SPOOKY GARAGE PUNK GOTH
It’s music from the dark valley….the black valley that is. Black Valley Moon are haunting the music world with a spooky blend of surf, rockabilly, goth, pop, garage and punk rock creating something truly different. They say it’s horror punk with happy songs!
Black Valley Moon was formed in 2019 in Tampa, Florida by Down by Law guitarist Sam Williams and drummer Dave Kamrath. They are joined by Don Butler on bass and Ray Vega on vocals.
They released a new six song EP this year It Makes Magick following up their debut release of Songs from the Black Valley. “Well, we are a band that’s hard to describe but easy to listen to, said Williams. We are influenced by a lot of retro sounds from the 50s and 60s. But also more modern genres like punk, garage, indie and goth. Our image is kind of spooky. But a lot of our songs are happy. It sounds bizarre, on paper. But I think it all makes sense when you listen.”
“The initial inspiration was that I wanted to do instrumental guitar music. I narrowed down the approach to surf music because surf music is very song-driven. Though I wanted to show off guitar playing, great song writing is always at the top of the list. We played as an instrumental trio for about a year, and put out two releases. Over Covid shut down, we added a singer. The addition of vocals gave us another dimension, opened up more doors, and allowed us to go other places, musically. For influences, I think we are kind of like a cross between the Shadows, the Ventures, Link Wray, the Cramps, Johnny Thunders, the Descendents, the Doors and the Damned (for starters). There are also Western and Latin aspects to our sound.”
Drive in horror movies and comic books transformed into the music of Black Valley Moon. “Yes, not a new concept for a surf/rockabilly kind of band. But I did really want to have some sort of binding theme for BVM. It’s not a strict or contrived thing. But we just like to keep a thread of spookiness throughout our lyrics and visual aesthetics whenever possible. It’s just natural for us, I think.”
“We had released a three song ep with Our singer, Ray. It’s called Vampirella. We were excited about the new possibilities of moving from an instrumental trio to vocal-fronted quartet. So we were eager to get a full-length of this format out. We worked relentlessly on it throughout Covid shut down and a bit after. We are really pleased with it. We didn’t change, or rearrange our sound at all to make room for vocals. Instead, Ray found a way to make vocals work with what we were already doing. So that allowed us to keep the music both challenging and interesting. Still all the Surf, Garage and Rockabilly musicality. But now with a crooner singing about vampires and such.”
Black Valley Moon released It Makes Magick ealier this year. “After the release of the last full-length album, we decided to focus mainly on EPs and singles for the foreseeable future. We just recorded song ideas as they came. And once we had enough for an ep, we decided to put it out. The title was something funny our singer, Ray, said in passing about something unrelated. As soon as he said it, I said ‘That sounds like an album title’.
The EP includes a couple of covers with White Wedding by Billy Idol and Russian Roulette by Lords of the New Church. “The song (White Wedding) really lends itself to the surf guitar treatment. It also has a bit of a dark vibe and message, which suits us perfectly. We did our most involved video for it, as well. And with Russian Roulette “This is a cover of the goth band Lords Of The New Church. But we decided to change it up a bit by making it a surf instrumental song.”
As for Death Race 2000, “The guitar riff is incredibly difficult. The inspiration was that I’d wanted to come up with a song that sounded like if Motörhead were a surf guitar, garage band. To me, it sounds like something that’d be playing in the background of an old hot rod, drive-in movie from the 50s. Our frequent collaborator, Eric Mullins, played sax on it.”
Curse of the Fairchild is a song from the Missing Fink vinyl compilation. “This was from another Missing Fink vinyl comp. This time, the concept was a Halloween album. We sort of made the song specifically around featuring the theremin, which is a regular part of our live show. And the song is supposed to sound like something off of an old Halloween cartoon, or something. Again, the comp is sold out. So we decided to make it available to everyone, here.”
“We were trying to do something unique with our specific influences. A lot of the song structures and tones being reminiscent of the of various genres from the 50s and 60s. But we hope to appeal to all lovers of guitar rock. Like, if you think of a band like X, they had strong punk and rockabilly influences. But you wouldn’t think of them as a rockabilly or punk band because they ignored all of the trappings of trying to adhere to the image of any particular scene. We sound absolutely nothing like X. But that’s a philosophy we are kind of chasing. We were trying to do something unique with our specific influences. A lot of the song structures and tones being reminiscent of the of various genres from the 50s and 60s. But we hope to appeal to all lovers of guitar rock. Like, if you think of a band like X, they had strong punk and rockabilly influences. But you wouldn’t think of them as a rockabilly or punk band because they ignored all of the trappings of trying to adhere to the image of any particular scene. We sound absolutely nothing like X. But that’s a philosophy we are kind of chasing.”
As for the addition of vocals to their instrumental concept, “When we started as an instrumental trio, it was partly because our standards for a vocalist are so high. I play in another band (down by law) with just about the best singer and front man of that genre. So I’ve been spoiled in that way. However, after being immersed in the modern surf scene for a bit, I became exposed so many top notch bands such as ‘Frankie and the Pool Boys’, ‘Satan’s Pilgrims’ and ‘Toro Jones’ that it became apparent that there are so many great bands doing the instrumental surf thing that I figured the best route for us to bring something new to the table would be to add vocals. So we decided to try it out, and we got supremely lucky in that we found a talented singer that understood our vibe on the first try. I also think it makes our live shows much better, as he is a great front man. It’s a permanent thing. However, we will also continue releasing and performing as an instrumental trio. Very much in the tradition of the Shadows and Cliff Richards. Sometimes with singer, and sometimes without. I could even see us opening up for ourselves at some point. We have enough material, for sure.”
As for the upcoming months for Black Valley Moon, “We took a small break as I finish a new record and tour with my other band, Down By Law. However, we are slated to play the Tiki Fever Fest at Bahi Hut in FL in the Fall. We also have a couple of new songs in the works that we will release around then, as well. We have a few other appearances we are discussing. But nothing finalized, yet. We will continue expanding our live appearances. And we will continue releasing new song, fairly consistently.”
Now be sure to get hooked up on Facebook and Instagram with Black Valley Moon…and be prepared for their great Halloweenish spooky music good for anytime of the year. They are definitely worth checking out and getting in to. Enjoy the spooky sounds of Black Valley Moon and break into your Halloween gear because they bring it loud and intense anytime of the year. And Sam added to find them at www.blackvalleymoon.com