EMQ’s with BELUSHI SPEED BALL
Hi everyone! Welcome to our new EMQ’s interview with Louisville, Kentucky based Crossover Thrash band, Belushi Speed Ball. Huge thanks to them all for taking part.
What is your name, what do you play, and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
Vinny: Guitar and Vocals. Belushi Speed Ball was invented to have fun. We are all about putting on an experience. Every live show features a different theme, theatrics, characters, and trash. We live to perform. The band formed in 2013 as a studio project, we began playing live in 2014, and have had numerous line-up changes since.
Jazzy: Bass. I joined in December 2018, which was also the first time I made it through an entire Belushi set. 😊
Daniel: Drums. I joined a few years ago and can’t speak too well to the band’s history. It’s been fun though.
Senor Diablo: I discovered the band when I was diggin’ around a dumpster for a garbage bag full of Fazoli’s breadsticks. They were arguin’ in the parking lot, and Vinny’s screams gave me the jibblies and I thought: “Hey, here’s some people I can exploit” and now – boom – I’m a manager.
Kyle: Guitar, Vocals, Monster Energy
How did you come up with your band name?
Vinny: The band is named after Jim and his love of “Sonic Spinball”, except that Knucklehead calls it “Speedball”.
What Country/Region are you from and what is the Metal/Rock scene like there?
Jazzy: I was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. The music scene is very split up here, and it always has been. If you like a certain genre of music (i.e., metal, hardcore, punk), you will mostly see the same bands and the same people. There is not much crossover with genres, but when there is, it is beautiful! I love when we play with new bands. I enjoy the priceless looks on their faces when they see how absolutely absurd our stage performances are. Even if they don’t appreciate the type of music we play, they are always grateful for the theatrics. It’s a cool way to find common ground and close the gap in the scene in some small, but significant, way.
Senor Diablo: [redacted]
What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)
Vinny: Our latest release was on Furby, it’s a single called ‘The Spinelli’s Slam’. Which originated from our 7-inch entitled “This Is What We Look Like”. Prior to that we released a working album on Gameboy Advanced. We have a double EP. “Stella 1 and Stella 2” released on 21st January 2021 by sonaBLAST! Records. It is mastered by Joel Grind (Toxic Holocaust), and mixed and recorded by Chase Bensing. The album will be released on tapestry, CD, and all streaming media.
‘The Spinelli’s Slam’ (Animated Video)
‘We Aren’t Thrashers, We Are Hipster Posers’ (Audio)
Who have been your greatest influences?
Vinny: Toxic Holocaust, Municipal Waste, Insane Clown Posse, Chemical Way, Sick Velvet, DTBP, and Gwar
Jazzy: I have always been a pop-punk princess. Blink 182’s “Cheshire Cat” and “Dude Ranch” were a perfect fusion of punk and comedy. When I started playing bass, my first band listened to, and covered bands like Blink, Rancid, The Distillers, and Operation Ivy. This mix of punk, pop-punk, and ska-punk definitely influenced how I play and what type of music I like.
Senor Diablo: Victor Borge
Kyle: ODB and DTBP
Daniel: Dream Theater, Protest the Hero, Tesseract, and a lot more.
What first got you into music?
Vinny: I was 9 years old and my dad gave me his bass, and OutKast “ATliens”.
Jazzy: My brother, Shane, and his best friend started a band when I was in 6th grade. I wanted to try out his guitar, sucked at it, and learned how to play bass. The first iteration of The Spaztics, Generic, started my 7th grade year for a school talent show. The rest is history.
Kyle: Found Metallica and Nirvana CD’s in my dad’s garage at like 7.
Daniel: My family played a lot, and watching videos of Lars Ulrich got me excited early on.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
Vinny: Mommy’s Cigarettes and Trent Combs.
Jazzy: Johnny Silverhand or Weird Paul.
Senor Diablo: Gates McFadden.
Kyle: Whatever Adam’s doing
Daniel: Capstan or Taking Back Sunday
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
Vinny: Obscene Extreme, I want to trash it so badly!!!!
Senor Diablo: The Arby’s festival, cause curly fries instead of beer tickets.
Kyle: that one with all the drugs.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
Vinny: Weirdest, a fan once gave me a container full of edamame for an album. This started a tradition of bartering at the merch booth. Not weird, but my favourite gift was from Sam Bacon who knitted a replica of Stella 2 (my cat).
Jazzy: Nothing. Someone bring me a gift to our next show.
Senor Diablo: Got my own action figure. Everybody else jelly.
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
Vinny: THANK YOU! God bless, we literally do everything we do for you. We only exist for you and because of you.
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
Vinny: Dave Brockie
Daniel: Alexi Laiho
Senor Diablo: Electric Gremlin from Gremlins 2: The New Batch
Kyle: John Candy
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
Vinny: Playing shows, specifically laying on the ground, while the crowd covers me in trash, and screams out the chorus, “Are you feeling it now, MR. KRABS”?
Jazzy: I love playing live. It has always been my favourite part of being in a band. The thing I hate most is moving gear around. The bass amp I use is super light, but I still hate dragging it around.
Daniel: Enjoy the most: Playing, recording, and performing. Dislike: Promoting things.
Senor Diablo: Making the stage shows because everybody likes to imagine. Cleaning up is the worst.
Kyle: well Vinny’s more of a performer
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
Vinny: Honestly, I feel that musicians are in a great place right now. We have all of the tools to be able to record at a high level by ourselves, and a lot of platforms to get our music out there to fans.
Jazzy: I would love to see more women playing music and becoming involved in the Louisville music scene. Every year, the scene becomes a friendlier place, but we could always use more inclusion of any type.
Daniel: Better tools to collaborate remotely with other musicians.
Senor Diablo: That people stop being serious. It’s okay to be silly.
Kyle: More drink tickets
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
Vinny: Misfits – “Walk Among Us”.
Daniel: Dream Theater – “Octavarium”.
Kyle: The Falcon – “Gather Up The Chaps”
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?
Vinny: Hitclips.
Jazzy: CD’s because I’m a 90’s kid and a boomer and don’t know how to work the streamy thingies. Sometime vinyl. Listening to ‘Iron Man’ by Black Sabbath on vinyl made me realize that some songs really do sound better on that medium.
Daniel: Streaming.
Senor Diablo: Mighty Max.
Kyle: Whatever Spotify is.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
Vinny: It is hard to pinpoint one, because each show is different. Personally, I loved playing “friend’s mansion”, a local all ages house venue. We did a Dante’s inferno theme. We threw out pounds of Oreos, silly string, and my old high school polo shirts. Seeing a crowd of over a hundred, stuffed into a living room, wearing your old shirts is a site you will never forget.
Jazzy: Oh, wow. I have no clue. There are always special moments at every show that makes it my favourite. Some of my favourite moments are the hay-filled Halloween (because it was remarkable awful) at Kaiju, 100+ people on stage at Headliner’s, playing literally unplugged at Odeon, Hungry Hungry Hippos at Riot, playing out of a moving van at the Drive-In, scary Christmas on Halloween at Mag Bar, and opening for Weird Paul at Rockerbuilt. I could never choose just one!
Senor Diablo: The ones where the cops don’t get called.
Kyle: Sometimes I forget my guitar and I just get to jump around in the crowd, those.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
Vinny: Teaching High School.
Daniel: Slinging code, bruh
Senor Diablo: Finishing my master’s degree in organic chemistry.
Kyle: Stocking shelves of Vienna sausages and pickles
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
Vinny: Jeff Jobson, Courtney Allison, Evan Fowler 4. Kelsy Hartnett 5. Thomas Horine.
Jazzy: Keanu Reeves, Amy Poehler, Paul Rudd, Donald Glover and Dwayne Johnson.
Daniel: Dinner party? What’s that?
Senor Diablo: Lasagne gremlin, lady gremlin, vegetable gremlin, talking gremlin and Maggie Smith.
Kyle: God, Jesus, Mary, Joseph and Judas so they could work out their issues.
What’s next for the band?
Vinny: Hopefully playing shows again after vaccinations. We released a new album on Tapestry 21st.
Daniel: Write, record, play shows, repeat.
Senor Diablo: Probation.
Kyle: I don’t know what’s happening ever.
What Social Media/Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
www.belushispeedball.bandcamp.com
www.Facebook.com/belushispeedballband
www.instagram.com/belushispeedball/
www.open.spotify.com/artist/6VJ41BkWR6rqlZ77ainL3J
Youtube:
Belushi Speed Ball
www.youtube.com/c/BelushiSpeedBall/
Senor Diablo Show
www.youtube.com/c/Se%C3%B1orDiablo/
Jaffa Cakes? Are they a cake or a biscuit?
Vinny: Biscuit.
Jazzy: A what?
Daniel: …
Senor Diablo: …
Kyle: pizookie.
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Watch our amazing webshow, the Senor Diablo show here: https://www.youtube.com/c/Se%C3%B1orDiablo/
Order our merch including a furby, Gameboy advanced game, DnD minis, and albums at; belushispeedball.bandcamp.com
Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this interview, unless you have the strict permission of said party. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.