June 18, 2009
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ON THE RECORD |
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Grease Lightening Some call it rockabilly, thrashabilly, trashabilly, punkabilly, surfabilly, gothabilly, or psychobilly. Whatever you want to call it, its coming straight at us, flames on the hood-style, for a fourth time as the annual Swamp Stomp weekend sets its muddy sights on Miami on June 26, jumpstarting a weekend of the best psychobilly bands at their baddest. On that greasy Friday, Goddamn Gallows, Celine & The Hellbellies, Gutter Billy, Viva Le Vox, and our local favorites, the Vans Orsdels, will slide into the city like pomade, joining forces to kick off the tour right here at our belovedly humid Churchill’s Pub. Following the Miami show, the tour heads to Orlando on June 27, and then to Tampa on June 28 to wrap up a weekend of psychobilly tunes, pompadours, pinup hotties, and the dark candor of gothabilly that the Van Orsdels pull off so well. Partly named after a funeral home, The Van Orsdels started the psychobilly phenomenon in Florida in 2002 when they came together as a Misfits tribute band. Once the guys started jamming, they realized they had something, started writing their own music and have smashed up the local music scene since. “The name of the band didn’t come from the funeral homes directly,” says the Van Orsdels’ singer George Graquitena (aka George Van Orsdel). “I remember reading about William Wesley Van Orsdel, a reverend who started a church in Montana back in the late 1800s. Apparently, years later, the church was abandoned and there were rumors it was haunted. I thought the image of a spooky, old haunted church and a reverend fit in nicely with the psychobilly image, like something out of a horror movie. It also fit in with the fact that there is a Van Orsdel Cemetery in Webster Parish, Louisiana.” The band has experienced some lineup changes over the years, and now consists of Graquitena on vocals, Richard Robinson on drums, Steve Sacchetillo on the upright bass, and the most recent addition of Orlando Garcia on guitars. Garcia joined the band a couple of months ago and is poised to rock the socks off psychobilly spectators. Lineup changes, however, aren’t the only way to rock the boat for a band that once played on a pirate ship. “We were booked once to play on the pirate ship that is docked at Bayside in downtown Miami,” George Van Orsdel recalls. “Once the boat set sail, all hell broke loose. There were so many people on it — it wasn't a very big boat to begin with. Rich's drum set was sliding back and forth across the deck, I actually almost fell over a few times, we were all bumping into each other, it was very hard keeping our balance. It felt as if the boat would tip over at times. Anyways, we were able to get through our set without anyone getting hurt or falling overboard, but of course as soon as we docked, our guitarist decided to jump into the bay. It was a lot of fun, but definitely something I would never do again.” So how, musically, do you top piracy on the high-seas? “Right now we’re in the process of writing new material for our next album — we’re hoping to have everything ready so we can start recording later this year,” Van Orsdel told The Lead. “We’re also playing a show with a The Chop Tops on July 9.” The band also looks forward to playing Spooky Empire’s Ultimate Horror Weekend Convention, October 9 to 11, in Orlando. But first up: Stamping the swamp with their own brand of stomp. “The Swamp Stomp is a showcase for us to bring down some amazing national touring psychobilly bands,” Van Orsdel says, “and expose them to the folks of South and Central Florida, who are fans of the bands, the genre, and hopefully to expose the style of music to people who aren’t familiar with it.” |
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