Countless bands have resurrected the horror rock stylings of the Misfits over the years. But few have had such a unique take on it as Los Meesfits. Rather than just cover Misfits songs or create original material that sounds like the Misfits, Los Misfits perform these punk rock classics in Spanish with a mariachi or salsa sound. The result is clever and comical, giving most any horror or punk fan reason to stop and listen. Having performed at the Chambers of Horror haunted house, various Gorehound Productions events and this year’s Days of the Dead Atlanta convention, Los Meesfits clearly have a thing for horror. Come to find out, the band is also really into wrestling, especially front man Enrique Diablo, whose love of Georgia indie wrestling, lucha libre and monsters comes together quite fluidly in Monstrosity Championship Wrestling. So, when Los Meesfits were invited to perform at tonight’s MCW event, Diablo and his band of Meesfits were happy to oblige. Wrestling with Pop Culture has a quick chat with Diablo before he takes the stage in between matches at Club Famous.
Los Meesfits is a novel idea. How did it all come about?
One of my best friends owns Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records. He and I moved to Athens from Panama City and we used to do an annual festival to promote the bands. I was drinking with some friends, making jokes and I said, “Wouldn’t it be funny if we did Misfits songs in Spanish and called it Los Meesfits?” We thought it was really funny and I would always talk about it. He was booking a ten-year anniversary festival for his record label and he said, “I dare you to do that thing you always talk about. In fact, I’ve already booked your band. You guys are playing in a month. So you have a month to find members, get some songs together and get it together.” I was like, “There’s no way, dude. I can’t do that in a month. I don’t have any members and don’t know who I would call to start. I don’t even know what songs to cover. I’ve never been in a band before.” Then he shows me he’s already made the flyer and it’s pretty much a done deal, so if I back out of it I look like a chump.
I called a few people and the first incarnation of Los Meesfits was just me, Geoff Terry who played stand-up bass and Adam Hebert, my current guitarist. We started out with three songs and I was still learning how to play. People didn’t know what to expect at first and it could have either been really good or really bad. I like to think it was really good, but I recently saw one of those early shows and I was pretty embarrassed. But we’ve picked up other members along the way and we finally have the sound we were looking for.
Los Meesfits have performed at Chambers of Horror, Days of the Dead and other horror events, so I know you’re fans of monsters. But I understand you’re also a big wrestling fan. Is that true of the whole band or just you?
We’re all wrestling fans. I grew up watching wrestling from a very young age. I’m the biggest wrestling fan in the band. Me and my friend go up to Cornelia to check out Anarchy Wrestling whenever we get the chance. Any chance I get, I love to see wrestling. So when I heard about Monstrosity Championship Wrestling, I was like, “Oh, my God. That’s two things that I love: monsters and wrestling. What a great idea!” When we were invited to play, I was very, very excited. The fact that MCW has Anarchy wrestlers and people from Pro Wrestling Resurrection is really cool. I think it’s awesome. I love that Stryknyn is the MCW Champion, and I’m a big fan of Supernatural and the Undead Luchadores. My favorites are always the smallest guys and Supernatural pulls off some crazy maneuvers that make the other wrestlers look so good. I also watch a lot of AAA Mexican wrestling and the whole idea of Monstrosity Championship Wrestling is right up my alley because it’s basically the essence of what Mexican wrestling is all about. They always have the craziest characters and they truly go off the wall with it.
All that being said, what do you have planned for your show with MCW?
We have a few new songs we’ve only played a few times. We’ve practiced them quite a bit, so we’re going to put them in our set. “Hollywood Babylon” is one of the new ones we’ve been working on and this one’s a Cumbia, which is something we haven’t done yet. It works pretty well; “Hollywood Babylon” lends itself well to that style.