Welcome to the street!!!I hope you find your visit enjoyable and terribly unforgettable!haha. That should be my pick-up line. Other than that, I'm on the level.
Firstly, could you please introduce yourself to the readers that have yet to experience the magic that is Mr. Underhill/Nim Vind?Ok. I'm the abominable Nim Vind....yes somewhat like the famed Abominable Snow Man. You can't snow the Snow Man!!
Who completes the band?Me, myself and I really. My brother Anthony, known to the world as the loudest fucking drummer EVER Anthony Kilz, is the only other constant member as of late. Our good friend JJ BloodBoy, from out here in Vancouver Canada, has done most of the shows and all of the touring so far for Nim Vind as our hit-with-the-ladies Bass player.
How does, in your opinion the sound of Mr. Underhill differ to the sound of Nim Vind?Well, as some people know, the first Nim Vind album is really the full length album Mr.Underhill was going to make. The band members took a break of sorts from Mr.Underhill and I decided to continue the idea on my own as a solo act. The only origional member of Mr.Underhill that played on every EP was Nim Vind(me) so I figured that the most sensible move for my future was to call it Nim Vind. That made the best sense...at some point you call the leopard a leopard ya know? As for the sound, The Fashion of Fear is a cool record and I'm very proud of it, its a real throw back to a lot of things about music that I love. The new album will be more of what i am trying to build as a musician and will expand more of what i am all about. It still will have the sounds of my influences, like the Misfits, the Doors, David Bowie, The Damned ,The Cars, Ennio Morricone, and etc, but this time I will try to give you more of Nim Vind the person. if that makes any sense at all.
On many peoples first listen to Nim Vind, including mine, the horrorpunk theme isnt very obvious, how much does horror influence your songwriting?It does in a way, and doesnt at all in another way. That answer will take some explaining so here it goes: I love The Misfits, i would tell anyone, and I still do, that if you havent heard the origional Danzig Misfits, you should check it out because it is one of a kind. As for Horrorpunk, I love the fans and the scene a lot. It's really great and is built on a love a great melody, fun, and spectical. These are 3 very necessary ingredients for a kick ass night of rock and roll. The only 3 ya really need for fuck sakes. That being said, most Horrorpunk is one sound: people trying to sound like the Misfits. Dont get me wrong, if the world is being filled with great Misfits sounding bands, then we are doing great, but I want to be more than just a band that sounds like one thing. I love to much other music to make myself all about one very specific sound. I also love bands like The Cars and the Damned like I mentioned. Those bands are lighter in mood but have a excellent sense of style and melody. David Bowie is one of my all-time favorites. He is able to reinvent himself again and again because his style and personality, plus extreme talent, make everything he does so amazing. I am also a giant fan of movie soundtracks and love love love Ennio Morricone. I especially love his works on the Spaghetti Westerns. He builds a sound and atmosphere completely his own and that, friends, is the true mark of a real writer. That's what I love about the Misfits, nobody sounds like original Misfits. Everyone copies from the best, you can get close, but you can never fully copy the real thing. And I personally think it is way cooler to have influence of something but try to sound like yourself, than to try to sound exactly like someone else. There is no imagination to copying. I have an imagination and I want to use it. I try to inspire people to find ideas of their own within themselves with my music, the same way my favorites did for me. So to answer your question, Horrorpunk is really great and I love it, but I am influenced by way fucking more in that just one thing and I have the intention of presenting myself in a much much broader spectrum.
I have heard your style of singing be described as crooning many times, do you agree with this?haha. Yes. And I love the "croon"! For me, being a crooner translates to "someone that actually sings a song". Most lead "singers" these days in bands dont actually "sing" anything at all!! I can see how screaming and rapping and talking and grunting or etc can work for bands with styles that support that, but for me i love the bands and acts that have Songs and that sing them. I really love to hear a great singer let loose on a great song that really captures their voice and personality, or vice versa. Danzig and the Misfits, really, are loved so much because the songs and melodies matched with his singing, are first rate great! All the horror aside, those songs are real songs that are based on all the old standards, and he sings like a crooner from the golden days of the 40's and 50's. I love to listen to Billy Holiday, or Elvis(who doesnt?!), or Roy Orbison, Jene Pitney, Buddy Holly, The Penguins, Little Richard, The Big Bopper, Tom Jones(he's fantastic), the list goes on and on. That is the era of the real crooner. I think bands these days really need to listen to some of that and remember that people still love a great melody and they always will. Songs are a huge part of the human experience and a great melody inspires emotion, and emotion is the fabric of art and inspired thinking. Agreed? But however, all music, whether its Death Metal or acapella, has its place in this whirlin' madness were livin'. ya know?
Hailing from Canada, is their much of a horrorpunk scene there?No. Canada is a mellow country. It's a country that sells natural resources and tourism with regards to its beautiful landscape. People love ice hockey here and are workers for the most part. The USA and Europe seem to be much more into finding the new cool thing and seeking out artistic entrepreneurs than Canada is. People here wait for the next cool band or scene out of the USA and Europe to hit the market, buy into it, and then wait for it to tour here. Canada, way back, was a coloney of England. We arent a nation built on war and pushing the world to lead in new ideas and frontiers, We are workers, thinkers, and peace makers. This attitude is still very much a part of our country and its why I think that scenes like Horrorpunk and all that will be popular to a degree but it will take a movement in the USA or Europe to really make it explode into a mainstream event....i think that time is close too.
You have a massively dedicated following in Europe, what are your weirdest fan and tour experiences?Hmmm.....one time this chick tried to.....ahhhhh......well I was on stage.....ahhhh....She was lifting up my guitar and.....ahhhh.....
What does 2007 hold for Nim Vind?New Album. It's gonna be a wild one.
I live in the UK and recently have seen you get some mainstream press attention, do you have many UK fans? and do you have any plans to tour the UK in the near future?
Yes, lots of fans. It's great too, because I am currently on a small label with word of mouth and the internet being the main avenue of exposure, yet we are spreading the word fast. I very much would love to tour there and will soon. Likely for my next album.
Who are you listening to at the moment and who can you recommend to our horrorpunk newcomers?I recommend Zombina and the Skeletones to new Horrorpunk fans. To the whole of music fans, i recommend The Vincent Black Shadow. I am playing Bass for them and singing back up vocals right now. We just put out an album on a new gambling label(ha ha. How gangster rap is that?!) and we are touring for 5 months straight to promote it. I'll be working on the release set up for my new Nim Vind album in the meantime while I'm on tour with TVBS. It's a cool act with a decent female singer for once. It features the Mr.Underhill brothers backing up a female "crooner". We think pretty much every female fronted act in the mainstream sucks goat ass, so we thought we would help this chick show people what they are missing when they latest major label girlact piece of shit like the Pussycat Dolls.
Thank you for you time!!! Any last words?"2000 dollars! ...Yea...but you wont be the one that collects it.....couple steps back."
ThanxDoctor Von Bracken
Scare StreetPS: Nim Vind FanPage
