The Creepshow, a popular Rockabilly/Punk band, has been around since 2005. According to their bio on their official website, they’ve “sold a metric sh**-ton of records and blown the faces off a ga-zillion fans.” This Canadian group has toured the world, and writes many of their songs about horror films. If the name didn’t give that away, then the theme and venue choices of their shows might. On Saturday, October 25th, the band performed at Toronto’s Zombie Walk and Halloween Parade. Although they are currently on tour in Europe, I had the pleasure of asking them a few questions about their music and thoughts on zombie culture.

The Reverend McGinty, who works the keys and vocals of the band, answered on behalf of himself and his band mates.

Reverend McGinty

Reverend McGinty

Intro: Hi there! So here are the questions I would like you to answer as honestly and as thoroughly as possible.

RMG: Well then, I will try my best to be as thorough and honest as possible! No lies!!!

Q: When did you get together and start your band?

A: We got together in 2005 to practice a few times and then just wound up recording two demos in the room next to our practice space. I was surprised how easily it all came together.

Q: How did you decide on your band name?

A: I get asked this a lot, and I wish I had a better answer for it. It was really the best out of a few we had on a napkin. But we loved that it would fit the genre and crowd we wanted and it just sounded fun at the same time.

Q: Your band was chosen to perform by popular request. What sparked your interest in the Toronto Zombie Walk on October 25th?

A: What’s NOT to like about it?! A bunch of people who get together and dress up to the [nines] in Zombie make-up and costumes and just have a blast scaring people! I had never actually been before and I had NO idea how big it had gotten. Plus, all the people that organized it were probably the nicest people we’d met or worked with in a while, so that was a definite plus.

Q: Furthermore, what do you find interesting about zombie culture?

A: I don’t know. It’s hard to put a finger on it. The movies are part scary, part emotional and part social commentary. The thought of loved ones turning on you and identifying you as food is not only terrifying, but also a chilling and horrifying thought to wake up to. All of the really good movies/TV series always focus on the human element as well as the flesh-consuming.

Q: Your chosen genre is rockabilly/punk/psycho-billy. What inspiration do you have for your songs?

A: Besides the bands already from those genres, we try to listen to all kinds of music, whether it’s pop/rock/jazz/classical/whatever. That way we can draw more inspiration and bring more to the table. Swing goes great with Rockabilly. Swing goes great with Jazz, and so on, and so on. We’re not trying to re-invent the wheel; we’re just trying to put new rims on it!

Q: I noticed you guys have many upcoming shows. What is life like on the road?

A: It’s not for everyone. It really is the hardest job I’ve ever had. If you have an amazing show, it’s the most uplifting experience you can have. And if you have a terrible show, you can feel like you want to pack it all in and learn how to put up drywall. But I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Q: I read on your website that you guys have been through a lot of hardships, like robberies. How have you dealt with that over the years?

A: Like I said in the last question, there are highs and lows. We’ve been very fortunate (knock on wood) that we’ve had more highs than lows, so you just have to roll with the punches and remember you’ve got good times ahead.

Q: Are all of your performances zombie/creepy-themed?

A: Not really, no. We try to set a tone on Halloween and make an impression for the fans, but on the whole, we’re too busy on tour to dress up or make-up more than occasionally. If we were a “Kiss”-sized band, I could see [us] getting done up every night. But sometimes we’re really lucky and our fans do it for us. Just the other day at our show in Dusseldörf, two girls showed up looking VERY terrifying!

Q: What makes your band different than others of this genre?

A: Hmm, I don’t know. A lot of people say we’re more pop-sounding than a lot of these kinds of bands. I’ve heard a lot of people say that Canadian bands just have a different sound than bands from other countries. I know we always try and make sure that the audience is having a good time. For us that’s the ultimate pay-off. We don’t have fun until they have fun.

We appreciate that the band took the time out of their busy schedule to sit down and answer our questions. We wish them the best of luck on the rest of their tour, and are looking forward to seeing them at the next Zombie Walk!

Be sure to catch The Creepshow at their next show in Toronto on December 31, 2014.

The Band

The Band

Watch their music video for “The Devil’s Son” here:

About The Author

Jessica Spera is a fourth-year journalism student at the University of Guelph-Humber. She is a bright, hard-working individual, striving to make it as a successful writer for Cosmopolitan magazine someday. She writes with passion for her readers, because she takes pride in her work as a writer. She believes that writing presents the opportunity to put a story in a perspective that most wouldn’t think of. She is an outside-the-box thinker, and has quite the imagination. In the words of Ernest Hemingway: “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” This is her approach to the one thing she loves doing more than anything. Writing is the only way she can express herself when she can't verbally say the words and as a result, she puts her heart into every word she writes.

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