I don’t know about you, but I’m always aching for some horror with my rock n’ roll. You can have one without the other, I suppose…but isn’t peanut butter always better with a little bit of jelly in the sandwich?
The Mary Lous are, above all, avid horror fans. Their debut video, “I Wish Bruce Campbell Was My Boyfriend” is not only proof of their devotion, but an open love letter to the groovy guy with the boomstick.
The video is directed by Dylan Mars Greenberg (Dark Prism, ReAgitator: Revenge of the Parody, Werewolf Bitches from Outer Space.) I was lucky enough to speak with Greenberg and the band about their music video, their work with blood and canvas, and their influences on and off the big screen.
Scaretissue Presents – an Interview With The Mary Lous
How did you all meet? Does the band have a super cool monster movie origin story?
Razor de Rockefeller: Well, Dolly has been one of my best friends for a long time, and Alex I knew for a long time through mutual friends and his other band, The Zombie Mafia. And I was like, hey, my best friend Dolly should be in on this. And then we needed a bass player and Eevee and I just started to talk more and more. All the pieces kinda fell together.
Zombie Alex: I knew Razor from going to shows. She kept posting YouTube videos of these awesome songs and I kept telling her she needed to play them live.
Razor: Alex named the band, really. It’s from the movie Hello Mary Lou, Prom Night II.
Alex: It was kind of a no-brainer. It was along the lines of, “Mary Lou is the ultimate badass female horror movie villain.” I knew I was gonna be playing with all these awesome women and wanted a name that reflected that.
Dolly Shot: We’re the band that played at the prom, so we died with her in the fire.
The song “I Wish Bruce Campbell Was My Boyfriend” makes your feelings for the chinned chainsaw champion pretty clear. Has this been a long-time crush?
Razor: Haha, well I originally wrote that song for Dolly. We both love Evil Dead and Bruce Campbell. And I was like “Hmm, I’m gonna write a song inspired by my bestie.”
Dolly: Because she’s my best friend, it was a labor of love. And it was easy for her because LOOK AT HIM!
Dylan, how did you get in on all the fun?
Dylan Mars Greenberg: I knew Razor and Dolly for a while, and after seeing their debut performance they asked me to create their first music video! Since I have a lot of experience with horror, having directed six released feature films, I knew this was perfectly in my wheelhouse.
Dolly: We also knew she was already an amazing filmmaker and she also loves the same cult horror movies.
Razor: Really loved her style and the vibe her videos had. And she really dug our music, so it was a great fit!
Dylan: And speaking of Evil Dead, Sam Raimi is a huge inspiration to me.
Dolly: One of the songs we do is about Darkman. “More Than an Ear to Me.” We have all kinds of horror nods throughout our stuff.
Do The Mary Lous currently play at any horror conventions around the country?
Dolly: We haven’t…yet. But hey, we’re ready and willing!
Dylan: They’re a very new band, but I’m sure they’ll be everywhere soon.
The world must be warned! Tell us a bit about the screaming beauties of the band?
Poison Eevee: Well, Razor taught me how to play bass. First song I learned was “I Wish Bruce Campbell Was My Boyfriend,” which was a dream come true for me. My love for Poke’mon and Poison Ivy is how I got my stage name. My inspirations are the ladies in Jack Off Jill.
Razor: When we recruited Eevee we knew that even though she didn’t know how to play, she was really into the project and she worked her butt off to learn.
Dolly: My name’s Dolly Shot, named after the dolly shots in film. And I play Soprano Ukulele. Razor got me my electric uke as a birthday gift, and it was an eternal blood pact to play music with her forevermore.
Alex: I wasn’t even supposed to be in the band. I was supposed to teach Razor’s friend drums but she never came over so now I have the job. I’ve been playing for several years and if it wasn’t for Chuck Biscuits of Danzig and Jerry Nolan from The New York Dolls I would never have picked up the drumsticks.
Razor: Really, Alex is one of the biggest reasons this is even a thing. I had people always saying I should start something, lots of projects that never got off the ground. He was pushing me and pushing me. And I needed pushing. Cause I think everything I do is terrible.
Alex: I’m also good at drumming, but great at sarcasm.
Razor: I’m Razor, and I’m terrible. At everything. But they keep me around. I’ve been playing music since forever. I’ve dabbled in lots of stuff, mainly bass and singing. And then I picked up a uke because Dolly had one, and it became my instrument of choice. And I started posting songs and covers on the internet and people liked them so, it kinda just spiraled from there. I really took to tenor uke and it works well for the band that we have a cool dynamic with the two different ukes.
Dylan: Razor also makes paintings with blood.
Razor: Yes I do! The blood paintings!
Further information about The Mary Lous upcoming shows can be found on the band’s Facebook page.