I recently caught up with Roger Ward, drummer for St. Louis’ Nevermores and garage rock vet of 28 years.
The Nevermores, who play the Way Out this Saturday, are a vintage garage rock band with a fetish for Edgar Allen Poe and B horror movies. They are made up of former members of Thee Lordly Serpents, The Geargrinders and Tomorrow’s Caveman.
Ward, who grew up in Poplar Bluff, toured internationally with the Fuzztones from 2005-06.
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RC: How did the band come together?
RW: John (Ebert, vocals, guitar) and I were in Thee Lordly Serpents for a long time — 10 years actually. John also played bass in Tomorrow’s Cavemen, who were fairly popular for a while. While I was still with the Fuzztones, I agreed to play with the Nevermores as a side project. After my last tour of Europe with the Fuzztones, I decided I just couldn’t do it anymore. I had my job and everything else to deal with. So now the Nevermores is a full-time project.
RC: How did you come to join the Fuzztones?
RW: I lived in Los Angeles in the late 1980s and early 1990s and was in a Hollywood garage band called the Tommyknockers. I met Rudi (Protrudi, Fuzztones founder) during that time. Actually another future Fuzztones player played in the Tommyknockers as well, so I guess we were sort of a Fuzztones farm club. Ten years after I moved to St. Louis, Rudi looked me up and the next thing I knew I was packing for Europe.
RC: Is there a Nevermores album in the works?
RW: We’re working on it and it’s fully recorded. We had recorded the set before but decided it didn’t sound like us, so we did it again. This time we recorded in a warehouse where I work. We hope to have it out by summer.
RC: Are there a lot of Poe references in your lyrics?
RW: Yeah, we use a lot of Poe references, especially about ladies in his stories and poems. It’s a dumbed-down, kind of a Ramones version of Poe, though. It’s not very flowery or literate. We love the imagery of Poe as well as the old Hammer films [1] with Vincent Price — the campy horror stuff.
RC: What records should a new fan to garage rock purchase?
RW: Wow. Obviously, there are the Nuggets and Pebbles compilations. The Fuzztones ‘Songs That We Taught the Fuzztones [2]‘ is a good intro. Also check out Crypt Records [3].
RC: Tell me about GONN [4] and how did your recent gig with them come about?
RW: GONN is a genuine, classic 1960s garage rock band from Keokuk, Iowa. They were a typical band of the day. They made a single and a couple of records, but never gained much notoriety. Their song, of it hardly “Blackout of Gretely” showed up on the “Nuggets” garage compilation [5] (2001) that spearheaded the another garage revival. It’s a world famous song now, but they hardly sold a copy back then. Their singer is 61 and still playing with GONN. He’s kind of like Rudi, he plays for nothing but the love of the music. He loves the lifestyle and just keeps doing it. He liked the scene here and we made a friendship and made the show happen. It was a great success, a great crowd. It was the first time GONN had played together in many years.
RC: Will you still be doing this at 61?
RW: I hope so, yeah, absolutely! I have no intention to quit. Sometimes I wonder if this is the thing that’s keeping me alive. I’ve been doing it my entire adult life and have passed up other opportunities, so now I don’t have a choice! This is what I do best, so I’m sticking with it.
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The Nevermores with the MonteCarlos and Luxury Flats
Saturday at the Way Out Club
2525 S. Jefferson, 664-7638
Upcoming shows
April 11 at 2 Cents Plain
June 28 at Off Broadway
October 11 at Hunnert Car Pile-up (near Chicago)
http://www.myspace.com/thenevermores
http://lofistl.ning.com/profile/TheNevermores
