METAL PULP AD PAPER: Hello Bloody Batty. So glad to be catching up with you. Thank you for answering some questions for Metal Pulp And Paper. We appreciate it.
How are you? How is your summer going so far for you and your band Bloody Benders?
BLOODY BATTY: Hi! Pretty Cool! I think I’m having one of my best summers. Bloody Benders just played at the Punk Invasion 2k17 at The Observatory in Santa Ana, California and it was awesome. We shared the stage with bands that I love, it was a nice Fest! Also, we are working a lot on the new Bloody Benders album and I am so excited with that. Also, this summer we had our new single/video debut "Fantasmas".
MPAP: To get things started, Bloody Benders is an all-female horror rock band from Mexico City, Mexico? What else do we the new listener need to know about your band? What can we expect?
BLOODY BATTY: We are a band that loves to have fun, you will not have a boring time with us. We have that freedom and strength of punk, but also, we have that shock rock part with performance and theatrical stuff. Besides the music we love to play with visual things.
MPAP: You sing vocals, but let’s get to know who else is in the band also? Who are the rest of partners in crime and what do they play?
BLOODY BATTY: Something that I love of my band are the members of that we all have our personality well marked: Foamy (guitarist) is the baby of the band and she is so sweet, Bibian (bass) is crazy she is so extroverted, she loves to jump all the time on the stage when she is playing. She is very important for the punk/hardcore scene because she use to be the front girl of a hardcore band called Doverman. And then Angy (Drummer) she looks so aggressive, and she really play drums very rude, some people make jokes about that she plays stronger than a man haha…and well yes, she looks so rude, but is so sweet girl.
MPAP:Bloody Benders formed in May 2011 with horror movies being the band’s first inspirations correct?
BLOODY BATTY: That's right, our first album was very inspired by horror movies, and some Mexican horror legends like La Llorona (a woman who stole kids), our video "I Eat Your Brain" is inspired in Night Of TheLiving Dead (George A. Romero RIP). We have "Planet Terror" (that talks about all of our favorite movies, like Birds from Hitchcock, for example) and then there is "Nightmare On The Elm Street" that is an obvious tribute to the movie.
MPAP: How did everything all come about from Bloody Benders being just a thought to actually happening and everyone getting together?
BLOODY BATTY: Mari (that is my sister and first bassist of Bloody Benders) and Angy use to be at roller derby practices, and also, they were part of an all-female garage band. They use to play in another band and they were the only girls in the band, so they like that thing of make an all-female band, more into punk, and with different concept and lyrics of the all-female bands then my sister told me: You know what? We need a punk extroverted girl and you are the one… hahaha so I start to practice and study vocals and here we are…
MPAP: Let’s go over the band name, BloodyBenders. The name is about a family that lived in Labette County, Kansas from 1871 to 1873? Want to go into more detail about what the family did?
BLOODT BATTY: That's correct. Well, we wanted a name that have this horror stuff. I remember I was thinking how Marilyn Manson and his band mates use this actress name and the serial killer last name, so I was looking for serial killers and I found the perfect name bloody Benders. They were a family of serial killers, that's so crazy! All the family was crazy.
MPAP: The Benders are a family you wouldn’t want to hang out with, or even go over and play with John Jr. or Kate with after school. They are listed as one of the six most terrifying serial killer families in history. How did you hear about the Bender Family?
BLOODY BATTY: I start to look for some serial killer women…and there was Kate Bender and her family. Oh yeah, I’m sure they were terrifying…also there is a legend, I don`t know how true is that, that they never found the bodies…(evil laugh Buahahahaha).
MPAP: What then inspired you to choose them for your band name?
BLOODY BATTY: I don't know, I just thought that we needed a terrifying name, but zombies and vampires were so used, and as I told you before, I like that Marilyn Manson formula of using serial killer names.
MPAP: With that being said, does that mean you always want to push the Bloody Benders to the next level of extreme each day, with each new song made, with each new live show played live?
BLOODY BATTY: Of course! I am biologist…so the evolution is very important to me hahaha. Seriously I think the problem with some bands is that they are waiting for the great opportunity, and that doesn't happen all the time. You have to work a lot to make that happen. I believe totally in the 'Do It Yourself' philosophy, specially for the girls. There still is in 2017 prejudices about what things are well seen for a girl and what not, so we want to break that, we can do it!
MPAP: Where do you want to see the band in the next five years? What are some of the goals you are striving for?
BLOODY BATTY: We started this year playing at big festivals in Mexico and other countries, so we hope someday we can be the headliners of those big festivals, while also still playing at small venues and clubs because that is where you feel the real affection of the people. You are more in touch with the audience. We want to be better musicians every day of our lives, and of course be an inspiration for the girls that want to give their souls to the rock n roll haha.
MPAP: Can you go as far as looking ten years ahead?
BLOODY BATTY: I have tattooed on my body rock n roll and punk rock. I have this punk venue in Mexico City that feeds me and my son, so I think rock n roll is gonna be with me at the rest of my life. I went to a Blondie and Garbage show and I loved it, especially Debbie Harry. Woooow she had this fuckin cool attitude, and she is 72 years old. I want to be like her hahaha.
MPAP: Here’s something random, did you know that the Bender family was mentioned in the books and television series, Little House On The Prairie? Laura Ingalls Wilder mentions visiting the Bender Inn, and her father, Pa Ingalls, joined a vigilante hunt to find the killers.
BLOODY BATTY: Hahahaha that's so cool, my grandma loves that TV show. I didn`t know, thanks for sharing that.
MPAP: Now that we’re getting to know more about your band, and we may have to sleep with the lights on, let’s talk about your debut album, Sex Blood & Rock ‘N’ Roll (2013)? What can you tell us about it?
BLOODY BATTY:"Bloody Benders" tells the story of the band’s namesake. This is the story of an ideal family. The portrait of that American family-Mom, Dad and two kids, while "Nightmare On The Elm Street" tells of a cinematic serial killer using the film’s unsettling nursery rhyme 'One, two, Freddy’s coming for you/Three, four, better lock your doors...'. The first single "I Eat Your Brain" is like dark punk music, while "Bebimos en la Calle" is like a very very dirty kind of Blues. "Planet Terror" is the melodic song on the album. "A Bite In My Heart' is like a dark western gothic song. And there is the ska-tinged "Monstruos y Difuntos". "I Don't Give A Fuck" and "Bastard" are totally hardcore/punk songs. And finally, the more popular song in Mexico is “Llorona” because it is a cover of an old popular mexican song, and we did our punk version. It was produced by ReneD`la Muerte from the Canadian psychobilly band The Brains. He produced some albums of Creepshow, Planet Smashers, etc.
MPAP: What are a couple of your favorite songs on it and what are they about?
BLOODY BATTY: I think "I Don’t Give A Fuck". It talks about to be yourself no matter what people think. And "Planet Terror". It talks about all those things that scares us in the movies.
MPAP: One doesn’t have to think too hard, but the message behind this album is sex, blood, and rock and roll correct?
BLOODY BATTY: It was a sex, drugs, and rock n roll paradox, but we put blood instead of drugs. My sister and I are very healthy geek girls, that loves comics and horror movies…that’s why we put the blood instead drugs hahaha. And then is rock n roll for ever and ever, and finally, well who doesn't love sex hahahah?
MPAP: Going back to something mentioned before, the band’s inspirations, what about the bands musical inspirations? I’m thinking that Alice Cooper and the Misfits are a couple of names to mention here? Why them?
BLOODY BATTY: Oh yeah, I love Alice Cooper, the music, the comics, the theatrical thing of their shows… but also, I have some punk inspirations, like Wendy O Williams of Plasmatics, Henry Rollins from Black Flag, Bones from Lower Class Brats and Iggy Pop. That freedom of do anything you want to do at stage, I love that…I think now the punk, or the rock new generation shows are kind of boring, I don’t know when the rock n roll lost that aggressive and rebel attitude… I try to be so intense on the stage.
MPAP: Now let’s touch on your live shows. What can someone expect when they see you play live for the first time?
BLOODY BATTY: A lot of power and energy, zombies, coffins, masks, punk, hardcore, ska, garage…blood, hearts and 4 pretty crazy ladies hahahahaha, well kind of.
MPAP: It’s been a little quiet on the new music front, when can your fans expect to hear something new from you? Are you heading into the studio anytime soon?
BLOODY BATTY: We are in the studio right now with more melodic songs but also more combative punk hardcore songs. This new album is called Lost Girls in reference of Lost Boys. We talk a lot of witches, magic and vampires, it is more dark and mature than Sex Blood And Rock N Roll. You can hear our new single "Fantasmas" that is on YouTube and on our fan page.
MPAP: Last, any new shows coming up? Anything in the woodwork you can share?
BLOODY BATTY: Yeah! We will present soon our Lost Girls new album! And also, we will have a Colombian tour at the end of the year.
MPAP: On behalf of myself and Metal Pulp And Paper, I’d like to thank you, Bloody Batty, for being a part of this interview. Look forward to what Bloody Benders does to finish out the year 2017 and beyond.
Any last words for the readers and all your fans out there?
BLOODY BATTY: Thanks a lot Metal Pulp And Paper, for the interview and the support…to all my friends rock n lovers, (I preferred to call it like that, instead Fans) fight for your dreams, make all your goals possible with passion, patience and perseverance.