July 2007

Name: Gein & the Graverobbers

Genre: Instrumental Horror Metal Surf

Geographical Area: Boston MA

Interview with: Gein on 6/27/07 by email

1. What is the current line-up of your band?

Gein – lead guitar

Myra – rhythm guitar

Sloth – drums

Dahmer - bass

2. How and when did you get started with your band?

Myra and I started the band in 1998 and Sloth joined shortly thereafter. The three

of us had all been in various punk bands together prior to GGR. One of the

bands that Sloth and I were in did a couple of surf instrumentals… I found that I

dug playing that stuff and thought it’d be cool to have a horror themed surf band.

3. What bands or music have influenced you most?

Phantom Surfers

Dick Dale

Slayer

Iron Maiden

4. What is the breakdown of cover vs. original material in your live shows and/or recordings?

We’ve only recorded one cover (Transylvania by Iron Maiden). As for our live

performances we generally just do one cover per set. Usually an instro-surf

version of “Breakin’ the Law” (Judas Priest) or “Blitzkrieg Bop” (The Ramones)

5. What recording have you done?

Humanoids from the Deep - 7” (5 song EP)

Hang 10 with Gein and the Graverobbers – CD

Songs in the Key of Evil – CD

The Passion of the Anti-Christ - CD

6. What kind of gear do you use?

Gein –

Fender Jazzmaster (1999 American Reissue)

1964 (Pre-CBS) Blackface Fender Twin Reverb

1965 Blackface Fender Reverb Unit

Myra –

               Fender Cyclone

               1965 Reissue Fender Twin Reverb

               1962 Reissue Fender Reverb Unit

Sloth –

               Pearl Export Series

Dahmer –

               Fender P-Bass

               Fender Bassman

7. What is your band’s favorite food/beverage?

Bob Evans and Pepsi… and Pabst Blue Ribbon for Dahmer.

8. How do you get gigs?

Our New England shows typically come from offers from clubs and other bands.

For all of our touring gigs I contact either bands I’ve become friends with over the

years or through MySpace.

9. What are the difficulties you find playing your kind of music in your area?

Yeah, we’re generally not too into playing Massachusetts… especially Boston.

When we do play MA we like playing in the Worcester area. But, for the most

 part, we like to play out of state. We typically don’t play with other surf bands…

 usually we try to book shows with more of a horror theme and less of a genre

theme.

10. What positive attributes does your band have that sets you apart from other bands (of any genre)?

I think our most positive attribute is that we rule.

I do think we’re doing something different by playing surf music with punk

aggression/speed and more involved metal arrangements. I think we’ve got a

pretty cool stage show too.

11. What have you found to be the single most effective promotional tool you’ve used to further your band’s musical path?

Touring. Playing as much as you can away from home is the best way to spread

the word.

12. What’s the most interesting performance experience you’ve had?

Top on the list would definitely be playing at a Belgian prison on our first tour. On

the second tour we played for our biggest crowd (550+)… that was one of our

more “rock-star” like experiences. I guess the first time we played in Detroit would be

up there too. We played in Cass Corridor, which according to the

owner of the bar, was “the worst neighborhood in Detroit.”

13. What do you hope to get out of being a NESMA member?

Networking and connecting with other surf bands for booking out of state

shows…

14. Anything else?

Well, I guess I’ll use this opportunity for some shameless self-promotion. We’ve

got a new double CD coming out this summer called “Gruesome Twosome” It will

be a re-pressing of “Songs and the Key of Evil” and “The Passion of the Anti

-Christ” (both of which are sold out). As a bonus we’re also including our long out

of print debut EP – “Humanoids from the Deep”. Also, check our tour dates for

the end of August.

Fangs!

Gein

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