Most fans in the metal and horror community have undoubtedly heard of the raucous heavy metal band GWAR, whose infamous costumes and notoriously over-the-top gore filled stage show theatrics have been warping youth’s minds since the early 80’s. Leader and frontman of this bizarre group of fictitious monsters from another world is Oderus Urungus a.k.a. Dave Brockie.
Always outspoken and never at a loss for words, Brockie helped form the band in 1984 and has since taken the group into cult status territory after 13 albums, their newest of which hits on September 17th, entitled “Battle Maximus” on Metal Blade Records. Brockie has made a name for himself as Oderus who has appeared with the band in several movies as themselves. Oderus has appeared on the Fox News Channel as a correspondent for a brief time and is a regular character playing himself on the FEARnet sitcom, Holliston.
I had the wonderful opportunity to chat with the lively Dave Brockie as he would switch back and forth with his Oderus Urungus alter ego at will throughout our conversation. Join us as we talk coming back from the tragic death of their guitarist 2 years ago, horror movies and GWAR’s new album!
Horror Society: It’s a pleasure to speak with you Oderus and I wanted to thank you for taking time out to talk with me and the readers of Horror Society.
Oderus Urungus: Well, It’s my pleasure I’m sure. Do you have your little recording device set up or are you scribbling this with a crayon?
HS: Oh no, I’ve got my recording device set up.
OU: All right. Well you’ve got one half an hour to talk with the man so get on with it!
HS: I’ve got it, let’s go.
OU: Let’s go! (Yelling)
HS: OK Oderus. GWAR’s newest album “Battle Maximus” hits on September 17th. This is GWAR’s 13th album and this is also the first album unfortunately without your lead guitarist Flattus Maximus, since his death in 2011.
OU: Yes, (making a horn blowing sound) every time you say that there are more ceremonial horns going off in the background. Yes, it is true, it is the first.
HS: It had to be a tough couple of years for you and the band since his death. Now you have Pustulus Maximus on guitar. How has the new album “Battle Maximus” differ from the previous albums and how has Pustulus added to the band?
OU: Well…that’s a good question. We didn’t know what the hell we were going to do after Flattus returned to the stars. He was the man; he led GWAR out of the period where we were meandering around a little bit musically. He reset us firmly upon the path of grandeur that we’ve been following ever since. Faced with losing our primary songwriter, we immediately plunged into the process of trying to find someone worthy to assume that position, never with the intent of trying to replace Flattus’ sound or emulate it, but find the most kick-ass guitar player that we possibly could and let the band go from there. We found him in the form of Pustulus Maximus after the great battle maximus was waged after all the maximus clan members fought for the right to represent and follow in the footsteps of the mighty Flattus, Pustulus emerged victorious and attacked the job with horrific splendor. His guitar style and writing style are certainly different than Flattus’ but he ripped every bit as much. Where Flattus was a little smoother, Pustulus is very smooth when he wants to be, perhaps a little more raucous, a tad more savage. He’s certainly more aggressive on stage. He likes to beat the shit out of stuff, kick and stomp all over the place. His impact on the band has been dramatic and awe-inspiring. We plunged into the writing of this record with all guns blazing, knowing full well that we had not only found a fitting new member to follow Flattus but somebody in his own right who was going to continue with the standard of quality the GWAR fans have come to expect, but actually up the ante.
HS: Oderus, I’ve listened to the new album several times now and I have to say it’s a great album. It’s very heavy and you guys really thrash on it.
OU: Well thank you human. I have yet to hear or read a single review that tears it apart and usually those are the first 
several reviews that you read. So, I don’t know, maybe we finally created a work of music that the human race can actually relate to. It certainly will show all bands out there that no matter how long heavy metal has been around, no matter how long hard rock has been around, there’s new ways to make new sounds, new songs and new epics. Don’t lose heart that the VMA awards were so incredibly lame last night. It’s still possible to make great music and the band GWAR is living proof of this. They endured the most incredibly, shitty, tragic, unexpected, awful thing that a band can and not only did they survive, they thrived and you can do the same thing at home kiddies.
HS: “Battle Maximus” is musically some of the best stuff you guys have done so far. “Bloody Pit of Horror” is great, but I think “Battle Maximus” is just a little heavier and more thrashing.
OU: I feel it’s definitely more thrash. It’s definitely a return to the…the songs like “Madness at the Core of Time” and remind me a lot of “Ham on the Bone” and it kind of reminds me of the Scumdogs in America Must Be Destroyed era of GWAR. It’s kind of a mix of old GWAR and new GWAR, we’re all going to miss and adore our memories of Flattus and all that he was. GWAR somehow has continued to survive and has triumphed once again in the face of death.
HS: Is there a particular city or country that has the most rabid or insane GWAR fans out there?
OU: Of course the United States of America. If it wasn’t for you guys, we wouldn’t be able to pay the bills. The Americans seem to get us better than anybody else. I don’t know if it’s the fact that we speak the same language, we seem to laugh at the same things. You guys are the biggest baddest mother fuckers on the block and we want to hang out with you all.
HS: Ok, great, I love it, I love it.
OU: We like Russians too though, don’t underestimate that Russian bear, he’s a bitch!
HS: In what way has horror inspired you and GWAR over your career?
OU: Well, you know we’ll watch horror like most people experience life. Our very lives are horror movies so to speak. The lines are not blurred so much as non-existent. It’s hard to tell sometimes when you’re watching a good horror movie and when reality is happening when you’re in GWAR. One second you’re watching a really great Godzilla movie and the next second Gore Gore is biting off the roof of the tour bus, so you know, it’s kind of hard to say. I enjoy a good horror movie as much as anyone and I’m just waiting for some director with a king size pair of balls to make the ultimate GWAR film. We’ve made a few, we’ve been in a lot of other people’s movies, but we have yet to make the definitive, awesome, horrific, amazing, super, most fucked up and violent film ever that the GWAR movie would be. Why hasn’t somebody done that yet God Damn it?
HS: I don’t know. I would like to see it though.
OU: Yeah, yeah, yeah you think we would’ve done it by now.
HS: Your stage shows are pretty horrific. What do you draw from to create your stage shows?
OU: We basically like to take symbols of everything that we see that’s corrupt, vile, objectionable, or hilarious…drag it out on stage and kick the living shit out of it. In that way we kind of crudely create metaphors for destruction and therefore do our own kind of completely asinine yet somehow relevant form of socio-political commentary.
HS: You’re stage shows are always impressive. Do you have a favorite set-piece from your show?
OU: Hmmmmm…The biledriver has always been a big favorite of mine. The biledriver can just nail you with face-melting shit from about 50 yards away, I love that fucker. The meat grinder is cool too, and the torture rack, let’s not forget that.
HS: How will your stage show change for the upcoming tour?
OU: It’s a whole brand new one. With every new GWAR album, there’s a brand new GWAR show that goes with it. This one’s no exception; the slaves have been working like busy little beavers for as long as you can count, getting ready for the hulking war machines and a whole new batch of victims. It’s going to be truly amazing, a brand new show coming out this fall.
HS: Awesome! You guys like to really push the envelope in regards to the gore, bodily fluids, humor and sexual nature of your shows. Can you ever top yourselves do you think?
OU: No, and I don’t think that anyone can top us. If somebody could, they would’ve done it by now and nobody has. If anything, it seems to be going backwards as far as the type of bands that are out there. There are plenty of bands that kind of look like GWAR but still no one has done what we’ve done in such an extreme, disgusting and vulgar way. It’s pretty obvious that were not in this to make a million dollars, you’re not going to see our stuff selling in Wal-Mart anytime soon. That’s not really our fault; we’re just making the kind of art that we enjoy. I think one of the reasons that nobody else is doing what we’re doing is because nobody else wants to.
HS: Have you ever had to tone down your stage show for a certain audience or city?
OU: I’ve had to wear the mangina on occasion, drape a little cloth fringe over my butt crack. That’s some kind of inhumane measure of control that made the local authorities think that they somehow influenced the whole thing to the betterment of their community, then gone out on stage and preceded to blow a huge load in the face of the kid right in front of me. I don’t know what they hoped to prove by that but ultimately they failed.
HS: Great story. In some strange way, do you think you’re stage show is cathartic for you guys?
OU: Cathartic in the fact that after it’s over, you feel like you’re lucky to be alive? Yeah…sure, I’d agree with that.
HS: As you get older, do you think you’re still going to shocking the Hell out of people, are you ever going to slow down?
OU: Well, it’s inevitable, I mean we begin and end our lives in diapers. Sooner or later the machine will break down and when that day comes, I’ll fall down, but until then I plan to go out swingin’.
HS: That’s great; I hope to see you guys for a long, long time.
OU: Lemmy’s still going strong.
HS: Yeah, Lemmy’s like a hundred now isn’t he?
OU: He’s like a hundred or a thousand or something, he’ll live forever. I heard with Lemmy that something was wrong with one of his warts; he had it removed so they put it back on and he’s feeling much better.
HS: (Laughing) I read an article a while back describing GWAR as “Horror” metal. Would you agree or disagree with that label?
OU: Sure, I would take that anytime, I’d be proud to take that label. “Horror” metal…hell yeah! It takes a little bit away from the comic nature of what we do. Horror and comedy go hand in hand, as anybody who has seen Evil Dead 2 can tell you. Yeah, “Horror” metal, I’m cool with that.
HS: You guys are labeled all the time by various sources, does that bother you at all?
OU: No, you gotta try to call us something; even we don’t know what we are. We call ourselves GWAR and that word has no meaning. Good luck, I don’t mind being labeled, you gotta try to call us something… (Lets out a huge belch). I just want to elicit a strong reaction, whether it’s negative or positive. So many bands come out and so many things happen and people simply don’t care. At least with GWAR it’s like… (Mimicking in another voice) “Oh my God that’s disgusting!” Or it’s like… (Using another voice) “Coolest thing ever!” One cool thing with GWAR is that not a lot of people are going to go…”Eh”.
HS: That’s true; you guys definitely elicit a reaction.
OU: We like to get that reaction, just for the sake of getting one. Just to prove that the human race is still alive.
HS: Is there a particular horror film that has influenced you growing up as a child that has helped you out as Oderus?
OU: Oh, there are tons. A couple of obscure little ones, a movie made in the 60’s I think, it’s called Black Sabbath, has nothing to do with the band. Boris Karloff is in it, it has three different little films.
HS: Yes, the Italian film by Mario Bava, very good film.
OU: Yeah, Yeah. All three are pretty good but the middle one about the dead medium that comes back to haunt the undertaker who steals her ring – absolutely horrifying! I’m an undead space alien from way past your anus and that movie scared the shit out of me.
HS: That was a great movie.
OU: John Carpenter’s remake of The Thing, huge, huge film. Of course you know that was one of the big reasons that we wanted to live in Antarctica. The first Nosferatu film, and the second Nosferatu film and Christopher Lee as Dracula. Christopher Lee was a bad ass Dracula. Hmmmm…Tombs of the Blind Dead, ahhh I’m just rattling off a whole bunch. Probably the big single one that really fucked me up the most was the original Night of the Living Dead.
HS: Ah yes, one of the best I have to say.
OU: It must’ve been fun to have been a human child to be about twelve years old, have the old black and white TV upstairs or maybe you snuck down to the reck room. Your parents were asleep and you tuned in to that midnight chiller thriller or creature feature or whatever the fuck it was and watched Night of the Living Dead for the first time. Must’ve scared the shit out of those kids.
HS: Oderus, what scares you?
OU: What scares me? Nothing scares Oderus, I’m unscarable. I guess little things like running out of beer. That scares the shit out of me.
HS: Speaking of beer, I hear that GWAR now has their own beer, how did that come about?
OU: It came about through collaborating with some brewery down in Florida. A fan of ours came up with a recipe for some GWAR beer and the next thing, they made a huge batch of it and I believe that every drop of it was consumed at the recent GWAR-B-Q. It was a remarkable marketing tool, I don’t think we’re about to take Budweiser’s throne anytime soon, but the beer was actually really good, people loved the hell out of it.
HS: Is there any way for fans to get ahold of the GWAR beer?
OU: I believe it’s available in Richmond, VA. at a couple of obscure stores, but in answer to your question, probably no.
HS: Now you’ve been a regular on the FEARnet show Holliston with Adam Green. How has that worked out for you?
OU: That’s been great. Adam is a squirrely little bastard but he’s my new friend in Hollywood. I pretend like I live in his closet and sometime hang around in his bathroom, pretend I was his friend and stuff like that. In return, he put me on a TV show that’s made in Hollywood. I’m pretty excited about that. The whole experience has been absolutely wonderful. I get to hang around in Hollywood with people that think they’re celebrities, hot chicks. They’re making that new Underworld movie over there. That hot chick with the really hot chick leather pants is wearing them on her butt. That chick has got one hot ass!
HS: I’ve met Adam and interviewed him a couple of times now; he’s a really great guy. How did you actually meet him?
OU: I have no idea you know. He is a really great guy and he’s a really nice guy. We don’t know why he wanted to hang out with me so bad. He started coming to GWAR shows many years ago, he’s been a GWAR fan his whole life. He’s had success with his films and the next thing you knew he was getting a TV show together, he was coming out to GWAR shows and through some people at the label Metal Blade Records, he was able to get in touch with me and express his undying admiration for GWAR, of course and then his hope that maybe I’d be in his stupid, fuckin’ TV show of his. I was like “whatever kid”, just keep buying me booze, and he did, then strangely enough his show was a reality. We’ve done two seasons so far and if FEARnet has enough fucking sense, they’ll give him enough money to do another one.
HS: I enjoy the show Holliston quite a bit; I enjoy seeing you and Dee Snider as well. You’ve done two seasons, do you enjoy acting?
OU: Oh shit yeah, I want to break into some Shakespeare even. It’s not all splitting skulls and butt fucking Popes, there’s more to my acting range than that.
HS: That’s great. Have you ever written a script for a GWAR film or wanted to incorporate GWAR into a bloody as you can get horror film?
OU: We’d love to, but someone has to give us a bunch of money to do that. I am trying to get Adam Green to do that, but he’s too busy trying to get Holliston to do it. Movies, unless you want them to suck, actually cost money. I don’t know, maybe we’ll do a kickstarter project or something; I’m still trying to finish my last one.
HS: I’ll keep my fingers crossed for it.
OU: Yeah, sooner or later it will happen. I don’t know when, I don’t know why, I don’t know where, but fuck! If it doesn’t it’ll be a crying God damn shame. GWAR being immortal has the added advantage to keep trying over and over and over again, whereas most bands being mortal have a shelf life of 30 years usually, then their dead, GWAR can keep crankin’ out albums forever. The trick is making em’ good.
HS: I hope so. Oderus, what do you like to do in your time off when you’re not killing people onstage, writing the next album or touring, what do you do in your off time?
OU: Well, I really am by myself; I’m constantly surrounded by my minions, my fans, military units, space armadas. When I have some free time I like to hang around the fortress and kick back maybe catch up with some Breaking Bad.
HS: Cool but no Walking Dead?
OU: Yeah, I’ll watch me some Walking Dead, I like that show too. Not a lot of time for that kind of stuff, we’re constantly kept busy running around to crazy promotional events, touring, working on records and all that stuff. Always miserably behind in all the projects I have to get done. GWAR has become quite the colossus and our monster takes a lot of time and effort to look after.
HS: I can’t imagine all the work it takes. GWAR is heading out on a huge tour to support “Battle Maximus” in September, where all are you guys heading to?
OU: We’ll be touring most spots in the U.S. and Canada and I’m sure any places that we miss we’ll be hitting again on the flip flop. A lot of people are like (in a crying voice) “Why isn’t my city on this tour?” It’s like we cannot play every single city in the entire country in one tour, as much as we would like to, we have to split it up into several different runs. Over the next year, I’m sure we’ll play just about every single corner of this world. I know we’re going to Australia, I’m assuming that we’ll return to Europe and there you go.
HS: I’m in Chicago and I’ll know you’re coming here; I would love to see the show.
OU: We’re going to be at Riot Fest in just a few weeks so we’ll see you real soon.
HS: Besides touring and working on whatever next album you guys will be doing, what’s ahead for you?
OU: Gee…nothing but touring incessantly for this new album, nothing but talking about it repeatedly to people like you. Nothing but signing copies of it hopefully, it’s all about touring, it’s all about spreading the message of “Battle Maximus”, honoring our departed scumdog Flattus and welcoming the newest member Pustulus to the tribe.
HS: That sounds awesome. We’re running out of time Oderus. I’ve listened to the new album several times, I think it’s great! GWAR is great; I wish you nothing but the best of luck in the future here.
OU: Thanks a lot bro, I’ve got to run I’ve got to get ready for my next interview, bye bye.
HS: Take care Oderus.
About GWAR:
Gwar is led by vocalist Dave Brockie as Oderus Urungus, rhythm guitarist Mike Derks as Balsac the Jaws of Death, new lead guitarist Brent Purgason as Pustulus Maximus, drummer Brad Roberts as Jizmak Da Gusha and bassist Jamison Land as Beefcake the Mighty.
Watch the official video for “Madness at the Core of Time” off of GWAR’s Latest album “Battle Maximus” here:
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