Make no mistake. Villain and partners in crime, burly bearded singer-bassist Boozus, chrome-domed drummer Reese Lightning and recently recruited rhythm guitarist Pistol Pete, come by that sound and that rep honestly. The band hails from the wilds of Kelowna, B.C., where they grew up like every other rural teenager. “We were riding around in crappy vehicles down dirt roads, listening to old rock’n’roll, punk rock & metal records going to bush parties, hunting and fishing,” Villain says. The latter was earned over the course of a decade together in the rock ’n’ roll trenches, honing their notoriously over-the-top live show in every warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse and doghouse that would have them.
Now they’re a thicker than water. They’ve been through the fire. And they bring it with them every time they step on the stage. “It’s definitely about that fire,” stresses Villain. “Sure, you’ve gotta play well. But there’s something more than just hitting the right notes and playing everything perfect. You’ve gotta give it everything every night. You have to put your foot to the floor and never stop, red line that the whole goddamn way.” You might think these guys are nothing but redneck beer drinking hell raisers. But there’s a method to the madness. “We know who we are,” Villain explains. “We know what we’re like. We’re a powder keg. We like to have a good time & everything you’ve heard is probably true. But there’s more to us than just that.”
Sonically, their riffs are steeped in blues and punk, two more subjects near and dear to the band. “We take a huge influence from the blues and I’m talking about the Delta blues that’s not really heard by a lot of people. But we’ve also got a punk attitude about this whole thing. That’s the thing about great punk rock: You’re not trying to do anything. You’re not overthinking it. You’re just doing it. It was the same with the old Delta bluesmen. They had conviction. They really meant what they were doing and so do we. No matter what we do it’s at 11. We just wanna live hard. We just wanna live free.”
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