Lock Up Your Children, GWAR Are Coming

Interview by Kris Peters
As with every other year, anticipation surrounding the first line
up announcement for Good Things 2025 was almost at a fever pitch.
Social media experts and promoter wannabe's all shared their
projected line-ups - but most were well off the mark.
Good Things is possibly one of the hardest festival line ups
armchair critics get to sink their teeth into, with the diversity
and seemingly flippant mashing of genres meaning pretty much any
band from any genre could make the final cut. And this year was no
exception.
When TOOL were announced as headliners, a large number of punters
were already scrambling for tickets, but a quick scan through the
rest of the line up proves the eclectic tastes of organisers and
the variety of live music on show for fans of most
persuasions.
Rock? Tick. Weezer, Garbage.
Pop Punk? Tick. All Time Low, New Found Glory.
Punk? Tick. Refused.
Metal? Big tick. Machine Head. Knocked Loose, Lorna Shore.
But there was one band name there that defied expectations. A band
not even from this planet. A band dubbed 'Scumdogs Of The
Universe'. A band like no other…
And that band is GWAR. These guys have been devastating audiences
the world over for more than 40 years, their incredible backstory
and characters resonating just as much as their music. But it is in
the live arena that GWAR excels. Their stage shows are legendary,
so much so that filmmakers were driven to make a documentary on the
band and their history called This Is Gwar.
Yes, ladies and metalheads. This IS GWAR. And what follows is a
brief transcript of HEAVY's interview with frontman Blöthar the
Berserker, who, as you will be able to tell, is keen to get back to
Australia and convert the country en route to enslaving the world.
With Good Things sharing the same calendar month as Christmas, we
ask Blothar if GWAR will be filling their red sacks with surprises
for Aussie fans.
"(laughing) Well… mostly, when it comes to Christmas, we don't
really hand out gifts as much as we take them," he offered. "Gwar
is keeping alive that horrible tradition that the Dutch have, Black
Pete. Can you believe that they did that? Who do these people think
they are? But, seriously, that's what we do. We kidnap children,
and we stuff them into stockings, and we turn them into coal and
all of that stuff, then we run off with them to Morocco, or
something like that. GWAR's not big on Christmas. We are friends
with Krampus, though."
We run through the line-up again and reiterate our early
observation that GWAR are the proverbial black sheep of the Good
Things line up, a point which is not lost on Blothar as we ask if
the people of Australia are ready for the carnage.
"I don't know. They loved it last time that the band went down
there," he shrugged. "We took a swipe at Tony Abbott and everybody
got all upset - boo hoo - but I don't even know what's going on
politically in Australia now. We've been very busy… we've got our
own problems here to worry about. I think Australians are gonna
love GWAR. GWAR is a band that is funny. That's the difference. And
let me be clear about that. You go see a heavy metal band… you
don't go and see a lot of heavy metal bands where everyone you look
at is smiling. They're laughing and having a good time. They can't
believe they're seeing… they feel inspired to go and do something
creative themselves. That's what GWAR is. That is what GWAR
is."
In the full interview, Blothar talks more about the line up and
gives his thoughts on spreading so many different genres through a
festival, what has changed with GWAR since they were last out here,
battling the oppressive Australian heat, what three songs punters
should listen to if they aren't familiar with the band, where to
research the backstory and find out more about the GWAR universe,
their latest album The Return Of Gor Gor and how it was received,
reaching 40 years as a band and more.


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