The Misfits: Night Of The Living Punks

What better place to interview legendary goth/horror punk rockers than a cemetery? So that’s where we caught up with Misfits’ Jerry Only (Bassist/Lead Vocals), Dez Cadena (Guitars) and Eric “Goat” Arce (Drums); during the 7th annual Johnny Ramone Tribute event to discuss respect, horror movies, being scared and their brilliant new CD: “The Devil’s Rain.”





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Rocker: “The Devils Rain” is pretty solid.



Jerry: You like it? I’m glad you like it. We really worked hard on it.



Rocker: Is there more pressure for you now that you are the singer as well as the bassist?



Jerry: For sure. I’m playing two positions.



It’s hard because at first singing was the alien thing and playing was the constant thing. Now it has switched around. I’m really comfortable singing and more focusing on making sure that I’m locking in with these guys and keeping the bottom real tight. I think it’s come to fruition. I’ve been doing it for more than ten years now. I’m real happy with our new record.



Rocker: Is it safe to call the band’s music Horror Punk Rock?



Jerry: We do a lot of everything . It was interesting that Spin Magazine did a list of the top punk bands of all time and never mentioned our name. At first I got pissed and thought how far is their head up their ass. Then I realized we do so much stuff and so many styles. We do ballads. We do thrash. We do metal. We do hardcore. We do it all. So I can understand why we slipped out of a category. And that’s a beautiful thing. Things come and go and if you can be a little bit of everything you adapt and you survive.



Dez: Before I was in The Misfits I remember when they first came out a lot of people, even the punkers, didn’t know what to think. In a time that punk bands were singing about politics and angst here was a band that did whatever they wanted. At times I think The Misfits really confused people. I remember people back in the day not considering them punk.



Jerry: We came in right after The Ramones started and I always thought we were a punk band. Once we got our own image with the hair and the makeup and the leather and the spikes I think we stepped into a new category. We became something that was totally unique. If you’ve ever seen the movie “The Thing” you see how it adapts to different things. That’s what we’ve done. It gives us a more rounded well rounded view point of music.



Rocker: Do you think the band gets the respect you deserve?



Jerry: No. But I like that we don’t. I really like that every day and every show we gotta go out and earn it. We stay in good shape. We keep clean. We have solid families. We work really hard on our music twenty four seven. We also run a family machine shop where we make all our stuff. We build our own guitars, props and drum kits and clothes. Michael Jordan once said, “You’re only as good as your last game.” For us, we have to prove it every night and that makes us better. The people I had in the band before that let me down and let things fall apart made me better. I sing now. I play now. Where before I was only doing backups.



Getting back to the topic of The Thing, I’m wondering what your favorite horror movies are?