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Sepiachord had a chance to conduct an electronic seance with Gravemist following the release of their newest recording, "The October Requiem."
Sepiachord: The two of you were unlucky enough to be killed in a car accident in
1956. Were either of you musicians before you died?
Gravemist: Yes, we were part of the Phineas Stein Travelling Show, which had many top musical, burlesk, and human oddity acts in its hey-day.
The ghost-hunting was more of a moonlighting gig.
SC: Has death made you better musicians?
GM: Well, death has taught us to appreciate the time we have on this planet, so in a sense, it perhaps has made us better, or more prolific composers. There has been some adverse affects on the bones, however.
SC: You're a two person act, do you add additional players to round out your live show?
GM: Sometimes we incorporate various players-about-town, but we have been known
to often perform as a duo. Several of our songs have "acoustic" versions which are a generally good example of what people can expect us to sound like as a live duo.
SC: You've taken a bold step and named a new genre for your sound: Creepabilly. How does Creepabilly differ from traditional rockabilly?
GM: We didn't "name a new genre", actually. When we were called "Creepers", people started calling our "version of rockabilly" "creepabilly", as in "Creepers rockabilly". Alternately, We weren't really trying to be a "traditional rockabilly" band either. Classic Rockabilly music had a major influence on us musically, but we also incorporate western swing, latin lounge, and skiffle into our sound. It seems that "rockabilly" was the closest explanation of what most people (from the Midwest anyway) could relate our sound / "image" to, although we were never really seen wearing "traditional rockabilly" clothing (i.e. poodle skirts, bike jacket & A-Shirt, etc.).
SC: Right now there's a good number of 'billy bands who put themselves under the umbrella of psychobilly. The quiet haunting sound of Creepabilly seems to be a direct counterpoint to the crazed punk-influenced sound of psychobilly. Did you intentionally set out to create a sound that set you apart from most other 'billy acts?
GM: It is said that Teddy Girls never unfurl their umbrellas. Plus, we like walking in the rain anyway, so we have no need to be under any umbrella. Our music is not reactionary, that is made to be in opposition to anything else already existing. We are just as much "set apart" from "billy" acts as much as any other type of acts, because we create original music which does bear influences but adheres to no "purist rules" of any genre.
SC: The "Creep" in Creepabilly comes not from being you wierd or spooky but is a reference to brothel creepers, the preferred footwear of the teddyboy/neo-edwardian youth movement. Why does a 1950s British music and fashion trend hold so much interest for a contemporary American musician?
GM: Actually, the crepe-soled shoes later became called "Creepers" AFTER the Teddys became known for wearing them while dancing to the Ted Heath Orchestra performing a song called "The Creep", which gave Teddys themselves the nickname "Creepers", thus making their shoes "Creeper shoes", which eventually by the early 1970's was shortened to simply "Creepers". If you wish to learn to dance "The Creep" please read the "Teddy Boy" article in the blog section of our website: www.gravemist.com.
The "Neo-Edwardian" movement was really misnamed based on the fact that they
often wore Velvet collared Drape jackets which were previously only afforable (before WW2) to the "Edwardian" era British upper-classes. But, the general look & style of the Teds was really based more on an American Midwestern look, with quiffed hair, pencil skirts,string-ties and American Swing and Rock and Roll being immensely popular among the early Ted "scene". You see, in America, no one called them "Teds", they were just average "Teenagers", but a trend of having a distinctly American style in Britain needed a "name". Basically, if you look at this generations' Grandfathers and Grandmothers (most people who have Midwest-based family lines), these were the people who British "Teds" were emulating.
SC: Bands aren't cut from whole cloth, what artists were influences on your sound?
GM: You're really asking us to write a book on this one.
The two of us combined have probably listened to more music than ten record
store owners. It will be simpler to list descriptions as opposed to all the individual
artists, so this is what we'll do here. Musically, we are influenced by Classic Melodramatic Popular Song, 1950s American, Dutch & British Skiffle recordings, 1930s-1950s Vocal Jazz Pop/Crooners, Turn of the 19th-20th Century Murder Ballads, Appalachian Folk Song, Western Swing, Space-Age Pop / Latin Lounge, First Wave Bluegrass, 1950s Rockabilly/Hillbilly records,Medieval Eastern European Folk Song, Delta Blues, Northern Soul, Early Rocksteady Records, Early Rock and Roll / Jump Blues, and of course, Classic Southern Gospel.
SC: Other than musicians were there any writers or philosophers who helped you create the concept that became Gravemist?
GM: Is Tiny Tim considered a philosopher?
SC: Other than being dead, how involved with the occult are you?
GM: "Occult" simply translates to literally meaning "hidden". So anyone who wears undewear is techinically involved in the "occult".
SC: You take a stance of being distinctly anti-bigot. Have you ever had any run-ins with other occultists who see bigotry and intolerence as means to power?
GM: Well, it seems that "bigots" are actually more "anti" us, like the notorious evil Dr. Reichenstahl, the mad Nazi scientist who has been trying to destroy Jason Demise since right after the Big War. It is suspected that it was he who sabotaged our engine thus causing that fateful crash in which we befell our First Deaths. As Jason would say "Nazzys and Pinkos- on yer unicycle!"
SC: Are you both vegetarians? How do you react to people who think you
can't be dark/evil without eating meat?
GM: We were already dead, and now we are actually trying to stay alive, so it would be counterproductive to consume even more death. But, a smart fellow once said "Good is what you like, Evil is what you don't like", meaning that the concept of what is or isn't "evil" is arbitrarily decided by different respective cultures and individuals. So to many "vegetarians", eating dead animals is "evil" because you are unnecessarily killing something, but to many carnivores, being "vegetarian" is "evil" because they think some "poor meat packer" will be put out of job because of it. Which effect between loss of life or loss of employment is more "evil" is to be decided by each person.
SC: So far you've released your music independently. What sort of protections would a label have to offer you before you would sign with them?
GM: Jason has primarily run Graveyard Creep Records since 1999, which has released all of our material thus far. We are ASCAP composers, as well as publishers, so we currently retain 100% of the rights / royalties to our work. As for a major label signing us, we wouldn't mind so much sharing the money so long as we can maintain total artistic control.
SC: Who directed/assembled your promotional videos? Are there any more in the works?
GM: Those were done by the band, with occasional help from a "cinematogapher", aka "camera holder". We have plenty of ideas, but we are interested in having a good filmmaker
produce a video for us.
SC: Any plans for more extensive tours (either on this or any other plane of existence)?
GM: If you pay us, we will come.
Our touring schedule really depends on what towns like us the most, and if anyone reading this thinks that Gravemist is the talk of the sock hop in their burg, and that there is a venue which would have a fitting "Gravemist-y" environment, by all means, get in touch.
Aside from that, it's not really worth our time to go out and "sweat it out under the lights" just for the sake of playing a show.
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For more information on Gravemist check out these sites:
http://www.gravemist.com/
http://www.myspace.com/hauntofgravemist
And check out the Gravemist song "Solitude" on the Sepiachord Jukebox
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