Interview with Impaler

It's hard to believe that Impaler have been around for over 25 years. It seems like only yesterday that their albums were released and the band was getting some notice for their horror inspired metal. Indeed they are still going strong, recording and playing shows. I recently had the pleasure of interviewing vocalist Bill Lindsey.

MM-Hello, please introduce the members of you band and what instrument everyone plays.

BL-Hailz! I'm Bill Lindsey-vocals, Tom Croxton-drums, Commander Court Hawley-bass, Mike Torok-guitar, Kyle Skogquist-guitar, Dr. Corpse-backing vocals and mayhem

MM-What are you currently working on?

BL-We are doing pre-production on a concept disc called Cryptozoology. We hope to get it out by Halloween 2009. It is our first release to have a total concept behind it. Each song will be a bout a different creature of Cryptozoology. We even have a Bigfoot trilogy!!

MM-Your band has been around for over 25 years now. Tell us a little about how the band formed.

BL-I formed Impaler along with Mike and Court back in the spring of 1983. We were all into doing an all original metal band, which was unheard of around here at that time. We all had a vision of a theatrical presentation and a high energy stage performance.

MM-Who are your musical influences?

BL-Alice Cooper, early Kiss and Aerosmith, Plasmatics, Van Halen, Sabbath and Ozzy, Venom and Motorhead to name a few.

MM-Back in the mid-1980’s your albums “Rise of the Mutants” and “If We Had Brains ... We'd Be Dangerous” were pointed out Tipper Gore and the PMRC as being offensive. What do remember about this incident and what do you think about the PMRC’s reactions to your albums?

BL-I thought it was very exciting and kind of funny at the time. I thought it was great exposer for a young band on an independent label! We were lumped in with Motley Crue and Twisted Sister! It was great for us...we ended up on a lot of local T.V. and radio to defend our position.

MM-Was it free publicity? Do you know if your albums sold more due to getting mentioned by the PMRC?

BL-Exactly! Kids heard that Impaler is bad for you and they run out and buy it! I know Combat had to re-press it at least 5 times that I'm aware of....maybe even more.



MM-One of your albums I believe appeared briefly in a scene from the 1986 film “Trick or treat”. How did that come about?

BL-Yes, Rise Of The Mutants was used in a scene in the movie. I did not even know it was going to be used. At the time we were on the road in Texas and kids were coming up to us at the show and saying the album cover is in that new movie "Trick or Treat" I knew about the movie because I had read about Ozzy and Gene Simmons being in it. But Combat and Impaler were not on good terms by that time so they didn't bother to mention it to us!

MM-There were no releases from Impaler between 1989 and 1996. Did the band still exist during that period? If so then why no albums? If not then why did you break up and why did you reform?

BL-We put out Wake Up Screaming in 1990 and played our last show with that line up in January 1991. We had agreed to take a break from Impaler. Some of us had just bought homes and had babies. I had a side project in mind that I wanted to explore. We never called it a break up...more of a break.We got back together for a couple shows in 1993 and 1994 but no other members wanted to pursue Impaler other than me at that time so I reformed with some friends from various local bands in 1994/1995 to record a demo and then the cd Undead Things. Over the years Mike and Court have come back to the band.

MM-You must be huge horror movie fans. What are some of your favorites?

BL-Horror! YES!! That is hard because we love so many...horror movies were a great inspiration for Impaler lyricly and visually! I really love the old Universal classics like Frankenstein,Dracula,Wolfman etc...I also love 70's horror like Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Exorcist. There are great movies from every era though.

MM-Including DVDs you guys have released more material this decade than in the 80’s and 90’s combined. Why is that?

BL-I guess we know more about what we are doing! HA! We got with a label called Root Of All Evil that really believed in Impaler. Earl Root(R.I.P. Earl passed in the spring 2008) was a big fan and supporter of Impaler and made sure we were getting our stuff out on a regular basis. Plus we got out on the road more and spread the word around a little better than in the late 80's/early 90's. When Earl started getting sick he couldn't keep up with label stuff. He needed to concentrate on his health. At that point we started working with MVD out of PA. They are cool people who have released a CD and DVD for Impaler. So we just keep rolling along, doing our thing.



MM-What are some of the more memorable shows that you have played?

BL-The trip to Europe this past summer was AMAZING! We played two big outdoor festivals in Germany(Hell's Pleasure and Headbanger Open Air) plus some club dates as well. We met so many cool people and the shows were awesome. In Europe they are all about the METAL! They treated us very well and we had a great time!

MM-What kind of props and set do you currently use in your stage show?

BL-We have so many things that we rotate stage shows depending on what venue we are playing. We have a butcher shop/abbatior set up, a freakshow stage and a graveyard stage...the graveyard is the biggest set we have..it's pretty elaborate.

MM-Are there any retired props that you no longer use live?

BL-Oh yeah, we had a cage I would break out of. We also had two big upright standing coffins that the guitar player and bass player would come out of at the begining of the show. Plus many retired severed heads...just to name a few.

MM-Have you had a prop not work or go wrong on stage?

BL-One time the cage wasn't put together properly and when I kicked the door open all four sides fell down!! It was pretty funny! We had a crazy roadie that use to over fill flash pots too! No casualties luckily!!!

MM-How do you keep yourself motivated to keep doing music and shows after having been in the game for so many years?

BL-All of us are music fans and we are still inspired everyday by Rock and Metal music new and old! It is still so much fun to play in this band with these guys. We have a BLAST and I think it shows! It's what makes our shows so over the top!



MM-Pick the band from each of the following pairs that you prefer and tell why you picked them.
BL-
Gwar or White Zombie-
White Zombie! I liked more of their songs...but GWAR is cool too.

Twisted Sister or WASP-
Early on both bands were great! We got to play with both bands over the past few years.

Alice Cooper or KISS-
Alice Cooper is the originator! Kiss would have been a lot different if it wasn't for Alice. Both bands had a big influence on Impaler but in my opinion Alice is the man!! Other guys in my band might say different.

MM-Do you have any regrets in your music career or is there anything that you wished you had done differently?

BL-Only one, in that I put too much faith in Combat Records. I thought they were looking out for us and that was not the case(only a couple guys there were really doing stuff for the band)...if I had known I would have bought ads for us and done more self promo...but I was only in my early 20's and I didn't really know what to expect at that time.

MM-Is there anything else that you would like to say about your band or your music?

BL-I always want to say THANKS to the people who support us by buying our shit and coming out to the shows!Thanks to you for the interview and support!! Come see us live you won't be disappointed!! Hailz and Rock ON!!!!