Our interview was supposed to be scheduled with David Brockie, the mastermind behind long-running theatrical rock outfit GWAR. But when we called the number given to us by the band's manager, the phone rang one and half measures before we heard the booming voice of a used car salesman moonlighting as a carny.
"Hi! This is Oderus Urungus, from the National Breast Cancer Society!"
Oderus Urungus, GWAR's lead vocalist and front man, is a murderous extraterrestrial obsessed with the finer things in life: The complete annihilation of Earth and its overgrown population of human scum; righteous heavy metal punk 'n' roll; and scoring poon. He is also an avatar of the aforementioned Mr. Brockie.
Oderus Urungus: Hi, this is Oderus Urungus from the National Breast
Cancer society. In outer space, they don't call it breast cancer. They
call it Rotten Titty Disease. Not trying to offend any women out there.
Outer space is an ugly, evil place. I love tits. Any disease that gets
inside of them is my enemy. Instead of fighting Gorgor or some kind of
gigantic monster or robot, I'm going to fight cancer. And I'm going to
do it by sucking it out.
New Times: Does GWAR work with a lot of breasts?
I work with breasts constantly. My breastwork is up there in the top 10.
I'm right up there with Andre Agassi, Samuel L. Jackson, the Abominable
Snowman, and Machete.
Any notable sightings during the filming of Empire Records?
Oh yeah! We were hanging out with Liv Tyler! She's a fucking whore! I saw her breasts before I saw her face.
How did you end up in that movie?
GWAR just happened to be playing in the same state that Empire Records
was being filmed in. It was so low budget. They couldn't have flown us in.
We just happened to be playing a show in the neighborhood and they wrote
us into the script.
These days, GWAR isn't regarded as "shocking" as you used to be. You
were featured on Jerry Springer as a "shock rock" band. But it doesn't
seem like you would fit into that category anymore.
[Springer] had it all wrong. Did you see that kid they brought out that
they said was a "GWAR fan" with the black lipstick? That kid would have
gotten his ass kicked at a GWAR show.
A lot of bands have tried to do what GWAR does. But no band has ever
taken it as far as GWAR has. No one has ever out-sicked us. You think
these Walmart behemoths of the music industry like Marilyn Manson or Rob
Zombie are really scary people? That they have any kind of
revolutionary agenda? All they care about is making money, and hanging
out with their director buddies as they throw gala award ceremonies to
circle jerk each other into a frenzy. GWAR is where GWAR should be: In
the drawer marked filth.
There would not be Slipknot without GWAR. I have a direct quote from Rob
Zombie about Gwar when he was figuring out what he wanted to do with
his career. They asked him, "Hey what do you think of them?" and he
said, "The first time I saw GWAR, I thought 'I want to be that, but I
want to make money.'" That to me says a lot about Rob Zombie as an
artist. It says that he isn't one.
I give Manson a little more credit. He has a strand of pure
obnoxiousness in him. I heard a story, some girl tried to get his
signature and he hocked a huge bloody loogie. "There's my signature."
Rob Zombie is a tired, G-Rated, mishmash of other people's styles. When I
see Slipknot I see lots of pentagrams and cow skulls. Really familiar
imagery. What I do like about Sliptknot is there music. Their drummer is
fucking amazing. But when I get to Marilyn Manson, he's a little harder
to peg. A little Alice Cooper, a little Bowie, a little Johnny Rotten.
GWAR has done similar things. We've borrowed liberally from other shit. But no one has gone further than GWAR has gone.
Does GWAR have a revolutionary agenda?
We believe our entire fucking system is one of decrepit foulness and the
only way to really do anything about it is by wiping out the entire
mistake and starting all over again.
To what extent does that wipe out reach?
First, all of the humans that I hate. Then, all of the humans that
helped me kill them. Then the planet itself. And then if we're lucky all
of existence.
So that would include GWAR?
Yup!
You guys spray a lot of bodily fluids out into the crowd. When I saw
your show at Revolution in 2002, there was a lot of blood. And a friend
of mine had his glasses knocked off by your pressure-hose-like semen.
Isn't all that stuff a bio-hazard?
It's good for the skin! A lot of these girls on TV, if you look closely
at the ingredients in their fucking dumbass beauty products you will see
Oderus Semen right on the top of that list.
Also, when I last saw you, you had Saddam Hussein performing a
striptease before being disemboweled. Has the political cast been
updated since the Dubya era?
Everyone will be treated to a brand spanking new GWAR show, including a
new guitar player. A lot of people say it's a tragedy, but it is a part
of every scumdog warriors life: You get a call to return to the stars.
Flattus Maximus received his. We've got his close cousin, Pustulus
Maximus. He's Flattus crossed with John Belushi. And, yes, there will be
some political figures involved. It shouldn't be too hard to figure out
considering whats going on this year.
How many times have you put together a whole new production?
It pretty much depends on what super powered adversaries we're fighting, what the political situation is. I'd say at least 20.
Where does GWAR reside in between tours?
Antarctica, of course! A lot of humans seem to think the South Pole is
the North Pole and the South Pole is the North Pole. You've got it
completely backwards.
So you stay at the "North Pole" but...
You think it's the bottom. But it's actually the top. We're not gonna
let Santa Claus live on top of the world while we live at the bottom.
Do you have any contact with Santa Claus?
I'm saving him for our "Let's Kill The Old" campaign, when GWAR will declare war on old people.
What is Oderus Urungus' connection to the band Death Piggy?
There's this human that goes by Dave Brockie, and his responsibility is
to clean the rancid fecal matter out of my armored cod piece -- when I
chose to wear it. Basically, he's a GWAR slave. He did a band called
Death Piggy a long ass time ago, and it turned into GWAR. I'll lie to
you and tell you that's not true. I would love to choke the life out of
that little fucker, but I just can't seem to get in the same room with
him at the same time.
Gwar at 6:30 p.m., Saturday, October 20, Revolution Live!, 100 S.W. Third Ave., Fort Lauderdale. Tickets cost $21 plus fees. Visit jointherevolution.net, or call 954-449-1025.
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