When a person thinks of Burlington ontario, not much comes to mind; perhaps the view onto Lake Ontario, maybe a nice house or two. But for music fans, Burlington means Boys Night Out, Finger Eleven, Sarah Harmer, Idle Sons, Spoons, Silverstein, Grade, and now The Creepshow.
| The Creepshow is a quartet which excels in delivering music with the energy of punk, the eccentricities of indie, and the fun of a late night horror movie. Originally begun by Sean McNab, Kristian Rowles, Matt Gee, and Jenn Blackwood, The Creepshow was an hellbilly band with a focus on halloween horror, carrying over a lightness which was a stark contrast from the depressing severity of death-metal. "We kind of take it as a tongue and cheek kind of thing," explains the group's singer Sarah "Sin" Blackwood, younger sister of the band's founding member Jenn "Hellcat". "Halloween is the best time of year. It's so much fun to play around with things like that. We like to have a cool dynamic and the horror element is just really fun to play with. " Really what the theme amounts to is animating the stage. "For us, it's most important to put on a good stage show. You can listen to anyone's record, but if they're boring as hell to watch you're just going to go home and listen to the record." Cool hairdo's, platform shoes, frilly black dresses, and a stand-up bass with a skull on the top, all add to their dynamic stage presence. |  |
 | The group began underground with two contributions to Zombie Night in Canada, a little known collection of psycho-billy groups from across the country. And who would have imagined Canada produced such a richness in this genre, from Saskatoon's Hot Rod Hullabaloo to Montreal's Bloodshot Bill? Released on Stumble Records in 2004, the early rock'n'roll, surf rock, punk and horror influenced compilation went largely unnoticed, but in 2005 Stereo Dynamite's founder Adam Sewell signed The Creepshow based on the strength of their demo tape. The Creepshow released their first album Sell Your Soul in 2006 to a surprisingly ravenous audience. Soon after, Stereo Dynamite signed a distribution deal with EMI. In addition, legendary montreal based punk/ska label Stomp Records just added The Creepshow to their roster of artists, alongside Bedouin Soundclash and fellow Burlington natives, The Saint Alvia Cartel. |
| I had to know how the music appealed to so many people, since I had barely even heard of this subterranean genre. I asked Sarah where the sound came from, "Back then, and even now, the music comes from so many different places." Finding it difficult to designate an origin she logically stated"The more people you can have singing in your band the better," with a short chuckle she continued, "we take everything we listen to and are influenced by, from as far back as Mo-Town or whatever, and throw it in there. Our band is very melody driven, and we like having a few tricky things to sing. We don't worry so much about jerking off our instruments." It's that dedication to create melody which allows The Creepshow to arrive at so many singable tunes. Bassist Sean "Sickboy" McNab and Kristian "The Reverend McGinty" Rowles helm the backing vocals and give the crowd a sing-along part to join as well, creating a unique live show that encourages participation. This September the band will be releasing a brand new album. Whereas Sell Your Soul maintained a certain aloofness, the next record is determined to present the band's maturity. "We get an immense amount of people writing us emails saying 'I make videos and I have this wicked idea, it's going to be in a graveyard with zombies' and we just think 'seriously, can we get something more creative than that, because we're not all about zombies'. The songs on the new album hit a little closer to home, but they still have that goofiness to them." "The songs are kind of personal, but they way they are written you could take them as someone being chased by a demon, or a demon in one's self." |  |
Right now the band is touring with the Warped Tour for the first time and Sarah was excited to tell me that they get to play with veteran punk-rockers Rancid in August. "We meet a lot of bands when we're on the road, but they're definitely one where I'll say 'I had your tape when I was a kid!'"
If there is one thing that The Creepshow are capable of it is uniting their punk-rock dedication to their horror movie aesthetic and introducing audiences to a brand of music entirely underrated.
The Creepshow's new album "Run For Your Life" comes out on September 4th this year, and the group tours with Anti-Flag starting August 31st in Vancouver and ends September 14th in Montreal.
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I admit I might download this record but i sure as fuck am not going to pay for it. Don't worry though I will certainly seed it when I do.