Next year is the 25th anniversarry of the Gruesomes! What's your secret?

We always did what we liked and never conformed to trends. When we did our first recordings we were an actual teenage garage band. All of us were between the ages of 17 and 19. That energy got captured forever at the right time. We are always also really strict in keeping with the sound and style.

What will the next quarter century bring for the Gruesomes?

As long as we enjoy it, we'll be playing once in a while. If we're not playing in the Gruesomes we will make our own records.

Would you like to give us a brief history of the band, for the young Garage freaks that weren't there?

Band got together in 1985, in Montreal. We were friends who were really into the 60's garage bands and thought we can do that too, so we got guitars and Beatle boots. We started jamming in John Davis's basement then hit the clubs and bars. It took a while to get tighter and louder. I think a band is not a band till they go on tour. We really changed and separated ourselves from the others by touring Canada lots. When we came back from the tours we blew people away. We recorded our first album "Tyrants of Teen Trash" in 1986.

Having played in the 80s, 90s and 00s, do you think that each decade was different? Which decade do you prefer?

The 80's, rock bands and music mattered and there was a music scene. There was no DVD's, XBox, computers, Internet. Too many distractions now. Back then, there was just 2 channels on TV, guitars, record players and vinyls, that's it. The 90's was for DJ's. The music industry has gotten a little weird lately, I don't really know where things are heading exactly. Guess you just do what you gotta do.

Going back to the old days, how did you get signed to OG records? Were you fans of Deja Voodoo?

We were fans and went to their shows. They saw us play and recorded our first tracks for the "It Came from Canada" punk compilations in 1986 in John's basement.

What were you listening to back then?

60's stuff, garage punk and pop. Everything from the "Back from the Grave", Pebbles, Nuggets comps, Count Five, Standels, Seeds, Chocolate Watchband, British R&B, Psychedelic, Pretty Things, Stones and many more. Also the 80's garage such as the Fuzztones, Lyres, Chesterfield Kings.

Do you remember the first Gruesomes gig?

Yeah, we played the Station 10 in Montreal, I was a bit nervous cause this older guy in the crowd said we were gonna be the next Rolling Stones.

The Gruesomes are considered one of the best and most important Garage Punk bands. At what point did you start thinking that the Gruesomes were a bit special, and did you expect the reaction from the audience and the fanzines?

We always thought and had the attitude that we were great. It's nice to be considered legends, that took a long time to happen, we didn't think of that, we just did what we wanted. It's kinda cool to be seen as such now.

If you had a time machine, would you set the date for 1985 or 1965?

I would set it to 1960, go see all the bands and join one of them.

Tell us about the first European tour of the Gruesomes that never happened. When did you manage to finally get to Europe and what was the reaction?

It took us forever to go to Europe, nobody had the interest or the money for it. We finally went in 2001 and toured Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy. It went very well cause we had lots of experience playing together and had just recorded a new cd "Cave-In" in 2000. The reception was great, some real garage fans there. In Italy they had us sign a whole bunch of records and fanzines and stuff.

Of all the classic 80s Garage bands you've played with, which were your favourites? Do you have any crazy stories?

My favorite all time show was in Quebec City playing with the Fuzztones. Rudy was great and they sounded amazing. John and I watched them from the second floor balcony.

In the 80s when most people were in a heavy metal or electropop craze and using pointy guitars and racks and synths, it must have been a paradise for buying cheap vintage guitars that now go for thousands. Is that true and how did you source your vintage instruments and clothes back then?

We would find some vintage guitars like Vox Phantoms from friends and references. There was no real source for that really. As far as clothes, we'd just go to the shops and get what we could find that looked cool. I think there were more guitar underground bands in the 80's than 90's. I used to crave a vox amp, they were very hard to find and fragile. Now they make them more solid and way more easily available. Everything is getting re issued and easily available on the net.

The 90s were a bit quiet for the Gruesomes. What happened and what did you do when not playing?

When we first stopped in the early 90's nobody cared about guitar music anymore. We were one of the only remaining 80's garage bands still playing and we did it till there was just no more interest really. That whole Techno club dance Disco thing took over in the 90's. We had to stop playing early and get off the stage so the DJ's can start and the club dancers come out. We just eventually played on our own, or in different bands. I made a ton of demos and jammed a lot with friends.

When and why did you choose to reform?

There was a new interest in our music and the guitar sound. We got back together in 1999 and planned to record a new cd for 2000 and tour around to promote it. We grew up and had played together for so long that it was easy to do it again.

Your return in late 90's coincided with a great surge of interest in Garage Punk, thanks to the release of the Nuggets box set, with festivals like Cavestomp and Little Steven championing Garage Punk. The Gruesomes by this time were veterans, how did you see this renewed interest in Garage? What was the peoples reaction to the Gruesomes?

They were suprised at how young we still looked, they thought we would be these old geazers in our 60's. They couldn't even believe we were the original Gruesomes. They kept asking me if I was really in the band back then and I would have to tell them we all were. We were really young when we first started in 1985 so by the time we got back together in 1999 we were only in our early 30's.

Your records were fetching big bucks, so you decided to re-release them in CD on your own label. Tell us about Ricochet Sound.

Raye is a great fan of the music we like and our stuff too. He used to have his own record store in Montreal.

Are you planning to reissue your records in vinyl for us analogue freaks?

Our first single "Jack the Ripper" is coming out on vinyl in Greece on Fuzz Overdose records.

What do you think of the Garage scene these days? Which bands are you listening to?

I like a lot of different stuff, mainly psychedelic rock, especially the british stuff. There seems to be different types of garage out there. Some of it more commercial.

Do you think that now with Myspace, MP3s and cheap recording gear, it's easy for new bands? Were the old days of paper fanzines, tape demos and vinyl more romantic? Would you trade all that to have this kind of convenience back in the day?

There is good and bad with both. There was certainly more passion for the music and the scene back then. Now there is so much going on. I think it's great how easy it is to make records now and promote yourself on the Internet.

What about the Gerry Alvarez Odyssey. What the deal with your own project and are you planning another record?

We are recording a new cd right now of psychedelic rock to be released in 2010. It's going great and sounds real good, hopefully we'll do some more shows. My producer is Flavio Monopoli and he is a real pro, and also the drummer. We've played over 20 shows in Toronto, London and Montreal in the last 3 years. Timothy Gassen of the Marshmallow Overcoat and Knights of Fuzz came to see us.

Tell us about Fuad & The Feztones.

Bob and John's band play once in a while in Montreal and have a cd called Beeramid out. They've got a great early 60's frat R&B sound, very authentic.

What's next for the Gruesomes? A new record maybe?

We are playing five shows in Spain, late July early Aug of 2010. It's been a long time coming.

Finally, would you do it all again?

Sure, maybe even a little better with the experience of the first time around.