Dead Boy Productions

Please introduce yourselves? 
John-bass and vocal 
Bogman-guitar and vocals 
Mike-drums 
 
Where did the name "Tabaltix" come from?

It's a secret!! Only the inner circle knows the true meaning! Well, actually, we just made it up. It really has no meaning at all. It's like one of those transcendental meditation mantras...just keep repeating it to yourself till it makes sense! 
 
How did you guys get started?

My brother and I (Bogman) have been playing music together for probably close to 10 years now. We always wanted to get a band going, so about 7 years ago, we finally started! We started out with Bogman on drums, and some other guy singing and playing guitar.....it wasn't very good, but we kept going with that for a while. Then Bogman decided to play guitar and sing, so we found a drummer and that wasn't very good either, but we kept trying. We've gone through so many drummers, that it's getting hard to keep track anymore. I think we're on number 6 now (Mike). 
So now here we are, big ol rock stars! har har.
 
What are your influences?

Tons of different stuff really. People always say about our sound "Oh, you guys are an old school psychobilly band", and I know they usually mean it in the nicest way, but it really grates on our nerves. We are influenced by all kinds of different bands...more obvious stuff like Batmobile and the Krewmen, but also bands that some people might not expect...a lot of 50's and 60's pop/rock and roll, 50's R&B, doo-wop, tons of other psychobilly bands like Nekromantix and the Cramps, even some punk stuff...Dead Kennedys for example.

I like looking outside of music for inspiration for lyrics also.

We're trying to mix it up with psychobilly a little bit, and to do that, you gotta keep your eye out for different influences!  
 
Tell us about your custom stand up bass?

Ummm...I dunno really. I wanted a new bass but didn't have any money, so I just made that instead! haha It's made of some salvaged electric bass parts, and scrap wood for the most part. It has its little bugs that need working out all the time, but really I guess that’s no different than normal upright basses. 
Once I finished it, somebody said to me "Hey, that looks like the Klingonz bass!" and I had no idea what they were talking about, and then I saw the picture on the back of one of their LPs, and they had already made a bass exactly like mine! I guess I subconsciously copied them...it's so hard to be original these days! haha  
 
What are your favorite bands to tour with?

We've never really toured before actually. The only place we seem to ever play is in Southern California, which I guess for us could be considered a tour if you wanna get technical about it. We have definitely played some amazing shows in Socal though. The 2nd Wrecker's Ball was amazing (even though we didn't know we were going to be playing until the day OF the show, and we all just happened to be there!). The last Hollywood Rockabilly Showdown was excellent.......it was our CD release show, and also we got to play with the Klingonz. The last time we went down to SoCal was to play 3 shows with the Nekromantix and Barnyard Ballers, and all three of those were great, we felt like a bunch of sell-out rock stars!! haha 
 
Any good tour stories?

Ummm...no, it's usually just a bunch of stress till we get on stage. Hopefully we'll come up with some good tour stories when we play in Europe this summer though! 
 
How is it having a brother as a band mate?

A pain in the ass! Well, sometimes it is, but most of the time it works really well. I think we understand where each other are coming from musically, so that really helps when we're working on new songs. Plus we can be really bitchy to each other, and know that it won't end up in the band breaking up! 
 
What lead you to have a standing drummer?

Well, back when we were playing our first shows, I was the only one with a license, so we had to pile all of our equipment and all 3 of us (sometimes 4) in my station wagon, so at first, it was out of necessity that we had as little crap to carry around as possible. I guess we just got used to it after that. Anymore, I think it works best with our sound...most people over-play drums anyway.  
 
So what is next in the bands agenda?

Getting ready for the Europe tour this summer, start work on the next Tabaltix album (we have about 5 new songs now), try to set up a tour so we can actually play somewhere besides SoCal for once, and then the ultimate goal...somehow try to scam our way over to Japan to play! 
 
Any final words?

I dunno...I guess...if you're one of the many who think there are no good psychobilly bands around right now, quit complaining and do your own damn self!