Papa Shango- A circus rock act with mayhem and madness guaranteed to leave jaws dropped.
Interview conducted February 21, 2021
By Dan Locke
Papa Shango Were formed November 2003 by Papa Rob, who wanted to re-define the boundaries of performance music, wanting to entertain and seduce audiences as well as win them over with hard rockin. In order to do so, the right musicians had to be found. After a few trial and error sessions the right musicians were indeed discovered, each individual musician possessing a wealth of creativity, talent and experience. But what does the future hold?
With the deviant mind of Papa Rob, who knows!
What is your upbringing?
Most of our upbringings are suburban middle class. My mother is Spanish.
How did you discover music?
It all goes back to Queen I was obsessed with Freddie Mercury. I used to make my friends mime to their songs with tennis rackets in the back garden and we would perform to our parents. I was 32 at the time.
How did you start to write music?
My skill is finding others to write music, then I add anything I want to it. I tried learning the guitar but my patience ran thin because I wanted to be better than anyone else with little effort. I switched to being at the front because I am more important than the others in the band.
Tell me about your beginning into live music with Dark Entity and Fruit Tree?
It was a learning curve and a beautiful scene before the internet came and trampled over everything musical. We supported Napalm Death around Europe and played in dirty, crowded places, rammed with people who couldn’t find girlfriends but shared a love of heavy metal.
You are a circus rock act with mayham and madness guaranteed to leave jaws dropped. How did Papa Shango start?
In every band I’ve been in, I’ve always tried to creep in a sense of the ridiculous it has been a continued creep until I found the right people. In fact, it’s only until very recently we have the best team we’ve ever had, which will be perfect timing for our next album which will be epic.
How did your band gets it name?
I won an international rock contest with my previous band called “Gorilla Monsoon”. We split up as they didn’t want to commit to playing live. Next band, I gave my new musicians the choice of being called “Giant Gonzales” or “Papa Shango”. Wrestling has great names.
Any trouble using the name Papa Shango because of the WWE?
Charles Wright has made contact with us through the girls and I quote, said “I’m fine with it”. Am hoping Vince Mcmahon (the owner of WWE) is too old to care by the time we promote our monster hit “Risk Assessment”
Describe your music.
Repetitive riffs and beats collide head-on with juvenile lyrics and childish themes to make a delicious (but slightly lumpy) musical stew………….or a tasty rock omelet.
What was your first performance at like?
Our first performances were a couple of secret shows in Berlin in 2002, we wanted to get a feel for our own idiocy in private before taking it to the wider world. I think I have everything I want now…a lead female singer alongside me (Mama Karen), a flutist, and some beautiful girls (Dale, Ryan, Barry, and Steve).
You band reminds me of Green Jello/Jelly. Had you had the chance to share the stage with them?
Not exactly, but we plow the same furrow. They’re connected to Gwar, so you can see how our two paths may have crossed. When they do their 40th Anniversary tour for Three Little Pigs, we’ll probably gig with them.
What makes a good songwriter?
Access to high quality stationary. The very best songwriters will have a calligraphy pen or sometimes even a typewriter.
What is the process of writing your music?
I will ask the guitarists to send me riffs. (Not the bass player of course). Then if I like them I will start writing. I’ll start with the one I like best and work through the list. If I don’t like the one I won’t write anything, hope they don’t ask about it and forget about it. Avoids any middle-class awkwardness.
Do you belong to any to songwriters’ organizations like the International singer-songwriter association, SESAC, BMI or ASCAP?
Papa Steve probably does. Papa Ryan has is a member of the RSPCA and Papa Rob is part of a role-playing club he attends every Monday night.
What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?
It was so long ago, but the first song I remember getting a reaction to from the rest of the band was called “Love Sponge”. We recorded it on our first album “Farmers of Destruction”
Tell me about your latest album “Manservant”?
It’s an amalgamation of styles and influences that our troupe have managed to cobble together, while Papa Rob keeps replacing members with animatronic replicas. There’s a little bit of harder rock in there, and some lightness that will touch the soul. It’s been a little while in the making, but will be worth it!
What is your favorite track on the album?
This is like saying what is your favorite sandwich filling. It depends on the flavor of the day. Do you go for jam or some cheese and pickle? But then you also need to think about the bread. A simple farmhouse loaf can make great doorstep sandwiches. You definitely don’t want to use any thinly sliced bread.
How do you stay healthy while performing?
Papa Rob has a personal trainer that chases him around the local park and makes him jump over logs in slow motion. The Papettes do Pilates, a daily Joe Wicks workout, and smoke cigarettes. The rest of the band are less health-conscious, but we work by the ethos that if a band member gets broken we just replace them. It is cheaper to buy new rather than trying to maintain old.
What are you’re feeling about streaming music?
We won’t be releasing our next album on Spotify…I have a plan….
Digital vs. vinyl?
I personally CANNOT ABIDE digital music and listen to it on phones and Bluetooth etc. What’s all that about? In fact, I am spending this Sunday organizing my CD drawer.
What song from the past is in your mind right now? Moreover, what is the meaning that song means to you?
Right now the band is thinking of Hangar 18 from Rust in Peace. It is the only album I will let the band listen to. When we hear it we think about how to cross Papa Rob gets if he catches any of us listening to any other album.
Both (Pfizer and BioNTech) and Moderna have conclude Phase 3 Study of the Coronavirus vaccine. With the both vaccine, it takes two shots. How many people do you think will take it and how many will forget to take the second shot?
To make things a bit more complex, There is talk that people could either mix the manufactures of the vaccines or in the case of Moderna studies have show you could take a half doses for the first shot and still be alright for the second vaccine. Do you feel that this is right?
We think it will probably be around 82% of the population, is this a maths or science question? Why do you say Math and not Maths in America. It makes me itchy. We’ve been told that over 40’s will all be vaccinated in the UK by the end of March 2021. This is great news for Dale (46) our guitarist but the rest of us are all mid-20’s. Hopefully, it will open up live music again.
How long before the whole world will be vaccinated against the virus. You have to remember there only has to be a 70% for Herd immunity (Herd immunity occurs when a large portion of a community (the herd) becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. As a result, the whole community becomes protected — not just those who are immune.)
I don’t know this answer. I feel unqualified, however from what I read I think it will be around forever and people may start to think of it more akin to the common cold.
If “Video Killed the Radio Star” do you think that the Covid-19 virus has killed live music?
The internet killed live music a long time ago.
Do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?
Nope, it’s already dead and will remain so. Unless you’re a name band of has a big label behind you. No-one gets excited anymore about going out and checking a new band. Which is why we do what we do.
What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?
Contacting people so we can do interviews like this. Tidying the house before my wife gets back from work.
Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies?
Making Wicker baskets, and a little bit of carpentry. Obviously, you need to build a shelf to put the baskets on.
95% of people said that they have changed the way they watch television. This includes people who don’t have television and using their computers to do streaming of programs and movies. Which is your favorite streaming channel?
At the moment Netflix holds the sway, with the Pappettes devouring every series. Papa Rob keeps watching ‘Space Buddies’ over and over again on Disney+.
Many artists are doing nightly concerts over either YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. In October that is going to change at least on Facebook. Facebook is cracking down on livestreamed shows that include recorded music with new terms of service, preventing artists from using the platform for “commercial or non-personal” purposes, unless they have obtained the relevant licenses.
The updated music guidelines state that users “may not use videos on our products [which include Instagram] to create a music listening experience […] This will includes [Facebook] Live,” and stipulates that such content should be posted for the enjoyment of friends and family only.
How do you think this will change the landscape of Facebook?
There will probably be a middle ground where there’s a free license if you’re only playing your own songs. Or we’ll all just have to become friends, so it counts.
How can bands keep their fans if they cannot play live in front of the fans and sell merchandise to them at the show?
It will be all Social Media, and possibly one of those planes that flies past with a banner behind it.
Is pay to play still a thing? Now pay to play also means thinks like playlist on the internet and opening slots for a major band on tour.
It will always be a thing, while there are people who are willing to make money off people who are just trying to get off the ground.
What about Holographic concerts in our living room?
Yes Please
Governments around the world are hearing the call of thousands of music creators and included protections for the music community in the omnibus bill. In addition to extended and improved unemployment benefits and small business loans for freelance creators, the package includes several bills which the Recording Academy, its members, and the larger music community advocated for. From the Save Our Stages Act, provided a lifeline to performance venues and promoters, to the CASE Act, which creates an avenue for smaller creators to defend their copyrighted works, Congress has ensured that both music creators and those who act behind the scenes to bring music to life are given the support they need during this difficult time.” .”
What is the UK doing to help the industry?
There are some grants and funding available, but for many small up and coming artists there isn’t anything. You just have to keep plugging away in obscurity.
In the past if a musician stop doing music they find a new career. For example David Lee Roth from Van Halen became a a licensed EMT in NY for 6 years, San Spitz (guitarist for Anthrax) became a master watchmaker, Dee Snider (Twister Sister) voice over work for SpongeBob SquarePants.. If you can’t do music what would you like to be doing?
Don’t forget Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine who became a milkman from 2008 to 2011. If we couldn’t do music Papa Ryan and Mama Karen would work in Education, Papa Barry would work in IT, Papa Dale would work at a spooky old hotel, Papa Steve in an internet cafe and Papa Rob would probably learn to become a driving instructor. These are our dream jobs.
What is your happy place?
I have a small nook I can nap in. It’s just under the stairs, and my dog keeps trying to get in there first.
Danny Wimmer Presents just announced their 2021 Festival Calendar: Which includes the following live shows:
DWP Partners With Inkcarceration Music & Tattoo Festival For July 23-25 Event In Mansfield, OH
Louder Than Life Set For September 23-26 With Newly Added Thursday Night Celebration In Louisville, KY
Welcome To Rockville Expands To 4 Days And Shifts From Spring To November 11-14 In Daytona Beach, FL
Aftershock Set For October 7-10 In Sacramento, CA, Almost Sold Out
Would you be willing to play these shows and what precautions would you like to have in place?
We would absolutely be willing to play these shows. If they are near the water we would make sure we wore arm bands and we would put a rubber ring under Papa Barry’s drum kit.
Spotify just deleted 750,000 songs, mostly from independent artists. Was your saved?
Ours were saved from the grand cull. Mostly because they forgot to do it.
Anything you would like to say in closing.
Yes if anyone reading this far likes our Facebook page, they will have sex one day maybe. With a consenting adult or partner in a loving relationship. Give our page alike. We want to come to America and see the buildings.
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