Hairball8 Records, Continued...

HG: Psychobilly and horror go together like pork chops, cornbread, black-eyed peas, and homebrewed sourmash whiskey. Why do you suppose this is so, Mr. Ryan?

Ryan Davis: Well, there's always the shock value that horror provides, which I think appeals to certain individuals creating music. But on a deeper level, I think that there's a human need to explore fear and investigate the darker aspects of our world. Psychobilly lyricists often use a first-person narrative style which may be their way of acting out violently within music. Psychobilly mixing rockabilly and punk gives the genre its voice, but working a gothic motif into the music gives psychobilly its face. There's a low-budget, campy element to psychobilly which isn't dissimilar from the aesthetic of B-rate horror movies. But I think you said it best when you said psychobilly and horror go together like pork chops, cornbread, black-eyed peas, and homebrewed sourmash whiskey. It's just a crazy-ass mixture that ultimately works.

HG: Quickly switching lanes like the attention-deficient fool that I am, I’m wondering if you’d mind divulging a blurb or two about your various other business ventures, most notably Sam’s Burger Joint and the ska-related record label that you also run.

Ryan Davis: Sam's Burger Joint is basically HairBall8's home field for live music. For the last two and a half years, I've been booking bands one or two times a week at Sam's, which translates to four to eight shows a month. Sam's has been both a home for the bands on our label, as well as a forum for me to discover new talent. And I'm able to put on live gigs with bands I like who aren't on HairBall8. It's at least a part-time job on its own if you're gonna do it right with proper booking, promotion, and publicity. Recently, in fact, I've scaled back on the live shows I'm booking at Sam's; the label is requiring more of my time than ever. However, I still book the first Friday of every month at Sam's, which works out well because it's a weekend, and it's consistent. It means I can concentrate more on doing a really good show once a month rather than trying to catch up on the four to eight shows I used to do each month.

As far as our ska-oriented imprint, it's called Skarnival. I was very much involved in the mod and rude boy subculture while I was in high school; bands like The Who, The Jam, Madness, and The Specials just fired me up. I did the whole skinny tie and three-button suit thing while riding around on a Vespa with a parka on. That shit was the coolest for me back then. In some ways, Skarnival is nostalgic for me; it lets me hold onto a facet of my youth. But just as important is the realization when I moved to Texas that there is still very much a vibrant ska scene down here. Starting a ska sub-label out of HairBall8 just made sense. Skarnival has a few releases out so far, and we're preparing to release a German ska-hybrid band called Skunk Allstars in the new year.

Another company I'm involved in is Stay Sick Pictures. My partner on that is a guy named Duncan Garcia, who edited and helped direct our Psychobilly Sickness DVD documentary. My wife Paige introduced me to Duncan, because she knew he had a background in radio, scriptwriting, and television news. Duncan has been instrumental in HairBall8's foray into the DVD market. And since I've mentioned her a couple times now, my wife Paige builds and maintains all of our various websites, as well as handling the implementation of our online marketing. Paige is the most computer savvy gal--or guy--you'll ever meet. She's a firecracker, too, and I love her for it. Paige just joined the Alamo City Rollergirls. Her rollergirl name is Jen Beam, because she loves the bourbon and enjoys hitting girls in the roller rink.

HG: If you don’t at all mind, my good friend, would you please give the attentive and faithful Horror Garage readership a descriptive rundown of HairBall8’s raucously skull-splittin’ agenda for the year of our psychobilly lord 2006?

Ryan Davis: Surely. For 2006, we have the following list of releases planned:
- Go Cat Go: A Tribute To the Stray Cats (this will be on Baseline Music, manufactured and distributed by HairBall8)
- Skunk Allstars album Hatred of A Minute (Skarnival imprint)
- new Koffin Kats CD (PSYCHOBILLY*US imprint)
- new Captain Bringdown & The Buzzkillers CD (Skarnival imprint)
- debut record from Girl In A Coma (female super-indie-rock trio)
- The Psychobilly Sickness 2: Roadkill (DVD documentary through our imprint Stay Sick Pictures)
- Psychobilly: A Cancer On Rock n' Roll (DVD documentary through our imprint Stay Sick Pictures)
- The Peacocks (collection of songs from this awesome pop-punkabilly band from Switzerland)

There are some other things in the works that I shouldn't really speak of due to all the specifics not yet ironed out.

HG: An offbeat question and a gruesomely scary thought, if I may, before winding the interview down and calling it another round… what do you think would happen if psychobilly and hip-hop joined forces and made merriment, murder, and noise a conglomerate MTV-friendly affair? Jeez, where do I come up with such foolishly warped ideas!?

Ryan Davis: Blending psychobilly and hip-hop would be called hick-hop, and it would signal the end of days. There would be a band called The Rapture, and they would have a song called “Hillbilly Hustlers Ballin' For Necro-booty.” Armageddon would follow soon after.

HG: As a fitting finale, what do you hope your ultimate contribution to the music world will be? And what is your overall grand ambition when it comes to fulfilling your worth in this crazed, flea-ridden carnival known as life?

Ryan Davis: I have always had the idealistic notion that I could in fact change the world for the better; I think that I have in some ways. Hopefully there isn't a massive narcissistic ego thing going on there, but it's always been a goal of mine to make a real difference. Music is such a powerful medium for connecting with people; I love to see how kids are inspired by music and how it can affect their overall outlook and life choices. I've made some mistakes in my time, but feel I've come to a point where I now genuinely realize the importance of being true to myself and to my family, friends and business associates. Although I have a hard time accepting the rules and mandates of any one particular religion, I do have a faith in a higher power which I call God. My relationship with God keeps me inspired and honest. I truly believe this, although I sometimes forget or ignore it for selfish reasons. My goal is to remember my relationship with God at all times, and to forgo selfishness entirely; that’s when my mind is most clear, and my choices are the most obvious. I believe I still have a ways to go on my life path. My goal may even be unreachable, but I'll keep trying nevertheless.

HG: Thanks so much for taking the time to participate within this rowdily worded Q&A jaunt, amigo Ryan! The last word is all yours, so make it a memorable worthwhile rant if’n you so please to do.

Ryan Davis: I think all of my answers in this interview equal one long rant, so I‘ll sign off simply by sincerely thanking you, Roger, for your ongoing interest in HairBall8. I appreciate the fact that you've kept up with us for all these years and have always found new and alliterating ways to describe our music. X

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ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN HORROR GARAGE #11.

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