Embodying the grit and spirit of pure punk rock chaos, all four members of the NYC quartet Blackout Shoppers took some time out to answer questions via email regarding their formation, their new disc PASS OUT, and the state of the punk scene in NYC.
How did Blackout Shoppers form?
Seth Amphetamines: I think Matt has more to say on that but I guess officially in early 2004. I came in when my friend Bruce told me he was playing guitar in a hardcore punk band and I should come try out as singer. Bruce and I played shows together with our bands back in the early 90s and remained friends and had talked about getting a punk band together. We did a few shows with Bruce that year until he had to move out west, that’s when Moosehead came in and 5 years and 5 drummers later we’re still at it.
The Beast: I’m new to the band, but this is the story I got… it all began in Las Vegas in 1977. The recent death of Elvis had dashed blackout matt’s long dream of playing “in the ghetto” live on stage with the king. Gripped with sadness and low on cash, matt hit the road with a queen cover band known as Loser In The End. Just as things looked as if they couldn’t get any worse, tragedy struck. Late one night after, yet another, stellar performance of “we are the champions” the band decided to drive overnight to the next town. Three hours into the trip they ran into an antelope on the highway. Blackout matt, the lone survivor, was able to claw his way through the gory wreckage to safety before the van exploded. Blackout matt awoke the next day in a hospital bed to find that his face had been horribly disfigured. Knowing that his days of glitter stretch pants and hair spray were over, matt took to wearing a ski mask and traveling the world. He led a simple nomadic life. He studied the local customs in cities across the globe. For money he would sell 10×9 watercolor paintings of clovers. This went on until 2004. It was that year that blackout matt fell asleep on a magic rock in Tibet. That night he had visions of riding around in a piece of shit blue van with three dirt bags playing rock and roll. When he awoke he noticed that he carved a strange symbol that resembled a shopping cart with a bomb inside. Taking this as a sign from the metal gods, blackout matt headed to NYC and started the Blackout Shoppers….I don’t know if this is true, but it’s what they told me.
Blackout Matt: The Beast has it right, but the version we’ve made public is that I became frustrated trying to find a punk band to join and through the power of Craigslist, found a few people who joined or knew others who joined Blackout Shoppers.
Mike Moosehead: I came into the band after Bruce, the first guitarist, left the band. I was playing in a Misfits cover band with Shoppers’ drummer at the time, Joey, and he approached me asking if I’d like to check out the band. The rest is history.
