Photo credit: Sam Marie

AnarchEoin (AKA Eoin Nobody) just got Kepi, formerly of the Groovie Ghoulies, to spill the beans on his latest musical projects, upcoming records, aliens, breakfast cereal, and all sorts of fun stuff! Click below for the Silver Sprocket exclusive Kepi interview.

Kepi: Hello things, here we go!

Eoin: Well, you said you were recording earlier today. Let’s start with talking about that.

K: I’m making two records that come out May 6th on Asian Man. A full rock record that’s completely done, and a solo record with acoustic songs recorded all over town with Kevin Seconds, Anton Barboe, (and) David Houston.

E: and when are they coming out?

K: They both come out May 6th hopefully. (laughs) That’s where I was all day today, finishing them up.

E: “Kepi The Band” is probably your biggest project since the Groovie Ghoulies, how did you get such a super group together? (Danny of the Secretions, Jazz Brown of the Helper Monkeys, Dino, and Lys Mayo of Isonomy)

K: Everybody came to me, they all said “if you need a drummer!” “if you need a bass player!” “if you need a guitar player!” We’re all friends, Jazz and Danny had already toured with the Ghoulies before. Dino had been in bands with me, and I was in two projects with Lys, so I knew we were all good to go. So they all came to me and I’m really lucky.

E: What about Kepi and friends featuring Freak, how did you come in contact with her?

K: Freak came to me at the Boardwalk last summer and said “I wanna do a Ghoulies tribute band!” and I was like “Can I be in it?” and she got Lys and we did the tribute thing for Halloween, and they just started coming up for shows at Javalounge and it kinda turned into the latest band.

E: It’s so cool that you have a band with people who were such big fans of yours.

K: Yea, I just wanted people with enthusiasm, you know, and I know that Danny has it, Jazz has it, Dino has it, Lys has it, I mean Lys is such a go getter! And Freak is doing her homework and now we’re getting shows, its great!

E: Tell us about Garagezilla.

K: (laughs) Garagezilla is very good friend of mine and he’s part of the I.C.E. There’s a whole troop of crypto zoological entities on the way, there’s a bat coming and stuff. He’s doing very well, he does all Ghoulie covers for now but he hopes to have his own material soon.

E: What’s the I.C.E.?

K: Incredible Crypto-zoological Entities, that’s all his monster friends from outer space. They got chased off the planet by evil mushrooms on Halloween in case you didn’t know.

E: That’s what I’ve herd

K: “I’ve heard the rumors.” – Well they’re true!

E: When you were growing up, what kind of bands made you want to get into music?

K: Well, as far as punk, (bands) like The Ramones and The Misfits and stuff like that, and I liked the big bands like The Rolling Stones and Kiss and all that kind of stuff, but Ramones and Misfits changed my life as far as punk rock.

E: In later years what music continued to inspire you even as your career was going, and who are you into at the moment?

K: In recent years I (have been) inspired by the careers of Johnny Thunders and Neil Young, who can rock with a band and play great acoustic. I also really dig the D.I.Y. ethic of the Supersuckers, who do their own label, tour like mad.

E: What was your first band like?

K: In high school I just had cover bands and stuff, and then the Groovie Ghoulies. The Groovie Ghoulies went forever.

E: So you didn’t have a large lineage of bands before GG?

K: No, a couple little spin-off things, but the Groovie Ghoulies were just going the whole time.

E: what was it like opening for Chuck Berry?

K: Awesome!!! Twice!!! Twaseome!!!! I am so lucky!

E: What’s your favorite songs to do live?

K: Anything people want to hear! Lately Hey Kepi Let’s Go, Supermodel, Love on Demand. New stuff.

E: You’ve toured around the world, what was your favorite tour and what’s your favorite place to go visit?

K: Every single day is a great adventure. I have been so lucky to go to Europe a bunch, people there rule, but people here rule too. Monday nights at the Javalounge, I tour there on my bike! I got to go to Japan and Australia and they are as fun as the Javalounge.

E: Who’s B-Face?

K: B-face was the bass player of The Queers from, like, Love Songs For The Retarded up till like Don’t Back Down I think. He was in the Queers for like seven years and The Queers took us on our first tour when we were in the Ghoulies, and they broke up for like a year and B-Face started touring with the Ghoulies for like 2 years and played on some Ghoulie records like Fun In The Dark and Travels With My Amp and stuff. Then he left the Ghoulies to play with The Real Kids. He lives in Boston and he would have to fly out for tours and it was crazy, but he’s a really great guy and a really great Musician. He’s just a buddy of mine and he’s on all the classic Queers records, you can still find him. And he’s a Patriots fan. I’m sorry your team lost yesterday B-Face.

E: If you could be one Disney character, who would you be and why?

K: Jack Skellington because he’s cool, simple, and emo.

E: You Have One of the most distinctive voices around. Have you ever done any voice work?

K: I totally want to! I read they are making the animated Lucha Libre Movie and I went down to LA to audition, but didn’t get the part. They already had Lux in mind, from the Cramps, and he got it. But they encouraged me to try out anyway and I did and now I’ve done an official screen test. I would love to get into voiceovers and stuff but it’s tough work, nobody wants to lose their job.

E: Do you believe in Ghosts?

K: Yes

E: Ever had any paranormal encounters?

K: Not with Ghosts. I’ve seen UFOs, but I know people who have seen (ghosts) and (I) trust them.

E: So you believe in Aliens?

K: One I saw was incredible, just shooting across the sky faster than any plane or anything could possibly travel, and it was daylight so it was not gas or whatever they say.

E: Having the choice of being associated with one monster, mythical creature or paranormal being, which one would you pick and why?

K: My favorite monsters are green for some reason: Frankenstein, Godzilla, Creature from the black lagoon, etc. I am already associated with Bigfoot I guess, we have a song and a video together.

E: Yea, whatever became of Bigfoot?

K: He’s living outside of Portland now, but hopefully I

This entry was posted on Friday, February 29th, 2008 at 3:29 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.