Brimstone Howl

Voltcase chats to Brimstone Howl, whose new album, We Came in Peace, is out now.

Hi, welcome to Voltcase - how are things?!

Good. New album We Came in Peace out now on Alive.

So, how would you describe your sound to a stranger in three words?

I simply wouldn't.

What could you say to convince the lazy general public that they should check you out, turn up at your gigs and buy your music?

Not good at that anymore. I'd rather they'd just go to our myspace and hear it, because it speaks pretty well for itself. And then hopefully buy it and not rip it somewhere and put on their mePod.

What do you guys think of the Internet as a way of promoting yourselves – is it an essential marketing tool, or just another way for people to steal your music without you knowing about it?

It's essential and just another chink in the armor. But we're not at any level to be hurt by that significantly just yet. I think oil does a better job of that.

We try and promote as many local scenes as we can here at Voltcase, what can you tell us about your home town/s and the music scene there? Any bands that we might not have heard of that you think we should check out?

Our local scene is bipolar and discordant now that we're on Alive. Bands beside the relatively well-accepted Slumber Party/Saddle Creek records set include the meteoric Box Elders, the Shanks, and Ric Rhythm. Boomchick and Speed! Nebraska Records are the labels that helped us out at the beginning. Support them.

And, for anyone out there just starting out in a band, is there one piece of invaluable advice that you could give them to help them on their way?

If you're just starting out, totally adopt the Ramones structures, but not their chords and sound.

So, what’s the most extreme rock-star type story that’s happened to you while on tour or at a gig?

Probably when we mooned a bunch of bloodthirsty rednecks at a Grand Island diner and they chased us out of the parking lot and yelled faggot at us and nearly touched my car with their sister-fingerbanging meathooks. Jeff, our bass player at the time, not only showed them the moon, but the rings of Saturn, or maybe Uranus, or a black hole, wormhole, whatever. Der-her-her-her. (laugh noise).

If you were interviewing yourself, what question would you ask yourself? And what would the answer be?
Yes.

So, what have you got planned for the rest of the year?

Tour. America, Europe, hopefully UK. Then record again. Ascension.

And finally, the question that we ask everyone that appears in Voltcase - what does the word 'Voltcase' mean?

When I think of Voltcase, I think of some kind of case that would hold just the craziest stand-up rockabilly bass guitar you could imagine: a lightning bolt shaped standup bass named Volt. And the case is, of course, Voltcase.