Chicago's Creepiest Band Prepares For All Hallows Eve
By Katie Karpowicz in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 24, 2013 9:20PM
It's the season for all things eerie and, despite the fact that they're making music year-round, Chicago's Creepy Band has never sounded more right. After nearly three years together, the band's horror-movie-inspired rock 'n roll songs aerated with haunting church organ sounds provide a Halloween party soundtrack preferable to a "spooky" sound effects CDs. In fact, they're actually a fun listen in any setting.
How does the band keep up its creepy demeanor year-round? And how excited do they get for Halloween to come 'round again each year? Keyboardist Sam Huff talked to Chicagoist about the band's plans for the creepiest night of the year.
CHICAGOIST: How long has Creepy Band been together?
SAM HUFF: This is going to be our fourth Halloween show, so three years total because our first show ever was Halloween, 2010. We started the band because we were throwing this big Halloween party and a few of us were like, "Let's do this creepy band where we play creepy music!" It was supposed to be a one-time deal but it ended up being so much fun that we're still doing it.
C: Where do you draw your inspiration from when you're writing songs? The horror genre?
SAM HUFF: Yeah, definitely. Being creepy is our goal. It's very simply stated in the name. As far as influence goes, we all listen to different types of music so as the band has become more cohesive there are a lot of different influences going on from punk rock to classic rock and roll to creepy-esque bands like Black Sabbath. We try to put that all together and say, okay, how can we make this creepy?
C: Do you guys find that you do more writing this time of year with all the spooky things going on?
SAM HUFF: Yeah, I would say it definitely gets the creative juices flowing. We take a lot of influence from horror movies and the theatrical stuff. We even based one song ["Damn The Old Man"] off the soundtrack to The Omen—taking a riff from it and expanding on it. It's October. Everyone's watching scary movies so it gets the gears turning.
C: So what's your favorite horror movie?
SAM HUFF: For me, it's The Shining. It's kind of cliché but it's just so good and the soundtrack is just amazingly eerie and ominous.
C: I'm curious; do you find that it's harder to get people into your music at different times of the year like Christmas or springtime?
SAM HUFF: [laughs] The fan base year-round is pretty good. We do get a lot of attention this time of year so that's why we try to tour on weekends in October. We always like to put on a good live show and since our songs aren't just goofy soundtrack stuff, I think the general rock and roll feel can move us a long though the entire year. As far as booking goes, it's put up a few roadblocks for us because we don't really fit in any one genre.
C: Tell me about your Halloween Show at Township this year? You said you like to go all out with those shows, so what's going to make it special?
SAM HUFF: We take our theatrics to the nines. We have some skits we like to do and a set design we spend a lot of time with. There are also some things I'd like to remain a surprise.
C: Sounds like a fun time! Anything else cool coming up for Creepy Band?
SAM HUFF: We just finished recording another album and got that all mixed and mastered. It's called The Curse of the Cloak II: Carnival of The Damned. There's more creepy carnival music in this one.
Creepy Band plays Township on Halloween night along with Killer Moon and Edgar Allen Ectoplasm. Tickets are $8 in advance or $5 at the door with a costume.