Paul Roman of The Quakes interviews Nick Feratu of The Limit Club
Paul: How did that West Coast Tour turn out? Did you make or lose money? I'm kind of
surprised you guys came back alive.
Nick: The tour was great! We met a lot of new people and made a bunch of new fans. We played 20
shows over the course of the entire month of July. We slept on a lot of floors and drove a lot of miles.
Financially we broke even (which I consider a huge success in comparison to our previous tours). Of
course there were a few shows that didn't go down as planned. We had one venue in Portland where
the promoter never showed up to open the doors of the joint. It was infuriating because there was a
pretty decent sized crowd gathering up outside the venue waiting to see the show! Other than that
though, we did make the guaranteed payment amount in every town we stopped in. So overall - great
sucess!
Paul : You use the term “Gothabilly” to describe your band. What do you think about the
hundreds of bands that use “-billy” suffix (Metalbilly, Punkabilly, Glamabilly, etc)?
Nick : I started calling us “Gothabilly” when we first put the band together because I purposely wanted
us to fit in with bands like the Phantom Chords and the Coffinshakers. Now that I have a more
practical view of what being in a band is like, I think I may have shot myself in the foot. It’s obvious to
me now that there’s only so high a band can go with the label “-billy” stuck to them. It’s unfortunate
because I have a lot of love for upright bass bands, but man, its true! I think because there are so
many upright bass bands that casually embrace retarded clichés, the public opinion of all billy music
is that it’s outdated, honky-tonk crap or ridiculous car show music.
If I could go back in time, I wouldn’t bother with the tagline at all. Too late now!
Paul : Do you consider Limit Club closer to a “Rockabilly” band or a “Goth” band?
Nick : I think we stray closer to the Goth side of things now. But I like to think that we’re versatile and
mix in all kinds of sounds. We’re all into Psychobilly, New Wave, but besides that everyone in the
band brings something different to the table and it creates an interesting mix when we’re putting
songs together. Juan has a background in Latin Rock and Hardcore, NickDave likes a lot of Classic
Rock and Stoner music and I’m into Goth and Psychedelic Garage stuff.
Paul : What do you think about the term "Horror Punk"? Can the Limit Club be considered
a "Horror Punk" band?
Nick : I’m not a fan of most bands that are considered “Horror Punk”, but I think some of our songs
can fit into that slot, with the right stretch of imagination. We play with Horror Punk bands all the time
though and it usually goes over well with that crowd. Then again, we get thrown on bills with traditional
country bands and heavy metal bands all the time, so I don’t put much thought into it anymore. Haha.
Paul : In your opinion, what's the difference between "Goth" and "Horror Punk"?
Nick : I think Goth is more lyrically abrasive and experimental than Horror Punk. There are some Goth
bands out there that are REALLY fucking weird like the Virgin Prunes and Sex Gang Children,
whereas most Horror Punk sticks closely to sing-a-long chorus hooks, power chords and schlocky
horror movie themes. The two sub-genres obviously cross over a lot, so we could sit and debate
about it forever. At least I could.
Paul : Are there any currently active bands that you identify with, sound-wise?
Nick : Yes. Any upright bass band that strays away from clichés, but still maintain some sort of darker
vibe to their sound. Especially when they have semi-intelligent lyrics. Some bands in particular would
be The Curtains, The Sawyer Family, Koffin Kats, Rezurex. Zombie Ghost Train and Gutter Demons
were two of my favorite bands that I thought we had a lot in common with and they just broke up.
Goddamnit!
Paul : What do you think about the "No politics" rule in Psychobilly?
Nick : I think it’s corny and immature. Why should there be such arbitrary rules placed upon a fucking
sub-genre? Look people, there are already plenty of genres out there that stray away from touchy
subject matter. Those are genres such as mainstream Pop and Disco. If you want thoughtless, non-
offensive music, go listen to bullshit like Britney Spears or the Bee Gees!
Paul : Why are your lyrics so anti-religious?
Nick : Everyone needs a conquest! Religion just happens to be mine. I realize that arguing over shit
like religion is futile, and I'm honestly not out to convert anyone. In reality I have many religious friends
and we have discussions about eachother’s views all the time (discussions - NOT debates or
arguments - we’re all adults here). It's a topic that interests me and I revert back to during the
songwriting process. I guess my angsty teenage conflict over religion with my parents probably
caused it.
Paul : When you die, what do you want to be done with your remains? Do you want a
tombstone? A crypt? Cremation?
Nick : If I were Morrissey I would say I want a big old tomb in some random foreign country like
Romania. Some place where people can flock to my grave and leave huge bouquets of flowers and
graffiti their love notes everywhere. But I’m not that vain, so they can just throw my dead body in the
ocean. Maybe a cool shark will eat me. Failing that, cremation will work just fine.
Paul : I know you’ve gotten offers from labels and distributors. Why isn’t The Limit Club
“signed”?
Nick : Because I don’t trust labels. I’m an amateur music historian in my spare time. I read tons of
musician’s autobiographies and there seems to be a common thread in many of them. A lot of really
famous people are bitter because they basically gave away the rights to their music when they were
young and naïve. Artists from all corners of the music biz become slaves to their contracts. Bo
Diddley, Chuck Berry, Howlin’ Wolf, The Sisters of Mercy, The Damned, and on and on. They’ve all
been fucked over in one way or another by record labels. They’re forced to record albums against
their will, or they don’t get a fair share of the profit and grow old and bitter and basically poor, or they
have to sit helplessly as their songs are collected on endless streams of useless compilations and
whored out to TV advertisements.
I look at our band as our career (AKA something I’m going to be doing for a long time) and I’m not
exactly eager to give over the rights or decision-making to some company. I’m not closed minded to
ever doing business with a label. If the right offer came along, we’d be interested. If that never
happens, then that’s okay too. We’ll just keep distributing CDs through our website and mailing them
out ourselves. It’s much more rewarding that way anyway.
Paul : I'll bet no one has ever asked you about your guitar set up?
Nick : I play a 1985 Gibson SG through a Fender Hot-Rod 4x10 amp. I'm not to big on
hollow-body guitars. I like their light weight, but I really prefer the crunch of a humbucker and the
sustain of a good solid plank of wood. Also it struck me as trendy to play a Gretsch, so I ran the
complete opposite direction. I really like Gibson Les Pauls, but man they are heavy! I'll stick with the
SG. It was my first guitar and it's always served me well.
I only have three guitar pedals - a Boss Tuner, Boss Octave pedal, and a Danelectro "Wasabi"
Chorus / Overdrive. I use an AKG wireless setup that allows for more freedom to run around and jump
in people's faces. It was expensive, but being free from the leash made it worthwhile.
I prefer things to be as simple as possible with the live music thing. The less tools you rely on, the less
potential for something breaking or fucking up at the last minute.
Paul : What do you do outside of the band?
Nick : I take random odd jobs and temporary assignments to pay the bills. I also DJ at a bar in
Phoenix called the Rogue West.
Paul : Anything else you wanna say about the band or the new lineup?
Nick : This is the happiest and most productive we've ever been in this band. All three of us really
work well together and it shows onstage and in the songs we're writing.
Speaking of that - we're currently putting together songs for our third album. We go into the studio late
September to start laying down the tracks.
www.limitclub.com
www.myspace.com/thelimitclub
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