HorrorPops bringing it to Canada!
"No matter where we play, [during] the first three songs all I'm thinking about is how to puke elegantly," admits HorrorPops singer Patricia. It's not quite the image you'd expect as the buxom, heavily-tattooed sweetheart pounds away on her upright bass, crooning about ghouls and "Psychobitches Outta Hell," but it's honest.
"I spend so much time before the show asking myself, 'Do I need to puke now? No.' My mouth gets all watery... that's how I feel. Then all of a sudden I wake up and go, 'Hey! This is fuckin' great!' Going to new places is exciting. Playing shows, that's fuckin' scary!"
Flanked by guitarist Kim Nekroman, drummer Niedermeier, guitarist Geoff Kresge and go-go dancers Kamilla and Naomi, Patricia needn't worry about her onstage appearance. There's too much to look at --- nay, stare at in awe as the HorrorPops pound away at their upbeat psychobilly tunes creating a mix of punk rock energy with rockabilly swagger.
The Horrorpops are gearing up for their first-ever Canadian tour. Slated to be on the road just before their sophomore release, Bring It On!, hits store shelves, Patricia and crew couldn't be more excited.
"This album is going really, really fucking well," she beams. "Brett Gurewitz [Bad Religion] is mixing it and he's tweaking the shit out of it. Yesterday we were comparing a mix between Bring It On and [debut album] Hell Yeah. We were like, 'Ugh. Hell Yeah sounds crappy!' It sounds like a tape that's been rewound 1,000 times and was recorded in a basement."
This is the first time the Copenhagen six-piece have enlisted the services of a producer and Patricia has become quite comfortable with Mr. Brett's contribution to Bring It On. Refusing to alter the band's approach to songwriting, Gurewitz went straight for the sonic levels, hence Patricia's exuberance. She feels that he has been nothing but a positive influence on the final product.
"We did Hell Yeah ourselves, so we were nervous about a producer for this album. We didn't feel we could justify not trying it since we've never had one. [Gurewitz] has an amazing ear and he hasn't touched our arrangements. He cares more about our sound. I couldn't imagine having a producer telling us to change parts. We'd be like, 'Fuck off!'"
Refusing to divulge any more information on Bring It On! at this point, Patricia does promise that it will be all-HorrorPops. Which is to say that we'll have no clue what to expect. Thriving on keeping fans guessing, she's excited to see what happens.
"We just want to keep trying new things. The whole reason we started the HorrorPops --- every member has been an integral part of the underground punk/rock scene, be it via The Nekromantix, Peanut Pump Gun or Tiger Army and AFI --- was to try something new from the bands we were in. If we stuck with the same feel as Hell Yeah we wouldn't be keeping true to what the HorrorPops are about. All I can say is that Bring It On! will be even more aggressive than Hell Yeah, if you can imagine that."
HorrorPops' Canadian tour dates:
April 30 Vancouver, BC @ The Brickyard
May 2 Banff, AB @ Wild Bills
May 3 Calgary, AB @ Broken City
May 4 Edmonton, AB @ Starlite Theatre
May 6 Winnipeg, MB @ Collective Cabaret
May 7 Thunder Bay, ON @ The Apollo
May 9 London, ON @ Call The Office
May 10 Hamilton, ON @ The Underground
May 11 Toronto, ON @ Kathedral
May 12 Orillia, ON @ 2nd Last call
May 13 Montreal, QC @ Foufounes Electriques
May 14 Ottawa, ON @ Babylon
---Keith Carman
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