Interview With Abby Normal












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This interview is with Abby Normal, of North Carolina's premier Rot N' Roll band, The Graveyard Boulevard, if you scoot over to their official site after reading, you should be able to buy “Toe Tags and Body Bags”, before they are all gone!



























4th May 2005

Name: Abby Normal
Instrument: Vocals & Guitar
Current Bands: The Graveyard Boulevard
Former Bands: Maniac Spider Trash, Frankenstein Drag Queens, Psycho Opera.
Links:
The Graveyard Boulevard

Thanks to LLLToy for the pictures!






1. What can be expected from The Graveyard Boulevard’s second album “Dead City Radio”, has a rough release date been set?

I’m very thrilled about the song quality on the new CD. We ran into some delays with recording, like Seaweed quitting. We had 14 songs completely recorded and mixed when he left. So, we decided it would make sense to just do the whole process over again with a new bass player, Sparx, and with my vocals instead of Seaweed’s. We wrote some new songs with Sparx to replace songs that Seaweed had written. We’ve made a couple of Seaweed’s deleted songs available to hear in the “Downloads” section of our website. We decided to invest some money into better recording equipment and also decided to build our own studio. The studio is nearly done and we’ll finally get started on the re-recording process soon. As for a release date,... I’ll just say ASAP.

2. Wednesday 13 is rumoured to be making a guest appearance on “Dead City Radio”, have you guys sat down with Mr. 13 to write a song or has it been written in advance?

I’ve written a song that W13 might co-sing with me. He hasn’t heard it yet but he did mention that he would be interested in being involved. He has to get his mom’s permission. She used to chase me around with a broom, screaming “shoo, shoo you nasty creature”. But, then again that may have just been a dream.

3. W.A.S.P. and Gwar are influences of yours, what drew you to the darker side of Glam Metal?

It is my destiny. It is useless to resist. The dark side is strong with me. But seriously, an old gypsy woman once gave me an apple.

4. You can often be found mingling with your fans on the Graveyard Boulevard message board, do you think interacting with fans is an integral part of the band?

I never really gave it much thought. I just like goofing off and shooting the shit with the folks. I suppose there are pros and cons to being so obvious on the boards, but I try to be somewhat diplomatic to avoid pissing off the masses. Sicko Zero, on the other hand loves to stir up chaos when he gets on the boards. He’s gotten better but I’m still surprised that no one has tried to collect the bounty on his head.

5. A few months back Seaweed left The Graveyard Boulevard and has now joined former Drag Queen, R.S. Saidso's band Electra-Kill, have you guys kept in contact with Seaweed now that the dust has settled, are you all still f(r)iends?

I still talk to him occasionally. I kinda got the impression that he was having second thoughts about joining Electra-kill…but I could be completely wrong. Seaweed is still a very good friend of mine. He likes chocolate ice cream with peanuts.

6. Word on the street is, that you once owned a Nitro album... can you confirm or deny these rumours??

Back in the day, I recall standing in a record store with a weeks worth of lunch money and having to decide between a “Nitro” cassette or a “Spread Eagle” cassette. I chose “Spread Eagle”.

7. Sicko Zero, Yourself, and the now Ex-Graveyard Boulevard bassist Seaweed, played in the infamous Charlotte, NC band Frankenstein Drag Queens with Wednesday 13, do you ever miss the FDQ days, is there any chance of a reunion in the future?

I wasn’t involved with FDQ as much as the other guys, so there isn’t much for me to miss. I was in FDQ for a little less than a year and didn’t get a chance to appear on a CD. However, I was really bugged that we didn’t get any more success with Maniac Spider Trash, but I guess the timing was just bad. We actually had a bit of a MST reunion on stage on April 1st, 2005. W13 joined Zero and myself onstage to perform “Under My Wheels” by Alice Cooper. As for a FDQ reunion, who knows? Some doors have recently opened that may lead to some good things.

8. As well as playing in Graveyard Boulevard, you are also a talented short horror story writer, could you see yourself releasing a book or maybe writing a horror movie script like Dee Snider?

Gee, thanks. I’d like to write a novel one day, but it’s just not at the top of the to-do list at the moment. Writing has gotten a lot easier since I’ve gotten over my illiteracy. I guess now I just need to work on my imagination. I’ll make a note to do that the next time I meet with the Quo’nar trio of the Jizzfan nebula.

9. What is your favourite Graveyard Boulevard song to play live, do you hold any closer to your heart than others?

We never seem to get tired of playing “Popcorn” even though it’s one of the first songs we wrote as The Blvd. I think it’s been played at every one of our shows. I think that’s the real trick. If a song can withstand the test of time, then that’s saying something. I’ve written several songs that will be on top of my brain for weeks and then I’ll just get sick of playing them. There are just a few that have managed remain fresh feeling like a summer’s breeze to me. “That’s My Mom You’re Pissing On” is another fav.

10. What is in your CD player right now?

Wednesday 13’s “Transylvania 90210”

Megadeth “The System Has Failed”

And “Brides of Destruction”

11. Thanks Abby, is there anything you’d like to add?

I guess that I’d just like to remind the fans that anytime you can mention your favorite bands to your friends, radio stations, clubs, etc….it does make a difference. Be vocal and tell people about what’s important to you. Things are on the verge to being very good for the style of music that I dig after years of shit music that I’ve hated. Feed the Frankenstein that is rock and roll.




























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