When Im on stage it's just a blur, I look down and I've got broken strings and blood all over the guitar. I just cant stand still I've tried it but it's not for me, soloing mid air and using the guitar as a weapon is more fun.
You really go for it on stage where do you get your energy and passion from?
It's always been the same, whenever I hear music I just lose it 100%!!...All these different characters come out, Im a natural onstage, I love to see the audience's reaction and to give them a party, it's the greatest high in the world, all the other bullshit is worth it just to get on the stage and unlock the key.
Where do you get your middle name from?
From my parents, but in Italian it's Damiano.
I also read that you're into the occult?
Yes, I was brought up near Salem and people are very superstitious around there. We used to hang out in graveyards and on plantations at night and I'd play guitar, crow's would gather around as we wailed. To this day I still put graveyard soil in my guitar case, just feels natural.
How would you describe your music?
Bonkers rock & roll, just that really raw primal sound. The crowds want something that will shake them up, mean licks with nothing too fancy, any new guitarist can copy my style. It's about being sloppy, aggressive and tasteful all at once, that to me is exciting playing. The rhythm of rock & roll is an atomic bomb, pure excitement anything from 1956-1966, to be able to play those songs is beyond arousing. There's something about that time period in music. I must be a reincarnated 60's pop dynamo (haha)
That's what appeals to me, the mixture of your influences.
For me rock & roll has to have that mutant side to it, people like Screaming Lord Sutch did it with 'Jack The Ripper' or The Phantom's 'Love Me' nailed it, cult music. It's gotta be frantic, there's never been any other music that's even come close to the guts of rockabilly or psychobilly. The greatest stars are a pure mixture of God and the Antichrist, it's an exciting combination.
How long have you been playing guitar?
I started when I was twelve and took lessons for a bit. Learnt my minor chords, but then my guitar tutor disappeared and a week later the police reported him as missing, but I kept learning by ear from records. Bands like Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, Charlie Feathers, Bo Diddley, Hasil Adkins, Link Wray, The Damned.
Your influences are mixed with punk?
Absolutely it's all part of the same DNA, I see punk as an update on rockabilly. I love witchy girls and cult B movies like Plan 9 From Outer Space or Hammer Horror one's like Plague Of The Zombies. The audiences who come and see us deserve a show. On any given night I can be either a mixture of Mocata, Frankenstein or Dracula, I can tap into their energy.
What are your future plans?
Well on the day that Honey Don't fired me Chuck Berry died.........so I'll leave it to you to figure that sign out.
Well on the day that Honey Don't fired me Chuck Berry died.........so I'll leave it to you to figure that sign out.
