Article published October 30, 2009 Toledo rocker, band join zombies in graveyard video By ROD LOCKWOOD BLADE STAFF WRITER
E.J. Wells may be the perfect rocker for Halloween.
The Toledo musician loves to dig around in the rock and roll boneyard and pull up macabre odes to the dark side with song titles such as "Hearse Driver," "Downstairs at the Funeral Home," "Cemetery Man," "Blood on the Moon," and "The Undertaker's Lament."
His latest is "Something in the Graveyard," for which he produced a Youtube video featuring Weezer bassist (and Toledo native) Scott Shriner recorded in Nevada with a cast of zombies, undead dancing girls, and musician buddies.
It's all a lark - albeit a sincere one from an artistic perspective - based on a lifelong love of horror films - "the cheesier the better," Wells said.
"I love [movies] like Evil Dead and Dawn of the Dead and all the George Romero stuff and I've always admired bands that sort of carry their music in that area," he said.
Wells, who operates his own recording studio Happyland Studios near Waterville, has been in a number of Toledo bands and recorded his own disc a few years ago, called "Rhyolite." Named after a Nevada ghost town, the disc features a handful of tunes that fit in the spookabilly genre.
"That seems to be where I go when I start writing a rash of songs. I sort of end up in the Munsters area," he said, chuckling.
Mixing rockabilly, early '50s rock and roll, some country twang, and a twisted take on the dark side, the songs are more fun than scary.
"As musicians we're essentially like carnies," he said. "That's how I've always viewed it: the guy standing out in front of the funhouse saying, 'Come on in.'•"
Wells had made a video for his song "Hearse Driver" when he decided to work on "Something In the Graveyard." He found producer Mark Easter who works in the southwest (where Wells lived a number of years) and decided to bring himself, fellow musician friends such as Tim Gahagan, John Arduser, Chuck Mauk, and Shriner together in Virginia City about 20 miles south of Reno, to make the mini-film.
A goofy-looking zombie wandering aimlessly through the video as Wells and his band play the song in the Virginia City cemetery and a bar. Scantily clad undead women cavort throughout the clip while Wells maintains a deadpan distance.
Think ZZ Top meets Unknown Hinson at an Alice Cooper concert.
"I just love the fact that it's an oddball thing," Wells said, noting that the video is mainly a calling card for anyone who might be interested in his music. He said it cost about $8,000.
"There's always the hope that someone will see it and say, 'Hey that's cool, I want to do something with [him]," he said.
Toss in the fact that he actually was a hearse driver, really did live in a funeral home, and has a fascination with western ghost towns, and Wells comes with all the bona fides of someone who can write about the dark side as long as it comes with tongue planted firmly in cheek.
"We write about what we know," he said.
Contact Rod Lockwood at rlockwood@theblade.com or 419-724-6159. Permanent Link
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