Who are Godzilla Black?  That is the task I set for myself before interviewing this band that have made something of a name for themselves since releasing, for free, their self-titled debut album last month.  Shrouded in mystery with limited information about them available anywhere (a major achievement in the messageboard generation), they have garnered generally favourable-if often befuddled- reviews for an album  which is truly an individual offering; genre-less and sounding like the work of ten bands rather than one.  It lurches between being terrifying and funny; is  sometimes unlistenable and occasionally, just occasionally, funky as hell.  They’re nigh on impossible to compare to anything in particular, though there’s elements of 50’s surf rock there, a helluva lot of tribal drumming, crunching Queens Of The Stage riffs and some Slipknot-style musical theatre (the latter of which really comes to the fore in their stage show).  All of it is then wrapped in some Evil Dead style schlock, as they apparently pay homage to the black and white slashers of the 50’s and 60’s through film samples and an all-pervading atmosphere of dread.


Oh, and they all dress in black and wear animal masks.


Being aware of this it was with not a little apprehension that I dialled the number- would I be greeted by the screams of innocent women unwilfully losing their maidenheads?  Perhaps there would be maniacal laughter as I unwillingly become part of a Phone Booth style game of cat-and-mouse; a game that will no doubt conclude with me, to borrow a line from Scream, finding out what my insides look like?

As it happens, a rather well mannered voice answers.  I’m slightly disappointed, though the air of mystery is kept alive by the speakers’ unwillingness to share his name, insisting instead that they all ‘like to be seen as the same.’  Fair enough.  Where are ‘they’ currently then?  ‘In a studio in Sidcup, Kent  [where the band are from] working on some new tracks, possibly towards an interim E.P.’ 

It’s one o’clock on a Monday afternoon.  What about jobs?  ‘Well...we have ways to...you know... pay the bills.’  A collage of suitably gory vocations flashes through my mind- butcher, abattoir assistant, backstreet abortionist.  Of course, the reality is more likely that they do what most aspiring musicians on their way up- teaching, admin, telesales- but sensing that he/they don’t  want to go down this path we move on.  So, how the fuck did Godzilla Black get to where they are now?

‘Two of us were in the band originally, and were making songs.  Then we had a bit of a hiatus, before realising that we needed more people to take this onto the stage, and to expand our sound.  We didn’t want to be tied down to one particular genre.’  In that case they’ve succeeded marvellously.   But what about the other elements of the band? How did they tell the new people in the band they were going to have to get involved in this nightmarish musical circus with the masks, the bonkers onstage personas, the screaming, the...horror?  ‘The music came first, the other stuff actually is just an extension of it. It was an organic, gradual process to get to where we are now. That’s why its so exciting, ‘cos we’re just in the early stages of being a band.’

He goes on to say that the gig I saw a couple of weeks ago at The Miller was actually only their sixth with their full line-up; a surprise, such was their immersion in their onstage roles.  It struck me they were offering us musical theatre in its most demented form, a form that sees them giving us a hellish mix of Slipknot, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and a seriously fucked up version of The Jungle Book.  Is this sense of the theatrical something they are deliberately looking to achieve? ‘Well, its a combination of things.  The way we are onstage is designed to enhance the music.  But the masks also came out of the fact that we’re quite shy.’ He pauses, before going on in a voice that is clearly beset with a grin, ‘and we quite like wearing masks. If we’re all wearing black and masks we’re on a level playing field.’    I admit I also considered whether they were taking the mickey; if the music and the live show is just a form of parody, and that they are secretly sniggering at the audience and/or music industry behind those horrible masks?  ‘No, no.  We’re genuine people.  We want other people to enjoy what we are doing.  We’re not taking the piss.’

At the Miller gig, the frontman succintly told the audience that ‘making [the] album was like birthing a child, only a child with horns so it was a lot more bloody and painful.’  Ignoring the fact that one of the band members was simulating  this birth behind him as he said it, tongue and drool flapping everywhere, I ask how such a violent simile came to be deemed appropriate. ‘There was a lot going on with a real mix of sounds and influences, so there was a lot of disagreements.  At the end of the day though, all this antagonising helped make the music what it is.’  Any fights? ‘It never actually got physical, no.  From start to finish it took around 18 months, so there was plenty of time for arguments though.’

Intrigued as to his comment regarding influences, is there anyone they consciously  see behind the music? ‘Well, we all listen to different stuff, though we come together on stuff like The Boredoms (who you can definitely hear in there), The Melvins and older Krautrock like Can.  What about horror movies?  I specifically bring up the song ‘From Here to Clare’, which for the opening minute or so is probably the most accessible, upbeat song on the album, before disintegrating with a sample of a screaming woman for the second half;  it’s horrible, yet strangely compelling.  He laughs. ‘Well that song is a bit of a homage to fifties surf and horror films from that time.  That sample is actually from a film called Skinned Deep.  In the film, the girl realises she’s not going to survive, and you just hear her screaming.  The screaming lasts for the whole credits... nine minutes long,’ he adds with relish.

Desperate to delve a little deeper, I bring out the question I’ve been waiting to ask but fear I now know the answer to.  Is there a Big Idea? Do Godzilla Black have a mission statement?

‘It’s really not that conceptual.  We basically want to get to a point where we keep making records, keep playing and improving, and hopefully people will like it. Scarily, everything else around the band has just come out of our personalities and out of our musical tastes.’


We wrap after this and, despite the interview and the insights it has managed to give into this Kent-spawned engima, I still have absolutely no idea who Godzilla Black are.


Just the way they like it.

Posted In Interview Unsigned, Feb 23 2010. Words - David