Mau Maus and the Punk Rock Riot at the Hong Kong Cafe
The Mau Maus’ Nickey Beat, Rick Wilder, Scott “Chopper” Franklin, Michael Livingston
On New Year’s Eve of 1980, the Mau Maus played main support to Fear at the last night of the first wave of shows at the Hong Kong Café. Also on the bill were the Circle Jerks and Angry Samoans, and the ensuing punk rock riot was a fitting end to a legendary run of shows at the club. Now, PBS has done an episode of Artbound featuring the Hong Kong Café and its running battle with the competing Madam Wong’s Restaurant. The following is part of the episode’s preview.
The Weirdo’s Dix Denny and Rick Wilder fight outside the Hong Kong Cafe
The shows and audiences could get chaotic, but it was all worth it to draw bigger crowds into Central Plaza. Bigger crowds meant more money spent at the bar and in the restaurant. And although it was mainly a business decision for owner Bill Hong, the Hong Kong Cafe ended up becoming hugely important to the punk scene. The blood-soaked shows were working — kids who had to be turned away at the door were scaling the roof and breaking in through the air conditioning ducts.
One person who was not a fan of the Hong Kong’s chaotic, punk-loving vibe was Esther Wong. In the beginning, Esther was actually quoted in the LA Times welcoming the competition in Chinatown, but that attitude changed very quickly. Tensions grew. On one side of the courtyard was Esther Wong and her skinny-tie-wearing new wave bands, and on the other was the Hong Kong and the punks. The LA press got wind of this tension in Chinatown and stoked the flames of the feud. The local media gave the whole clash a nickname that was probably intended to be snappy, but exposed the underlying racism lurking below the surface: the Wonton Wars.
Fear’s Lee Ving and the Mau Mau’s Rick Wilder and the Hong Kong Cafe 12/31/80
Punk music in Chinatown burned bright, but it burned fast. Within a few years, the genre had evolved and by 1981 bands like the Bags, The Alley Cats, and the Dils who helped define the sound of first wave LA punk had drifted out of the scene. Punk wasn’t dying, but it *was* changing. The music was being overtaken by hardcore bands and audiences. It was faster, harder, more aggressive, and tended to bring in a very different crowd. Madame Wong’s managed to survive punk and the introduction of MTV in the early 80s, but the bottom line is that even if you were successful, there wasn’t a lot of money in running rock clubs. After a while, the hassle just wasn’t worth it anymore.
Mau Maus Play Punk Rock Riot at the Hong Kong Cafe
Fear’s Lee Ving and the Mau Mau’s Rick Wilder and the Hong Kong Cafe 12/31/80
On New Year’s Eve of 1980, the Mau Maus played main support to Fear at the last night of the first wave of shows at the Hong Kong Café. Also on the bill were the Circle Jerks and Angry Samoans, and the ensuing punk rock riot was a fitting end to a legendary run of shows at the club. Now, PBS has done an episode of Artbound featuring the Hong Kong Café and its running battle with the competing Madam Wong’s Restaurant. The following is part of the episode’s preview.
The Weirdo’s Dix Denny and Rick Wilder fight outside the Hong Kong Cafe
The shows and audiences could get chaotic, but it was all worth it to draw bigger crowds into Central Plaza. Bigger crowds meant more money spent at the bar and in the restaurant. And although it was mainly a business decision for owner Bill Hong, the Hong Kong Cafe ended up becoming hugely important to the punk scene. The blood-soaked shows were working — kids who had to be turned away at the door were scaling the roof and breaking in through the air conditioning ducts.
One person who was not a fan of the Hong Kong’s chaotic, punk-loving vibe was Esther Wong. In the beginning, Esther was actually quoted in the LA Times welcoming the competition in Chinatown, but that attitude changed very quickly. Tensions grew. On one side of the courtyard was Esther Wong and her skinny-tie-wearing new wave bands, and on the other was the Hong Kong and the punks. The LA press got wind of this tension in Chinatown and stoked the flames of the feud. The local media gave the whole clash a nickname that was probably intended to be snappy, but exposed the underlying racism lurking below the surface: the Wonton Wars.
The Mau Maus’ Nickey Beat, Rick Wilder, Scott “Chopper” Franklin, Michael Livingston
Punk music in Chinatown burned bright, but it burned fast. Within a few years, the genre had evolved and by 1981 bands like the Bags, The Alley Cats, and the Dils who helped define the sound of first wave LA punk had drifted out of the scene. Punk wasn’t dying, but it *was* changing. The music was being overtaken by hardcore bands and audiences. It was faster, harder, more aggressive, and tended to bring in a very different crowd. Madame Wong’s managed to survive punk and the introduction of MTV in the early 80s, but the bottom line is that even if you were successful, there wasn’t a lot of money in running rock clubs. After a while, the hassle just wasn’t worth it anymore.
Heathen Apostles Partnering With Gothic Rock Agency
Heathen Apostles are proud to announce their new partnership with Gothic Rock tour agency Rocky Road Touring (@rockyroadtouring), a bespoke agency with offices in both the United States as well as the United Kingdom.
The band is excited for this new chapter, as the agency is already home to a large selection of icons spanning across the many sects of gothic music (such as Peter Murphy, Sisters of Mercy, Killing Joke, Fields of the Nephilim, and Diamanda Galas). Henceforth, the band will be represented abroad by agent Dana McDonald, and any booking inquiries should be directed to her via dana@rockyroadtouring.com. Offers are already starting to come in for 2024, so if y’all want us in your neck of the woods, be sure to reach out.
In the 1990’s Dana was invited to move to NYC to take the position as Exclusive Talent Buyer for the legendary, Coney Island High. The list of artists whom she booked and promoted at this point is an innovative, exciting, and very diverse roster including The Damned, Modest Mouse, John Cale, Incubus, Alan Vega, 311, Queens of the Stone Age, The Ramones ( last NYC show ) and the list goes on. Around the year 2000, Coney Island High closed and lots of her beloved artists came to her directly asking her to book them a NYC show. She ended up booking them tours rather, and also separately, managing artists, and her agency, DNA Artists was born. She also continued her career as an independent promoter in NYC cultivating weekly and annual events such as Small Beast and The Official ,Annual, Lou Reed Birthday celebration which she continues to co-produce and curate.
From 2017 and up until March 2020 Dana was Head Talent Buyer for renowned NYC venues, The Bowery Electric and Berlin ( NYC) where she booked and promoted 50 local, national, and international shows per month. Most recently she has been specializing in Artist development and booking International Tours.
The Mau Maus of Hollywood and New York
We came across this article on owaahh.com comparing the Mau Maus of New York with the Mau Maus of Hollywood. For those that don’t know the two histories, it should be an interesting read:
The image that comes to mind whenever you hear of the Mau Mau is that of Kenya’s dreadlocked freedom fighters. Not a gang of Puerto Rican thugs or even a Hollywood band, right?
In 1954, a brutal gang appeared in Fort Green, Brooklyn. The Puerto Rican gang called itself The Mau Maus, of course after the Kenyans. This was at the height of the State of Emergency and Britain was filled with headlines about a bloodthirsty savage group of ingrates who were roaming the forest and defying the perks of being subjugated by a foreign power.
Gang members: L-R Carl Cintron, Carlos Reyes, Melvin Torres & Israel Narvaez (most likely showing the middle finger)
The Mau Maus effectively died out in 1962 with the conversion of one of its main leaders, Nicky Cruz, and the arrests of others. Others moved to rival gangs, but the history of the Mau Maus as an exceptionally brutal gang remained set. Cruz had joined the gang at the age of 16; he rose through the ranks through violence and uncanny leadership, becoming Warlord of the gang only six months later. He later converted to Christianity and renounced the thug life [I had to say that, it was just opportune].
The Mau Maus was formed by breakaway members of the Apaches. They first sought permission from the established Chaplains, another gang, to set up a Puerto Rican gang in Brooklyn. The gang took the name the Mau Mau Chaplains, more commonly known as the Mau Maus. Their insignia was the crimson MM for the Mau Maus right on the breast of special sweaters made for members.
Although gangs had roamed New York before the Fifties, the Mau Maus represented a new wave of teenage gangsters who were less unbridled about brutality than their older counterparts. The gang has been termed as the most feared gang in New York between 1955 and 1958.
________
There is another group, a music band, called the Mau Maus. The band was started in 1977 by Rick Wilder after the breakup of the Berlin Brats. It featured Wilder in the lead, Rich Sherman on drums, Roderick Donahue on bass and Greg Salva on guitar. The punk rock band was based in Hollywood, California. They appeared in the movies Rock n Roll High School albeit briefly, and Cocaine and Blue Eyes.
The band only has one album Scorched Earth Policies…then and now but is said to be working on the second one.
Mau Maus of Hollywood, 1982
The band members changed often, but they all had a notorious reputation as trouble makers starting riots and shooting heroin. The group was, however, virtually unknown outside the LA punk rock scene because of Wilders aversion to major record labels. The Mau Maus of Hollywood fizzled out in the 1980s, although its members still play to date.
New Charley Horse Site – Cowpunk All-Star Band
A new website for the “cowpunk all-star band” Charley Horse has gone up, the band hasn’t played since the Nick Curran Fuck Cancer benefit show in 2011, so it is a great legacy site for them, you can visit charleyhorse.monster HERE. You can get the Charley Horse album Professional Sinners (on vinyl and digital) from Ratchet Blade Records HERE.
Charley Horse began in 1993 as an inventive and experimental rock n roll project featuring Sean Wheeler, Chopper Franklin and Mickey Petralia. The three locked themselves in their sonic laboratory and took old rockabilly & blues loops, added Hot Rod flick and Film Noir dialog clips & sound effects and topped it all off with gritty, dark lyrical ramblings that became 10 tales of life on the riled side, two of which (Back Down & We All Fall Down) ended up on a long out of print Hellnote Records 7” single. Unfortunately this Charley Horse band was called away from the project, Sean forming Throwrag, Chopper joining The Cramps and Mickey producing such hit makers as Beck, Rage Against the Machine and Peaches.
Fast forward 12 years to 2005 and these recordings are released as Unholy Roller on Acetate Records, featuring cover art by low brow artist Vince Ray. It was then that Sean & Chopper got together some friends to film the video for “Bad Ass Dad”, and Corey Parks (Nashville Pussy, Die Hunns), Rick Ballard and Dino Guerrero (The Hangmen) decided they had such a blast that they wanted to help unleash this fury upon an unsuspecting world. After a few American tours and a European jaunt the band entered into two recording studios (one with producer Cameron Webb of Motorhead and Social Distortion note) to slam away at their newly written material. In the end the band emerged with 10 more terrorizing titles ready for release, and booked another European tour. But this time the planets didn’t align for the gang, the tour was called off, and the Charley Horse members went off to wreak havoc in their own prospective ways.
In 2011 and Sean and Chopper decided that Charley Horse would bring forth a new record, and Professional Sinners came out as a Limited Edition, Screen Printed, Autographed & Numbered LP on Ratchet Blade Records.
“The Goodbye Family” Makes Best Animation Series List
The Goodbye Family has made the Vulture Magazine Top Ten list of the best animation series of 2022. The Gothic Western series was created by Lorin Morgan-Richards and features a theme song, as well as other music, from the Heathen Apostles. Heathen member Chopper Franklin also does the score and SFX, and he and vocalist Mather Louth are part of the show’s cast.
Willing to squash and stretch the television and streaming mediums to their limits, the best animated television of 2022 relishes in anticipation and payoff. Returning series such as Harley Quinn and The Owl House cater to their respective loyal fan bases by emphasizing strong character writing and earned emotional heft — even when it’s nestled in humor. A handful of new shows, including The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder and The Boys Presents: Diabolical, leverage the goodwill that came from titles that preceded them to craft stories and art that look radically different from what came before but still feel natural in context. A few debuts break new animated ground entirely, delivering to us the digital worlds of Pantheon and the fantasy realms of The Legend of Vox Machina for our eyeballs to feast on. Now that we’ve presented the year’s top animated films and (specifically, separately) its top anime series, here are the animated TV shows we couldn’t stop watching this year.
10. The Goodbye Family
The Goodbye Family is pretty different from every other show on this list. It’s a webtoon that looks as if it was made with MS Paint and centers a family of undertakers trying to eke out a living in a pen-scratched, gothic take on the Old West that’s fleshed out by rootsy Americana music and offbeat humor. Aside from the voices and music, it’s almost entirely made by creator Lorin Morgan-Richards, who based it off his “Weird West” comic of the same name. The Goodbye Family is extremely lo-fi but also unnervingly fun thanks to how it leans into the characters’ peculiarities and morbid humor. In one scene from the episode “The Seedy Snare,” matriarch Pyridine rattles off the Goodbyes’ list of payment options — “We take Gravepal, Renmo, and Coffin Bell wires, although crypt currency … I’m not sure about that one” — as another member of the family cheerily mops blood off the floor. The Goodbye Family is not for everyone, but it just might be for you, if you let it.
New Mau Maus Website Launched
The new website for the notorious Los Angeles punk rock band the Mau Maus has launched, it’s new address is maumaus.monster. There you will be able to see photos, interviews and reviews going back to 1978, as well as links to deals on their music and merch. Check it all out HERE.
Mau Maus at Godzillas 1982
The Mau Maus official bio:
Everybody knows the Mau Maus. Whether it’s some story of a chaotic back-alley Hollywood show, or dark tales of crimes real or imagined, the Los Angeles punk rock scene wouldn’t have been the same without Rick Wilder and the nefarious group. Reveled and reviled, taking the raw energy of Iggy and the Stooges and infusing an unhealthy dose of James Brown jive, the original Mau Maus (Wilder, Greg Salva, Rod Donahue & Earl Washington) was forged at the original Los Angeles punk rock haven the Masque and sprang upon the emerging Hollywood scene in 1978. The 1981 line up was Wilder, Michael Livingston, Scott “Chopper” Franklin and Paul “Black” Mars, and the Mau Maus proceeded to record the incendiary Robby Krieger-produced Mad Dog Studio sessions and 2 songs for Hell Comes To Your House Vol. 2. A scene-stealing performance in the OJ Simpson detective movie “Cocaine and Blue Eyes” accented this “Joyride to the End of the World”…
The violence, the women, and yes, the drugs, might have seemed to get in the way of commercial success, but talent is talent and songs are songs, and upon listening to this record one realizes that with punk rock still in it’s infancy, here was a band that was already mixing a current fresh sound with elements of American roots music, something the Kinks, the Stones and the Animals managed to do in the 1960’s.
As the 20th century wound down, Wilder moved to New York City, Franklin joined The Cramps, Mars toured the world as a front man for LA Guns and Livingston formed… the Livingstons. Love ‘em or hate ‘em… they wouldn’t have it any other way.
Modern Gothic Artist Stephanie Inagaki & Heathen Apostles’ Cover Art
The Heathen Apostles are again collaborating with modern gothic artist Stephanie Inagaki, she will do the cover art on the band’s upcoming album Bloodgrass Vol. 3 & 4 (out Friday the 13th of May on Ratchet Blade Records). Stephanie previously did the cover art for the first Heathen Apostles album in the series, Bloodgrass Vol. 1 & 2, as well as appear in a music video from that release Death Came a Ridin’ (directed by Ashley Von Helsing).
Ver Mar, Stephanie Inagaki, Jonathan Cripple
Stephanie also makes fine art images and wearable art objects: portals to a realm of macabre fineries, Old World glamour, breathtaking mastery, rich symbolism, and deep wisdom. Meticulously crafted from sensuous and elemental mediums, each piece is made with love and tells a story of power and grace in the face of crisis, loss, and transformation. She is also the proprietress of Miyu Decay, meticulously and lovingly hand carves each design out of wax before going through the lost wax casting process.
Stephanie Inagaki
Stephanie Inagaki‘s imagery is startling in its complex dualities. It manages to simultaneously contrast eroticism and violence, beauty and decay, life and death, all the while maintaining a harmonious and even sensuous balance of these themes. She brilliantly explores themes which are deeply personal to her by employing motifs that carry along the rich cultural traditions of her heritage and imbues them with her own meaning. Equally surrealistic and expressive, she mines her emotions and uses her body in order to create, in her own words, a “landscape where double self examinations occur through portraiture and self ruminations of the negative and positive…“
Deeply influenced by her continual studies in Middle Eastern dancing, Miyu Decay combines aesthetic elements from the Middle East, Africa, India, Europe, along with traditional Japanese designs.
More Heathen Apostles in Goth Western Series
The Heathen Apostles have contributed the theme song to The Goodbye Family, the first animated Goth Western series, and guitarist Chopper Franklin has contributed to the score. Now, in the two episodes posted below (“The Skeleton Key” episodes 4 & 5), they have also contributed a new song, Get Outta Dodge (in episode 4) and voice over characters (episode 5). Mather Louth plays the character Emma Blu, and Franklin the bartender Hibiscus. Here is the info on the episodes from the production notes:
While Orphie’s parents are hawking their funeral wares, Orphie, a self appointed sheriff, notices an inmate that has broken out of jail. Ouiji, her cat and deputy, was supposed to be watching the prisoner, but instead follows her owner for treats. Meanwhile, an odd fellow named Souq, who only seems to say “Howdy,” is lurking nearby.
Lorin Morgan-Richards new Gothic Western/Weird West TV show The Goodbye Family: The Animated Series with undertakers Pyridine Goodbye, matriarch and mortician, Otis, father and hearse driver, their daughter Orphie, both a gravedigger and Sheriff, along with their pets: Ouiji the cat, Dorian the tarantula, Lassy the Lasso snake, and horse Midnight.
Music by Heathen Apostles
Want to see more of The Goodbye Family? Check out our Goth Western playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLn…
Visit ‘The Goodbye Family’ at the following:
Official Page ➤ https://www.lorinrichards.com
Facebook ➤ https://www.facebook.com/lorinmorganr…
Instagram ➤ https://www.instagram.com/lorin_morga…
Twitter ➤ https://twitter.com/LMorganRichards
Goodreads ➤ https://www.goodreads.com/author/show…
TikTok ➤ https://www.tiktok.com/@thegoodbyefam…
Pinterest ➤https://www.pinterest.com/ravenabovep…
Tapas ➤ https://tapas.io/series/The-Goodbye-F…
© Lorin Morgan-Richards 2021
Heathen Apostles’ Gothic Americana Tour Continues In Europe
The Heathen Apostles‘ Gothic Americana tour is continuing through Europe, tomorrow marks the halfway point of the 18-shows-in-18-days tour. They have hot-off-the-press vinyl copies of their last full length album Dust To Dust (out now on Urgense Disk Records in Geneva), and they are supporting their latest release, the Bloodgrass Vol. 3 EP (out now on Ratchet Blade Records).
Most venues are having some capacity adjustments due to the COVID 19 pandemic, and some are relocating to outdoor venues, so contact your local venue and get tickets early.
HEATHEN APOSTLES 2021 EUROPEAN FINAL DATES
09/09/2021 Thursday – Willemeen, Arnhem, The Netherlands
10/09/2021 Friday – La Bonne Idée, Vresse-sur-Semois, Belgium
11/09/2021 Saturday – CC Muze, Zolder, Belgium
12/09/2021 Sunday – The Grand Canyon, Nazareth, Belgium
13/09/2021 Monday – Titanic, Herenthout, Belgium
14/09/2021 Tuesday – Far-West Bar, Liege, Belgium
15/09/2021 Wednesday – The Shakespeare Pub, Herdecke, Germany
16/09/2021 Thursday – Indra Club 64, Hamburg, Germany
17/09/2021 Friday – Wild At Heart, Berlin, Germany
Heathen Apostles Enter the EU Under the Wire
We are pleased to report that the Heathen Apostles made it into the European Union a day before the EU proposed a travel restriction on several countries, including the US. All shows on their European tour are currently still scheduled as planned, starting tonight at Schlachthof in Krefeld, Germany and continuing through September 19th. Mask requirements and proof-of-vaccination will vary by venue, so call ahead for information. The band will be playing selections from their new EP Bloodgrass Vol. 3 (click HERE to listen), as well as favorites from their seven year history.
HEATHEN APOSTLES 2021 EUROPEAN TOUR DATES
02/09/2021 Thursday – Kulturrampe, Krefeld, Germany
03/09/2021 Friday – Alter Open Air Stage, Mannheim, Germany
04/09/2021 Saturday – Ballonfabrik, Augsburg, Germany
05/09/2021 Sunday – Private Show, France
06/09/2021 Monday – l’Usine Switzerland Genève
07/09/2021 Tuesday – Spazio 211, Torino, Italy
08/09/2021 Wednesday – Brasserie de Framont, Grandfontaine, France
09/09/2021 Thursday – Willemeen, Arnhem, The Netherlands
10/09/2021 Friday – La Bonne Idée, Vresse-sur-Semois, Belgium
11/09/2021 Saturday – CC Muze, Zolder, Belgium
12/09/2021 Sunday – The Grand Canyon, Nazareth, Belgium
13/09/2021 Monday – Titanic, Herenthout, Belgium
14/09/2021 Tuesday – Far-West Bar, Liege, Belgium
15/09/2021 Wednesday – The Shakespeare Pub, Herdecke, Germany
16/09/2021 Thursday – Indra Club 64, Hamburg, Germany
17/09/2021 Friday – Wild At Heart, Berlin, Germany
Heathen Apostles – Cowboy Goth Bandanas
From the Heathen Apostles Facebook page: We hope everyone is doing well, we can’t wait to get back on the road and see you all! We’ve had a bit of a run on our Vince Ray cowboy goth bandanas; bandanas seem to be the easiest way of protecting ourselves and others, especially worn over a standard mask. We’ve been trying to figure out how to get them over to Europe with cheaper shipping, for now we’re recommending them as an add-on item, and, as always, we refund the difference if you are charged more for shipping than it costs. We are throwing a a digital copy of our latest release “Born By Lightning”, and a Heathen Apostles sticker; click HERE to check them out.
Stay safe and we hope to see you all soon! We are finalizing the dates for our 2020 European tour, check back for updates. photos by Mather Louth
POTBH and Mather Louth in Hard Country Collab
Mather Louth
The Phantom of the Black Hills are back in the studio to record a new Hard Country album, and once again they will be collaborating with Mather Louth, the lead singer for the Gothic Americana band the Heathen Apostles. They previously worked together on Wild Witch of the West (you can check out the wild music video for the song HERE), the lead single from their last album, 2017’s Scalped.
This time Mather will have a bigger role in the project, singing and writing on several songs on the new album. The new album is roughly scheduled for a Spring 2020 release on Ratchet Blade Records, and will once again be produced by Chopper Franklin (Heathen Apostles, The Cramps, Mau Maus).
WILD WITCH OF THE WEST
(lyrics by Phantom of the Black Hills and Mather Louth)
Drag me to hell, and howl it up all night
A haunted heart, got the feeling right
Trigger finger warm, her blood runnin’ cold
A sunken sun, time to bring the show
Your death is her fascination
Sent to hell to stay; well, hell, she’ll show the way
She’s serving up some damnation
Badder than the rest, the Wild Witch of the West
Spells in the wind, crows fill up the sky
She’s so gone, can’t be rectified
Drums beatin’ dark, corpses in the street
Her eyes wild, guns spittin’ heat
She’s bringin’ your devastation
Yeah, she’ll mark your grave, and send you on your way
Your grief is her incantation
Bringin’ all the best, the Wild Witch of the West
Hex taking aim,
It’s you I’ve come to claim
One last bone to pick
that bears your name
I’m crossing over the threshold
Sweeping off the ashes and the brimstone
You’d best not find yourself alone
Every story ends the same,
Another moth caught by the flame
Gothic Americana Website Launched By Ratchet Blade Media
Ratchet Blade Media has launched a new Gothic Americana website that is dedicated to the genre. GothicAmericana.com is a collective that will feature the best in Gothic Americana music, art, film, literature and much more. The music end will lean heavily on the darkest country, blues, bluegrass, jazz and Cajun bands, as well as soundtracks and musicals. Film and literature will sway towards modern releases, as well as historical works, and there will be artwork from the many different forms in the style. To visit the site, click HERE.
Ratchet Blade Media sprung out of Ratchet Blade Records, itself a force in the Dark Roots genre, and has previously launched GothicWestern.com, SouthernGothicBible.com and CowboyToCowboy.com.
Slim Cessna’s Auto Club.
Folk N Rock Names Heathen Apostles’ “The Fall” EP Best of 2018
Folk N Rock has named the Heathen Apostles’ “The Fall” EP as the Best EP of 2018. Folk N Rock’s coverage includes Folk, Hard Rock, Roots, Punk, Metal, and more, with a special focus on artist that infuses various styles. Some of those include Celtic Punk, Folk Metal, Folk Rock, Symphonic, Medieval, and an endless list of other combinations. Here is the announcement on folknrock.com:
Best EP: Heathen Apostles – The Fall
We’ve heard a lot of EP’s in 2018, but the one that really made us do a double take, followed up with an endless amount of takes, was the EP from Gothic Americana band Heathen Apostles, in the release “The Fall.” The dark and haunting tones sets a mood that suits the lyrics and while s display an inner sense of melancholia, it is far from being sad and depressive music. It’s a release that you need to check out, and if you’re not already familiar with their band, you’ll also want to be taking a look at their entire discography.
You can preview and purchase The Fall EP HERE, and you can see this and the rest of the Best of 2018 on Folk N Rock by clicking HERE.
New Heathen Apostles Merch in Store
New Heathen Apostles merch has arrived in their online store, namely a new “The Heathen” Tarot T-shirt design and a Vince Ray 22″ x 22″ bandana, as well as a few other items. Both items will be available at shows on their upcoming European tour, or you can grab them HERE.
Heathen Apostles Paint the Stars Music Video is a Wrap
The Heathen Apostles Paint the Stars music video has wrapped, it is the first video from the upcoming Bloodgrass Vol. II EP, out May 25th on Ratchet Blade Records. The video was directed by Colombian Filmmaker Jorge Jaramillo, and will debut on Monday, May 21st. Check back for more info and links, in the meantime enjoy these great BTS shots taken on the set by Ana Sanchez.
Bloodgrass Vol. II Cover Art and Release Date
The Heathen Apostles are proud to release the cover art to the upcoming Bloodgrass Vol. II EP, the follow up to 2017’s Bloodgrass Vol. I. It will be released on May 25th on Ratchet Blade Records, and again the artwork will feature drawings by the multi-talented Stephanie Inagaki. Stephanie did the Appariton II drawing of Mather that graced the Vol. I cover, you can see more of her awesome work at her Miyu Decay website HERE. Also check back for more info and BTS photos of the upcoming Paint the Stars music video shoot.
Heathen Apostles Paint the Stars Music Video is a Wrap
The Heathen Apostles Paint the Stars music video has wrapped, it is the first video from the upcoming Bloodgrass Vol. II EP, out May 25th on Ratchet Blade Records. The video was directed by Colombian Filmmaker Jorge Jaramillo, and will debut shortly before the release of the BGVII EP. Check back for more info and links, in the meantime enjoy these great BTS shots taken on the set by Ana Sanchez.
Jorge Jaramillo to Direct Heathen Apostles’ “Paint the Stars” Video
The Heathen Apostles are collaborating with Columbian filmmaker Jorge Jaramillo on the music video for the upcoming single “Paint the Stars”. Jorge has long been on the cutting edge of film production and stereoscopic animation, and is a good friend of the band. You can see some of his work HERE.
“Paint the Stars” is the first offering the upcoming Bloodgrass Vol. II EP, due for release on May 25th on Ratchet Blade Records. Check back for the EP’s release date and more info on the “Paint the Stars” video shoot and release. To preview and order the Heathen Apostles’ Bloodgrass Vol. I, click HERE.
Jorge Jaramillo painting by Ana Sanchez
Heathen Apostles Bloodgrass Vol. II Recording Under Way
Recording has begun on the Heathen Apostles Bloodgrass Vol. II, the follow up EP to Bloodgrass Vol. I, which was released in December of 2017 on Ratchet Blade Records. The five song EP will contain the Heathen Apostles’ unique blend of American roots music (bluegrass, country and blues) and dark, gothic tendencies. The band’s Chopper Franklin will again be producing the album, and filming of the music video for the lead single Deadly Nightshade (the song appearing in the video snippet below) will begin shortly. Check back for the release date and more info.
Ratchet Blade Media Launches Gothic Western Website
Ratchet Blade Media has launched the new Gothic Western website GothicWestern.com. It will contain everything Gothic Western: music, literature, film & TV, art and fashion, and will focus on both current news, releases and events as well as classic releases and publications. Go on over and visit this unique site, and feel free to contact the administrators will any feedback and news tips you may have. Click HERE to visit.
Heathen Apostles ‘Summertime’ Debuts Today
The Heathen Apostles ‘Summertime’ has debuted , it’s the first song from their upcoming Bloodgrass Vol. I EP, out Friday December 15th on Ratchet Blade Records. The Gershwin classic was produced by Chopper Franklin, and the band has begun shooting the first music video for the EP, for the song Dark Days. Check back for more news and links.
Heathen Apostles Booking European Tour 2018
The Heathen Apostles European tour for Summer 2018 is now being booked, the band is working with Kurt De Bont of Rootstown Bookings in Belgium. Dates are filling up fast, to book the band contact Kurt HERE.
