Michael with all these cops . And then the charge was “ Disseminating pornography in the presence of a minor ,” which actually was a very serious charge . And the singer — the human thrall of Oderous , Dave ( Brockie , who passed away in 2014 ) was , at the time , also a Canadian citizen ,
but because of that , he was unable to really fight the charge . We almost had to cop a plea — which we did — because otherwise , if he had been convicted , he would never have been able to travel across borders , and the band might have just dissolved into nothing , maybe .
|
IE : Dare I say it ? But if we look at what ’ s happening in Texas , and Florida , too , new restriction-wise |
? I think we ’ re boomeranging right back to those creepy times . BLOTHAR : Exactly . I would agree . And all of GWAR would agree . I don ’ t know if they ’ re gonna mess with GWAR again , but that seems to be the way things are going . And don ’ t forget that the PMRC ? That was Democrats doing that shit . And I guess , at the time , it was really just pure political theater . That ’ s what it was about — trying to create some sense of urgency , or emergency , around the Cultural Decline that really wasn ’ t going on . And now that one is going on ; they ’ ve sadly made themselves irrelevant , so we don ’ t have anybody to protect us anymore .
IE : You know another band that was actually
doing what GWAR does , but years ago , way back in the ‘ 70s , without getting current credit ? DEVO . BLOTHAR : Oh , yeah ! It ’ s funny that you would say that because I have mentioned DEVO in at least four of the interviews that I ’ ve done for this record , but it ’ s because people don ’ t understand GWAR . This isn ’ t a band that looks at KISS — this is a band that looks at
|
GWAR , 2022
DEVO . And it ’ s always been that way . We formed as a punk rock band and made fun of heavy metal , and that ’ s still what this band is , on some level .
IE : But GWAR has a serious side , too . Do you actually look to — or study — paganism , the Druids , and other ancient religions or beliefs for wisdom ? BLOTHAR : Well , thank you , first of all , because I ’ m glad that we at least seem smart . However , I can assure you that our stupidity knows no bounds . But yeah , GWAR has always drawn on archetypes and old stories , and we ’ re just sort of retelling those , in a way . And ironically , of course , these are the achievements of humans , but we have always cast it
|
as humans are just standing on the shoulders of GWAR .
IE : Any indigenous culture that respected the Earth , we ’ ve systematically stomped out of existence since the industrial revolution , along with thousands of animal species that got in our way . BLOTHAR : Absolutely . And GWAR is on the side of the animal species . And people have trouble with that sometimes — they say , “ Wait a minute — you want to destroy all the humans , but in your graphic novel , GWAR fights the Evil GWAR . Does that mean GWAR is good ?” And I say , “ No , GWAR is neutral . GWAR is chaotic .” And for what it ’ s worth , we ’ re making art about it . And that ’ s what we
|