I'm chatting to Craig the plague from Das Ghoul! First off, great name! Your parents obviously have knack for names.
How’s it going?
Hello there, I feel as dead as a door nail. How are you?
Yeah not bad, very excited about Horror Punk Fest!
Das Ghoul will be playing Horror Punk Fest over the weekend. What’s it like being on the bill for an event like that?
It’s horror bands from top to toe which is fantastic. It’s very rare that we get to play on something like this. Everybody’s there for the same thing and ,from the vibe we’re getting, everyone’s super up for it!
I don’t know whether it’s the algorithm, but looking at my instagram it seems like Horror Punk is making a bit of resurgence. Does it feel like that to you, or did it never go away?
Well we kind of roam around the fringes of horrorpunk. We were described in a review as “terrorpop” which I think describes us better. I guess things always come around again and again, but as far as the uk goes, it’s probably got something to do with Dan Phillips and his marvellous D.I.Y label “We Are Horror Records”.
Other than horror punk fest, do you have plans for touring or recording for the remainder of the year?
We have a few gigs here and there but no tour as such. Recording wise…we are just about to put the cherry on top of our new 13 track album. So there should be news of a release date just around the corner.
What are some of the bands that influenced you and your sound?
No band(s) in particular. I like bits and pieces of many genres. We’ve described ourselves as gothic-tinged, horror-stained, punk’n’roll terrorpop, so a soup of all that! We’re like a goth horror Inspiral Carpets, haha! Slightly psychedelic with organ and distorted guitar. I’ve definitely been influenced by dark comedy such as “The League Of Gentlemen”.
Do you have any pre-show rituals? Blood sacrifice that sort of thing?
We usually have a rehearsal 2 minutes before we go on. Other than that, no blood letting, just cigarettes and toilets!
What can people seeing you for the first time expect at Horror Punk Fest?
An hour crammed with the finest sub 3 minute, (some are under 1 minute) tunes for a wonderful terrorpop bop!
And finally tis the season: what are your top 5 horror movies?
Today they are…
- Burnt Offerings
- The Changeling (1980)
- Dressed To Kill
- Slaughter High
- American Gothic