Category Archives: Featured

Follow the adventures of Puppet “The Psycho Dwarf” on the new “Half Pint Brawlers: Season 1” DVD

By Jonathan Williams

Professional wrestlers are typically mammoth men with larger-than-life personalities who settle their differences in the ring. But when it comes to Kato, Beautiful Bobby, Turtle and the rest of the Half Pint Brawlers, the personas are just as big as (if not bigger than) their larger counterparts despite their smaller stature. Proudly calling themselves midgets, dwarves and the like, the group previously known as the Bloody Midgets doesn’t shy away from political incorrectness. As seen in the first season of their TV show on Spike (now available on DVD), there’s actually not a lot that these guys will shy away from. From pulling pint-sized pranks on each other to wrestling hardcore matches in locales such as bars, a Southern pride festival and a maximum security prison, the show captures the in-ring action as well as the behind-the-scenes workings of one of the most controversial bunch of little guys to ever grace the wrestling ring or TV screen. As leader of this group, Puppet “The Psycho Dwarf” talks to Wrestling with Pop Culture about his controversial shows and the success he has seen as a result of the TV show.

The first season of Half Pint Brawlers was unlike any other wrestling show on TV. What were some of your favorite moments from the first season?

We got to go to a lot of interesting places, especially when I got the call to go to the maximum security prison down in Louisiana. At first I was a little hesitant and I didn’t really understand why we were going down there, but when I started talking to them a little bit they told me how we could inspire the guys and how everybody has a chance to do things in life. Knowing we might inspire some of those guys to change their lives is what got me to go down there and it was quite a learning experience having the door slammed shut behind you and feeling what it’s like to be in prison. We actually ate with them in the mess hall and talked to them a little bit and I’ve got to say that’s a memory that’s always going to stick with me.

We also pulled off something that’s never been done. We closed off Bourbon Street and put a ring right in the middle of Bourbon Street in New Orleans. It was packed and the people were going crazy and that was a good time. When we went to Mexico and got to wrestle with the luchadores, which was always a dream of mine – the whole thing was an experience. That’s what’s great about this thing is I never know where this company’s going to lead, what we’re going to do, it’s something new all the time and we’re always off on new adventures, and the cameras are there to follow us.

When you went to Mexico, Half Pint Brawler Mad Mexx “The Immigration Sensation” was conspicuous by his absence. Why wasn’t he on that show?

He had a back injury and was not allowed to go. So I had to get Teo back for it. It was unfortunate for him, but he couldn’t fly at that time. He was a little disappointed.

Puppet's looking like an angry little elf. Photo courtesy Half Pint Brawlers

How did things change for the Half Pint Brawlers after you did this show?

We’ve been around for 18 years, but the show definitely got us more into the mainstream. We always had the loyal underground fans that kept us alive. We’ve always had fun with it, but when the television show came out it got us a lot more mainstream into the media and into different venues. For example, we’re closing deals with Paramount Parks. We’re doing Kings Island, Worlds of Fun and this upcoming year we’re negotiating stuff with all ten of them around the country. So we’re getting bigger and better shows. As we progress and things go on, we’re kind of getting out of the bars a little bit and doing bigger venues. We’ve got some concert venues that are calling, so hopefully we can hop on some of those tours for 2012. We’re in negotiations with movie networks now, so we’re just taking it one step at a time. I just like to follow whatever direction it allows me to go and I just charge that way.

You were also in Jackass 3D. What other movie plans do you guys have?

Yeah, we were in the barroom brawl in Jackass 3D. I got into a brawl with Wee Man, then the guys came in and at first they didn’t know it was a prank. There was a police officer, the medics and all that other stuff and we would charge into bars and Wee Man was supposedly hitting on my girlfriend and we just played out that stunt there.

Doing the Half Pint Brawlers gave us a lot more opportunities, even in film work. I just got off Sam Raimi’s Oz: the Great and Powerful for two months. It’s been a wonderful year this last year and we’re just growing and expanding. We’ve also got a lot of new wrestlers coming into the Half Pint Brawlers. We’ve got Eric Smalls, J-Mazing, Ricky Benjamin and all these new talents. It’s a lot of fun and these guys are exciting, so it adds a lot more to the show.

Puppet delivers a Puppet Bomb off the top rope. Photo courtesy Half Pint Brawlers

Have any of the other guys had opportunities to do movies since the show came out?

J-Mazing was actually in the Oz film with me. He got to do the stunt work in it. Kato did some local stuff in Kansas City. Turtle is in Vegas right now doing a show at Planet Hollywood. So we’re really venturing out and doing a lot of different things. Plus we will be touring a lot in 2012, but we’re still finalizing dates now.

We usually take a break in December because what we do in October and November with the parks is four shows a day. In January we really kick in again. But we’ve been nonstop this year, doing three shows a week and traveling all year.

On the TV show we get to see a lot of what happens behind the scenes and outside the ring. How would you say the TV show compares to going to a live Half Pint Brawlers show?

I like to keep the guys on their toes, so I always try to find some fun entertainment. Being on the road as much as we are, things get really old. If I can find fun activities for them to do it keeps them fresh and shows up in the show. A lot of times we’ve been on tour, you go from one place to another, you never know where you’re at, all the hotels look the same and it gets draining. Life is short, I’m going to enjoy it so I play pranks and do fun activities as we travel.

Whatever town I’m in, I have to try the local food and that’s all I eat for the week. If I’m in Louisiana I eat gumbo, if I’m in Philadelphia I eat Philly cheesesteaks. Wherever we’re at I like to ask the locals where the local places are. I don’t like to hang out where all the tourists are, so I like to meet the people in the towns and really have fun.

Are you working on a second season of the show?

There’ll be a season two. We’re in negotiations with the networks now. It’s going to be another network and it will be on very soon.

Not long after Half Pint Brawlers came on, Hulk Hogan’s Micro Championship Wrestling show started airing on another network. How do you think that show compares to your show?

To tell you the truth they’re God awful. They’re not wrestlers. They’re a lot of little guys that actually tried to work for me, but they really wouldn’t train. It’s like a tall guy saying he’s a basketball player because he’s tall. A lot of these guys, because they’re small or midgets or dwarves or whatever, they just want to call themselves wrestlers because they spent two hours in a ring. You see how bad they are on the show. They’re not wrestlers. It’s an insult to the industry. If they’re not going to train, not only are they going to hurt themselves, they’re going to hurt somebody else. And it’s not going to be one of my Brawlers. They can hurt themselves if they want to. If Hulk Hogan wants to be responsible for that by putting them out there without training – you see it on the show, they admit it straight out – it’s digusting. It’s a weak show. [Eric] Bischoff and Hogan knew that I was doing this show when we were working with TNA and they tried to copy it. You can imitate, but you can’t duplicate us.

For more information, go to www.halfpintbrawlers.com.

PCW associates help bring “Rudolph” to life at the Center for Puppetry Arts

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When the Center for Puppetry Arts debuted its production of the 1964 Rankin/Bass stop motion holiday favorite Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer last year, it became the first theatre to put on an authorized reproduction of the show. It quickly sold out its entire run, even after adding additional shows to accommodate more guests. This year the show opened just after Halloween and has enjoyed another successful run through Dec. 31.

When they’re not helping tell the story of how Rudolph and his misfit friends overcame insurmountable odds as the Abominable Snowman and a storm that almost forces Santa to cancel Christmas, two of Rudolph’s puppeteers are involved in an entirely different kind of battling known as Platinum Championship Wrestling.

As wife of PCW promoter/booker Stephen Platinum, longtime Center puppeteer Julie Scarborough portrays Mrs. Donner (Rudolph’s mother), Hermey the Elf, the Spotted Elephant and an elf girl. Having been involved with numerous productions at the Center for many years, it was actually a wrestling-themed segment from a puppet show called Weather Rocks (in which a cold front does battle with a warm front in a wrestling ring) that brought her and Platinum together. His acceptance of her invitation to come to a children’s puppet show impressed her so much that she ended up marrying the guy and having a couple of kids with him (the oldest of which was involved in a fetus vs. fetus match at one of Dad’s Garage Theatre‘s B.R.A.W.L. shows a few years ago – while still in the womb!).

Dolph Amick narrates “Rudolph” as Sam the Snowman. Photo by Clay Walker

It was Scarborough who introduced Platinum to Dolph Amick, another Center vet who portrays Rudolph‘s Sam the Snowman, Yukon Cornelius and a tall elf. Amick has been instrumental (literally) in establishing the gimmicks of most of PCW’s roster by creating theme songs that fit with their varied personas.

Amidst their hectic holiday schedule at the Center, the two puppeteers took a moment to talk to Wrestling with Pop Culture about puppets, wrestling and their proud status as the misfits of the performing arts scene.

This year’s production of Rudolph seems to be pretty much the same as last year’s, which is very loyal to the original TV special. Have there been any tweaks to the show since last year’s performance?

Scarborough: Since the entire cast has returned, I feel like my knowledge of my own characters and puppets has deepened. So I could come up with new little moments for them to be real in their environments. Last year we had just gotten the puppets, so they were brand new. Now we’re more familiar with everything and we have a chance to really explore a little more about what these puppets can do and how alive they can be at any given moment. I have a lot of fun with Hermey, finding little places for him to fix his hair or something so he’s just more well rounded.

Hermey and Rudolph have a special bond. Photo by Clay Walker

Amick: [Director] Jon Ludwig talks a lot about how we can’t change these characters because they’re so well known and well loved, but their lives are becoming more complete because we see them at all times and see their reactions to things that we frequently don’t see in the show. It’s like, “What are they doing the rest of the time? What kind of people are they? How do they react?” Jon Ludwig brought up the concept of deepening the characters rather than widening or broadening them. We don’t want to make them wackier, we’re just trying to find what is making them tick a little more.

The show has a very strong rhythm to it. It’s not only the same team of puppeteers, it’s also the same stage manager running all the cues. Even with variations in people’s performances, everybody feels each other so strongly that it really has a very definite rhythm.

That being said, if somebody saw it last year I’d encourage them to see it again because they’re sure to see something they didn’t see before. There’s so much going on, it’s kind of overwhelming the first time. With repeated viewings you’ll say, “Oh, I never noticed that elf in the background hitting that other elf with a brush” or something. Everybody’s doing something.

I noticed more of the background stuff this year and was sometimes more entertained by that than the main action. And since most people already know the story so well, it’s fun to check out the other details more.

Amick: It’s funny how those bits take on a whole story of their own. We’re trying desperately not to distract or call attention to ourselves, but the sequence of events has naturally and organically happened. Now it’s pretty elaborate.

How closely was Character Arts, which owns the Rudolph license, involved with the production?

Scarborough: Last year, with the original production, they were involved very closely. They were in constant contact with Jason von Hinezmeyer, the builder, and he had to get approval for all of his designs and every color choice to make it as close to the original look as possible. They worked very closely with Jon Ludwig, who adapted the script. We were all pretty nervous when a Character Arts representative came to see the show last year. But that was one of the most rewarding moments of the run because he loved it. He knows these characters better than anybody; that’s his whole job. But he was so impressed with what we had done, the look of the show, the way the actors and puppeteers portrayed it, so it was very flattering and we were all very relieved to get his stamp of approval.

Rudolph tries to join in the reindeer games. Photo by Clay Walker

It is very faithful to the original teleplay. There are a few things that got switched around for continuity’s sake. In TV, you can do quick cuts and go back and forth very quickly. During the reindeer games scene, where Rudolph is with the coach, they do cuts back and forth between Rudolph and Hermey’s saga of wanting to be a dentist with the elves making fun of him. Because it takes a lot of effort to change the set from one thing to another, we run the entire reindeer games scene, then we go into the entire Hermey scene. But unless someone has watched the special with rapt attention every minute, they probably wouldn’t catch that.

Amick: I think one of the only significant alterations is that in the original show the women are constantly getting left at home and there’s lots of “We’d better get the women back to Christmas Town” and stuff like that. Whereas in our show, there are so few female characters in the show that the ones we have are a little more proactive. For example, Rudolph’s mom and Clarice both go out to look for him and fight the monster in a way that they didn’t in the show. But it makes a lot of sense that they would. It’s not like we made a crazy choice, it’s just, like, this part is a little dated in a way that’s weird.

Scarborough: I think that’s also a product of the fact that you can see all the characters all the time. When I’m playing Mrs. Donner – in the television show you can only see Rudolph and Donner having their interaction – since I’m there on stage, as much as I can without stealing focus, I react and I’m more on Rudolph’s side. I’d rather him be able to express himself and be his own deer. But my husband obviously has different ideas, so I can kind of express that tension a little bit as subtly as I can.

Another sort of dated thing that, with Character Arts, we weren’t able to do was Jon would have liked to have had an elf of color. Character Arts would not permit that and were very insistent that the look of all the puppets be exactly as they appeared on screen in 1964.

Given the success of this show, has there been any talk of adapting any other Rankin/Bass animated shows?

Scarborough: I don’t know if that’s been discussed yet, but I’m certain that they’re open to that. Stop motion animation is it’s own form of puppetry and we had the original Rudolph and Santa puppets from when it was made in 1964 on display in our museum area a few years ago.

Amick: I remember that crazy Peter Cottontail with Irontail. I’d like to do Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town. That’s a good one. It’s the one where he’s a redhead and has Mickey Rooney’s voice.

Outside of collaborating on puppet shows like this one, you are also both involved with Platinum Championship Wrestling in some unique ways. Oddly, there are quite a few people from the Center for Puppetry Arts who are also involved with PCW. Why do you think that is?

Scarborough: I have to take responsibility for that. I married my husband and your spouse’s friends become your friends and we started to run in the same circles. We’re both in the performance industry and in this city a lot of people know each other, especially in theatrical performance circles. You wind up seeing the same actors in various theaters around town and you get to know the creative community. Because Steve married me, he gained a lot of knowledge of the Atlanta theatre community. He already had a lot of knowledge of wrestling, so he found another pool of talent to draw from such as Dolph, for example, for composing music.

Amick: Not only is there a lot of overlap because a lot of us know each other from the theatre scene, but puppetry and wrestling as performance types still sit in some kind of fringe area. So there’s still some kind of avant garde-ness or edginess or street character to it. I don’t know how to put it, but there’s definitely a sense of doing something risky that’s not quite mainstream. I can see where the types of things that appeal to people in one forum frequently appeal to people in the other. Plus we have a lot of friends in the improv scene, which is huge for the wrestlers.

Scarborough: A lot of wrestling is improvisation. It isn’t scripted the way a play is. They’re living and acting as their characters.

Dolph Amick strikes gold as Yukon Cornelius. Photo by Clay Walker

Amick: Our artistic director, who directed this show, is a tremendous wrestling fan. He is utterly fascinated by the combination of drama and spectacle and improvisation. It gets him all giddy. Like a lot of wrestling fans, he finds it exciting and hilarious and crazy and enthralling and compelling. Actually, several years ago, he did a [puppet] show called Wrestling Macbeth. I remember how startled I was to bump into him at PCW with his wife and he was there week after week, just digging the shows and having the best time.

Speaking from a composing point of view, Steve frequently will have a pretty clear idea for something really character driven that we can work on. But he also is very appreciative of how much drama and impact the music can add to the spectacle without overloading the audience with flashy lights and explosions. We take the spectacle to a degree that’s possible with the budget we have, but also puts the emphasis on the wrestlers. The music, being an intangible thing, can have a tremendous effect and I really appreciate that he is very aware of the effect it has.

You did a lot of the music for the PCW guys, some of which aren’t around as often as they used to be. Have you done any work more recently for PCW or for Empire Wrestling now that it has taken over?

I got really busy for a while, but every once in a while if some really critical moment comes up, I’ll get a call from Steve and he’ll be like, “We’ve got to have something special for this.” I’m always looking to write more, but I think the most recent thing was we did some stuff for Sacred Ground: Chapter 2. We beefed up the theme for Mason, who is now the PCW Champion, and gave him a heavier theme. I also did Marko Polo’s new theme. And now I’m doing stuff for Master Jae and, now that Shane Marx has joined the Empire, we decided that needed to be commemorated musically in some way.

For more information, go to www.puppet.org.

Static-X front man Wayne Static electrifies with “Pighammer”

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By Jonathan Williams

With his cyber metal band Static-X, Wayne Static pioneered an “evil disco” sound that became a staple of the annual Ozzfest tours, numerous horror and action movie soundtracks and a couple of the WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw video games. After a decade-plus span that included six albums and several tours, the band went on hiatus in 2009 leaving front man Static to focus on Pighammer, his solo debut released in October. Following a string of fall tour dates, Static and his new band embark on a mini-tour Dec. 14-18 to preview a national tour beginning late next month. Before his pre-holiday tour, Static talks to Wrestling with Pop Culture about Pighammer, Static-X and the process of getting his life together for the better.

While you were the main creative force in Static-X, Pighammer is the first album released simply as Wayne Static. Was making this album a significantly different process from what you did with Static-X?

The writing process was very similar since I wrote all the Static-X stuff on my own anyway. The main difference was that I didn’t have to get together with a band after I wrote the songs and make compromises and changes to make everybody happy. I just got to create everything myself and do it on my own and do exactly what I wanted to do. So that’s the main difference, but the writing process was pretty much how I always write.

As far as recording goes, did you do most of that yourself or did you have other musicians helping you out in the studio?

Yeah, I did everything myself and really took my time and actually did a lot of the writing while I was recording. So most of the vocal performances are, like, first or second takes, which adds a lot of excitement to it. When I recorded the vocals, it’s not like I had been rehearsing it for months and was bored with the song already, which is what usually happens. Also, I recorded 24 tracks, didn’t do Pro Tools this time, so there’s no editing or anything like that. I think that also really gives it a really great, exciting kind of vibe without having anything cut and pasted anywhere. It’s all real performances.

The artwork and imagery features you and your wife [adult film actress Tera Wray] with pig noses, metal stitches and things like that. If there’s an overall concept to Pighammer and its imagery, what would you say it is?

The original concept was transformation and my transformation leaving Static-X behind and making the record on my own. My wife and I left L.A. and moved out to the desert and spent some time getting clean, getting off drugs. So the record is generally about that. I wanted to figure out a way to display transformation in sort of a dark comical way, which I like to do. And the Pighammer name was something I had wanted to use for a long time, so my wife and I came up with this whole storyline were the Pighammer would be this surgical tool made out of a pig’s foot. She came up with this great idea where I’d be this mad plastic surgeon transforming her into a pig. There’s nothing literal about it. I just think it’s cool imagery and it does represent transformation.

That being said, the song “Get It Together” has a lot of references to partying and drug use and whatnot. Where would you say that song fits in with the overall theme of the album?

You know, that was one of the first songs I started working on. That song and a lot of the songs on the record deal with doing drugs and reminiscing about it, getting off drugs and that whole process. So that song literally is about getting it together. It’s a big decision to make when you want to get clean and it’s not easy to do. I didn’t go to rehab or anything like that, and I did it while I was making the record actually.

You did some shows earlier in the fall. How were those shows with the new band?

The shows were awesome. It was really refreshing to be on stage with a new group of guys who really want to be there and are really excited. I’ve got Sean Davidson on drums, Brent Ashley on bass and Ashes on guitar. Ashes really put my band together for me. He’s been a longtime friend and used to watch my house when I was on tour with Static-X. So that worked out really cool. I didn’t have to hold auditions or any of that crap. All these guys have played with other bands that have had some success, like Sean played with the Genitorturers.

Would you say Static-X is over or just on hiatus?

My opinion is we’re just on indefinite hiatus. We’ll see what happens. Towards the end of the last Static-X tour, it was very clear that no one really wanted to be there anymore and everybody really wanted to do their own thing. So I just kind of let everyone do what they wanted to do and started working on my stuff by myself. We’re kind of a strange band. We weren’t friends outside of the band, we never really hung out or anything like that. So I haven’t talked to the guys and I don’t even really know what they’re up to right now at this point. It’s been a couple of years.

You’re doing a string of shows this month to preview a national tour next year. Do you have opening acts touring with you for this mini-tour?

We’re just doing local openers. I really like doing that for a lot of reasons. It really helps promote the show, number one. But I think it’s really cool for the local bands as well to kind of help get their name out and get a foothold in their territory. We’re going to be doing a full tour next year hitting everywhere in the U.S. and we’ll be bringing some bands with us on that, but we’ll probably still have at least one local opener.

Will these December shows be indicative of what people can expect from your bigger tour next year or will next year’s shows be a bit bigger?

We’re just doing a building thing and seeing where it takes us. We’re just playing clubs right now and keeping it on a grassroots level – a little bit smaller venues than Static-X was playing. But it’s kind of appropriate since I’m kind of starting over in a way. We’re kind of growing it and taking it step by step. But we’ll be seeing you in January and February.

For more information, go to www.waynestatic.com.

“Cavalia” performer takes to the air and horse in “Odysseo”

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By Jonathan Williams

When Cavalia brought its horse-centric Cirque du Soleil-style fantasy to Atlanta two years ago, it quickly sold out its initial four-week run. After selling out an additional six weeks, it was clear that Atlanta was the place for Cavalia‘s new Odysseo show to make its United States debut. When the show opens tonight under the world’s largest touring big top (which is more than twice the size of the original show’s tent), horses will perform alongside acrobats in breathtaking choreographed routines in surreal settings such as a Southwestern dessert, a serene waterfall and a carousel-like display in which angelic aerialists float above four majestic horses.

While most of the human performers choose to focus either on acrobatics or horse riding, one aerialist from the original Cavalia will be returning as both an aerialist and now a rider. As she prepares for her debut in these dual roles, Majolie Nadeau takes a moment to tell Wrestling with Pop Culture why she decided to add equestrianism to her athletic skills and how acrobatics compares to riding horses.

Majolie Nadeau is one of angelic aerialists in "Paseo," one of the scenes from "Odysseo." Photo courtesy 360 Media

You’re one of the few members of the Odysseo cast who was also in the original Cavalia. How would you say this new show differs from the one we saw two years ago?

For me personally the main difference is everything is bigger. I prefer the relationship I have here with the horses and for me it’s really a big change because in the first one I was mostly doing aerial acrobatic dancing and in this show I only do one act in acrobatics and I do seven numbers on horses. So for me it’s a really big improvement and a big difference.

Why did you decide to continue doing acrobatics while also working more closely with the horses?

I didn’t want to do a transition, I wanted to do both. But in this show I had to choose between some numbers with the horses and some aerial numbers. Since I already know everything I can do in aerial acrobatics, I wanted to push the opposite side that I didn’t know as much about. So I trained to do the horses part. I already had a base in acrobatics, so I wanted to push my base in all the levels.

How does working with the horses compare to working with other acrobats?

For me as an aerialist, it’s more working with bungees and ropes. The main difference is, with the horses you cannot understand what he has in his mind. If one day he is not happy, if one day he wants to go do something else, you cannot control it so you have to work with it. You cannot block him and be like, “No, you’re not doing this. You’re doing this.” You have to make it work, whatever happens, but you have to follow the number and you have to follow your horses. You cannot force the horses to do something, you need to play with the horse so it goes into the routine.

In the "Odysseo" finale, Majolie Nadeau performs on horseback. Photo courtesy 360 Media

The horses seem to know where they’re supposed to be within the routine and will nudge or bite each other to keep each other in line.

Some of them will a little. If one of them is not in the right position, another one is biting, like, “Move. This is my place, it’s not your place.” So some of them will, but some of them won’t. It really depends on the horses and the director they have.

When the horses hear the audience reaction and applause, do you think they understand and appreciate it the way the human performers do?

I think so. At the beginning, the applause for horses is a little bit scary because it’s a noise they don’t hear a lot. It’s a big noise, but they get used to it. To say thank you, we pet them and tap them on the neck. But they know what it means when 2,300 people are applauding in the big top. They get used to it, they understand and they like when there is noise. They are interested in the noise and sometimes if they have a lot of energy they will go a little bit crazy and get excited and enjoy the applause.

For more information, go to www.cavalia.net.

The Birthday Massacre wrestles with “Imaginary Monsters” of many kinds

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By Jonathan Williams

From its dark synth sounds and jagged guitars to its cute bunny logo and other whimsical imagery, Toronto’s The Birthday Massacre exists in an innocently melancholy realm somewhere between childlike fantasy and harsher realities. Following last year’s Pins and Needles, the band recently released Imaginary Monsters, an EP that includes three new songs, as well as Pins and Needles remixes by Combichrist, Skold, Tweaker and others. After four headlining shows last week, the band is now on tour with Japanese rock band Dir En Grey through Dec. 20. Pixie-like front woman Chibi takes a moment to talk to Wrestling with Pop Culture about maintaining a cartoon-like outlook on life into adulthood.

Photo courtesy Reybee

The Birthday Massacre has always had a balance between childlike whimsy and more sinister fairy tale-like themes, both in look and sound. What is the inspiration for your visual and musical style?

When we were growing up, all of us were really into music as children. There’s obviously a lot of ’80s references, as well as some metal elements. When we got the band together, we were in college and you reach an age where you look back and sort of romanticize your childhood and who you were when you were a kid, before you knew the world was not as fun or cool as you maybe thought it was. All you had to do was play games and learn things and you were surrounded by encouragement and positivity. So it’s sort of that resolution between childhood and adulthood and trying to hold on to those elements back when you were a kid and felt that things were a little more magical, but also having to be an adult. Then you realize things aren’t always what you thought they were when you were a kid.

You did the entrance music for Katie Lee Burchill a few years ago for WWE. That’s another world that straddles the line between fantasy and reality.

Oh, yeah. Those characters are almost like cartoon characters themselves.

Right. How did the collaboration with WWE come about and how did you like doing it?

We didn’t actually write the song. There’s a songwriter for WWE who writes all the songs. But he really likes the band, so he got a hold of us and asked if I’d be interested in singing the song and I was totally into it. I really liked wrestling back in the day. I liked the Ultimate Warrior, the Undertaker, and I kind of knew the history of it and I was totally excited to do it. I went to Stamford, Connecticut, right to the headquarters, so I was pretty excited. And I think I impressed them all with my knowledge of the wrestlers. I haven’t watched it in years, but Bret “The Hitman” Hart? I was all into it when I was an early teenager, so I was really happy to take part in that. I didn’t even know who Katie Lea Burchill was. I don’t even think she’s with them anymore.

No, she’s with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling now and goes by the name Winter.

It’s so hard to keep track. I was happy to be part of it, honestly. I thought it was really fun. I totally got a kick out of doing it. I think the song turned out well, but the only problem was that she had several theme songs before that one, then she was gone so fast I was just like, “No!” But I’d be totally up for doing it again if they ever wanted me to. It was a great experience and I had a lot of fun with it.

Your recent EP Imaginary Monsters features a few new songs as well as remixes from last year’s Pins and Needles album. Were the new songs part of the same writing and recording session that resulted in Pins and Needles?

Absolutely. We had a bunch of songs for Pins and Needles that didn’t get done and with the time constraints we had to narrow it down to 12 songs. We were pretty disappointed because there were some really good ones that just weren’t at the state of completion they needed to be to make it in time for the record. That’s why the EP was really good. It was a good way to finish up those remaining three songs and clean the slate so when we begin writing another album we can start fresh.

A lot of the people who did remixes on Imaginary Monsters are people you’ve toured with or otherwise worked with previously. Does that make the remixing process easier?

Oh, it’s fun because they’re all friends. Dave Ogilvie has produced our last few albums and at this point it was just like asking friends. It makes it cool for us, too, because I’m excited to see what Andy [LaPlegua] from Combichrist’s take on this song is. And Kevvy Mental from Fake Shark – Real Zombie! is a really good friend at this point – we toured with him a few years ago – and he did vocals on his remix with Dave, so I was happy to hear him sing one of our songs.

Around this time last you you were touring with Black Veil Brides and Dommin. Now you’re on tour with Dir En Grey. All of those bands are a bit more rock and metal oriented than The Birthday Massacre, yet it still seems to work well. Why do you choose to tour with bands with slightly different dynamics?

It keeps the show interesting if every band brings something different to the table, which makes it a good show to watch and a good tour. It’s a good way to expose yourself to fans who might find something in your music that is also present in the band that they’re there for. So you’re not just playing for the same groups of people who would be into your stuff and know it anyway, but it’s a good way to expose yourself to a new audience and you have a more interesting live show.

Photo by Ester Segarra

You’re just a few days into this tour, but do you have any touring or recording plans for the near future?

We’re dropping off this tour right before Christmas, so we definitely look to head into the New Year doing another album. We’re going to try to have it done by the summer time, then I’m sure we’ll tour again. We just took a year off from touring because we were all kind of tired and burned out. It’s hard to keep writing and doing things if you’re touring. We’ve done a lot of touring, so it was good to take that year off. But it’s also nice to be back on the road now. I’m sure we’re going to keep touring into the New Year, but still try to focus on writing a new album, which is kind of a strange balance. We always say we’re going to write when we’re on the road, but it never happens.

What has the writing process been like so far, especially considering that you added new bassist Nate Manor from Wednesday 13 after Pins and Needles had been recorded?

The way that we work is everybody comes up with stuff and pitches ideas. I focus more on the lyric element and leave the music up to everyone else. There are six of us, so it’s kind of hard to have a balance. With Nate in the band now, he played bass on Imaginary Monsters, but Pins and Needles was out before he joined us. We’ve had a really solid core group for years, so when someone new comes in it’s interesting to see what they’re going to bring to the songwriting or any ideas they’re going to have. It’s worked out good with Nate so far.

For more information, go to www.thebirthdaymassacre.com.

Skinny Puppy front man takes his ohGr project on a West Coast tour

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By Jonathan Williams

It’s not every day that someone says things like, “You ate it! It’s a lizard’s tail moving on its own. He bit it off or something. That’s fucked up, dude. The tail is fucking flipping around and moving on its own. It keeps fucking twitching. It’s got life, dude. I’m freaking out. Anyway, sorry, I apologize.”

While some people might actually expect such words from Nivek Ogre, the iconic and theatrical front man for pioneering industrial band Skinny Puppy, he tends to actually be a rather mild mannered guy when he’s not onstage in elaborate costumes spraying blood out of machine guns. Ironically, his lizard tail diversion was a result of his dog, who is likely not skinny considering that he dined on everything but the lizard’s tail.

Having just released the latest Skinny Puppy album hanDover in October, as well as unDeveloped, the fourth album by his ohGr project, in May, Ogre begins his first ohGr tour in since 2008 in San Francisco tonight. When his dog wasn’t partaking in reptiles, here’s what Ogre had to talk to Wrestling with Pop Culture about as he prepared for the tour.

Photo by Dan Santoni

Considering that the ohGr album unDeveloped came out in May, followed by the new Skinny Puppy album hanDover in October, how much would you say the two albums influenced one another? Were they recorded simultaneously or were they completely separate ventures?

At one time we were contemplating doing a Lou Reed Metal Machine Music type of record to satisfy our third album deal with SPV when they went into insolvency. There was a slight overlap there, but then the two projects definitely veered off and became two totally different projects. The writing styles on both of them are probably as polarized as you can get. There were a few tracks like “NoiseX” and “Brownstone” on the new Skinny Puppy that were conceived around the time that we were doing unDeveloped and it makes sense because there’s a character based around that song title that kind of works his way through the unDeveloped themes. Really, when it came down to it, when the albums were done there was probably about a year between the two, at least.

Whether you’re working as ohGr or with Skinny Puppy, you often have characters and concepts playing out through each album. How do these two albums compare thematically? Is there any conceptual relation between the two records?

Only in the sense that Brownstone makes his first appearance after the fact on the Skinny Puppy record and is talking more about the housing crisis. Brownstone is a character that’s basically an ex-high level intel operative within the U.S. military who kind of went rogue after realizing he was being experimented on. He turned against everything and went deep and dark and took on various identities. But his whole life, he’s been kind of obsessed with electronic devices and he also shuns the idea of electronic communication, so he uses an Oliver typewriter, which is the typewriter that was used in Naked Lunch, the kind of Princess Leia-eared, beautiful pre-Depression typewriter. He manually types out all these pages after he goes and collects data on the streets and pontificates and uploads his thoughts to a Facebook page in the form of these pages, that are kind of these scattered, schizophrenic data blasts, almost like military proofs in the way of what his agenda is. So he’s sort of my schizophrenic counterpart.

Would you say he’s a Skinny Puppy character, an ohGr character, or is he present in both realms?

He’s probably more of an ohGr character, to be honest with you. Although the minds collide, they split, they find heaven and hell in the same amount of time, but he is definitely more of an ohGr character. For me, ohGr is a bit more of a personal project looking inside and Skinny Puppy tends to externalize through personification and looks outward. The new Skinny Puppy album hanDover kind of indirectly, because of our own experiences with the insolvency of SPV, is examining and popping the various bubbles in the state of our great way of life in a lot of ways. Within all that there’s a certain amount of crossover and our own inner worlds tend to meet in various ways that I’m sure not we’re not aware of through actual perception.

Skinny Puppy and ohGr always have very theatrical and conceptual shows. What are your plans for these ohGr shows? Do you have plans to tour more extensively with ohGr after this West Coast stint?

I’d like to. I’ve had two false starts on this tour in the sense that I was trying to do a full U.S. tour, but ohGr’s a bit of a baby band. It stated in 2000 and we did one tour, released two albums and seven years went by. That’s almost a musical lifetime for a lot of people. So it’s a bit tough in the sense that it’s not an easy sell. We toured in 2008 with ohGr for Devil’s in my Details and it was right when the economy crashed. All the promoters were like, “We know what’s going on right now. We know gas prices are really high and we understand what’s going on. You guys did really good considering…” But everybody looks back now in 2011 and it’s a bit of a building thing for me. So it’s really difficult to get ohGr to the East Coast without losing money. I’m not taking a wage and the musicians are taking way less [than usual] because we’re friends. We’re doing a bit of a pressure release, but we’re also trying to work the band and build it up. It’s a building process and hopefully, if things go well, we’ll do more shows. We’re planning a Skinny Puppy tour in spring, but if this goes off good and promoters start saying, “Hey, that sounds good,” we’ll definitely tour more. I definitely don’t want to lose money. I don’t mind not making any money, but losing money sucks balls.

Definitely. You mentioned plans for a Skinny Puppy tour. How much have you planned for that tour and how do you think it will compare to these ohGr shows?

I’m going to be approaching Skinny Puppy the same as I did with the last tour, with heavy visuals. We’re playing smaller clubs and there’s not a lot of room in a lot of these places, so this is more just straight music as a band. We’re touring with Violet Tremors, which is my ex-wife’s band, and Left Spine Down, which is some friends from Canada. There’s theater in the sense that there’s a theme to the show and we’re all going to look really good, I’ll tell you that. We’re going to look really good this time. But as far as the theatrics and the production go, there isn’t a lot of room for that on this tour. And for me personally, doing 26 years of Skinny Puppy and constantly trying to create a spectacle, I’ve never given myself to go out and be a singer in a band and it’s something I’d really like to do. When you’re encumbered with a bunch of heavy costuming or prosthetics or blood or whatever, it takes you out of that because you have a lot of other marks to hit. With ohGr it’s funny to work with these people I really like and just perform as a front man and a singer. There’s still a bit of theatrics, but it’s not as important as it would be for Skinny Puppy, and it’s a bit of a diversion for me so I’m giving myself a little break.

Photo by Dan Santoni

Speaking of theatrics and costuming, a few years ago you were in Repo! The Genetic Opera, which was your first acting role. You’ve also worked with Bill Moseley, both in that film and when recording. Do you plan on doing more acting or branching out in other creative ways?

I’d love to. I was lucky with a bit of serendipity with Repo! and I had a really good audition. I had a really bad audition once before for The Crow. I was up for the part of Funboy and I went into a room with Alex Proyas, the director, and producers and I was playing a sexy part to a girl, who was the assistant director, who was a guy, and I was really out of my element and couldn’t do it. So when I had the chance to do the Repo! audition, I really prepared for it and had an amazing audition. It changed everything for me in a lot of ways. So I nailed the audition and got the part, then I did 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams with Bill Moseley, which was a sequel to the remake of 2000 Maniacs. And I’ve done some other small things. I did an Edgar Allen Poe thing for Staci Layne Wilson and I’m doing another thing for her maybe when she gets it up. When I get back from this tour I’m going to put my reel together because I’d love to do some more stuff. It’s a lot of fun. It’s tough, too. You really have to work for it and nothing comes for free.

I painted a bit when I was younger and I’d like to get back into that just for myself. I don’t know that I’d ever show anything, but I really enjoyed the very fact that it was a medium I had complete control over. It was something that I started with a white board and finished with the last stroke of paint. With a lot of other things you’re not really in control of the outcome sometimes, so I really liked that.

For more information, go to www.wdihtf.com.

New Stone Cold DVD proves to be “The Bottom Line” about his WWE career

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By Jonathan Williams

Considering the impact he has had on the industry and the number of amazing moments he was part of, it’s hard to believe that “Stone Cold” Steve Austin‘s in-ring career only lasted a little more than a decade. But in that short time, he became the most popular wrestler of his era and one of the industry’s most iconic personas.

Even in his retirement, Stone Cold remains one of WWE‘s most popular superstars, getting bigger pops than most active roster members when he appears at Raw, WrestleMania or anywhere else. In the most comprehensive look at his career to date, Stone Cold Steve Austin: The Bottom Line on the Most Popular Superstar of All Time shows us exactly why Austin became such a phenomenon, even when his defiant attitude got the best of him.

The four-disc DVD set begins with a documentary chronicling Austin’s career, starting with his early fascination with wrestling from the first time he caught Houston Wrestling on TV. After enrolling in “Gentleman” Chris Adams‘ wrestling school at the Dallas Sportatorium and debuting in World Class Championship Wrestling, it wasn’t long before the blond-haired hunk was winning Pro Wrestling Illustrated‘s Rookie of the Year in 1990 and gaining greater national exposure in World Championship Wrestling.

Though he had a successful run there as “Stunning” Steve Austin (namely as one half of the Hollywood Blonds with “Flyin'” Brian Pillman), it wasn’t until he was fired from WCW and had his brief stint in Extreme Championship Wrestling that the no-nonsense Stone Cold persona began to emerge. The DVD then delves into his WWE career, beginning with his initial pairing with “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase as the Ringmaster and touching on every important moment in his rapid ascent to becoming wrestling’s biggest success story.

As is true in most any profession, success is ofter about being in the right place at the right time and that has certainly been the case with Austin. From the scathing “Austin 3:16” rant that got the wrestling world’s attention after his victory over Jake “The Snake” Roberts at 1996’s King of the Ring pay-per-view, through his many encounters with The Rock and his ultimate rivalry with Mr. McMahon, this retrospective features commentary from Austin, Paul Heyman, Jim Ross, McMahon, Christian, Chris Jericho, C.M. Punk and many others who witnessed the Austin Era from varying perspectives.

Courtesy WWE

While his wrestling abilities and antihero persona are what made Stone Cold the star he remains today, it’s easy to forget that much of his success came during promos, backstage vignettes and absurd moments such as when he attacked a bedridden McMahon with a bedpan and when he served as the Raw sheriff while recovering from an injury. Though his career was plagued with severe injuries, which eventually forced him into retirement, this DVD shows that even when he wasn’t able to express himself in the ring, he was just as adept at entertaining fans in other ways.

But that’s not to say Austin had any shortage of magical moments in the ring, and the next two discs offer the most comprehensive look at the biggest matches of his career, as chosen by Austin himself. From early highlights such as a 1990 United States Wrestling Association match against his mentor Adams and a 1994 WCW match in which Austin and Ric Flair teamed up against Sting and Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat to three of his matches against The Rock (one for the Intercontinental Championship and two for the WWE Championship), you’ll be hard pressed to think of a match that might have been left out. And that’s saying a lot considering that 2008’s The Legacy of Stone Cold Steve Austin features three discs of memorable matches, and very few of those matches have been duplicated on The Bottom Line (though I wouldn’t have minded seeing at least one of his matches as a member of Paul E. Dangerously’s Dangerous Alliance in WCW).

Courtesy WWE

Other key matches included here are the infamous King of the Ring victory over Roberts (as well as the subsequent promo), the brutal 1997 submission match against Bret “Hit Man” Hart, and wild encounters against Shawn Michaels, Dude Love, the Undertaker and the Big Show. The last disc is filled with the non-wrestling moments that came to define Austin’s career as much as what he did in the ring. Included here are such key moments as his old ECW promos (where he humorously lambasted both WCW and WWE), Slammy Award acceptance speeches, the antics that cemented him (literally, in one instance) as WWE’s ultimate blue collar hero and a Michael Cole interview in which Austin’s “What?” catchphrase really catches on. And the special features (all on the first disc) offer more insight into Austin’s unique character and sense of humor with interview segments about his concern over losing his hair (seems like the bald look worked well for him) to the origin of his finishing move, the Stunner.

Whether you watch it on its own or see it as a complement to The Legacy DVD set, The Bottom Line truly is all that needs to be said about Austin’s career. And I think anyone who sees it, including Stone Cold, would say so.

For more information, go to www.wweshop.com.