CALABRESE : Interview (2004) ENGLISH VERSION

CALABRESE is a young Horror Punk Rock band coming from the desert and mysterious lands of Arizona, in the "Wild West" of the USA. On WARDANCE.NET, you can also read a review of their first and remarkable MCD "Midnight Spookshow". A very promising debut, truly ! We're now waiting impatiently for the forthcoming release of a full-length album. Exclusive interview with Jim & Bobby Calabrese by Hans Wehrwolf (Hans Cany), 05 june 2004
Hell-o ! CALABRESE, although it already seems to have a growing reputation in your country, doesn't exist for a very long time, and outside the USA, very few people ever heard of you so far, especially in France where you're still totally unknown . Therefore, can you please present yourselves ?...
Jim: CALABRESE is a Horror Rock band consisting of the three brothers : Davey (Drums), Bobby (Guitar/Vox) and myself, Jim (Bass/Vox). We are influenced by The Masters of Evil: The MISFITS, DANZIG, WHITE ZOMBIE, BLACK SABBATH, JOHNNY CASH, BLACK FLAG, The RAMONES. And we try and reflect our love of Halloween and all things ghastly through our music !
Why this strange name of "CALABRESE" ?... It sounds quite "italian", Doesn't it ?...
Bobby: We’re glad you think that it’s a STRANGE name! It’s exactly what we’re going for musically, so it’s good to know that our name portrays it! But we were born into Calabrese, and we will die Calabrese. It is our last name -- all three of us are brothers !
Listening to your debut mini album "Midnight Spookshow", your style seems to be both very "classic", with strong and obvious MISFITS influences , and very refreshing, with a modern, clear, and powerful Punk Rock sound. Does it relate to each member's tastes ?... Which are your main inspirations , precisely ?
Bobby: We’re lucky enough to have similar tastes as one another, so when we write songs they come out solid! Of course, we all really love The MISFITS, as well as MAN OR ASTROMAN ?, AFI, SHADOW REICHENSTEIN, ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT, and TYPE-O NEGATIVE, among others. We draw inspiration from all sorts of things like "Tales From the Crypt comics", voodoo dolls and Christopher Lee films!
This debut MCD was self- produced, but recently you signed a contract with Antidote Records, didn't you ?
Jim: Actually, we did not "sign" anything with Antidote Records. We still have all our options open to us right now and we are looking into them fully. This new CD is going to be pretty big and we want to make sure we position ourselves to reap the rewards!
It seems like there's currently a kind of "Horror Punk renewal" worldwide, for about three years or so, and personally I think it's really a GREAT thing, with tons of new interesting bands appearing a bit everywhere ! Do you have any contacts with some of them ? And what's your own point of view about this "Horror" scene's rebirth ? According to you, is it mainly due to the recent MISFITS' resurrection, or is it also due to other reasons, regardless of that particular event ?...
Jim: I also think the "Horror Punk renewal" is great ! We are also fans and we think it's fun to discover these bands. When we discover a band we like we email them and introduce ourselves and the same thing happens when bands discover us. Concerning the horror scene rebirth, a negative point of view would be that the genre is being flooded with too many "horror" bands and honestly, how many do we really need? This is when time will weed out the bands who are only following the trend. But for me, it really comes down to the music. I've noticed this equation: the more make up and costumes equals the worse the music is !... So here's a tip to all you young horror rockers -- work on your music first and then work on your make up ! It's hard to say what caused the re-resurgence of the scene. I would assume it has something to do with the new popularity of the "horror movie." It could also be that people are looking for an escape from the newly developing horrors of world events. For me, ever since I heard the Misfits back in highschool, I wanted to start this kind of band. It took starting a band with my brothers before I could actually realize that dream. It was by accident we formed the band three years ago on the verge of the horror rock movement. Could it be Fate? No...it was destiny !
Do you think the fact of being a band from Arizona ever had any influence on the fact that you're a "Horror-oriented" band ?... Do you think there are some local elements in your state's culture and traditions who , in a way or another, contributed to determine your special interest in the "Dark Side" ?...
Bobby: I don’t think Arizona’s culture really helped in shaping our dark musical tastes. Music has an escapist quality to it, so I’m sure we all jumped into Horror Rock simply for the sake of having fun as well as disappearing from our daily lives! Which has consumed us entirely…there’s no turning back !
You know that, Horror Punk Rock is often viewed as a kind of small "ghetto" within the whole Punk Rock scene. What's your own definition of this style ? And according to you, what are the main differences between such bands and the rest of the Punk Rock scene, whose references, imagery and orientation are much more "classic" ?... Do you think there's a kind of cultural separation between the two ?
Jim : I have never known Horror Punk to be viewed in this way. But I am not surprised that people would see it as such. It's the same thing with horror films, people think of horror flicks as a step above porn. People are embarrassed to announce that they like Horror movies 'cause it must mean you are sick and perverted. I think Horror Punk and Horror Rock is not for everyone. It's not about politics or changing the world, it's about entertainment and escaping your everyday daily life! I think a special kind of person is attracted to horror themed music. From what we've seen, these kind of music fans are usually RABID music fans. Since the fan has to search out the bands it becomes an active relationship from the start !
In general, what kind of topics do your lyrics deal with ?
Jim: Our songs are inspired by vampires, hearses, our fans, horror movies, cars, teenage rebellion, resurrection, revenge from the grave and the supernatural...
Do you also have an interest in social, political, or environmental issues ?
Jim : We consider ourselves entertainers not spokesman for any cause or political party. Not to say we don't care about these things... We just feel to keep our opinions to ourselves.
Do you often play live shows ? Which other bands did you already play with, so far ?...
BBobby: We try to play out as much as we can. We also play every show like it was our last, so even if you get to see us for five minutes, we’ll give you something killer in those scant couple of minutes! We’ve played with BAD WIZARD, THE INDEPENDENTS and GOTHAM ROAD, as well as our local favorites THE DIETRICHS, THE WRONGSIDERS, COLDSNAP-9 and BLANCHE DAVIDIAN.
EAnd how would you describe the general atmosphere at your gigs ? Who comes to see you on stage ?
Bobby: We’d love for everyone who attended our shows to wear their Halloween costumes or come dressed in their best “living dead” attire. That’s been slowly taking off, but right now we get all kinds of people coming to our rock and roll extravaganzas. The spooky kids, the night dwellers, the horror fanatics, the ones looking to celebrate all things dark and scary with us…all of the night’s children! It’s great.
Do you plan to record anything new, in the near future ?...
Bobby: We’re currently in the studio working our rock and roll black-magic into creating THEE soundtrack to all Halloween parties, cemetery picnics and late night trips to the drive-in with your dead boyfriend in the trunk !
Thank you very much for this interview ! A last word maybe ?...
Bobby: Thanks to all who have read this fine, well put together interview! Unfortunately for you, by doing so, you’ve unwillingly unlocked the gates of Hell. Have fun with the murderous undead ! Muahaha !!!
OFFICIAL WEBSITE :
http://www.calabreserock.com
REVIEW OF "MIDNIGHT SPOOKSHOW" ON WARDANCE.NET :
CALABRESE : "Midnight Spookshow"