Kepi Ghoulie

Posted on September 2, 2010 by David Hurley
 

Kepi Ghoulie is a fantastic performer! I have seen him play live twice and he always stays in touch with his audience. Some of you may remember him from the Groovie Ghoulies, but as a solo performer, he brings the house down! This guy is awesome and when you hear his music you wanna shake, shake, shake!  Now onward to a privileged interview with Kepi!

David: Kepi, can you tell me what got you interested in making music?

 Kepi: Being a music fan from the beginning is what got me interested in making music…just loving all these bands and musicians and then there was this neighbor guy who gave lessons…so I went!

 
David: Since you are a fan of music yourself, can you tell me what some of your favorite bands are and what was the last album you bought?

 

Kepi: Wow! I have so many favorite bands! lately I have been listening to and loving Kevin Seconds, Andrew Jackson Jihad, the Copyrights, the Thermals, and then old-school wise there has been a lot of Joe Strummer, Neil Young and Nick Cave of late! and Mountain Goats….and Neko Case…and…recent records I have bought: some deep catalog Neil Young for Sean (AJJ), some Tom Petty for birthday presents (you can’t lose with Tom Petty), a new copy of Joe Strummer Streetcore (I gave mine away), a re-issue of the first Sigue Sigue Sputnik!!!

David: Cool! thanks Kepi…I’m gonna get a little more interesting with the next question: ” If there was a motion picture made about your life, who would you have play you as the main character!”

Kepi: Well for the movie, i would pick George Clooney! 🙂
I asked my facebook friends, and my favorite responses were Pee Wee Herman and Steve Buscemi!

David: Those were my favorite responses too! I do know that you do artwork also, can you tell me what inspires you to create?

Kepi: I don’t usually do all my artwork for the records/CDs…in fact I have only done 3 or 4 of my own record covers ever! I have many talented artist friends who I love! They interpret my crazy ideas and doodles…But I do acrylic art, usually monsters and things, that I put in art shows and galleries and they do O.K.!

David: Illegal downloading has caused the music industry to suffer and shows no sign of stopping, since there is less money to be made, has the music finally become more important than the money? In other words, do you feel there is an upside to this situation?”

Kepi: there’s no upside to people not buying your music….

David: I totally agree! And one last question “what’s you favorite comic strip/ cartoon?

Kepi: I really like the Simpsons a LOT! and old Disney movies, and Batman animated…!

David: I am such a fan of the Simpsons! It’s unbelievable the longevity and impact the Simpsons have had!

Thank you so much Kepi for taking the time to answers questions! I have seen you play live and you have  great interaction with your audience!

Check out Kepi Ghoulie on Myspace and Facebook. He stays in touch with his fans like no other performer I know!

photo by Josh Cusuccio courtesy of Kepi Ghoulie

 copyright David Hurley 2010

 

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Blogging with Vincent:

Posted on August 26, 2010 by David Hurley

I’m 14 years old and just starting high school.  Of course it sucks, but I have some great friends who get me through. Sometimes (ok, a lot of the time) they get me into trouble, but they’re always there to help me get out of it again.

 I live in a little town called Flowerville, a little known suburb of Paducah.

 Me and my best friend “duck” (a ‘domesticated’ Pekin I’ve raised since he was an egg) LOVE to take pictures.  I keep a spycam in his pilot hat and let him wander around town to try to capture the candid, secret side of Flowerville.  Most of our neighbors call it “invasion of privacy” or “criminal”, but we call it Art.

 When it comes to music, I’m a slave to the groove! Gotta love anything Sinatra did during the capitol years, Dick Dale and the Del-Tones, and the Legendary Pink Dots. But, to be perfectly honest, nothing swings mah groove strings like shaking my booty to some DURAN DURAN!

 My first appearance was in Bazooka Magazine. Love that woman!!!

 I can’t wait for Pee Wee Herman to have a come back!

 My favorite quote is, “that ain’t never no good”.  Yeah, whatever!

And there’s a nice blog about me and “Don’t Pick The Flowers” on ilistpaducah, have a look:

http://www.ilistpaducah.com/iblog/david_hurley_debuts_dont_pick_the_flowers/

copyright David Hurley 2010

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Tommy Habit: Teenage Rehab

Posted on August 19, 2010 by David Hurley
Teenage Rehab

Tommy Habit is the bass player of Teenage Rehab. Teenage Rehab have 3 full length albums, a 5 song EP, a 4 song 7” single and have traveled coast to coast pumping out Punk Rock in a frenzy. Thomas has started a Screen printing business and I was lucky enough to catch up with him during his busy schedule to ask a few questions.

David: Thomas I know you’ve been all over the United States with Teenage Rehab. What’s been happening with you guys?

Tommy: “We are starting to put a new album together. We’ve been playing on the new Queers album at Loud and Clear Studios. I played 3 songs on bass, Alex did all the drums, and Danny got to play Guitar on 1 track. And August 30th, 2010 we are going to be on Rob Dyrdek Fantasy Factory on MTV”.

David: Tell me what bands you are into on the Punk Rock scene.

Tommy: “Right now I’m listening to The Spears, Flat Stanley, and No Loves. It’s the whole Florida scene which we seem to be doing really good in.”

David: I also know that you have started your own Screen Printing Business. Can you tell me about it?

Tommy: “It’s a small business which I started and do stuff mostly for Bands. It’s just me, one guy right now, and it’s called Rock Steady Screen Printing”.

David: What prompted you to go into business for yourself?

Tommy: “I worked 10 years for a Screen Printing shop and decided to go on my own. I wanted the freedom to work for myself and not the man. I wanted the freedom to play my music and go on tour when I wanted. That’s why it’s on my terms and I can choose when to do it. And that’s why it’s bands that I do stuff for”.

David: I gotta ask you, what’s your favorite comic strip?

Thomas: I would have to say “The Farside”. I always loved that! I know it’s a one panel strip but it always cracked me up!

David: Me too! Gary Larson is a Genius!

Well Thomas, it is always cool to see you and I can’t wait to hear the new album. And good luck with Rock Steady Printing. Check out Teenage Rehabs website:
www.teenage-rehab.com Teenage rehab are also on Facebook, so check them out there too!

copyright David Hurley 2010

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Nikki May

Posted on August 12, 2010 by David Hurley

Nikki May: social butterfly, coffee addict, and the unofficial Queen of Lowertown. She also happens to be one of hell of a great artist, a super savvy business woman, and an inspiration to poor, starving artists like myself.  Nikki is a partner and the creative side of iList Paducah. She is an artist, designer, and illustrator. Her art can be seen at nikkimay.com. Some of Nikki’s art is available at nikkidmay.etsy.com

David: Nikki, I’ve known you a couple of years now. I worked for you at iList Paducah for a short while. I remember your enthusiasm and great talent as a business owner and artist. Can you tell me about iList and how you started it?

Nikki: Mary Thorsby, the World’s Best Business Partner, and I started it together 3 ½ years ago. Mary had the original idea for doing an online event calendar and came to me because she knew I had the web design skills and we developed it together.

David: I love your work as an artist. Can you tell me about your work and what medium(s) you work in? And what’s your favorite to work in?

Nikki: Thanks Dave! I work in lots of different media, but my favorite thing to work with in the past few years is encaustic. Encaustic is pigmented beeswax mixed with resin and you melt it to paint with it. It’s an amazing material that allows me to combine so many different things that I like to do: drawing, painting, collage… I also draw in pen and ink constantly.

David: You live in Paducah, Kentucky, in the LowerTown Arts District. How did you find out about it and why did you choose to live and move here?

Nikki: I was living in Atlanta and working for IBM as a Creative Director. It was a great job, but I wasn’t doing any art. I wanted to leave my job and work for myself and have more time to do my art. I knew that I couldn’t afford to live in Atlanta and not have that kind of job, so I was looking for a place to move to. I did a google search for “small town art” and I found an article about the Artist Relocation Program in Art Calendar magazine. It sounded like just what I was looking for and so I came for a weekend visit. I made an offer on a house that first weekend!

 David: You have excellent training. Where did you go to college and what was your course of study?

Nikki: My education is all in fine art. I studied drawing and painting University of Georgia and went to grad school at Savannah College of Art and Design, where I studied fiber art. I also spent 6 months studying art in Italy while I was at UGA. All of my computer, web development and graphic design skills are self-taught. I continue to learn on my own by reading design and web development blogs.

David: For anyone who wants to start their own business, especially those using the world wide web and social networks, what advice can you give?

Nikki: Actually, we have a great local resource for people who want to start their own business – EntrePaducah (www.entrepaducah.com). Check out their website and give Terry Reeves a call. There is also more information online than you could possibly want… reading blogs written by superstars in the art and design world is a great way to keep up on what’s going on out there.

Thank you Nikki! You are always so much fun to be around, especially with your snappy remarks, for those of us who know you.  Your art is fabulous. Check out nikkimay.com

copyright David Hurley 2010

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Bella Bazooka (part 2)

Posted on August 6, 2010 by David Hurley

For those of you who didn’t catch the June 2010 Issue of Bazooka Magazine, here’s the cartoon that was published.

click on image to enlarge

It was great interviewing you yesterday Bella! Come check out the Bazooka website @: www.bazookamagazine.com

copyright David Hurley 2010

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