Robex Lundgren virkblogg.

Have any of you played in other bands? I tried to answer that in the intro, but I will list each band and its members.

Daemos: Revrend Whitetrash on guitar and vocals, The Sinner on bass and vocals, and Will Machine Gun Shautz on drums.

Bitchsplitter: (original lineup) Father Bad Touch on vocals, Jasson Vorheez on guitar, Darth SARS on guitar, the Sinner on bass and vocals, and Revrend Whitetrash on drums.  In 2002 Jasson left the band and a year later in 2003 Bad Touch left the band.

Parapsychotic: Revrend sPUKEy Whitetrash on upright bass and lead vocals, Clarve Fuckin Biker aka Darth SARS on guitar, MKLavey on drums.

Chernoff: Revrend Whitetrash on guitar and back up vocals, the Sinner on bass and back up vocals, the artist formerly known as Kyle on lead guitar, Stephanoff on drums, and Johnny Shit Head on lead vocals.

Devil's Shepherds: Neil Megyes on lead vocals and guitar, Revrend Whitetrash on back up vocals and upright bass.

How is it that you started playing music? I got into metal and punk music in the late 80's and early 90's and wanted to do it myself. So I started playing drums and guitar and eventually started jamming with like minded people. Then I convinced my long time friend and partner in drunken shit headedness Joe Roth aka the Sinner to play bass because it was easier than guitar and he could play it piss fucking drunk. We auditioned for drummers and found no one. The scene here back in the 90's was not a metal scene at all. What passed for metal were Motley Crue/Posion/Fucking lame glam rock bands that everyone was calling metal, and the local metal bands were usually just cover bands of those shitty mainstream acts. Then late one night drinking at a park in the London Road area of Lethbridge we found our drummer Will Shautz at a kegger happening near by. We were the first real fucking metal band to emerge from Lethbridge which we affectionately called Dethbridge. After that playing in bands and gigging just became a way of life.

What are your names etdc? I answered that in the intro and band list.

Have you had other previous members? Again I think I answered that in the band list.

Did you make music even when you were young? No. I didn't get into playing music until I was in my mid teens. I have always been artsy and love to paint and draw, but I was mainly a fan of music and didn't really have an urge to create music in my younger years. I remember in Jr High I wanted to play saxophone and I was forced to play fucking trumpet because one cunt in my class had the first name Lisa, and this other cunt had the last name Simpson. I was pissed because I genuinely wanted to learn how to play and these ditzy bitches signed up because of their fucking names with no intention of actually doing anything with music in the future. It was a joke at best so I always hated school and shit like that is why. Hahaha.

Where are you from? Originally I lived in Coaldale Alberta. Its a fucked up place built on a swamp and I swear the legends from the natives are true because its a gloomy evil little slice of earth. Lots of fucked up shit and fucked up people.

What year did the band form? Daemos 1997-1999, Bitchsplitter 2000-2008 then 2012-2014, Parapsychotic 2009-2014, Chernoff 2015-present, and Devil's Shepherds 2012-present.

What's your style or genre? Daemos was a speed metal/thrash metal band, Bitchsplitter was gore metal, Parapsychotic was 100% pure Canadian thrashabilly, Chernoff is a thrash metal band,  and Devil's Shepherds is morbid roots/folk music.

What inspires you? For Daemos and Bitchsplitter the themes or inspiration for the music and songs came from serial killer case files and my deep interest in abnormal psychology, the occult, and the darker side of reality. I have an extensive library of serial killer books and police books on psychology and crime scene investigation, etc and as a kid growing up I really immersed myself in the world of bizarre murder and serial killer psychology. I found it fascinating and as an artsy kind of guy it was actually fun in a twisted way to come up with sick ass poetry/lyrics based on the some of the more brutal shit I had researched. Like we had a song called Little Miss Cadaver which was about her being brutally murdered by her parents. Whore hunter was about the agelessness of brutally murdering women, no matter what period you look to, its always been there like an entity that just keeps going and killing though the centuries and all these killers sharing the same basic view of murder and why its justified. Drown in Bleach was about a small gang of neo Nazis that drown a black guy in a tub of bleach in the woods. I tried to avoid doing the standard or cliché tales of you know, Dahmer, or Ramirez, or Son of Sam, and instead I used the little known and often far more shocking crimes that I came across doing my research. But 99% of the material in Bitchsplitter was inspired by real events.

For Parapsychotic the inspiration for its content is freedom. It was all about taking a left when most would expect a right, and giving a big fuck you to everything. At that point in my life I was tired of writing about people being chopped the fuck up and stuffed in a barrel and buried under a shack. I wanted to write from soul and let all the crazy shit out of my head. I have always been a paranormal freak since I was a wee trashling, and my journey in that stuff led me to a whole world of crazy. I was an ET abduction counsellor and I got right into the shit. Parapsychotic let me write about whatever I wanted. We could play it however we wanted, as long as it was fucking fast, heavy, and broke all the rules. By using an upright bass to push a thrash or metal sound to psychobilly we received a lot of hate from purists. The metal community didn't know what to make of us because they all thought we were going to be some gay ass psychobilly or cliché rockabilly act, until we hit the stage, sprayed the crowd with beer, thrashed our asses off, puked and then drank and thrash some more. It was a very punk rock thing, and the most liberated I have ever felt on stage. Its a great feeling to finally create a sound that is original and have something that is unique. There are not many bands like Parapsychotic, at least I haven't seen or heard, and believe me I have looked. I still plan on releasing two more albums with the original members as a studio project, with the chance for doing some tours to support them in the next year or so and then I can put the nail on the coffin so to speak and let the band finally rest in peace.

Chernoff is a band I don't really do much in terms of writing, but the inspiration is Jerry Chernoff. He was this fucked up guy from the Bitchsplitter days we hung out with. He was nuts and just a really fucked up guy who was 10 years older than us but he was a real metal head from back in the day. How fucked up? We were able to create a band and use his philosophies, stories, and weirdness to have enough material for several albums.  Joe Roth, known as Corrosive Joseph in this band, is actually the brains behind the band and comes up with most of the riffs, arrangements, and about 60% of the lyrics. But its all inspired by Jerry.

Devil's Sherpherds is a side project I am in, and while I contribute a lot, the main writing and composing is done by Neil Megyes. Both of us dig the same kind of dark twisted shit and have a love for great story telling so this band is an outlet to do something dark and evil in a whole new genre. Neil has played in the Dethbridge metal scene almost as long as I have and in 2012 I approached him to do something different as he was broadening his playing skills and just learning new guitar styles to improve his playing. He fell in love with roots and evil bluegrass type of bands and soon we were jamming. We both work a lot, so the progress is slow, but I love the upright bass and I am glad to keep playing with such a talented guy. We plan on recording in the fall or winter, so hopefully we can get some stuff released next year.

How often and where do you rehearse? Its always been a once or twice a week deal in pretty much all the bands. Some times more before upcoming shows, but we generally try to not burn ourselves out by playing everyday. Plus we have all always had jobs that don't allow us to practice full time. But once or twice a week is fine. We jam where ever someone will let us. ANd that has always been like that too. We usually end up in a dirt floor basement that smells like mold, piss and beer, or the back of some computer shop in Coaldale, or a shop out on a farm somewhere. We always find a place tho.

How have you developed since you started playing music? I play lots of different instruments. My tastes and what I like to play are always broadening and with each instrument I just try to learn more techniques and styles and then do what I want with them. I would say Parapsychotic released me as an artist to really do what I have always wanted to do and what I have always had playing in the back of my head, so I have grown as an artist for sure through out my career. After Daemos I had to put down the guitar and pick up the drum sticks because there simply were no metal drummers like what we wanted for Bitchsplitter in this area. I knew what we needed and could drum a bit, so I said fuck it, I'll do it. Metal was rare around here and musicians even more so. After Bitchsplitter I didn't want to drum anymore, and I didn't want to play guitar, so I picked up an upright bass and learned that and then started up Parapsychotic. Now I have finally come full circle and am back on guitar. Hahaha.

Do you have other interests of work outside of the band? Yes I am getting into film making. I have a comedy web series I am doing that sort of chronicles my life and experiences as a musician playing in dive bars, and being a promoter for dive bars, and it stars a shitty drug addicted cat, its a puppet, named Scrambles. The show is called the Vent, and its all about underground metal and punk and shit like that so anyone into going to shows and hanging out in sleazy dirty bars will love it! Filming is set to begin this fall, so I am getting pretty excited for that. I also have 4 feature films I wrote and want to direct but I wont be getting around to those until late next year or even the year after. The feature films are still in pre production and pre production is the worlds biggest scavenger hunt, hahaha, so once I am finished writing and get everyone and everything assembled I cant wait to begin shooting. And yes they are horror films. Hahaha.

Are you looking for a booking agency and thoughts on that? Back in the day it was always done by myself. I was the manager, booking agent and networking was the only way to go. However nowadays if Chernoff decides to tour I would get an agency. If they are good, can guarantee your pay, and get you the shows, then I think its worth the fee they charge. As always its a buyer beware thing, but with the internet you can research who you are potentially working with and weed out the snakes in the grass. Several very successful bands I know and have spoken to on tour all use booking agencies and it makes sense. Their job is to know the people you don't, so you can go it your own, or just get everyone in the band to cough up 50 bucks and hire someone who does it for a living.

Are you looking for a label and thoughts on that? No. When it comes to labels I don't feel a need for them. Make your cd's, get the band to chip in for that so its not just one guy fronting the bill, and then get the fuck out on the road and sell your cd's. Labels can be great for distro and you can get distro deals from them and other streaming services etc, and its really easy to do just that, so the need for a label to promote your music comes from a place of laziness and poor business strategy in which the sales are trying to be made online in a virtual venue where you can hear it but you don't experience it. Seeing a band live is much more powerful than just listening to them on shitty phone speakers or laptop speakers, so the real way to sell your shit is to hit the road and shove it in their face. Word of mouth is a grassfire and after your show you should get online sales from people who want more, or people who heard it from someone else and want it because they missed it. Everytime you tour and do well, you should get more people to see you, more sales, and eventually you start earning more for playing as well. Without touring you might as well get 2000 cds made up and let them sit on shelf while they are for sale on the internet and collect dust. So at this point I don't see a need, some people I guess probly do, but I don't. At least not at this stage. I suppose if you were worldwide you might, but I know lots of successful bands that are independent and have their own label to release their merch and use a booking agency for touring and they do just fine. There is nothing worse than a bad record deal.

What made you decide to make this music? I think I answered that in the other question.

What are your songs about? Again I answered that in another question but I can elaborate a bit. Bitchsplitter was based on real serial killer cases and abnormal psychology or bizarre murder. As I mentioned Drown in Bleach was about a gang of skin heads that tortured and murdered a black man by cutting him up with various tools and then drowning him in a bath tub full of bleach in the woods. Autopsy Gorgasm was about a mortician who worked on the bodies of his victims, which were prostitutes he killed and then would meet again on the autopsy slab. He was a pretty sick guy and he did a lot of things with the bodies. Extasy in Escort Evisceration was about the same guy, but it was an instrumental so it was trying to capture the feeling of the murder and subsequent "second date". He explained it as being absolutely orgasmic and a state of extasy the second time around.

With Parapsychotic the songs were about the paranormal, politics, and my own shit. Slaves is about the slavery of the new world order and the old world order and how nothing has really changed. Abduction 1 and 2 are about my own "ET" abduction experiences. Mind Control is about what television is. Lost was about a strong and emotional paranormal event that happened in my darkest hours after my 2 dogs had died, followed by my mother who I was very close with, and then a divorce as the icing on the cake. So it was a brief synopsis of how I felt and what happened. NORMLized was a quick song about brainwashing. Re wire was about Manchurian candidate types and psyops. Mothman was about my belief that the CIA was behind mothman. Nightmare Hall is about the alleged 7th sublevel of the Dulce base in New Mexico in the states that is called nightmare hall. Apparently where they keep all sorts of nightmarish scientific monsters and the Phil Schneider story in which he and his blasting crew were attacked by grey beings with large eyes in that area in what seemed to be an accidental discovery of unknown tunnels underground at Dulce. Amityville, of course is about the Defeo story at the house on Ocean Drive in Amityville. Burnt in Time is about a residual haunting in which the person has their soul bonded to a certain and space and time, that then only collides with our world at intervals but only as a ghostly apparition. No Rest is about a suicide and personal hell after death. Tazed and Confuzed is about police abuse and pig politics. You Want it All is my take on society as well as Red Rug Fuckers. WRKN4ARCHFUCK is about working for a rich fuck and making him richer while you are always starving. My blue collar anthem so to speak. Haha. Don't Breath is about chemtrails and my interaction with a few ex pilots that ran certain ops in Vietnam and in the first Persian Gulf War in the early 90's. So the songs can range from the political, to the conspiratorial to the paranormal or just down to life itself.

Chernoff is based off the life and teachings of one person, haha, but the songs are odd. Heroin Tar Tar is about smoking butt rollies or skervs. Sometimes rolling butt smokes with bible papers and generally being a nicotine fiend. Children of the K Kar is about drinking and driving and trying to score and get laid while black out drunk. They Are Trying To Kill Me is about his constant paranoia of anyone and everyone. Holiday Watch is about sending someone over to Jerry's to make sure he didn't hang himself or drown himself in the sink, bath tub, or toilet. Red Beer Drum is about this chick he had the hots for. So its all stuff like that. Take Eleven was about taking the 11 hits of acid that turned him into the man we met and partied with.

Devils Shepherds is basically just morbid real people or events, and a love for classic horror like Tales from the Crypt and Vault of Horror comics we used to buy and read as kids. A lot of it is necromantic type stuff that deals with literal love for the dead or inability to let go of the dead and resorting to macabre means of preservation in the name of love. Hahaha. There are some older songs that are drinking songs, but most of it is about loving the dead and living with demons.

Do you start with the music or the lyrics? Both. I will write lyrics and revise them and then put them in a pile. And I write and record riffs and songs and then put them in a pile. I then begin to mix and match and put certain lyrics that "go" with a certain riff or song I had recorded. So its hard to say which really comes first since I do both all the time and nothing really happens until I start putting pile A in with pile B and that's when it all comes together. In the other bands like Bitchsplitter and Chernoff I believe the music is made and then lyrics are added later.

Do you compose in a certain environment? Yes I do. Usually in a basement, with a red light, at 2-430 am in the morning.

Have you done any covers live? Yes Bitchsplitter used to do Aargh Fuck Kill by the Dayglo Abortions and Kill Again by Slayer. I really try to avoid covers as I think its hacky, and I have little to no respect for cover bands.

What language do I scream and freak out in? English.

What are the least and most to attend your gigs? Least would be bar staff and our roadie, and most would probly be one of the many festivals we have played which had around 500 people. We usually do 18+ bar shows while on tour so it does keep crowds down, but you can do whatever you want at an 18+ show on stage and I am offensive and swear like a mother fucker. Shit! Sorry about that. Fuck. And in Parapsychotic I was known to vomit on stage and sometime in the crowd, so that kind of shit doesn't go over well at all ager ragers. In Bitchsplitter our bassist fucked a pig's head at horror movie fundraiser, so again that kind of shit doesn't go over well with parents around. Hahaha.

Do you always play the same songs live? Yes generally each tour has a set list we follow. For encores it can vary depending how the show went. If fans knew our material we were always up for suggestions tho. We are not above taking requests if they know and love the songs.

Do you have a regular place you play often? Cities yes, but venues always change with the exception of a small handful that remain to this day. Its the nature of the beast. The Vent was always a fun time.

What was your first gig like? It was fucking crazy. New school punk was all the rage and we were the only real metal heads that had a real metal band. By real, I mean extreme metal. Not that fucking Hollywood Motley Crue with herpes on his lips and permed hair. Head banging shit and screaming about murder and death is what we were doing. So the crowd was very much not on our level and never even been exposed to SLayer, Sepultura, God Dethroned, Deicide, Cannibal  Corpse, or anything good like that. We didn't think we would go over well at all and the gig was in the gymnasium at the YWCA which was a battered women's shelter. We used the kitchen as a green room, and hid our flats of wild cat strong beer in the oven and whiskey in the freezer. We kept our Pepsi as chase in the fridge and when the owners or whatever would check to make sure we weren't drinking all they saw was pop in the fridge and were satisfied we weren't drinking. even tho we were fucking hammered and drinking with some of the chicks staying at the YWCA who somehow snuck back into the kitchen and started partying with us. We didn't really have our lyrics memorized so we used a podium to put them on and take it from there. We got to the stage and got ready to play. The crowd was about 230 people who were all seemingly interested in seeing us play and were all right up front and on the floor with us. The stage was only big enough for the drums so me and Sinner had to play on the floor. We started our first song which had a moderate tempo around 140 bpm, and then once we hit the fast half time shit the podium went flying and was tossed by the crowd, the lyric sheets fell like snowflakes and we had to wing it while the place erupted into violence and the people we thought wouldn't like our shit began moshing with fury. My teeth got chipped up from people slamming into the mic, the whole place went ape shit and me and Sinner were both bruised and bloody after playing and moshing with the crazy fuckers. After that we were known as the local metal madmen, and that was the cornerstone of the Dethbridge Metal Scene.

What was your latest gig? Chernoff played the Smoke House here in Lethbridge on June 2nd of this year.

Have you had to cancel a gig? As a musician and as a promoter, yes I have had to cancel shows. Shit happens. Shit will always happen.

Where do you plan on gigging in the future? Chernoff is going to record and get more merch before we hit the road, so nothing soon for that band except the odd local show, and as I mentioned the possibility of a Parapsychotic tour would come after the studio work is done as well.

When did you start selling merch? As soon as I was in Bitchsplitter and was managing and running the business end of the band. We had your typical arsenal, patches, stickers, buttons, shirts, hats, toques, beanies, lighters, cd's, dvd's, hoodies, etc.

Where can people buy my music? Most of it is up for free if you google search the bands. Hard copies and physical merchandise can be ordered through myself at [email protected]. Just email me with a headline about what band you want stuff from and I can send a merch list. I take e transfers so as soon as I get payment merch goes out in the mail.

What do you think about people downloading music for free? If they like it then its all good. Bootlegging has always been around and it will never go away. As I mentioned you can get our music free at band camp and other sites, but if you are like me and you like to own a physical copy of a cd or whatever, then you will go to a show and get it, or order online from me or another site that has it. When I was growing up we used to put in a tape and record something right off the radio which is no different than downloading and I have never thought anything of it. Some people don't like to pay for whatever reason and a digital copy works for them, but some people like to have the actual disc and they will get one. Again if you hit the road and really sell your band to the crowd, you wont even be thinking about the broke ass fuck or tight wad that is downloading it for free. I think too many people focus on the whole bootlegging thing, and that is a distraction from the real bread and butter and what playing in a band is all about. Which is gigging and selling hard copies and shirts to a real audience that appreciates what you do.

How do you think the industry has changed because of this? Again I don't think it has changed. Bootlegging has always been there. I think people focus more on it because of a sense of entitlement by simply releasing something without the hard work and leg work of touring and actually selling your fucking product. Don't get me wrong the internet has made networking and booking gigs easier, it has given multiple avenues of exposure and distro, but if you rely solely on that and worry about who is "stealing" your shit, you will reap what is sewn from such lazy work ethic and lack of passion and ambition.

Do you have any role models or idols? Not these days. I watched the rise of Pop Punk and it made me sick, and now the whore known as Pop Metal is rearing its ugly head. My role models are the artists that do their work, have a strong work ethic, lots of drive and ambition, creativity, and become successful independently. I have way more respect for the guy who maybe isn't successful, but has earned his name and paid his dues and continues to do what he loves and hit the road to share it with real people. Even if he only breaks even I would consider that more of a success then getting signed by a major label and getting fucked literally and figuratively. Why do you think they exist? They exist because they are put there and people find a need for them. Some people cant grow up and think for themselves and lead by their own examples and principles so they need a parental figure to adore.

Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands or new bands? Both. A lot of my music is a big middle finger to all of them, especially in Parapsychotic in which the whole thing was a big liberty loving fuck you to all the industry dinosaurs, lazy fuck heads, corrupt scum bags, and greezy bastards. It was all about breaking the conventional rules and do's and don'ts.

What has been my biggest obstacles? Money. Life. People get hurt, people get into relationships, people get hooked on drugs, people commit suicide, there are a lot of things that can put up a wall. Sometimes you can break through sometimes you have to stop. Shit will always happen.

What advice would you give bands or artists? Set a goal. Why are you in a band and what do you want. If you want a career then do a SWOT analysis of your band, which means find out what your bands Strengths are and be real about it. Find out what your Weakness are and be real about it. What opportunities do you have? Did you land a spot on a huge fest? Do you just happen to know a guy who offered his studio for free or really cheap? Next what threats are in your way from reaching your goal as a musician. Threats can be bad finance to bands in the same genre that you are competing with. Once you know all this you focus on the strengths and perfect your skills in that area. Conversely now that you know your weaknesses you can begin to take measures to counteract them or even nullify them or get rid of them which makes you stronger as a band. Exploit the opportunities and use them to your advantage, and again assess the threats and take the necessary action or protocol to nullify or counteract them. Now that you have done that, its time to make products for people to buy. Cd's, shirts, stickers are always a good start. Play locally to get gig experience and your name out there, and then once you are ready to hit the road and sell your shit, fucking do it.  If you need to hire a booking agency then do it, if you get label offers be wary. Some people are in this just to steal your shit and there are plenty of bad record deals you can get fucked into. There is no real reason you should need a label at this point anyways, so go an make the money you deserve, after all by doing all this you have earned every nickel. Not that all labels suck, but people put too much emphasis on getting signed, and not enough effort into just getting out there and doing it without the training wheels and suits.

How do you get psyched for a gig? I start with 20 push ups and quick run then I drink 3 beers, 1 shot of whiskey, 1 shot of jagermeister, and smoke a joint. Then I bring 6-12 beers on stage to drink while performing. It sounds like a lot but I sweat it out and puke if we play hard enough. Always a good time.

Do you have any new material? Bitchsplitter has an album that has yet to be recorded and released, at this point probably never will be, Parapsychotic has two albums I still want to put out, Chernoff has new material emerging monthly, and Devils Shepherds has almost two albums worth of material to be recorded and released this fall or winter.

Do you have websites? We are on social media at various places so a google search of the bands will take you to our stuff. Again merch orders can be done through me at [email protected]

Do you have something to add? If its not good re write it, and if you want to make money get out there and hit the road and start selling your shit.

How can people reach you? Again you can email me if you want merch, but I run the social media sites for all the bands so if you message the bands on facebook or whatever you will be talking to me. Im fucking everywhere! Hahaha.