By: Adam Grant,

Click to listen to Bad Mojo

"I think what you should know, is that we're the greatest rock n' roll band of all time - that's pretty safe to say.  I think you should come to our show, and expect to have your face rocked completely off your body - and you'll probably shit your pants."

"My family's really musical, and I used to play a tenor banjo as a little kid.  We used to go around to

Needless to say, Joel "Hooch" Parkins has an endless amount of faith and confidence in his mischievously rockin' trio, The Matadors.  Having been thought of in some circles as the godfather of horrorbilly - a form of music that mixes rockabilly, rock, blues, and horror movie imagery - Parkins has taken his band from its modest 1995 beginnings in London, Ontario bars, to rooms across the province, to a record deal.

Upon the 2006 launching of Toronto based label Stereo Dynamite Recordings, the band, "Creepin'" Jeff Sheppard (bass), Bob Carvel (drums) and Parkins found themselves signed to a deal that would not only allow the band to spread their gospel of ghoulish behaviour found within their new album Horrorbilly 9000 through a publicity team, but also through a distribution deal with EMI Music Canada.

This move meant that The Matadors no longer had to do all the work anymore, thus making life easier for Parkins, who has been working his ass off since childhood to get his musical passion accepted by wider audiences.

"My family's really musical, and I used to play a tenor banjo as a little kid.  We used to go around to folk festivals, and play.  I'd play with bluegrass guys, country guys, and I got really turned on by country and rockabilly stuff," reflects Parkins.

"Then when I was growing up and I started wanting to play with kids my own age - they were all playing Black Sabbath and I would come to jam with people and say, "do you know "Blue Jean Bop?"'  They'd say, 'no, but do you know "Paranoid?'"  So then I had to learn that first Metallica record, Kill 'Em All, so I could play with the kids - I think I was 13 or 14," he adds.

"These guys all had chicks - only old people came and saw what I was doing and that was not as cool."

 In part of what's making The Matadors' "cool" to crowds today has a lot to do with the stadium sized live performances in which they attempt to bring with them into every small club they play.  Part of this live experience includes puppets that shoot stage blood out into the audience, as well a flame shooting guitar in which Parkins operates.

 As for those feeling the heat and wearing the blood, Parkins admits to having an extremely diverse batch of rock n' roll misfits like skinheads, bikers, greasers, and regular run of the mill rock fans set out before him. 

However, this doesn't mean that everyone loves The Matadors, as they've been known to ruffle a few religious folk feathers over their involvement with the Lucifarian Brotherhood of Baphomet.  Then you have the rockabilly traditionalists that are more than just a little unappreciative of the bands' take on that particular genre of music - Parkins agrees with such critics to a point.

"We're not a rockabilly band - we get our balls busted by traditional rockabilly people all of the time," he explains.  "They say, 'you're not rockabilly.'  I especially love it when they say, 'that Hooch guy doesn't know fuck all about rockabilly.'  But I was playing rockabilly when they were listening to the Green Day records - so they can lick my balls."

For more information on The Matadors and their affiliation with the Lucifarian Brotherhood of Baphomet, please visit www.thematadors.net