so what?"
We never made ourselves out to be virtuosos.
After the Non-Dairy Creamers abortion, we started the new band as an attempt to say to ourselves
and everyone else, "okay, that was fun, but this time we're serious".
You found a man who rejoiced in the name of The George on drums. Where is he now? Why
did he leave? Is it true Juan killed and buried him? You're pushing things to the social limits!
Nick Feratu: When the Limit Club first started, I wanted us all to have cool punk rock psuedonyms. I
laughed when I first heard of people like "Dinah Cancer", " Dave Transyl Vanian", "Captain
Sensible"... so I settled on Nick Feratu, and Joel came up with "Cadaverous", but George absolutely
refused to come up with a stage name. I asked him "What are you just going to be "George" then?
THE George?"
Last time I talked to George, he was living with his girlfriend and going to college. He's a great guy
and I hope he's happy doing whatever he's doing.
Juan Carlos: NO! I would never kill the good ol' George! He is one cool dude that enjoys good punk
and Guinness slushies... gross. But the point is, he is still a friend of the band and is more than
welcome to be wherever we are.
Now Nicholas has killed Joel and Nick both allows, possibly even encourages, such
bloodshed. This is worrying.
Nicholas David: Wait, how'd you know...
Is Psychobilly actually the new Punk now? It seems more prevalent, and more lively,
especially as it can easily incorporate the more melodic Hardcore vocal styles.
It's also melodically-based isn't it? It's not an area of music where you can have much
exploratory/experimental/arty drivel? If there's no real songs it doesn't work?
Nick Feratu: I wouldn't go so far as to say it's the new punk. I look at Psychobilly as a sub-genre
branching out from the big-daddy tree of punk rock. And by relation, Gothabilly is an even smaller
branch jutting out from there. I've come to terms with the fact that we've cursed ourselves to play a
style that is a sub-genre of a sub-genre.
I think that all the random tempo changes and clickety bass noise that we have in our music probably
throws some people off. I remember when I first heard Psychobilly, I thought it was all crap. The fast
upright bass was too much and I couldn't swing with the percussive textures. I was digging traditional
stuff like Sun Records, Stray Cats and the like. I felt that punk rock and rockabilly were two things,
separate but equal. It took several repeat attempts before I could see the attraction in Demented Are
Go and Nekromantix. For me, the Quakes were one of the first Psychobilly bands with an upright bass
that I could really dig. They had a more accessible ring than most Psycho bands. I found an inroad
with their New Wave influenced sound and it helped me to make sense of their neighbors.
But back on point, I think that's it's easy to stray too far into experimental territory and alienate the
public. We try to at least maintain a solid rhythm in our songs. Sometimes the tempo will make an
abrupt change, but we try to keep it groovy. As long as we have a solid backing, it allows for more
experimentation with things like the melodies and harmonies. Since our influences are so varied, it
keeps things unpredictable.
Juan Carlos: I do not think that Psychobilly has become the new punk. And as there are a lot of good
psychobilly bands, there are a lot of bad ones too. (particularly American ones.) And you are right,
because of the bass's percussive texture, it makes it difficult to play "just anything" on it. BUT, that
same percussive texture, when used correctly, is one of the biggest joys for a band or a listener to
experience... it makes it groovy! It gives the music a different energy and punch. I LOVE the double
bass, and it just might be because I am a percussionist, but when the drums and the slap are in
perfect sync with eachother it makes everything sound so good. Listen to the album "Demon's Are A
Girl's Best Friend" by Nekromantix, and you will see what I mean. That album was recorded very well,
having very good production quality you can hear everything so clearly. You will notice the drums not
changing at all, but all of a sudden the feel of the song is dramatically changed all because of the
double bass. The upright is like a snapple bottle cap, where every click of the bottle cap is like the
pick and slap. It has got to be in the right spot for it to be musical.
Nicholas David: There is no substitution for good old fashioned punk. No one genre will come close
to the attitude and the balls that the Sex Pistols and the Dead Kennedys (just to name a few) had.
That being said, it makes perfect sense that the Rockabilly and Punk would infuse together to create
this hellish creature we call Psychobilly. When you compare their history and back stories, there are
similarities that just can't be denied. Both questioned social norms ("Oh, my God, what is that white
boy doing on stage, dressed like some negro and shaking his hips around like a savage?", to "They
can't talk about the Queen that way!") and both seemed to piss everyone off except those that listened
and understood.
It's the differenses that set them apart and leaves Punk where it is and Psychobilly right underneath it.
Rightfully so.
'I'm A Nightmare' – that's pretty creepy, like a character in an early Stephen King book. Who
is it actually based upon?
Nick Feratu: I wrote that song after a series of particularly harrowing relationship bouts. I felt like all I
ever did was enter into a person's life, completely fuck it all up and then move on to the next target. It
never happens purposefully, but nonetheless, the patterns are there. I felt like a parasite or a leech. I
was writing an e-mail message to someone and I said something along the lines of "I'm sorry I'm such
a fucking nightmare" and a little light went off in my head. Ding!
Also that vocal style, like the words are compressed into short seamless phrases, do you
have to work at that? It's like you don't breathe.
Nick Feratu: Breathing is overrated.
No, but I tend to write out lyrics in a stream-of-consciousness style. I haven't learned to take into
account that the lines have to be sung in the frame of a standard rhythm. I feel compelled to sing the
lyrics exactly as they were written down when the initial inspiration struck.
'Sister Found The Cure' – gotta love this, Goth titles sneaking into it all, even though The
Cure aren't a Goth band, but they made an impact, as well they might. But WHY did they?
Nick Feratu: If you listen to Robert Smith and Andrew Eldritch, then no, the Cure and the Sisters
were never "goth". But to me, they certainly were. At least for a certain period in both band's careers. I
can't think of a more beautifully depressing album than "Disintegration". By that same token,
"Pornography" and "First and Last and Always" will forever remain to of the best slithery reptilian goth
albums ever recorded.
Why do all those old Goth fogies try to escape the labels that the fans place on them? I realize that
there are a lot of terrible bands that embrace the term "goth", but that doesn't mean that all goth bands
are bad. I realize that none of the Old Guard bands like Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Cure and the
Sisters started out to be "goth", but for them to completely deny the fact that their albums contain
gothic elements is ridiculous.
The Cure are a big influence in the Psychobilly scene I imagine? People coming up to you
to compare notes after any show?
Nick Feratu: I think there's definitely some crossover in the two scenes, but most of the time the goth
and new wave references go right over people's heads. Our audience has traditionally been
teenagers that weren't musically conscious in the 80s. But every now and then, there will be an older
person in the back of the room who is not really paying attention to us. Then as soon as he hears the
opening notes of "Alice", their eyes light up and they bolt toward the stage waving their arms and
yelling. It's always rewarding when there's someone in the crowd that really gets the angle we're
coming from.
'You're Doomed If You're A Clone' – are you scared you're being monitored? Are you scared
you're not being monitored? Do you perceive real threats to your life? Do you consider that
if you think others are clones you might actually be seen by authority figures as Rebel
Clones and no threat to them?
Nick Feratu: I wrote that song as a wake up call to our contemporaries. A lot of Psychobilly bands
out there recycle the same themes over and over again. They talk about things like raping dead
women's corpses and driving hot rod cars through cemeteries, etc, etc. It's so motherfucking tired!
Give it a rest! These guys don't seem to realize that it's been done thousands of times. Screaming
Jay Hawkins and Lord Sutch were singing about graveyards and shit 40 years ago! It's not to say that
every now and then a bit of "Tales From The Crypt" campiness isn't fun every once in a while, but
when it's a band's only gimmick, it makes them uninteresting.
We have an inside joke in our band that every modern Psychobilly group will either cover the Misfits or
Johnny Cash when they are starting out. We went through the motions and did that very same thing in
our early days, but we've since moved on. It's like playing Horror Punk Bingo. Next time you go to a
Psychobilly gig, just sit back and watch. If there are five Psychobilly bands on the bill, I guarantee at
least three of them will cover a different Misfits or Johnny Cash song.
That's what "You're Doomed If You're A Clone" means. If you don't do make a conscious effort to
stand out in some way, you just blend together with the other bands on your scene.
'Let's Get Religious!' – are you lapsed Catholics? All the religious fury seems to come from
people who have it foisted upon them? Also, the bits where the words all crush up, it
reminds me of The Adverts' great 'Gary Gilmore's Eyes'; purely coincidental I realise, but a
GREAT coincidence!
Nick Feratu: You hit the nail on the head with that one. I was ruthlessly heckled on a constant basis
when I was youngster. Growing up in a conservative desert wasteland like Phoenix is rough for a kid
who's into goth-rock and comic books. I grew up with my Grandmother hounding me daily over
religion. I never really paid attention to any of it, because it didn't interest me in the slightest. When I hit
that angry punk phase, wearing torn up clothes and sticking my hair straight up on my head, it was like
painting a target on myself for old God-pushers. I was accused of ridiculous things like drug abuse
and Satanism, even though I was Straight-Edge and Atheist! To my obnoxious teenage self, this was
like jabbing a searing red hot poker into my eyes. It pissed me off and made me quite contemptuous
toward religion. Christianity, most specifically.
I'm no longer Straight Edge, but to this day, I've never done any real heavy drugs as they've just never
appealed to me.
'Death To You' – musically is this the closest to something 'trad' you do, or is that piano
regarded as too odd? It's cutely scampering.
Nick Feratu: We were trying for some kind of jumping country ragtime barn burner. I was=2 0set on
having some acoustic guitar numbers on the album because there seems to be a general lack of that
in Psychobilly. Also, I wanted to have my dad who plays steel guitar somewhere on there. We
practiced the song about three times before heading into the studio and it all came together rather
nicely.
For the piano, we have to give credit to Mr. Johnny Kay at Rebirth Studios. He added all the
keyboards on the album during the mixing phase. We hooked up with him through our friends in the
Koffin Kats and what a huge difference he made for us.
'The Shadow Of Love' – why did you want to cover this?
Nick Feratu: It's one of my favorite Damned songs and I thought the rhythm of it would lend itself well
to a stripped down rockabilly style. My favorite version is from a live album called "Fiendish
Shadows". Dave's voice just sounds so cool and the combination of Roman's guitar and Rat's drums
give off the sense that you're in the middle of a dream running from some sort of monster.
'Phantom Cats' – what inspired this? Bad dreams, bad drugs?
Nick Feratu: That one was written completely by Mr. Joel, so the inspiration is a mystery to me. The
only thing I put forth was the title of song. We had already settled on the name of the album being
"Phantom Cats", but Joel hadn't written any songs yet, even though his original plan was to do a lot of
the songwriting. Things didn't pan out that way, and this ended up being Joel's sole chance to really
shine as a songwriter. Luckily for us, he made it a good one!
'Alice' – again, why? A fine version, but it's one of those songs where it'd be pretty difficult
not to do a good one.
Nick Feratu: I don't know why exactly we started covering this one other than the fact that I don't think
there's ever been a Psychobilly version of a Sisters song and saw that as an opportunity. I've always
loved the guitar line and it's been in our live set all the way back to George's days in the band. Then
Juan Carlos joined, and he added some great cymbal work and we decided to record it. Originally we
wanted it to be a hidden track, but it's star shone brightly enough that it merited inclusion into the main
track list.
'Praying Mantisss' - a curious tumbling mish-mash of sound which works. How did you
come up with this mutant?
Nick Feratu: Our band practices consist of a lot of experimenting with sounds and noises. Joel came
up with the twiddly guitar line, and we started using this song as an instrumental intro to our live set. I
added the lyrics and all the timing changes in the song when it was decided that we were going to
record a new album.
'The Great Unknown' – and isn't this ridiculously charming? Of The Past, I appreciate, but
what era does this come from as I am unfamiliar with this style, being some quasi-country
what?
It's also a curiously restful tone with which to end, was that intentional?
Nick Feratu: The inspiration for that one came from several places. One is the Gun Club song
"Mother of Earth" with it's minor key shuffle and doomsday lyrics. Jeffrey Lee is a hero of mine.
Also, one of my favorite bands is a vampire country band called the Coffinshakers from Sweden. The
singer Rob has a fantastic baritone voice that is reminiscent of Lee Hazelwood and Leonard Cohen.
If I knew I could get guaranteed results, I would have my voicebox surgically altered so that I'd be able
to reach the ultra-low vibrasonic tones that Rob Coffinshaker can hit with ease. I am truly jealous of the
man's voice.
And lastly, there's a modern indie rock band from San Diego called The Black Heart Procession that
have great anguishing lyrics and often tropical instrumentation. We kind of threw all these sounds into
a blender for this song. Give credit once again to the Mr. Johnny Kay for the great orchestral piece
that he added using some sort of after-effect magic in his studio.
Okay, what pets have you got? (I ask everyone this.)
Nick Feratu: I have two dogs - Susan Von Bigglesworth (Suze for short) and Peggy Sue. They are
both little german shepherd mutts.
Juan Carlos: I got a gorgeous doberman named Patsy. She is a meat bullet! Once, Nick was at my
house barefoot, Patsy ran right by him and out of nowhere his foot was bleeding! She is just super
fast, but such a playful adorable (crazy) bitch.
Nicholas David: I have a dog named Fudge, she's a lab-pit-mutt-thing.
And what's next - it's only a short record so are you stockpiling material for a monster due
to born any day now?
Nick Feratu: I'm feeling really confident with our new lineup. I'm happy with our situation as friends
and musical partners, which is great, but unfamiliar. Joel was a good friend, but he wasn't so good at
handling constructive criticism and he was quite stubborn at times. Now that we have a person in the
bass position that is more open minded, things are feeling more comfortable. There are no more
unnecessary ego clashes and the band sounds stronger than it has in a very long time. Now we're
going to focus on broadening our horizons on the touring front. The old songwriting bug has bitten me
again too, and I can't stop scribbling down new lyrics. I'm sure we'll have a new album out in the latter
half of 2009.
Juan Carlos: I love to write music! It is more like Nick showing me something he has come up with
and me just poking at it and making a drum beat that he likes, but it is so much fun regardless. Our
music has to be danceable. I want to get started on that as soon as possible, and we will once I get
back from the tours I will be on with the Quakes. So excite!
Nicholas David: Musically, I've never been happier than I am now, I'm playing with guys that
challenge me every time we play and it's never boring, it all comes together.
To come into a group that you yourself looked up to and have seen grow is very cathartic and yet very
surreal, it's a high I've never experienced. I'm going to do my best to help the Limit Club reach to
where ever we go, and I know it's only going to get better from here.
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