Dead Boy Productions

The Spectremen are a Big Monster Rock band from Atlanta Georgia. They have a sound that is a very unique blend of metal and horrorpunk. They gave us a few moments of their time to answer some questions that we had from them. They are definitely a band to check out. Be sure to check out our review section for a review of their releases.  

Where is the band from and when did the band form? 

We are from Atlanta. The Spectremen formed in 1997, took a break in late 2004 and reformed in the spring of 2005 with Evil Jim taking over guitars.   
 

How would you describe your music? 

Big Monster Rock. It’s much heavier and darker than it has ever been, its definitely more metal, but we still retain a lot of the punk roots.  It's been described as guitars as good as Black Label Society and vocals as good as Danzig, just a lot louder.

 Where have you played and what bands have you played with? 

We've mainly stayed around the southeast, but we're starting to branch out more. We've started to do more conventions and festivals (DragonCon, Screamfest, Atl HorrorFest, Tattoo cons etc) over the past few years. We've played shows with Agent Orange, 45 Grave, the Independents, Graves, the Undead, the Templars, Jack Black, Chelsea, the Deep Eynde, the Staggers, Blitzkid, Green Goblyn Project, the Distillers, Helios Creed, Pyschocharger, the Luchagors..God knows who, I forget now. It’s been a very interesting decade. We've managed to do successful shows with Oi! and street punk bands to rockabilly/psychobilly and all the way over to southern rock bands.  

How did you get started playing conventions? 

Its helps being the only "horror" band in town. We figured that we were going to be there anyways, so why not play too. It's so cool to be able to hang out the whole time getting to talk to people, some already love us, some who had never heard of us until then. It's great way to get your name out there. We get contacted a lot by the convention organizers now, sometimes we half to submit packs to them. We've been lucky enough to know some people in a few cases, which always helps. For this year, we'll be at the Atlanta Horror Fest/Zombie Walk in October, and hopefully we'll be back at DragonCon in Sept.  

What are your thoughts on downloading music? 

Its great, I do it all the time (laughs). Its definitely the future of music, you have to be able to adapt. But its a great way to check out a band that you read or heard about without having to drop the 10 bucks or more on the full CD that might only have one or two songs you like. I mean, ours of course IS worth the $10… all the songs are good! (laughs).  

How effective do you think MySpace is to your band? 

It’s been incredible. Without it, we wouldn't have been able to do half the things we have. We've been discovered by a great number of people all over the world, and there's no way that would have happened this quickly without it. We've met so many great people through MySpace and been able to get back in contact with old friends from over the years. Its one of the best new promotional tools for bands.

 Do you have any releases out? If so, where are fans able to get them? 

 We've put out 3 CDs, and a few EPs, and have been on a ton of comps, though only "Dawn of the Day of the Night of the Living Dead" (released in 2005) is still available through us. We also have "Tales of the Spectremen vol. 1" which is our 7 inch on green vinyl available. The new album "Dark Holiday" and possibly a new EP will be released sometime this fall.  Everything can be ordered through the Monstore at  Spectremen.net. We'll also be on the upcoming "The Horror of it All, vol 3" from Dr Cyclops Records and Gris Grimly's Cannibal Flesh Riot DVD/CD.  

You mentioned you are involved with Gris Grimly's project Cannibal Flesh Riot? How did that happen? 

 We met Gris a few years ago at a convention, and hung out a lot with him after hours.  He's a great guy, and super talented. We really hadn't seen him or heard from him since then, but he sent an email about the project and we jumped on it. We wanted to stand out, do something unexpected so we recorded "Ballad of Stash and Hub" for the project. We can't wait to see what people make of it.  

I thought the video for George was amazing and very, very influenced by Night of the Living Dead. Why choose that song and how did the experience of making a video go for you? I also have to ask since you called the song George is it George Romero you are speaking of?  

Thank you. Yeah, George is our tribute to Romero and we tried to represent that in the video as well. It was definitely supposed to have the Night of the Living Dead vibe.  We had a lot of fun doing the video, and it really was filmed in a funeral home while funerals were going on. It was definitely the easiest song to make into a good video, especially for our first, it's a short song, doing the make-up was simple; we had the location, and had just enough people to do it. We knew a couple of amateur filmmakers who needed the practice, and an film editor who didn't mind Evil Jim sitting over his shoulder giving instructions. I don't think it could have gone any smoother. We were extremely happy and proud of it. 

 Anything else you would like to add?

 Thank you for the time and everyone who has checked us out over the years. This is only the beginning of things to come... Beware, this monster is loose!