Formed in early 1992 by Evil Presly and Willy B, The Independents was born out of the frustration of music being stereotyped and just plain fucking boring. Willy B and Evil both loved all types of music, from Conway Twitty to Iron Maiden, from the Ramones to Etta James and The Specials. Both loved horror and sci-fi movies and wanted to find some way to include it in their music. Evil started writing lyrics that told horror tales while Willy B kept the guitar in one hand and gave the entire world the finger with the other. Their only goal is playing the music they want, when, where, and how they want.
After a few years the guys had gathered a good following from coast to coast through rough demos. It was during this time that Evil met and befriended the bass player for the legendary Ramones, CJ Ramone. CJ got The Independents on a few opening dates of the Ramones' Acid Eaters tour. While driving to their first show with The Independents, Joey Ramone listened to some of The Independents' demos given to him by CJ. He really dug what he heard and upon arrival at the venue, demanded that CJ introduce him to the band. After the tour, Joey made an offer the guys could not refuse. He told them he wanted to manage the band which he did from 1995 till his passing in 2001...:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
The Independents have done over 20 North American tours and 2 European tours.
They have performed as main support for such bands as the Ramones, Misfits, Rancid, Cheap Trick, Less Than Jake, Blondie, etc., to headlining their own tours. The Independents have also played many festivals including the Warped Tour, South by Southwest, CMJ, and the Punk & Disorderly Festival in ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Berlin. They have also played at countless sci-fi/horror conventions and tattoo conventions. These ghouls, who put the 'fun' back in funeral, have been known to tour up to ten months a year with their unique, highly energetic, party-esque, horror-influenced music. Their hard touring schedule only leaves them wanting to destroy more.
The Independents released their first album 'In For The Kill' in 1995 on the indie label Rock Duster Records. It was followed by the 'Stalker' EP CD and 10" picture disc on Elevator Music in 1997. The self-titled, 'The Independents' EP, was released on Hellcat/Epitaph label in 1998. 'The Unholy Living Dead' EP produced by legendary producer Daniel Rey and Joey Ramone was released in 1999. The Independents released 'Back From The Grave', which was also produced by the diabolical duo Daniel Rey and Joey Ramone, in 2001 shortly before Joey's untimely passing. The limited edition 'Back From The Grave' picture disc was released by Jump Up Records in 2002. 'Live From Murder Beach', The Independents first live album was released in 2003. Fast Music released the 'Full Moon Arise' EP in 2004. The Independents best selling record to date 'Eternal Bond' was released in 2006 followed by 'The Early Years 1993-97 Demos' in 2007. 'Do It Again', the newest recordings from The Independents is slated for release in October 2008.
The Independents have many songs on movie soundtracks such as 'Hardcore Logo', 'Babydoll', '100 Tears', 'Anal Paprika', and countless other Trauma movies. They have also appeared in the mystery horror spoof film 'Final Rinse' and the soon be released 'Undead on Arrival'. The Independents have been on countless compilations including the 1994 release 'Misfits of Ska' with such bands as Less Than Jake and Sublime, a 2000 Cornerstone Music release including The Cure and Tom Jones, and 'Save The Boobies' 2008 compilation with the Dwarves, Texas Terri, etc. (for a full list please check www.theindependents.net ).
For more information, mp3's, and upcoming tour dates please check out:
MYSPACE.COM/theindependents
"in-de-pend-ence n. 1 the state or quality of being
independent; freedom from the influence, control or
determination of another or others 2 [Now Rare] an
income sufficient for a livelihood"
- Webster's New World Dictionary (Third College
Edition)
Y'see, no matter how far things spiderweb and branch
out, it's always gonna come back to one thing: scary.
Scary, scary, and - since we're already talking about
it - scary.
Hearsay has it that the only thing scarier to sprout
from the muck and mire of South Carolina's swampland
than guitarist Willy B is his partner-in-grime Evil
Presly. Whereas Mr. B has that gentlemanly Southern
smarm and a drawl that simply drips with "git th'
shovel", Mr. Presly - a leather 'n leopard wrapped
mass of mange, canines and charisma that's charmed the
pants off more than one chimpanzee - is a brash,
one-man avalanche. Put simply, put the two together
on a stage, in a van or bar tab and somebody's gonna
end up hurt and bawlin'
In the early 1990's, the pair joined forces, vowing to
destroy the boggy boredom and stereotypical
sasquatchshit that was plaguing their local music
scene. With an unhealthy devotion to horror films and
frighteningly diverse musical tastes in tow, the
Demonic Duo decided that the best way to pay tribute
to their heroes - Conway Twitty, Iron Maiden, Etta
James, The Specials and the Ramones among them - were
to hammer them all into a shaker (no stirring, thank
you) and serve the whole steaming and
quickly-congealing mess over ice. A few years of
doing so laid waste to not only a few band members,
but a handful of demo recordings, compilation
appearances and scads of hellish live shows as well,
culminating into a deal with indie label Rockduster
Records and the release of The Independents' debut, IN
FOR THE KILL. Extensive touring for IFTK resulted in
shows with Voodoo Glow Skulls and Blink 182, as well
as blossoming a friendship between Evil and Ramones
bassist CJ Ramone. A few opening dates of the Ramones
ACID EATERS tour followed, ending with The
Independents being taken under the motherly leather
wing of Joey Ramone, who volunteered to manage and
produce the band.
1997 saw the band signing up to release the 7-song
STALKER EP on Elevator Music, and then heading out
onto the road yet again and teeming up with Rancid,
Reel Big Fish, Green Day and several dates of the
Ramones' Farewell Tour, as well as the CMJ and South
By Southwest conventions. Touring was followed by
stints in the studio to record songs for the
hilariously-hits-home Bruce McDonald film, HARDCORE
LOGO, a Joey Ramone/Daniel Rey-produced cover of
Danzig's "Mother" and several as-yet-unreleased
ditties with Ramone himself handling vocals. 1998 was
celebrated with the release of a self-titled single on
Hellcat/Epitaph as well as dates on Van's Warped Tour,
the New England Ska Fest and opening for everyone from
Ronnie Spector to Cheap Trick, Citizen Fish and
Sebastian Bach. The grueling recording for their BACK
FROM THE GRAVE album (also produced by Ramone and Rey)
was broken up by an appearance in Robert Tucker's
horror spoof FATAL RINSE, shooting videos for the
songs "Little Blue" and "Death Notice" with renowned
director George Seminara (Ramones, Danzig, Beastie
Boys) and a $60,000 incident involving the abduction
of their van, trailer, merchandise and equipment -
some of which being irreplaceable gifts from the
Ramones. BACK FROM THE GRAVE and THE UNHOLY LIVING
DEAD EP were both released independently (no puns)
before the band set off on a tour of the U.S. with the
Misfits - dampened considerably by the untimely
passing of Joey Ramone on April 15, 2001.
2002 was spent vanning to and fro with the likes of
The Queers, The Eyeliners and The Briefs and several
headlining stints. Early 2003 saw the release of the
live opus LIVE FROM MURDER BEACH as well as
compilation contributions for the likes of Cleopatra,
Fast Music and Peephole Records and even more live
debacles with The Pietasters and Voodoo Glow Skulls.
An extremely busy 2004 (which included the release of
the FULL MOON ARISE EP/CD-ROM, a rousing rendition of
"Sword Of Damocles" on Spring Man Record's THE ROCKY
HORROR PUNK ROCK SHOW comp and a successful "No Rest
For The Wicked" U.S. jaunt) came to a rather unnerving
end in mid-November. In the first days of making their
long awaited UK/European debut with pals The
Dangerfields, The Independents were involved in a
horrific bus accident in England that left their bus
driver in cranially critical condition and a cut and
crisped Willy B with numerous rattling crumbs
previously known as a left arm.
Upon mending up and returning home, it was only a
matter of weeks before the punishment gluttons were
back at it, burning up asphalt, eardrums and
Alka-Seltzer with two full headlining campaigns and
another lengthy stint with The Queers. Because of
outstanding sales (damn 'em!) BACK FROM THE GRAVE and
LIVE AT MURDER BEACH had to be repressed not once, but
twice and 2005 was brought to a catastrophic close
with the final touches being put on the long, long,
looooong awaited ETERNAL BOND. The forecast for 2006
is as bleak and black as it's always been:
scary-as-all-hell with a 110% chance of abject terror
and piss-jetting panic. That is, more music (ETERNAL
BOND, a reissue of STALKER with bonus tracks,
performances with Joey Ramone on the LIVE AT THE
CONTINENTAL compilation CDs and DVD), more Constant
Commuter Miles, more jugular-jabbing joyrides, more
finger flippery, more broken bicuspids and more
satisfied 'n sighing gothapotami than you can shake
your foot-long coney at.
Be ascared. Be very fucking ascared.