The Black Rose Phantoms

The Black Rose Phantoms are a Psychobilly band from Cali. More than that; they are a hybrid of the genre with a heavy dose of Metal and a twist of Goth music. I have been a fan for years now and I think there latest album “Among Dead Men” is there most solid recordings too date.  “Beyond Purple Hills” adds some very smooth and melodic vocals and guitars and “A Sailors Tale” really brings the speed from the upright bass and metal guitar licks we have to come love. The Black Rose Phantoms are one of the few US Psychobilly bands I haven’t seen live and hopefully that will change in 2013. Keep your eyes open for TBRP in a town near you. I had a chance to interview Ozzy and here’s the man himself….

BBM: What’s your name and what do you do for the band?
My name is Ozzy and I sing and play stand up bass for Black Rose Phantoms

BBM: How’s life treating ya?
Life is amazing

BBM: What was your first major experience with music and how did you know it was for you?
My first major experience with music was at a young age my father and older brother introduced me to a lot of 1950’s Rock n Roll, Doo-Wop, Country and Metal. I always knew it was for me because I was always fascinated by the life style, image and what bands I was listening to were singing about

BBM: Give our readers a little history on The Black Rose Phantoms?
The Black Rose Phantoms started in late 2002 by our old rhythm guitarist (Grim Phantom),our original singer and myself. We recorded our first demo in 2003 and at the time of the recording our singer decided to depart from the band. So I went in a redid the vocals and took on the responsibility of fronting the band within a month or two we were invited to do our very first tour with psychobilly legends Nekromantix and its been on ever since.

BBM: How did you come up with the band’s name?
Our original singer came up with the name so I’m not to sure. But we all loved it and felt that it fit us perfect.

BBM: Tell us about the new album Among Dead Men”?
Among Dead Men is our second full length album. That just came out a few months ago. It is also our first album that we recorded as a 3 piece which is the current line up.

BBM: How would you say the sound of the band has evolved for this album? The band has a very diverse sound.
For this album we really took our time in composing the material and we really wanted to show how we have grown as musicians. We wanted to show our different influences and really tap more into them. So the metal sounding stuff sounds metal and the country sounding stuff sounds really country and of course the psycho stuff we wanted to keep it to what fans are used to.

BBM: What type of crowd do you usually see at your shows?
The crowd is always very diverse we get a little bit of everything metal heads, punks, psycho’s

BBM: Three words that describe the band?
Brutal, Epic, Loud

BBM: One reason you’re a musician?
The satisfaction of knowing that I made an impact in some one’s life through my music

BBM: Favorite Place to tour and why?
My favorite place to tour is in the Washington and Oregon area. The crowds, our friends and the weather are just awesome and the drive up there is  amazing

BBM: When will y’all be in Texas?
We will be in Texas again sometime in March or April of 2013

BBM: Funniest/ Most Memorable career moment?
One time we played a show at the Keyclub in Los Angeles it was a wild night and I had to many drinks. And I forgot my standup bass at the venue. The next day when I called to see if my bass was still there the manager was like “ How do you forget a standup bass somewhere” lol

What are your thoughts on the current Psychobilly scene?
I feel that the scene is a bit different from the way it was years before. At least here in LA. The kids that are getting into psycho these days seem to be more into the traditional neo psychobilly stuff as appose to years ago they were into harder sounding stuff like Os Catalepticos and Banane Metalik

BBM: Where do you find inspiration in life?
From friends, relationships, books that I read and being on the road

BBM: What are some words of wisdom you would give a youth wanting to start a Psychobilly band?
Don’t be afraid to tap into other musical roots and mess around with different sounds. Find your own sound

BBM: What’s currently in heavy rotation in your record player?
I’ve been listening to a lot of Gaslight Anthem, Terror and Jd Mcpherson lately

BBM: A fact a fan may not know about you?
I don’t like roller coasters

BBM: What’s a long term career goal for The Black Rose Phantoms?
To do what we love every day. Write music, tour, meet amazing people and make a mark on people’s lives

BBM: What’s coming up for the band in the future?
We have a show with Nekromantix coming up December 21st 2012 and we will be touring out of the country for the first time next year and a lot of Us tours as well

BBM: Where can fans find out the latest news and get some merch?
On our facebook and or on our website that will be up soon. Merch can be purchased through us directly, Interpunk, Itunes, Amazon

BBM: Any last words anything you want to add?

Thank you to all of you that support us