Sceneazine.com
Chainsaw Masscara,
A Rock Uprising of Fiery, Killer Style
Story: Alyce-Hannah Golderer
Photos: Elizabeth “Lizzie Borden” Ghrist
“There’s a legend around here. A killer buried,
but not dead…”
~ Friday the 13th, the movie
Ask anybody in Augusta, Ga., which band puts on
the most… interesting show? That might be the conservative, ordinary person’s word describing who won Lokal Loudness’ 2014 Science Friction Award for Favorite
New Artist. It definitely does NOT describe the visually-enticing consummation of hard-rockin’ music and
performance art that makes up their shows. The answer
fails to even mention the
embodiment of horror
movie ambiance that
is vital to the unbelievable-until-you-see-them
band, Chainsaw Masscara. And in only a couple of years, they are
legendary in the city of
Augusta.
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Headed up by admitted Hell Barbie lead
singer Claire Storm,
Chainsaw puts on a
show, a true dramatic
event, which rivals any
rock theater production seen in bigger cities
across the nation. Storm
said of the group’s unforgettable style, “You
have to hear it to really
understand it… it’s a total experience!”
And, “total experience” means they enable audiences to escape
their reality, starting with a collage of shock rock-style
fashions, which mold horror movie icons, like Jason
Voorhees from Friday the 13th, with other movie fetishes, such as the Stormtrooper clones of science-fiction
movie series, Star Wars. Then, re-enacted scenes from
such classics as 70’s cult favorite, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, are ground in with the mortar and pestle of
Storm’s voice as she plays Frankenfurter.
Added to all that are the terrifyingly great skills of
the other band members: Pablo Bravo, the musical director and drummer for the group; Brint Lollar, who is
lead guitarist and the spitting-image voice of Brad;
and the newest rock-scare
member, bassist and mystery to many, Ghost.
To be sure the band
has a well-rounded membership, there are also
some very lovely, lady
backup dancers, the wickedly-charming Chainsaw
Girls. Accessories to the
act, which cannot be forgotten even if one wanted
to, are the special effects
executed during performances.
Fire-breathing, up
close and very personal, ensures no one in the
audience is going to sleep
before it’s over. And the
abundance of blood flowing freely from Storm’s
mouth, while she sings
and the band plays a Kiss
cover, is so well-done it
would make Gene Simmons proud. The result
is an interactive, fully-engaging encounter with
rock music-theater at its darkest and most divine.
The original idea for Chainsaw Masscara’s unique
mode of musical expression grew partly out of Storm’s
feelings about shows she was seeing a few years ago. She
thought rock shows’ looks had become predictable and
somewhat stale. To her, there were no real “performances.” She indicated being somewhat frustrated back then,
seeing every member of every band whose show she
went to wearing what she referred to as the rock band
uniform of jeans and a t-shirt.
Powerfully-gifted drummer Bravo, said he spotted
the dramatic, visually-striking Storm for the first time
a couple or more years ago, and immediately thought,
“She’d make an awesome front-person! Wonder if she
does rock?”
The two became friends and the concept of a band
whose music and look are described as, “Kiss meets
Marilyn Manson and hooks up with Lady Gaga,” was
born.
Storm wanted to make an impression on the music scene in Augusta when she and Bravo first talked
about getting a group together. The impression Chainsaw makes surely rivals the excitement of the best science-fiction and horror movie scenes welded together,
with melting rock ‘n roll over the fire as solder.
Storm’s idea was to put the “performance” back into
rock shows. She wanted to create a setting and environment when they played that would essentially assail the
senses in the most pleasantly shocking ways.
Chainsaw Masscara isn’t only about the shock and
awe value of its performances. The regents of outrageousness are utterly committed to giving their audiences outstanding playing and singing to listen to, as
well as watch. Bravo stressed the emphasis of the band
is on the importance of the “musical” part of their act
being as high a quality as they can possibly offer.
Storm said they try to play once a month, as that’s
how any band has to merchandise itself, by being seen
and remembered. This isn’t too much of a problem for
Chainsaw, tho Y