#glam ghoul band

[knifeslidez]

the fact that most hair/glam metal fans on this site are straight cis people baffles me. i cant be the only one who was transed by all that androgyny

[visionsofcarnality]

Listening to Impera again because it’s just one of those albums that touches my soul. for some reason.

it’s the religious imagery I think and the guitar licks.

(photo on pinterest no idea who it belongs to sorry 😬)

[arklay]

32, 47, 81, 99, 100, 101 :)

send me a number 1-100 and i'll tell you the song it corresponds with on my top 100 playlist! ♡

[trans-musicians]

Grey Starr (she/they), Lead singer and guitarist of Pretty Frankenstein

Spotify | Website | Insta

Pretty Frankenstein is an all queer/all poc glam goth band from Oakland, California USA.

FFO: The Cramps, David Bowie, Pixies, Bauhaus

"They use cool haunted house vibes and genderqueer fuckery to make really cool punk songs." - @skylersgay

[in-death-we-fall]

Face To Face

Murderdolls

Fred Durst isn’t on their Christmas card list. But Angelina Jolie is…

Words: Daniel Lukes Photos: Scarlet Page

(google docs) Thanks @incredizort for sharing your collection!

Joey Jordison’s presence in glam-metal side-project Murderdolls was always bound to garner more than just a passing glance; not least because the exuberant drummer shocked everyone by deciding to make his post-Slipknot debut in stack heels and a whole lotta make-up. But since releasing their debut album, ‘Beyond the Valley Of The Murderdolls’, this summer, the horror-punk quintet have (sic) the past few months creating merry mayhem out on the road, rapidly building a colourful cult following in the process.

Today, the Murderdolls Roadshow has hit London – the Forum in Kentish Town, to be precise – and a group of diehard fans have gathered outside the venue to catch a glimpse of their heroes. For six diehard ‘Dolls fans, however, Christmas has come early. Louise Condren and her brother Michael, Michelle Peppiatt, Rebecca Brazil, Matthew Murray and Richard Williams are currently sitting in the venue’s upstairs bar, where they’re about to begin interrogating the glam-goth six-piece (sic) about subjects as diverse as drugs, Anjelina (sic) Jolie and, of course, a fat man with a white beard and red coat.

After hands are shaken and pleasanteries (sic) exchanged, there’s just one thing to do: get this party started…

Michelle: How do you feel about having so much success so quickly? Ben ‘Ghoul’ Graves: “We’re the hottest thing since sunburn, the greatest fucking band on planet Earth, so it wasn’t really a big surprise to us.” Acey Slade: “We’re doing something different. A lot of people are turning their noses up, but at the same time a lot of people are buying it. It’s like heroin.” Wednesday: “Joey’s had a lot of success with Slipknot, but it’s really weird for me, it’s kind of a new thing. To come to another country and there’s kids dressed like you, and imitating your whole thing, and they know every word to a song that you wrote in your bedroom when you lived with your parents, it’s such a great feeling.”

Matthew: Who would you most like to fuck on a cold Christmas morning Wednesday: “To fuck? On a cold Christmas morning? These are good questions.” Acey: “It’s a very generic answer, but I’d probably have to say Angelina Jolie.” Wednesday: “I’d say Santa Claus.” Ben: “Have you heard of a girl over here called Lindsey Dawn? She’s from the UK, she’s very hot.” Acey: “That’s not what you said earlier, Ghoul. You said for Christmas you wanted to find a midget in your stocking. That’s what you said.”

Richard: Whose roast turkey would you most like to carve this Christmas morning? Wednesday: “Whose what?” Acey: “Is that a variation of the same question? If it’d get me laid, I’d say Angelina Jolie again.” Wednesday: “I don’t know. I don’t know how to carve a turkey anyway.” Acey: “He only carves chickens. One time he carved a squirrel, for class.” Wednesday: “I don’t know. That’s probably the most difficult question I’ve ever been asked in my life.” Ben: “Hugh Hefner. I’d love to spend Christmas at the ‘Playboy’ Mansion.” Wednesday: “Of course you would.”

Michael: If you were the five wise men, what would you give to baby Jesus? Eric Griffin: “Drugs!” Wednesday: “Drugs and a couple of shots of Jägermeister. I’d like to breastfeed baby Jesus.” Acey: “I’d give him a butterscotch enema.”

Matthew: Which rock star looks most like Santa Claus? Wednesday: “Jerry Garcia. Michael MacDonald. You guys probably have no clue who that is.” Ben: “Who’s the one they said Wednesday looks like?” Wednesday: “Mortiis! Like a dead Santa Claus. Or maybe one of his elves. Rob Zombie looks kinda like Santa Claus a little bit.” Joey: “Cancel that. We won’t get that tour.” Wednesday: “He’s got his beard. I’d love him to bring me presents. That’d be the coolest Santa Claus in the world, bringing you shrunken heads and all that. Jellied brains.” Acey: “Or go-go girls, or a leather face mask.”

Richard: If you had Fred Durst hanging by his bollocks what would you do to him? Eric: “Nothing, I’d just leave him there.” Wednesday: “That’s pretty harsh torture in itself. I think we’d all swing on it to make it a little bit worse.” Joey: “We’d throw sliced ham at him.” Acey: “I’d pour honey on his nutsack, and then let ants eat it off.”

Louise: What do you guys think of the UK music scene? Wednesday: “Well, we’re a local band here now, since we’re always over here. It seems to be pretty cool.” Acey: “I like the music scene here better, truthfully. It just seems that people are a little bit more open-minded, you’ve got bands that a little bit older like The Wildhearts and we’ve always had good support bands like AntiProduct and The 80s Matchbox B-Line Disaster, who are really cool.”

Rebecca: How have your families taken to your career paths? Joey: “My parents have always supported me from day one. I’m still the same person, my mom still makes me take out the trash and mow the lawn. She lives in her Murderdolls and Slipknot gear. She wears it every day. She’ll go to the grocery store and these kids’ll come along and go, “You like Slipknot?’. And she’ll go, ‘Oh yeah’. Now she gets free groceries.” Ben: “My parents have always been very supportive of whatever I’ve done. I’m not going to sit here and say that my childhood was traumatic and I hated my parents and all the crap that other bands come out with, because that’s just not true.” Acey: “My mom’s very proud, very very proud of me. My dad, on the other hand, disowned me. So fuck him.” Eric: “My mom came to see us and she wore Devil horns.”

Matthew: What are the three most important things you take on tour with you? Ben: “Our make-up. Our clothes. And rubbers.” Eric: “Spoken like a true ghoul!”

Michael: Your songs are quite sarcastic, but are any of them based on real-life experiences? Wednesday: “No, not at all. I think the only song on the album that had any personal theme, was ‘Dressed To Depress’. The bands that I’ve always grown up on, I didn’t want to go to a concert and be reminded of the bullshit in my life, if I hated school or was angry with my parents. I’ve always compared our band to a TV or a movie or something, you get lost in it. Bands that keep singing about bad childhoods or trauma or politics, it gets old after a while.” Ben: “I think it’s more about escapism than real life.” Wednesday: “So no real grave-robbing stories yet? (listens to music playing in the background) Oh God, is that Nickelback?” Ben: “How would you know that? That’s bad that you know that.” Wednesday: “I know, I’m sorry.” Eric: “I think that there’s a lot of kids that really relate to us, and feel like they have a lot more in common with us than with their parents or their friends at school.” Ben: “Or Nickelback.”

Richard: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing now? Joey: “I would just try to get as close to anything musical as possible, by being a tech or working in the studio. Music is the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do since I was really young – I’m just lucky I get to actually do it now.” Eric: “I think I’d probably open a strip club. A brothel or something.” Ben: “If I wasn’t doing music, I’d probably be doing something art-oriented.” Acey: “What do ghouls do? What is a ghoul?” Ben: “What’s a ghoul? That’s a good one.” Wednesday: “Don’t you rob graves and beat on poor people?” Acey: “I would maybe be a manager. I mean, I can barely manage my own life, so that would be kind of a tough one.” Eric: “In all seriousness it’s an impossible question to answer because music is more of a life than a job. Our whole lives just revolve around music. It’s part of who we are, so I can’t even imagine not being able to play music.”

Louise: What object will be on the top of your Christmas tree? Wednesday: “I have a Jack Skellington doll on the top of my Christmas tree at home. I always do that every year. I don’t want Santa Claus, or an angel, or a star or anything stupid like that.” Acey: “I got a fake tree that I’m going to spraypaint black. It’s one of the little ones. I’ll spray it in my apartment and get a buzz painting it.” Ben: “I didn’t have a Christmas tree last year, so I’m not sure.” Acey: “That’s because you’re a ghoul.” Wednesday: “What about getting the ghoul and painting him green and standing him on our bus. His hair is like pipe-cleaners…” Acey: “And he’s already got balls hanging…”

Richard: If you could be on an ideal tour, who would be supporting you? Wednesday: “I would love to have AFI support us. That’s probably the only band out right now that I can listen to all the time.” Acey: “Andrew W.K. would be pretty cool. He likes to party.” Wednesday: “We played a gig with Andrew in Japan and he’s a really cool guy and has a lot of fun and I really respect what he’s done and that would be a cool tour.” Ben: “The Donnas, but I think they’re afraid to talk to us.”

Matthew: If you could choose one person, who would you like most to resurrect from the dead? Wednesday: “Vincent Price. I’d just love to have dinner with that guy and just talk to him.” Acey: “Joey Ramone.” Ben: “Brigitte Bardot.” Wednesday: “(correcting his bandmate). Bardoo.” Acey: “Bardow!” Kerrang!: Brigitte Bardot is alive. Eric: “You fucking ghoul. I told you we were stupid.” Ben: “The one Anton LaVey had an affair with then – what was her name? Jane Mansfield.” Wednesday: “Next question!” Ben: “Yeah, let’s move on.”

Michelle: What would your ideal Christmas presents to each other be? Acey: “I’d buy Joey and Wednesday Les Pauls. The Ghoul? What do you buy a ghoul? Wednesday: “A box of magnums. I’d buy Joey a 12-pack of Corona with the lemons… All: “The limes!” Wednesday: “The limes already in ‘em. I’d buy Acey shares in Starbucks franchise. I’d get him a coffee-smelling kimono, or a fucking scarf, so if he couldn’t find coffee it (sic), he’d just inhale it.” Ben: “I’d buy Wednesday a big bucket of KFC.” Acey: “I’d buy him a chicken ranch.” Ben: “Actually, I lost my mind back in the summertime, I’d like to open up a present and get that back.”

Michelle: Acey, was it a strain for you joining after Tripp Eisen left? Acey: “You know you were asking what I would like on Christmas morning? Well truthfully, and for the first time in my life I really have everything that I want. And I’m not just talking shit – I’m in a band that’s gone around the world, that I love, I got a computer – so what more do I need? Some more ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ toys! They hate me, by the way.” Wednesday: “I’ve known Acey for a long time, before he was ever in Dope or I met Joey. So, it was kinda weird how everything worked out. Us starting a band together was a long time in the coming.”

Rebecca: What is the most rock ‘n’ roll Christmas you’ve ever had? Joey: “I think this one will probably be the most, since with Slipknot, the band’s not heavily indulging in everything, and it’s not like the more free-spirited atmosphere I have with these guys. We’re playing a New Year’s Eve show in my hometown, so we’re just going to probably get drunk and get ready for the show. What do you think about that answer Wednesday?” Wednesday: “It was great.” Joey: “Thank you.”

[anamelessfool]

Music in my 1979 Primo Fic

I got a playlist (link) and everything because it's been fun. Vintage Metal, Proto-Punk, Glam Rock

This arc I am currently writing is diving into Jocasta and Primo's side project of a dark rock band, Nameless Ghouls. Jocasta is the Papessa and feels locked in to being an opera singer forever. Young Primo is a talented guitarist but is actually quite shy. Primo feels like his life is starting to fall into place in the way he has always desired, but perhaps the dead ends he's run into lately aren't as dead as they seem...

Check out the Fic Here. (AO3 Link)

Art by @kabukiaku

[hee-blee-art]

I've missed them <3

[ID: five images of three drawings featuring gummysugar, a fictional band of three clowns and one ghoul. the first drawing shows faust, a tall lanky ghoul with a wavy undercut in a t-shirt, singing with puck, a thin glam clown with a mullet in a muscle shirt. faust has puck by the wrist to pull the mic over to himself and the two of them are gazing into each others' eyes. the second shows blinkie, a thin emo clown in a baby tee, playing drums and singing, looking intense. the third shows xavier, a tall fat clown in a jester hood, leaning over to kiss puck on the head as they play bass and puck adjusts his earpiece. in this drawing you can see puck's muscle shirt says "femme fatale" and xavier is wearing a ripped top that says "that's mr. faggot to you!" the final three images are detail crops of each drawing. end ID.]

[allexonspace]

Hey good sir! I follow you and you seem somewhat hyperfixated on the band Ghost. I'm interested in getting more into them and want to know more about them, could I entice you to maybe infodump to me about them and possibly drop some links of your favourite moments / moments which you think are important to understanding Ghost lore? :3 /nf

...you've doomed yourself

Ok so, I suck ass at infodumping through text but I'll do my best

Ghost is a satanic glam metal/rock band which has some really fun lore and has multiple characters through the years with different lore both canonically and hc/fanon. This is a video I really enjoyed watching that summarizes most of the lore, This is another one but I recommend you watch mvs and the chapters (both found on the Ghost YouTube channel) as well. Now the videos are old so there's new stuff specially regarding the ghouls and what the last chapter was but if you need more info on that you can always check out the tags here and slowly learn how canon and fanon works and what not :]

Anyways, the band is formed by lead singer Copia (papa emeritus lV but we all keep calling him copia which is the characters actual name but irl and out of character his name is Tobias Forge) and the nameless ghouls, the nameless ghouls play the instruments, each one is assigned a different element (fire, water, earth, air, quintessence) which indicates what instrument they play (there's also multi ghouls which are vocals and an instrument)

Now fanon assigned names to each ghoul/ghoulette but canonically they don't have names. You can find who each one is and what their name is with the video and for a more updated one just look up the nameless ghouls tag :]

The nameless ghouls were originally completely anonymous but now a majority of them aren't, it's still costume specially here that if you are mentioning or talking about any of them outside of character/costume to use the tag "unmasked ghoul/ghouls" in case you want to keep the anonymity of the characters, otherwise you can also look up that tag to find out more about the people outside the characters cause they're all incredible artists of their own in case u wanna check out the stuff they themselves make outside of Ghost!

There's a lot of lore that in fanon changes a bit or things are added to them but they mostly keep the same things canon has but it's good to learn the canon lore first before looking at the fanon over here or on Twitter snd stuff.

That's the best I can do cause it's 4:30 am ish and my brain isn't loading and I fear I cannot explain the lore correctly for the life of me jsjsjs but I hope the videos I linked serve well + watch the most recent chapters that have newer lore :3!!!

[costumersupportdept]

Hiiiii baby costumer here!

I just finished my very first costume design package for one of my college’s MainStage shows!! Next semester I get to put it all together with the shop. I’m still pretty stunned that they gave me this design gig bc I’ve only worked in the shop part time and only for eight months or so.

My main question is: have you seen the costumes for a band called GHOST? The quality is insane for a niche, themed glam rock band. If so what’s your opinion on their costume game?

oh, you mean the band I *already* have tickets to see their movie in June for?

I haven't gotten *deep* deep in their costume game, (I spend more time handwaving over Vessel Sleep Token the First and his absolute inability to keep himself together without safety pins or own an iron) but the last couple of Ghoul iterations have been *chefskiss* (they could have made a couple better decisions on Terzo, though, the fit on his weird vestcoat always makes me a little grumpy)

[metalsludgeceo]

Aussie Aussie Aussie! All Flights are Booked, and after a pit stop in Fiji… for fuel, lol… several Hollywood area bad-boy bands from the hey-day right off the Sunset Strip (Tuff, PBF & FPC) will be landing Down Under! Along with that Ghoul from Murderdolls Mr. Wednesday 13, the Windy City crew of Enuff Z’Nuff featuring Mr. Chip Z’Nuff and our Swedish friends from Eclipse will all be tied up in a nice little package called Glam Fest Australia 2023. If you don’t have a ticket yet, you might be too late already… hmm… Oh well, regardless of who shows up, we will all be there to kick all kinds of rock n’ roll @ss! @glamfestoz @silverbacktouring @fasterp_ssycat @taimed @mrmotherfucker13 @eclipse_sweden @enuffznuffofficial @chipznuff @stevesummers_thevoiceofpbf @stevietuff @sisters_doll @crossonrock @cassidyparisofficial @deptofgloom @_starcrazy__ @atomic_riot_ @catalanoband See ya soon, Tuff Stevie Rachelle / Vocals Todd Chaisson / Bass Billy Morris / Guitars Tod T Burr / Drums 😀💪❤️🔥🦘🎤☀️🌴🤩 https://www.instagram.com/p/CnPsWJwv5Nz/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[humblezombie]

I want to get back to posting my doll inventory, so here’s the Mega Bloks figures from the Glam Ghoul Band.  This was such a fun set, I love all the little instruments ^_^

[kimhargreeves]

Gone-Tobias Forge x Reader

*****Flashback*******

"Do you think he'll be alright?"

My friend and I looked at Tobias who has hiding his face with his hands on the couch,i frowned seeing him stressed and sad was something I always hated to see he isn't usually like this he always have something to do or say but this time it's different. "I'll try my best to make him feel better." i told my friend after a small talk and saying our goodbyes i closed the door behind me and sighed to myself when I noticed Tobias left the living room, he's probably in his room.

I knocked on the door and waited for him to let me in,nothing, i knocked again and pressed my ear against the door "Tobias please let me in..i know you're upset but maybe I can make you feel better?" i heard footsteps and quickly took a step back once he opened the door and looked at me,quickly i noticed he had a few empty bottles of beer and other alcohol beverages. "Nothing you say will make me feel better." he simply said and continued to smoke his cigarette. This is one thing i've always hated about him when he's annoyed or angry at me for reasons,he bluntly tells me what he thinks about me and occasionally hurt my feelings.

Tobias and I are not a couple..we've been friends for almost two years and I moved in with him so I could study since the school i'm going is just a couple of blocks away besides my parents wouldn't give me enough money to live on my own,I go to collage everyday while Tobias stays here and writes his music, "I know it won't make you feel better,but how about you let me write a few songs and give you some ideas to make you feel better." Tobias stared at me like i was insane and began to tell me to leave his room.

"No come on i'll show you." i ran to my room and fetched my notebook and once I was back to Tobias room i showed him a few songs I wrote and designs I made of a man dressed as a pope. "These aren't the best lyrics or designs i've made but-" i stopped talking when he placed his hand on my mouth and looked down at the sheet of paper in his hands and gathered the others that rested in his lap.

"These are amazing." i rolled my eyes and pushed his hand away. 

"I'm glad you liked them Tobias."

"Would you like to help me do some music?"

******Present Day******

So he did..Tobias started a new successful band this time with my help from previous lyrics I did years ago, now he's 37 and is living the life he always wanted, he left for tours and i stayed in his small apartment back then when I was still studying in Sweden and he came back for me when i finished and i've been traveling with them around the world. Tobias is dressed as a pope as Tobias calls himself Papa Emeritus and his friends as the Ghouls, i was backstage as I saw them perform.

The guitar solo came up and I stared at Tobias admiring him, it would be a lie if i told myself that just recently I liked him, i've had a crush on him since we shared an apartment back then but i'm sure he doesn't feel the same towards me cause if so he would've told me. This is my last day with him and his friends since i have to fly back to the States to visit my family and have a break from being inside a tour bus.

"I can feel the thunder that's breaking in your heart

I can see through the scars inside you

I can feel the thunder that's breaking in your heart

I can see through the scars inside you"

An hour and a half later the boys were backstage taking off their outfits and taking showers, I had my bags ready to leave. "Hey (Y/N) at what time is your flight?" i turned back to look at Tobias without his makeup and outfit on,blushing i looked at him and told him in two hours so that means I just have an hour to spend with him.

"Why don't we go to lunch then?" he asked me and the ghouls agreed to have their leader spend some time with me. "Alright let's go then." he smiled and took my hand, my face got even redder cause he's never held onto my hand before. We arrived at a small restaurant and talked about what we would do when I come back and if i'll help him with some more music,i'm glad i never have to see him get upset again. Looking at my phone I saw that it was time for me to leave so we headed to the tour bus.

We made it to the airport and Tobias walked with me with a luggage in his hands as we made it to the gate and I held onto my backpack getting upset for leaving him. Both of us looked at the line of people and we looked back at each other, "So this is it then?" he asks looking down to his feet.

"Yes this is it..for a while." he looked back up to me and smiled "This is the first time we'll be separating from each other." Tobias puts down my luggage and places his hand on my cheek and smiles "I'm really gonna miss you." i felt my cheeks warming up due to him touching me and i stared back at him surprised when he started to lean closer and closer to my lips finally reaching them, i closed my eyes and kissed him back before he thought he made a mistake, i wrapped my arms around him and seconds later we pulled away and we both smiled at each other, "Make sure to come back to me and once you do you'll have more chances to kiss me again." i blushed at hims words and hugged him.

"I'll come back to you Tobias,i promise.." we hugged each other for another minutes then we pulled away before I looked back at him with my belongings and waved at him goodbye.

[tisthenightofthewitch]

‘Blasphemous’: how metal band Ghost became the acceptable face of Satanism

Fronted by 'anti-Pope' Tobias Forge, Ghost are one of the world's heaviest stadium bands – and it's all thanks to Andrew Lloyd Webber

Tobias Forge wants you to know that “Death metal has always been a very humanistic thing. When we’re talking about darkness, death, despair, it’s to express our discontent at the world. It’s our way to explain how s___ things are”. The 41-year-old mastermind behind Ghost has spent the last 12 years taking influences from the murky underground worlds of black metal and mixing it with radio friendly pop. The result is something that’s as much ABBA as it is Cradle Of Filth.

They’ve been touted as future Download Festival headliners, have supported Foo Fighters, Metallica and Iron Maiden in stadiums around the world and they’ll be supporting the release of fifth album Impera with a European arena headline tour of their own. Almost three million people listen to them every month on Spotify, with the band appealing to lifelong punks and metalheads while also acting as a glam introduction to the world of heavy music. In a scene full of legacy acts, Ghost are the sound of the future.

For the first half of their career though, no one even knew who was in Ghost. On stage the band were led by demonic anti-Pope character Papa Emeritus or one of his successors (one for every album) while the band was made up of a gaggle of “nameless ghouls” who also handled interviews. It was even rumoured that Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl was an occasional member of the gang.

Then in 2017 those nameless ghouls filed a lawsuit over unpaid profits, revealing Tobias Forge’s identity as the man in charge. The case was dismissed and fortunately, Forge took his unmasking in his stride. “I’ve read every classic rock biography of every band I’m a fan of [and] the same s___ takes place in every single one,” he said at the time.

Then, as if to prove there was more to the band than mystery, he wrote 2018’s brilliant, synth-driven Prequelle: a record of survival set in the mediaeval plague era. It went on to elevate the band even further and was nominated for the Best Rock Album at the 61st Grammys (their second Grammy award after winning Best Metal Performance in 2016).

“I am as much of an exhibitionist as anyone else who has ever put on a guitar and walked onstage but I like the idea of being able to step in and out of my celebrity,” says Forge, explaining the reason for Papa Emeritus. “If Bono comes to dinner, you’d expect a long spiel about Greenpeace. I don’t have to be that person, but I still get to play a rock star.”

Stadiums, award ceremonies and talk of stardom are a world away from where Forge started his musical career. Aged 15, he joined his first DIY punk band and spent the next few years experimenting with death metal and alternative rock in a variety of underground bands. “There’s a natural limiter on how successful you can become, playing extreme metal,” Forge tells me over Zoom, a day off from a US co-headline tour with Danish rock band Volbeat.

He formed Ghost in 2006 as a way to combine traditional rock (he’d grown up idolising The Doors, The Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd) his love of theatre (The Phantom Of The Opera and Cats have both been hugely influential, with Forge calling Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musicals “mind-blowing”) and the horror and darkness of death metal. The result is something flamboyant, dramatic and, he adds, “with a lot more visual elements than your average grunge band.”

“Without the music, we wouldn’t have gotten anywhere,” says Forge. “I know a lot of bands that look cool, but suck.” Ghost released spooky debut single Elizabeth in 2010 without any press photos “to let the music do the talking” and signed a deal soon after. Debut album Opus Eponymous followed later that year. While most other occult rock bands were happy to “stay on the carpet, as we say in Sweden” Forge wanted more. “My background might be in underground punk but I never wanted to limit us.”

Blending rock, prog and metal with Eurodisco and 1980s pop, as well as taking influence from the gothic worlds of Tim Burton’s Batman and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, new album Impera is about the self-destruction of society. Played out against the backdrop of Victorian England, it’s another leap forward for Forge – even if society appeared to be crumbling as he created it. “When I was writing Prequelle” says Forge, “the world was in a relatively stable place but I wasn’t in a good place mentally. For Impera, I was in a way better place but the world was in complete disarray.”

The album also sees the band engage with life more directly, a change in direction from Ghost’s early albums dealing in fantasy and escapism. Sure, the stories told on driving metal anthem Twenties (a rebellious call to arms against the disparity between social classes) and the wailing Driftwood (about religious hypocrisy) are set over a hundred years ago but their messages are relevant today.

Epic closing track Respite On The Spitalfields talks about the fear Jack The Ripper stirred in Victorian England, and how the fact he was never caught meant women were afraid to walk the streets of London after dark. Sound familiar? Throughout Impera Forge sings about the abuse of power.

“That abuse of power is the central mechanism that corrodes, but also builds societies,” Forge says. “We like to think we’re so enlightened in this modern world but right now, people believe in taking away other people’s rights, rather than the opposite. It’s all to do with control and money. Politicians are pro-life not because of their religious beliefs, but because if you have a baby, you’re going to stay in one place and buy s___ like a good little capitalist.”

That said, Impera is an optimistic record, all pomp and empowerment. From the wailing guitar riffs of opening track Kaiserion to the thundering reassurance of the anthemic Call Me Little Sunshine, Ghost’s fifth album is a constantly surprising, consistently brilliant listen that’ll appeal to both the mosh pit, and the theatre stalls.

“I believe in karma,” says Forge. “I believe that the bad empires, the ones that are actively trying to destroy the world, will fail. Especially if they’re based on some crazy person who is trying to go against the will of the people,” he adds, weeks before Putin mobilised.

Forge explains that “pop culture has always been a symbol for freedom”. MeToo and the Black Lives Matter movements were driven by protest songs and lyrics were often the source of snappy slogans painted on banners. Even the Ukrainian resistance to the Russian invasion has taken on Twisted Sister’s 1984 hit We're Not Gonna Take It as one of their unofficial anthems.

“The reason we don’t tour certain places of the world is that they would refuse us, because of what we sing about,” says Forge. Ghost has never played a show in China, and has also faced issues in America. Their second album Infestissumam was delayed because four different US manufacturers refused to print its “blasphemous” artwork – a 16th-century depiction of an orgy – while in 2018 a horrified Texan pastor led a protest outside their “devil-worshipping” show.

But Forge does not worship the devil, and has said that his views are more aligned with modern-day Satanism, which is centred around atheism, scientific scepticism and a passion for wildlife and nature. “I believe in pop culture, in freedom and in being kind. I believe in people having fun, and that they have the right to put their genitals into whomever consents. I believe that love is stronger than hate,” he says.

Backed by an eight-piece band, Forge will launch Impera with an arena tour of the UK and Europe. It’s set to be Ghost’s most ambitious run of shows yet – and that’s saying something.  “Everything is about the live show. That’s where you’re making memories with people. I compare a lot of what we do, with what I’ve experienced as a fan of other bands. “

However, according to Forge, “everything we ever do is always a lesser version of what I intended it to be.” He’s been sketching out stage shows and plans for world domination since before Ghost had even released a song. “We’re still working off that to-do list.”

“From the outside, it might look like our success has happened overnight but it’s taken us years to get to where we are today,” Forge continues. “Compared to AC/DC though, we still feel like a new band. We’ve got plenty of improvements to make before it’s time to throw in the towel.”

Telegraph

[hldailyupdate]

From Fine Line to star film roles, Harry Styles has gone from global to stratospheric – now, he adopts his newest mantle. Pleasing, his first business venture, puts beauty and naked ambition front and centre.

In the final leg of his sold-out Love On Tour series of shows, his six-person band took to New York’s Madison Square Garden on the weekend of Halloween. On the bird-call from their faithful leader, his legions of fans turned up to the concert in fancy dress. Crowds outside gathered in traditional All Hallows’ Eve getups of ghouls and goblins, and many paid homage to Styles’ signature style (think feather boas, kick-out flares and heavy-set platforms).

Not one to miss out on the chance for a display of style, Styles appeared on stage as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, complete with a sparkly blue pinafore with matching bow, and of course, ruby-red slippers (his band make up the Tin Man, Glinda the Good Witch et al). All outfits are courtesy of Alessandro Michele, Styles’ friend and creative director of Gucci, of which Styles has long been a brand face.

Enveloped in the rapture, the crowd hangs on to every minute of his husky growl and swivel of the hip as he breaks out into a spooky rendition of Britney Spears’ “Toxic”. But put aside Styles’ Mick Jagger swagger, and the crowd, made up of all ages, races, genders and sexualities, feel bound to something a little deeper than just the look and charm of the 27-year-old performer. Affirmations of beauty are swapped, expression is celebrated and friendships are formed under the umbrella of the pop phenom. Case in point: ‘#hslotoutfit’ (Styles’ Love On Tour outfit, in case you were wondering) hit 37 million views on TikTok in the US alone.

“It’s funny because I don’t think of myself that way [as a style icon]... but bringing people together is the thing I’m most proud of. [At the shows] I get kind of a front-row seat to see a bunch of people getting in a room together and just being themselves. Not coming to the front of the stage, because they’re hanging out at the back, dancing like nobody’s watching. Having the most basic version of a good time. Humans interacting and accepting each other,” says Styles, expressing wonder at the zeal of his committed fandom, the Stylers. “A room full of people just loving each other is so powerful.”

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA A few weeks ahead of our conversation, Styles quietly emerges at an airy photo studio in Los Angeles for his Dazed cover shoot. Despite the furiously quick turnaround from inception to execution of the shoot (things in HS’s world happen quickly and meticulously), the star is in wonderful spirits. Perfectly on time, and flanked by a burly and ever-present security guard, he’s quiet and reserved but polite, greeting everyone with a northern accent that’s been slightly tweaked by his years in LA. Immediately, you’re struck by his presence. A certain sort of wanton sex appeal that even the most hardened of critics couldn’t resist radiates when he looks you in the eye, something he’s careful to do when you are in conversation. (A recent study suggested Styles’ sea foam-green eye colour was the most beautiful in human existence.) He’s dressed in a fitted baby tee and low-slung jeans, kept just so by an umber-brown belt, and finished with a crochet skull beanie that reads ‘attainable’, though I am not quite sure it would look as uncontrived on anyone else. He wears clothes unbelievably well. But that we already knew: the aforementioned face of Gucci is often feted as our generation’s Bowie in his fearless, genderless and boundary-less approach to fashion. He’s donned a frilly gown on a Vogue cover and gets your grandma’s cardi (OK, it was actually JW Anderson) a permanent spot in the V&A. Our shoot is no exception in bringing on the glam. As photographer Rafael Pavarotti readies his camera, Dazed’s editor-in-chief Ibrahim Kamara takes Styles through the proposed looks for the shoot. He immediately grabs an angelic cream look of a Rick Owens webbed sweater, a Galliano corset, and a Comme des Garçons kitten heel from the splatter of Polaroids affixed to the wall. A psychedelic Prada jumpsuit complete with Swarovski choker is another favourite, and a Balenciaga look with top-hat aplomb is quickly greenlit. At ease in front of the camera, he slips from one look to another, each more fantastically concocted than the last. He’s the right side of confident and seems, through observation, content. It’s a far cry from the vision of the fairly sheepish Harry Styles from One Direction: 16 years old, with a mop of curls. Despite the group’s mega-success of over 70m albums sold worldwide, we perhaps never knew the potential of what lay beneath until the release of Harry Styles (2017), his breakaway solo album after the group’s hiatus and a revealing look at someone whose enigma had been overshadowed by headlines and hysteria.“I was 16 [when One Direction started], I just kind of finished school and didn’t really know what it was that was happening,” he explains. “Everything was really new and exciting and I didn’t know how long everything was gonna last. It kind of became like, ‘Woah, how long can we keep this going?’ because I really didn’t expect any of this to happen. “There was a time when I was younger, and I was in the band, when I would have been afraid for everything to have stopped. I didn’t necessarily know who I was if I wasn’t in the band. Now, the idea of people going, ‘We don’t like your music any more, go away’ doesn’t scare me. I think there was a time when it did. It gives me the freedom to kind of go, ‘Great!’ I’m not working from a place of fear. I’m working from a place of wanting to work stuff out, and try different things.”It’s a sum of parts that has worked well for Styles. His sophomore album, Fine Line (2019), went double platinum in the US and won him Grammy, Brit and Ivor Novello awards, with Rolling Stone ranking it among its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, a feat that he has finally had time to reflect on. “I think things are hitting me for the first time,” he says. “It really is the first opportunity where I felt like I had time to take it in since leaving home, to be honest. So, going forward, I’m just going to take things in as they’re happening – how nice some of those things are, how not nice some of those things are – and observe them. When we get back to some semblance of

normality, I will check in with parts of myself and make sure I don’t lose myself again and get pulled back in.” While conquering music, he dipped his toes into the silver screen with a role in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk (2017). He used a world tour that was paused due to Covid to take on a trio of new movie roles. He has a much-anticipated role in Don’t Worry Darling, a psychological thriller set in a utopian California starring Midsommar’s Florence Pugh. Directed by Olivia Wilde, whom Styles began dating during filming, the film isn’t due for release until September 2022. An 11-second clip has been ripped on to fan accounts and cumulatively got over a million views on YouTube. His relationship with Wilde has been a daily feature of celebrity gossip rags, though the privacy around it is closely guarded by Styles and images of them together are scarce. “I’ve always tried to compartmentalise my personal life and my working life,” he explains. Paparazzi snaps suggest the two are very much in love, though any assumptions on his love life are curtailed for his Dazed cover story. My Policeman, an adaptation of Bethan Roberts’s 2012 novel, centres on husband Tom Burgess, played by Styles, and wife Marion Taylor, played by Emma Corrin. Set in Brighton in the 1950s, the film follows David Dawson’s character Patrick as he falls in love with policeman Tom and a tug of war of emotions between the three begins. The story explores homosexuality at a time when it was expressly forbidden. Both films offered Styles room to grow as an actor. “I like to challenge myself and do something different and movies are definitely where I feel most out of my comfort zone,” he reflects. “I’m coming from music where I don’t think anyone really knows how it works, but I am somewhat in my comfort zone! But in movies, when I show up, I’m the new guy. I haven’t been (an actor) for a long time and that’s really cool, I feel like I’ve learned so much and life is about learning.” And as much as acting is an education, it’s also incredibly personal for Styles. “(With acting), you’re trying to remove a lot of yourself and key into someone else,” he explains. “On the most basic level, it’s like being a kid and you’re playing pretend. I am not a very confrontational person, I think I’m pretty chill, so then when you have a character who is like that, it’s fun to explore.” Styles has never had formal acting lessons, and instead reads scripts with a partner and immerses himself in the “humanity of the character”. “I think music and acting really aid each other in a lot of ways. In my experience, a lot of the time when I’ve gone to do a film I’ve felt like, ‘Oh, I’m probably not gonna do any music for a while because I’ll be so focused on that.’ And then I actually find that, by the time I get home at the end of the day, I just write so much. Any time you are looking at the world through someone else’s lens and exploring different emotions, it feels like a benefit in so many ways.” In October, the Twitterverse erupted after Variety’s Matt Donnelly spotted Styles’ blink-and-you’ll-miss-it role as Eros in Eternals, the newest mega-movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, directed by Oscar winner Chloé Zhao. Styles cautiously checks the publication date of this Dazed story before confirming his inclusion as the brother of villain Thanos. “I’m only in right at the very end,” he says humbly. “But who didn’t grow up wanting to be a superhero, you know? It was a great experience and I’m so grateful to have gotten to work with Chloé.” BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS With his career expanding from global to almost stratospheric proportions, Styles has made room for other projects instead of taking any iota of spare time for himself. Namely, Pleasing, his shape-shifting umbrella company that will see him take the leap from musician to mogul. The first drop from the Pleasing universe? A curated line of products that speak to the celebratory beauty sensibility that Styles is known for. He talks me through the genesis of Pleasing from his hotel room in Boston, while

massaging his undereye with The Pleasing Pen, a dual-ended eye and lip serum infused with okra, marshmallow and lingonberry, a delicious-sounding concoction that I’m told helps with tired eyes. “It was an idea I’d kind of had for a while,” he describes. “I’d been talking with a couple of people close to me, like Molly (Hawkins, Styles’ creative director). Firstly, I just thought it would be fun but, in actuality, Pleasing is about a couple of things.” “It’s starting with nail polish, because that was kind of the birth of what it was for,” Styles continues. “Me seeing a colour on a flower or a wallpaper or something and thinking, ‘Oh, I wanna put that on my nails.’ It was a fun little project, but during the pandemic, and when we eventually named it Pleasing, it felt like it was so much more than nail polish. I’ve always found that the moments in my life which have brought me the most joy are the small ones, whether it be, you know, the end of the night under the stars or a bite of food, or sitting with your friends thinking, ‘Oh, I’m never gonna forget this.’ It’s always those moments that I find have the longest-lasting effect on me, in terms of sparking something wonderful in me. I really think that the essence of Pleasing is finding those little moments of joy and showing them to people.” The collection cleverly eschews the usual cosmetic tropes of concealment and masking, and instead celebrates illumination: highlighting what’s already there, in a way that democratises who can see themselves as part of the Pleasing cosmos. The product line starts small, though I have been promised there is more to come, in a sporadic drop-style format: a ‘Pearlescent Illuminating’ serum, ‘Pleasing Pen Matte’ lip oil and ‘Perfect Pearl’ nail polish, all of which have been mindfully and sustainably made. “I don’t think that putting someone’s face on something sells a bad product,” says Styles firmly. “The product has to be good, and I think our product is good.”The lustrous finish of the plant-based nail polish was created to mimic the iridescence of pearls (a string around his neck being one of the star’s signature flourishes). Styles and his team have created the Pleasing line with the lightest possible footprint in mind, using post-consumer plastics and compostable paper printed with bio-sourced inks. “We also totally understand that we are putting more product into the world, so if we’re gonna do that, then we have to do it the right way,” says Styles, his hand gestures showing off a marigold and optic white manicure.“I also think that what this can become is so much more than just products you can buy. I think it’s about giving, and giving back. I am blessed to have fans who are so supportive of me, who believe in freedom and who have created this safe space for each other. Pleasing is really for them. That feeling of community is kind of what we would like Pleasing to (reflect).” Styles is transparent about his approach to Pleasing. Business and money-making aside, he wants to build a platform that can put ideas, creativity and empathy front and centre. “I think we have an opportunity to make something really cool, a company that operates in a completely different way,” he says. “I think the true DNA of Pleasing is about working with talented people who might not necessarily have the light shone on them, and collaborating.” A humanistic approach to a beauty company is a novel idea, though a complicated one. Can a modern beauty brand really ask you to come-as-you-are and buy into the added extras? Styles doesn’t seem put off by the challenge. “As humans, we are always changing we’re always learning new stuff and I don’t know why a company can’t operate from that same kind of standpoint.” It’s a venture that leaves Styles, whose public persona has been carefully and sensibly guarded, open in a way that he hasn’t been before. “We’re Pleasing and we’re not perfect, and we are always gonna be trying to learn to do better,” he admits. “Do I have any idea where Pleasing will be in five years? No. Obviously I have an idea of what I

would like us to be aiming at, but honestly, I don’t know. That’s what makes it exciting to me.” I ask him when he feels his most beautiful. “I don’t think being beautiful or feeling beautiful is about looking good. When people are happy and glowing, they’re radiating. And that’s what I think the products do, it’s about helping you feel beautiful.” He pauses thoughtfully, and repeats my question back to me, “Hmm, when do I feel my most beautiful? I would say internally, when I’ve finished meditating or something… Or maybe when I’m asleep!” he giggles. HOME I comment, more than once, on how at peace Styles, whose every move is writ large on the internet, seems. What he takes from his glam-rock icons (Prince, Freddie Mercury, Elvis Presley), he grounds in his everyday-ness. He’s never let his stardom eclipse his need for normalcy. “I read The Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Botton, and there’s a chapter where he talks about the idea of emptiness being more important than fullness,” he says. “How a lot of things can be really distracting, especially in the home. I think about the space that I want around me; I need it to be calm.” “You know, I read another book by Jon Ronson called So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed,” continues Styles. “It got me thinking, for a long time, about how scared I was of saying or doing the wrong thing, and how much trouble that would get me in. I was still growing up, making mistakes. I’m not ashamed of those things any more. I’ve seen sub- conscious changes in a lot of places in my life.” Just as he’s trying to imagine what a beauty brand can mean for a younger generation, he’s also looking at the future possibilities of pop music, albeit starting from a clean slate. On the precipice of his Saturn’s Return (Styles turns 28 in February), he seems ready to enter a new, risk-taking and career-defining chapter. “I have unlocked an ability to be myself completely, unapologetically,” he says with conviction. “I started only listening to classical music because it felt like it gave me a blank canvas to work from. So I wasn’t hearing things I would then be referencing. I think that so much creativity comes from my boredom and giving myself the chance not to be distracted by things. I’m the most human I’ve felt in a long time, for sure.” Observing Styles in his different guises – heartthrob, musician, business owner, friend – the character that defines him now, more than ever, is himself. “I sometimes feel like I’m supposed to be floating on this cloud of success and happiness, and obviously that’s not how it works,” he muses. “I think through my own sense of self and personal journey, I am realising that happiness isn’t this kind of end state.” And just as Dorothy clicks her heels to return home in The Wizard of Oz, when Styles speaks about his journey from then to now, and everything the horizon could hold, it’s almost as if he is coming home.

- Via Dazed. (15 November 2021)

[in-death-we-fall]

Fell In Love With A ghoul

Some people spend their whole lives searching for their soulmate. But as Murderdolls prepare to gatecrash the charts with their cover of ‘White Wedding’, Joey Jordison and Wednesday 13 explain why they’re made for one another…

Words: Dave Everley Photos: Roxy Erickson

(docs link) (Clown article x x)

Wednesday 13, frontman with the Murderdolls, is an avowed Mötley Crüe fan. He owns all 11 of their albums; he'll even defend their traditionally indefensible later, minor works with all the passion of a man who has divested large chunks of his earnings into the band's output at one time or another. He has, he estimates, read their infamous biography 'The Dirt' eight times.

    Now Mötley Crüe were undoubtedly dunderheaded arse-clowns of the highest order — and you can't help feeling that Wednesday 13, despite his unshakeable affection for the band, knows this. But they were also absolutely fantastic, if only for one particular reason: in the midst of the soulless, self-obsessed circle jerk that was the '80s rock scene, they were utterly, gloriously unique. Yes, they were as dumb as fence posts; yes, their behaviour veered between the mischievous and the truly cretinous; yes, they spawned a whole shower of shit that took years to mop up. But they were out there on their own.

It wouldn’t be inaccurate to call Murderdolls a Mötley Crüe for the ‘90s, if only for the reason that, in the midst of the soulless, self-obsessed circle jerk that is today’s rock scene, they too are utterly, gloriously unique. Whether you’re of the opinion that they’re a knowing tribute to the days when bands’ agendas extended no further than having as much fun as possible as often as possible, or simply the latest in a long line of shit-kicking party bands that began with the New York Dolls, there’s no debating the fact that they’re out there on their own as much as Mötley Crüe ever were.

And for that reason alone, the Murderdolls deserve your attention.

On paper, Murderdolls shouldn’t really exist. Or at least, they shouldn’t exist on the scale that they do. A modern day cock rock outfit put together by the drummer from Slipknot, a band who, love them or loathe them, at least managed to sneak a form of extreme metal to the top of the charts? Riiight.

Except the Murderdolls do exist, and they are successful. Their sole album to date, last year’s glam-Goth opus ‘Beyond The Valley Of The Murderdolls’, has sold 50,000 copies in the UK – half of what Slipknot sell, admittedly, but done with only a fraction of the hype the latter band has been fuelled with over the past few years. Their new single, a snarling version of Billy Idol’s ‘80s hit ‘White Wedding’ looks set to bust their B-movie indebted noise out to the masses.

In a sparse but stylishly furnished room deep in the warren of corridors that make up the West London headquarters of Sanctuary Management – handlers of Murderdolls, as well as Iron Maiden, Guns N’Roses and dozens of others – Wednesday 13 sinks into an expensive leather sofa and proceeds to empty the contents of his less expensive leather trousers onto the glass-topped table in front of him.

“Man, too many pounds in my pocket,” he says good-naturedly, his attempt at an English accent as successful as that of most visiting American musicians (that is, not at all).

Two days ago, Murderdolls played the main stage of the Download festival. They hung around the site for another 24 hours, soaking up the atmosphere and generally drinking themselves senseless. Wednesday started “partying” at three o’clock yesterday afternoon. He didn’t stop until the small hours of the morning. He woke up at eight o’clock. It’s now two in the afternoon. There’s not even a whiff of a hangover. Bastard.

“I don’t get them,” is his cheery response. “Never have.”

The Wednesday 13 sitting here, laid-back and grinning, couldn’t be further removed from the sneering, spiky, B-movie anti-hero that appears on Murderdolls records. That Wednesday 13 is a sneering, spiky B-movie anti-hero with arsenic and embalming fluid running through his veins. This Wednesday 13 is Joseph Poole, a 26-year-old Mid-Westerner who still lives in the same “tiny as fuck” North Carolina town where he’s spent most of his life and who hadn’t so much as set foot on an aeroplane until Joey Jordison paid for him to fly to Des Moines to join the Murderdolls.

He looks nothing like you’d imagine him to. He’s fleshier for a start – not fat in the slightest, but not the sunken-faced cadaver that leers out from photos. He looks younger too, though that could well be on account of the fact that he’s not made up to resemble death warmed over. Only the array of tattoos that adorn his arms – “horror movie shit” like Bela Ludosi, Linda Blair, the Bride Of Frankenstein, Herman and Lily Munster, ‘Hellraiser’ – equate the man sipping Diet Coke and beaming effusively with the dreadlocked ghoul who fronts the Murderdolls.

Actually, Wednesday 13 isn’t really anything like you’d expect him to be, full-stop. Back home in Landis, he lives in a suburban home with his longtime girlfriend and his five-year-old daughter, Zoe (“We’re like ‘The Addams Family’,” he smirks). He admits that he’s shy, that “when I talk to people, I don’t really look them in the eye” (this is true). He’s not embarrassed to admit that his relationship with his parents is “awesome – my parents were always super-cool”.

What was your childhood like? “Dude, I lived in a trailer until I was 13 years old. I didn’t even have my own room until I was 10 or 11.”

And how were you supporting your family before that call came from Joey? “Delivering magazines. I had to drive an hour to my job, so I’d get up at 4:30 in the morning, leave at five and be there at six. I drove a big delivery truck. I had to go to grocery stores and put ‘National Enquirer’ and ‘TV Guide’ and all that shit in there. That sucked.”

Ever think of jacking it in and moving to New York or LA to get closer to the action? “I always thought it’d be cool to live in New York, but I never had the money, and I never had a band that was willing to pack up and move. I really lucked out when I got a call from Joey. The last fucking dude on earth I thought would call me would be the drummer from Slipknot.”

Before Joey Jordison entered his life, Wednesday 13 fronted the Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13. Formed when he was 19 years old, the Drag Queens combined the twin influences of Alice Cooper and Ed Wood. Between 1996 and 2001, they released four albums of schlocky, snotty punk rock (several songs from these records would be reworked and re-recorded for ‘Beyond The Valley Of The Murderdolls’). Their schtik – wigs, dresses and zombie make-up – was as becoming as it was dumb. Still, in North Carolina – a pig’s squeal away from Bible Belt country – that’s one hell of a statement to make.

“When we started out, it was complete war,” is his memory of the Drag Queens’ early days. “We didn’t want to be friends with anybody. Every show was a fucking battle. I’d just say shit to the audience to get a rise – if they were drinking beer, I’d shout, ‘Beer is for fags!’. Then they’d start throwing shit at us, and I’d take my guitar off and jump into the crowd.”

Did it ever get physical? “All the time. At one gig, a guy in the audience threw a beer at me. I dived in the audience and tackled him, and started beating the shit out of him. I was wearing a pink dress and platforms at the time. This was in a new town and there were 100 or so people there. I thought they’d beat the shit out of me, but they ended up cheering me on.”

Remarkably, Wednesday managed to survive those early shows relatively unscathed. Even more remarkably, local club owners seemed to like the band’s mixture of outrage and antagonism. The buzz around the Drag Queens began to spread across the state.

“Everybody in town hated us, because we actually got gigs. The club owners kinda dug us. They were like, ‘We’re sick of all that other shit – this is fucking entertaining, let’s book them’. All the other bands hated us for that – ‘They’re fags, they’re wearing dresses, they don’t know how to play music’.”

What did your parents think of what you were doing? “My mom always sewed my clothes for me. She sewed all my dresses up.”

And your dad? “I dunno. I’m sure any man doesn’t want to walk around a corner and see his son standing there going, ‘Hey Dad, I got this new dress. Like it?’. But now I think he’s proud – he’s seen that I’ve stuck to my guns with it all.”

What was the best thing about being in the Frankenstein Drag Queens? “The very beginning was awesome because it was so fresh – I was working in a furniture store, making five bucks an hour, so I took out a loan to pay for the recording of the first record. The record came out, and we felt like we were above everybody else. Then two months later, the drummer quit. But by the end, nobody gave a shit – where I lived, it had really died. That’s why when Joey called I thought, ‘Fuck it, I’m going to do this Murderdolls thing’.”

There’s a track on the ‘White Wedding’ single called ‘I Take Drugs’. In reality, Wednesday 13’s recreational pursuits extend no further than an impressive capacity for alcohol.

“I’ve never done drugs in my life,” he says with a shrug that says ‘Why should I have done?’. “I guess I’m chickenshit. I’ve taken aspirin, but that’s all. I’ve never taken coke or E. I’ve probably smoked six cigarettes in my whole life. I don’t need it.”

It’s a strange admission from a man who shamelessly admits to a lifelong obsession with the most debauched of genres, cock rock. In fact, Wednesday 13 is so obsessed with cock rock that he’s possibly the only person on the planet right now who could not only namecheck long-forgotten Welsh glam tarts Tigertailz, but also take the time to describe their logo (he does both today). He might not be Mötley Crüe material, but he might just have sneaked into fell Sunset Strip darlings Faster Pussycat.

Have you ever dated a stripper, Wednesday? “Yeah, and it was one of the worst things I’ve ever done too. She tried to kill herself in front of me. I broke up with her, so she ran into my kitchen, pulled out a butcher’s knife and cut her arm open in front of me. I grabbed the knife and grabbed her arm – my fingers went into the cut, and I actually touched her bone. I threw her into the car and drove her to hospital. When we got there, there happened to be a cop in the waiting room. There was some very quick explaining done.”

Ever filmed yourself having sex? “Never. But mirrors are cool.”

Ever been arrested? “No. And I don’t want to. I’m not the kind of guy who walked around going, ‘Fuck the police’. I’m totally pro-cop. I’m so pro-cop, it’s actually ridiculous.”

That’s not a very rock ‘n’ roll thing to say. “Fuck that. I think that being a cop is one of the bravest jobs ever. I couldn’t imagine pulling over some car at three o’clock in the morning, knocking on the window, not knowing who’s in there – you’re fucking with death. I’d never have the balls to do that job. I’m pro-cop all the way. And I don’t care what anyone says.”

What do your neighbours in North Carolina think of you? “Well, the guy on the left is a priest. He’s a nice guy. He helped me take my garbage out the other day, then tried to persuade me to come to church. I had to tell him no, in the politest possible way. The guy on the other side, I just know to say hi to.”

What’s it like being a father? “It changes you. I never planned to have a kid that young, but I would never take it back. My kid is my life. I’d do anything to protect her. I never forget who I am and that I’ve got responsibilities back home. When you go on the road, you turn into a monster, then you come back home and you’re back to normal, Mr Nice Guy.”

What does your girlfriend think of what you do? “She’s known me since I was 15. She’s got bright red hair and more tattoos than I do. She loves it. But when I get home it’s different. I’m just the family guy.”

Unlike Wednesday 13, Nathan Jonas Jordison – Joey to the rest of the world – is everything you expect him to be. Thanks to the phenomenal rise of Slipknot, and the volumes of press that have been written in its wake, it’s difficult to shake the feeling that you already know him inside out.

You don’t so much interview Joey Jordison as try to keep up with him.Sitting in the same position on the same sofa that was, until 20 minutes ago, occupied by Wednesday 13, the drummer and guitarist (he played both on ‘Beyond The Valley Of The Murderdolls’) will spend the next half hour machine-gunning out answers to a barrage of questions as quickly as they come in. He’s loud, assured, articulate and passionate. In fact, the only thing that’s surprising is that he still lives with his mother, in the same house in Iowa that he’s been in since he was two years old.

“It’s a real humble place out in the country,” he says. “I like the quiet. I like getting away from the busy streets and the noise and the chaos. It’s nice to go home to some peace and quiet, cos there’s none of that on the road.”

As we speak, Jordison has at least three projects on the go (there’s Slipknot and Murderdolls, plus an unnamed extreme metal project he’s working on with Necrophagia frontman Killjoy). His explanation is that he gets bored “very fucking easily”. Back home, he has three guitars placed strategically around the house (“one in my room, one in the bathroom and one downstairs”). Ask him what his greatest obsession is, and he replies, “music”. Ask him how he switches off from music, and he looks puzzled.

“What do you mean?”

Do you ever stop thinking about music? “No. It’s the only thing I know how to do well. I can spin upside down on a drum riser in front of 20,000 people with Slipknot, but I can’t go to the mailbox and figure out my mail. I have no sense of normal reality at all. Today I went out shopping. I walked to the fucking store, then I couldn’t figure how to get back. I have to be pointed in the right direction. That’s why I have to have an assistant with me all the time.”

As much as the Murderdolls are an equal partnership – and both Joey Jordison and Wednesday 13 are adamant that it is – there’s no doubt that it’s Jordison who provided the initial impetus. He’s the one who took the raw materials – specifically The Rejects, the glam-punk band he played guitar with intermittently during the ‘90s – and shaped it into something new. He’s the one who marshalled the personnel, calling Wednesday out of the blue and flying him to Des Moines to see if his dream could work. He’s also the one who, by dint of his status as a member of one of the biggest metal bands on the planet, gave the Murderdolls an instant profile.

Are you a control freak, Joey? “Yeah. Well, maybe not a control freak, but I definitely like to have my opinions. People respect me because I have strong opinions. But it’s not about ego – it’s about the end result. That’s all I'm concerned with.”

Are you friends with the people in your bands? “Every one of them. The Slipknot dudes are like my brothers. We’ve been through everything together – we started with jack shit and we became one of the biggest metal bands around. With this band, I don’t know everybody like I know the guys in Slipknot, but I love them all to fucking pieces.”

Does it bother you that the Murderdolls are still seen by some as ‘Joey from Slipknot’s band’? “I don’t think people see it that way anymore. When we first toured, all you’d see is Slipknot shirts. You don’t see that now. Now it’s kids all in red and black. Murderdolls is a fun band.”

What about a party band? As in a band who like to party? “Oh yeah.”

How much alcohol do you get through a week? “Wednesday got through a bottle-and-a-half of Jägermeister last night.”

What about the other trappings of rock ‘n’ roll? The sex, the drugs… “Certain guys in the band like the groupie thing. I don’t necessarily. Wednesday certainly doesn’t.”

Why don’t you like it? “I’ve kind of gone through it already. It’s not even really that good. It doesn’t… (pause) I mean, I’m into making girls do weird shit.”

Such as? “If a girl’s got a cool trick, she can come on the bus for entertainment purposes rather than sexual purposes.”

Give me an example of the sort of entertainment you’re talking about here. “A girl came on the bus once and fucking smoked a cigarette through her pussy, then blew it out of her mouth. I was, like, ‘I wanna see that’.”

You’re friends with Marilyn Manson. What does a night out with the two of you involve? “Actually it’s not as crazy as you might imagine. We might be round his house, watching TV, having a couple of drinks, talking about music. It’s not like you think – chicks and drugs and shit.”

The most common misconception about the Murderdolls, usually held by people who either don’t like the Murderdolls or have never heard them, is that they’re stupid. Murderdolls aren’t stupid. They’re stoopid, like Kiss were stoopid, like Mötley Crüe were stoopid. Yes, that might occasionally involve what Wednesday 13 calls “our idiot tendencies”, whether that means getting cross-eyed drunk on red wine and falling asleep in the lavatory of an airplane (as Wednesday recently did on a flight back from Japan) or starting a bar brawl in Germany (as Joey did when the band were last in Europe).

But ultimately, the Murderdolls are a rock ‘n’ roll band, and that’s precisely what rock ‘n’ roll bands are supposed to do. And now, more than ever before, we need rock ‘n’ roll bands who are willing to do rock ‘n’ roll things.

And that, once again, is why the Murderdolls deserve your attention.

Murderdolls are currently touring the UK with Stone Sour. Check Out There for details. Their new single, ‘White Wedding’, is released on July 14 via Roadrunner.

Gig Of The Week

Murderdolls/Stone Sour

Dates: Birmingham Academy July 9, Glasgow Barrowland 10, Manchester Apollo 11, London Brixton Academy 12. Admission: £16, London £18. Support: Elviss.

Some and see us because… Corey Taylor (vocals, Stone Sour): “Where else can you see five idiots kicking ass and getting naked? It’s going to be great playing with the Murderdolls, they’re a great live band. We can’t wait to get back because Donington was awesome. I got some comments about looking like Joe Elliot backstage, and it was weird playing with Metallica in the background. But that was crazy shit, and I got very drunk.” Wednesday 13 (vocals, Murderdolls): “You will see a rock show, not a nu-metal show with baggy pants, and you will see a group of pretty guys – us. It’ll be cool to play with Stone Sour. I sat down with Corey for the first time at Donington and we talked about movies and shit.”

Look out for… Corey: “A couple of songs that aren’t on the album, and Jim doing his weird goose-step walk. I’ll say no more about that.” Wednesday: “Toothpaste and toothbrushes. Fire and blood. That’s all just part of our show.”

Don’t go to the toilet when… Corey: “We’re playing. Hold your fucking piss. If you go while we’re onstage, I’ll fucking kill you.” Wednesday: “We’re playing. You could miss anything. There’s no telling what we’ll do. You could miss my big, giant gun. Which, incidentally, I don’t think we’ll have any trouble getting through customs. I know people.”

If you see me in the bar afterwards… Corey: “Buy me a Jack and Coke. Everyone knows that. We love hanging out and goofing off, when we’re not getting drunk and stripping.” Wednesday: “Buy me a shot of Jägermeister. Absolutely definitely come and say hello. I always hang out with the kids.”

Brett Callwood

[k-d-t-art]

Happy Friday 13th, here's some glam rock ghouls!!!

I have this garbage-ass "horror-comedy 80s slasher movie" idea about this glam rock band that died in a stage accident, and how three of them came back from the dead while the fourth member's soul got sent to Hell (lol). in an attempt to get their buddy back, Aubrey, Robin, and Jasper go on a slashing spree in order to gain the attention of Satan and subsequently get sent to Hell so that they can perform together again (in the underworld of course).

Yeah it's stupid but I still think it's funny