The bands’ sophomore album ‘Video Nasty’ is set for release on March 12th [with US distribution from RUINED VIBES] and is jam-packed with eight slices of Rock n’ Horror madness that channels the spirit of Clutch, drinking with members of The Cramps and Misfits, while GWAR roll the next joint.
Check out the video premiere for “They Came From Outer Space‘ below:
OD – ‘They Came From Outer Space‘ – the new single from the forthcoming album ‘Video Nasty‘. Can you talk about the concept behind the single besides the obvious title and how it fits into the rest of the albums track-listing?
RIM – Hey, Overdrive! ‘They came from Outer Space’ was written by our singer JM and is very much his baby. It describes an Alien encounter seen from atop ‘A Ziggurat’.
We needed a UFO based track on there, so this was the one. There will be others! It’s based around a punchy riff and theremin solos. Lyrically it evokes cosmic horror and theories of alien interventions in ancient civilizations and takes inspiration from William Hope Hodgson’s ‘The House on the Borderlands’ (1908) a trippy novel about interdimensional pigmen.
OD – For those who are not familiar with Lugosi, give us a brief background on how the band came together and more importantly, how the sound has evolved since the first album?
RIM – We have been together for 5 years now. I’ve known the guys for years since moving to Dublin from Belfast and playing in various bands around the city. Also, two of us are neighbours, which is handy if you need a bowl of sugar or run out of mandrake. [Laughs]
This is our second album and the sound has evolved a little. We still love our first release, we did it in a couple of days in Trackmix [Studio in Dublin city, Ireland] and it’s raw and fun. This one is darker, but the elements of escapism and nostalgia are still in there
OD – The video was filmed during lock-down, did you find this to be a challenging project or was it in fact, a much more stress-free process?
RIM – We are lucky to include in our ranks a filmmaker, a graphic designer and a storyteller – this helps keep everything ‘in house’ and we have fun with videos and the visual side of things.
Our guitarist, Alan [pic below] is the U.F.O guy, he’s a bit of a walking encyclopaedia on the subject, so we just came up with some rough concepts and he did his thing. Including the slime, the whole thing cost €12. It is definitely a stress buster, freezing your balls off while searching for little green men – we highly recommend it. [Laughs]
Lugosi – Alan Morton. Photo: Down The Barrel Photography © 2021
OD – The forthcoming album, ‘Video Nasty‘ is due for release on March 12th. Can you talk about the overall concept of the album?
RIM – This album is inspired by those nights when you would head off to the local video store with a bottle of Buckfast and rent a good slasher movie – the cheesier the better. Don’t think for a second that we take the genre lightly though, some of the stuff from the ’80s still stands up today.
OD – Will there be any further singles either before or after the release of the album?
RIM – We have at least three more videos planned for this year after the album is released, concepts are already planned out and I’ve actually storyboarded one already.
Lugosi JM – Photo: Down The Barrel Photography © 2021
OD – A lot of people associate the bands’ sound with the likes of The Misfits, Danzig, The Cramps, etc, but for you personally, what is the foundation of Lugosi’s sound?
RIM – The one band that we all agree on is obviously The Misfits, but with the exception of that and maybe Clutch, we all seem to come to the writing process from different angles, influence wise.
I’m a huge Fu Manchu fan, Trouble, The Sex Pistols, The Stiffs. I love The Damned. JM is into all sorts, from jazz to dance music. I think it really helps us with our songwriting as the ideas are often quite left field. Alan is a real blues guy, but he’s into Motley Crue, Guns n Roses and the whole big 80’s guitar thing. Jimmy our drummer is pretty much the wild card-Dr. Feelgood, The Ruts, and Killing Joke. So, there’s a whole mish-mash of influences involved.
OD – Coming out of Dublin, Ireland do you find that there’s not enough exposure being given to underground/alternative music or do you think it’s a fair and even playing ground?
RIM – I don’t think there is enough, to be honest. It’s certainly better than it was ten years ago when there was a massive void in heavy music across the country, but the scene is absolutely stacked with great acts now, and that will hopefully kick on after COVID finally fucks off. We need to support the local scene in any way we can and keep the venues open.
OD – What would you like to see change about the music industry in general, as it’s been through so many changes over the course of the last 2-decades?
RIM – That’s a tough one. The whole corporate scene is dead as Dillinger, but some of the things that the labels did actually provide to bands in the past are probably things that a lot of younger acts should read up on.
It’s all very well looking after your own promotion and going it alone, but you really have to have your wits about you. It’s evolving on an almost daily basis, so the music business, as we know it now, will be unrecognizable in ten years. If we are all still here, obviously. [Laughing]
OD – Should things be back to some kind of normal by the end of this year, are there any plans for live shows and if so, will it be throughout Ireland, or can we see Lugosi heading over to the UK and beyond?
RIM – We are a live band through and through, so when we do get out there again, we fully intend on travelling across the globe. Mostly at Dusk in stagecoaches. One each!!
OD – Seeing as there have been so many respectable Rock/Punk bands that have emerged from Ireland over the years, do you find that there is a lot of talent that is overlooked in the country, with a more favourable lean towards commercial/mainstream pop?
RIM – Some commercial music is fantastic, it’s the Irish faux Country scene that I have a deep dislike of, I will never understand its popularity. Venue promoters need to grow a set of balls and give some of the alternative talents a stage, instead of some watered-down cover acts and western twanged joke bands. And we actually like “REAL” country.
OD – It’s obvious that you’re all big movie buffs. If you could define ‘Lugosi‘ in the form of a movie, what movie would it be and why?
RIM – There’s so many to choose from, ‘Creepshow’ Is an obvious one though – mini, bite-sized shockers that will have you at times laughing, but nervously. It’s been a favourite since its release in ’82, and it’s still class “Where’s my cake, Bedelia? Where’s my Father’s Day cake?, I want my cake you dirty BITCH! I’m going to have it!”
“They Came From Outer Space‘ is available today on all good streaming platforms. For more information on Lugosi, please click here.
LUGOSI are:
Colt Rim Seevers – Bass
Jimmy – Drums
Alan Morton – Guitars
JM – Vocals
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Oran O’Beirne
www.overdrive.ie 2021