Interview: Gwar singer Blöthar the Berserker on entitlement, blood, Lzzy Hale and more

For the uninitiated, a Gwar concert could be considered an otherworldly experience, appropriate for the shock rock band whose mythology includes intergalactic warriors.

With band members named Sawborg Destructo, Grodius Maximus and Bonesnapper, just to name a few, Gwar features over-the-top costumes, geysers of (fake) blood and mock executions accompanied by a heavy metal soundtrack.

Blöthar the Berserker, the band’s singer, laughed when asked how he would describe the band for the uninitiated.

“Well, everyone should go through their Gwar initiation. Gwar is a theatrical, heavy metal, science fiction, horror splatter show. It’s a very performance-oriented art project,” he said in a call Wednesday from Richmond, Virginia. “The shows are narrative, you come and you see a story acted out on stage. And the band performs heavy metal/punk-inspired music.

“And every night we’re attacked on stage by various sort of enemies of the band. And you know you’re doing things right when your band has enemies.”

Gwar brings their Age of Entitlement tour to Mr. Smalls Theatre in Millvale on Sept. 16, accompanied by Brujeria, The Native Howl and Brat.

Blöthar, whose real name is Michael Bishop and holds a doctorate in music, talked about the band’s stage show, working with Lzzy Hale of Halestorm, covering “I’m Just Ken” from the “Barbie” movie and more:

Gwar is going out on the Age of Entitlement tour, so who do you think deserves to be skewered the most for their entitlement?

Well, I mean, America is a very entitled place, let’s face it. But so far on this tour, it’s going to be loaded. There’s a lot of people to kill, a lot of political figures, a lot of entertainment figures. So without giving it away, we’re going to roll out some interesting characters and snuff them out as they deserve.

I’ve seen in the past that Joe Biden and Donald Trump were part of the show. So is that still a possibility in light of what happened here in Pennsylvania a couple months ago?

Yeah, I think Biden might have been retired from the bullpen. (laughs) Trump, he’s always fun. He’s just always fun. And there is a whole new political landscape for Gwar to pick from and to consider. Of course, we had Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu. It was a tag team wrestling match between Putin and President Xi (of China).

So you’re basically covering all the bases. There’s no stone left unturned. You’re getting both sides.

If we see a stone, we’re gonna turn it.

Do you ever worry about the band’s social commentary being outweighed by the theatrics of it? Or is it that just they go hand in hand?

Yeah, I mean, it’s all part of the same thing. And that’s what Gwar is. It’s the same thing with the music and the theatrics, right? It’s like it’s impossible to really separate them. And that’s sort of what it is. And I think that the commentary that Gwar offers is a pretty broad critique of modernity. I think people get that, and I haven’t worried about that in a long time. We’ve also gotten better at telling stories. I don’t think people are going to be watching the band and misunderstanding what we’re what we’re doing.

So what is it about Gwar that makes people want to identify with it?

I don’t know, because it’s such a weird thing. I think that actually might be the essential ingredient, I think, that people are themselves, just people that latch on to Gwar are people that this reflects their need for something original and something that’s artistic. A lot of people that like the band are people who create themselves. I’ve noticed that, and Gwar breaks the frame. Gwar is an original. It’s very original, and people recognize that it’s unlike anything else. And I think that it is certainly fun to watch it, and I think really that is another key ingredient. It’s like Gwar is fun, right? And you go watch a lot of bands, man. (laughs) Last night my wife went to see Coheed and Cambria and Incubus, and she messaged me and she’s like oh my god, this is just so (expletive) boring. And Gwar’s not boring. Gwar is entertaining, and it’s funny, and when we play, you go and see a metal show and it’s always been interesting to me that people will be smiling and laughing at a Slayer show, but at a Gwar show they’re just exuberant. People are just having the time of their lives, and I think that’s that’s what it is.

A big part of your show is the blood. So how many gallons of blood are unleashed on fans every night?

Right now if it’s our own headline show, we have recently changed this, but we used to have hundred gallon tanks, and we had three of them. Only two of them would really be in service at a time, and they would generally be just about empty (afterwards), right? So it’s more than a hundred gallons, but it’s not 300 gallons. So it’s somewhere in that ballpark. A lot of it depends if it’s a show where the audience, where there’s a lot of people to soak it up, like at a festival or something, there’s gonna be more stuff going out.

Lzzy Hale (of Halestorm) shows up on “The Cutter” video and song. How did that collaboration come about?

Well, Lzzy and I, we have the same management. So we were fans anyway of her. She’s just such a good singer and a great overall musician. And we wanted to do something. She’s just a great person. She’s got a great sense of humor and she’s warm. So that was an easy decision to make, and she really did a great job.

Are there any other female singers out there who could cut it with Gwar?

Of course. I mean, you know, Gwar needs feminine energy. (laughs) So, yeah, absolutely. Lzzy is one that it’s not so much the ability as it is the attitude, right? It’s like, she’s just got such a good way of looking at things and thinking herself. And that’s really what made that work. I think there’s such good female singers out there that would just frankly embarrass me. They’re so skilled: Jinger and Arch Enemy, lots of stuff.

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On the Gwar website, there’s a 36th anniversary edition of “Hell-O.” Do you think that is the first 36th anniversary album ever?

I don’t know. (laughs) Maybe. It’s in preparation for Gwar’s 40th, but, yeah, it’s the 36th anniversary. We’re celebrating it. I don’t know what’s the special metal that you get. They all have themes like, oh, it’s diamonds this year. It’s silver and platinum. I guess 36 is probably just mud. The record sounds like mud, so that’s perfect.

It says it’s bone china or coral, so there are a couple options for the 36th anniversary.

Bring your bone china to see Gwar. That’s all we need.

For the band merchandising and branding, is there anything that would ever be off -limits, or are there pretty much no limits?

There is no limit to how Gwar will prostitute themselves, absolutely.

When you look at the future of Gwar, what do you see?

Ah, great pain, loss. I think Gwar is going to keep doing what we do. We’re going to make music. Right now we’re working on some hilarious tunes that are brand new. We’ve got a young guitar player with lots of energy, lots of ideas. It’s perfect for us.

What prompted (your version of “I’m Just Ken”), and did it seem like a natural fit for you guys?

I think they had people that were doing “Barbie” songs or were doing movie songs or something like that when they were restarting the AV Club. And the idea of Gwar, I mean, of course Gwar had to be involved because we’re the champions of the AV Club. So we went on, and they approached us with this song as an idea, like it was their idea. We just thought about it, and we’re like, hell yeah, let’s do that. Let’s make them great. That’s what we did. It’s such a rock ‘n’ roll tune and, tell you one thing, we learned a lot about theatrical music writing just in learning the song because it’s so well done. I think that it was particularly suited to Gwar.