In anticipation of Halloween, the band Spooktober has been haunting Athens with kooky October shows.
Vocalist and bassist Miguel Evanosky of Summers County, W. Va. came up with the name on Oct. 1, 2007 because he needed a name to put on a flyer advertising the show, but for some reason the name was left off the flyer.
I didn't like (the name) until it wasn't on the flyer and then I was offended
and I made sure it was on every flyer said guitarist and drummer Brian Rudell of Columbus. My mom really hates it; she said when she is asked what our name is she tells people 'I don't think they've picked a name yet.'
Regardless of whether they like their name, the band keeps all songs in line with its scary theme, writing about anything creepy, sad or frightening, from ghosts and death to bad relationships.
We were supposed to be a spooky concept band just for that first month of October
but then we didn't come up with any other concepts so we stuck with it
Evanosky said.
The music itself is more upbeat, with spunky rock beats and catchy hip-hop sampling blended into some tracks, often performed by the band's honorary member Jesty Beatz. The rapper is also helping mix some tracks for an album.
I played music with Jesty before I played with Miguel
Rudell said. He raps on three or four certain songs we can only play with him and then there are certain songs he joins in on at times
but we can also play those without him.
This past summer Spooktober went on their first tour of the East Coast, taking Jesty with them as they played house shows and discovered that touring does necessarily take a toll on the band members' relationships and wallets.
We didn't really lose any money until the alternator on the car blew out
Rudell said. I think it is something I would like to do again. If our band got more popular I would love to play weird places
on like old wooden ships and stuff.
One such weird place the band has played was at The Ridges last weekend, but this week will be a more normal show, as the band is playing Friday at The Union with Koufax.
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