INSANE GOTHOBILLY SEX ROCK!!
Get psyched for Bat Hearse! They deliver some of the best rock n roll you will ever experience and put on one hell of a wild and untamed show that is truly a ‘must see’! Yes, I am still standing but was thoroughly knocked into the stratosphere by their show and insane psychobilly sex rock! (from Transylvania!!) recently in Cleveland, Ohio.
Bat Hearse is lead by Rick Ruiner on vocals and Nina Friday on vocals/guitar with Jungle Josh delivering raucous guitars while Ajax lays down the tribal beats behind his drum kit. Dana Forrester joins on bass providing her solid rhythms adding more fuel to the fire. Friday who performed together in Rick’s long time band the Ruiners joins Rick on lead vocals and rhythm guitar with her alluring and mystic moves and vocals. Together they create a sound that will blow your mind and senses into another dimension. They create an intense garage fueled rock psychobilly sound with a gothic edge ignited by a Crampsesque vibe with a soulful Peter Murphy touch. Add in a dose of B-Movie madness and some campy fun and you have all the elements for a great sound! And the actual Bat Hearse is a customized hearse built by Rick in 2004 taking on the Batman television series theme looking like a modified Batmobile/hearse! And yes Rick dons the bat cowl costume during performance! They are from Detroit, Michigan and draw super musical powers as they drive the revved up Bat Hearse from the graveyard into your bat world referring to the classic 60,s TV series. “Batman had been a huge part of my life since I was a kid watching it on a tiny black and white tv. The show theme music, the ladies! When I was seven, an older neighborhood kid said they showed bat girl naked in one episode. Let me tell you, I never missed another episode after that. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t true ! I still enjoyed the show!”
Bat Hearse brought a fun thrilled ride on their self titled debut in 2021 with a catchy and campy style that was heavy on the Bat theme in an awesome collection of songs and videos and have taken it deeper with their new release Transylvania Moonshine. The new album was recorded at Jim Diamond’s Ghetto Records and includes 11 tracks of true gothabilly magic that will cast a spell on your soul and fill your heart with a sound that you will thirst for again and again.
The title track Transylvania Moonshine starts off with a B-movie track and sets the mood with ‘once you taste it you will never be back again the same’ taking you deep into their psychobilly Goth sexual world. The album kicks off with Slide Into My Web with a haunting, spooky feel and sound as you dive into the B-movie filled renaissance of wild and untamed debauchery. The idea for the song came about from a party according to Ruiner. “My friend is from Transylvania and he made moonshine for a party. I thought the concept was so funny and started referring to his concoction as “Transylvania moonshine”. Then we started a big bon fire using a leaf blower to stoke the flames. It really went up fast! We all were laughing while we were standing in the flames. I wrote the song by blending the rhythmic names of my friends into the rambling rockabilly delivery. They were flattered to be immortalized in song!”
“Every song was inspired from a different place and I think that’s why none of them sound like the same band performed them. The album is a collection of different themes, some funny and some not. My favorite bands had a variety on their records.”
It Sucks to be Me is more high powered psychobilly about a teenage vampire suffering with dating problems! “This song was written by me and my childhood friend “Lou” many years ago, says Rick. It is about a teenage vampire who can’t get a date. He has trouble getting ready because he can’t see what he looks like in the mirror. Haha! The video was challenging because we put so much work into the set and the editing was a huge undertaking! It was done by Ajax, our drummer. He’s a genius. Usually, I will have a loose script for everyone to follow and create the props and backdrop in my barn beforehand. Then, the band injects their personalities into their performances and personas. So much footage is lost but we try to use the best bits.”
Nina does the lead vocals on the ballad “I Should Have Known better than to swim at night”. “This is a ballad that is about a leap of faith into darkness without being able to see the consequences or outcome. It can be a life decision, a spiritual choice or a beginning a romantic relationship—or being pushed forcefully and being completely over your head into a new life. I wrote it from both my own and Nina’s perspective, depending on each individual verse. I thought it appropriate for Nina to sing it. It needed to be vulnerable to be convincing. I think Nina would tell you she has been treading water without being able to see or touch bottom most of her life.“
Hunt You Down is an upbeat love song. “Yes, This song is a frantic love song about being totally consumed by someone but torn because you know you would only hurt or use them. So you do the merciful thing and spare them… from yourself. Sometimes really loving someone means not pursuing them or indulging yourself but looking out for their best interest. Love is always about sacrifice.”
Also included are some psychobilly filled rockers like Bat Bang and One More Nail and the duet of Candy Loving. Crawl With Me is another cool duet with Rick and Nina and Cuddle Me Tonight features Josh on the keys in a catchy song. Bat Hearse close the LP with a Russian version of I Should have known better than to swim at night reflecting on her native country which included a tragic past.
Ruiner will wow you and thrill you and leap off the stage, set himself on fire and plain rock you all night weather it is with the Ruiners or Bat Hearse. Ruiner must have danger in his blood as he can be compared with some of the most notorious singers. “It’s funny I have had so many comparisons to “dangerous” performers like Lux, Iggy or Jim Morrison but I can’t really say any of it was consciously thought about. I had an AM 8 track in my car for years and I bought doors 8 tracks at thrift shops. I do respect these pioneers. Although, while I haven’t listened to the cramps in many years. I certainly do love them. We played their after party in Norway (in 2008)? I think singers that fly close to the flame get compared to others who did so before them. Although, I don’ t think I have ever seen Iggy or lux set themselves on fire on stage? Haha! I am probably closer to the artist Chris Burden than anyone else.”
The Cleveland performance featured both The Ruiners and Bat Hearse on the same bill. “That was a first! The Ruiners have decades of history and fans. I want to share Bat Hearse with them too. The project is different enough to be on the same bill but will still appeal to The Ruiners fan as well. We may do it a few more times but eventually Bat Hearse will need to stand in its own merits. There are advantages to having an established band to help introduce a new one. I can’t imagine starting completely from scratch without any traction. But playing two characters in the same play has its challenges.”
Rick and Nina have been creating something special together creatively. “We know a creative endeavor is about serving the art as a whole, not ourselves individually. Both of us are visual artists so we get that it’s about the art. We both work to better the band and egos aren’t part of that. Nina was a Ruiners fan before I knew her. She had been to shows and we played with her old band on the bill. It was fun to start our own new Bat Hearse project with Jungle Josh and Ajax during the pandemic.“
Two albums in and Bat Hearse is ready to rock you with a wild and untamed cocktail of intense music and a band you need to hear, see and experience. One of the best rock acts ever! Currently in the works Ruiner says, “We are pressing physical copies of Bat Hearse Transylvania Moonshine and finishing a very ambitious Ruiners record. I’m hoping to wrap it up by years end. We are going back in to record with Jim Diamond. More videos are coming too. We filmed one for “Swim at night” already. It’s being edited by Ajax. We are getting our friend and new bass player “Dana” up to speed and are excited to have someone passionately on the same page as all of us! She broke her leg in three places so we have been without her for months while she is bedridden. She joined both bands on bass. Her husband “James” is the new smoking/hard hitting drummer in The Ruiners.“
From the Bat Cave to the Grave Yard Bat Hearse will take you on a great musical ride. One that you won’t want to get off and a ride that will sure to get you off again and again! If listening to their music and videos does not convince you try a live performance and prepared to get wowed out of your shoes! Once sip and you will never be the same again….one listen and you will be under the spell of Bat Hearse for life!
