-THE LIVE NOT ON EVIL INTERVIEW-
Interview with Rob Windfelder, Norm Alger, and John Begley
NFT: When and how did Live Not On Evil come into existence?
ROB: I guess it was about six years ago on my birthday. I was out with a bunch of my friends and I had gone about six months without being in a band which is a record for me... I have always been in bands since high-school. Anyway I was talking to my buddy, Eric Dead, and I was telling him I had some songs written for a new band and I was dreading the search for members and what-not and he said that he was in the same boat so we made a pact that night to be in each other's band and get something going. John Begley is a good friend I met through my wife Stefanie and he was totally up for it . We kept the two bands going until they were both established and Eric and I both respectfully bowed out of each other's band to focus our complete attention on our own thing. That is where Norm Alger came in and he is a perfect fit for Live Not On Evil. The most recent addition is Eric Sauls on drums and we could not have found a stronger player for that spot. Eric Dead and I are still really good friends and we always will be. I will always remember that birthday and the pact that became my favorite musical adventure.
NFT: How would you describe Live Not On Evil?
ROB: I think other people describe it better than we do. Lots of times we use quotes from your reviews, actually. We have always used the phrase "it is like a train wreck wearing a bikini". We like it dark and creepy but it has to rock hard. We like it pretty at times but it still has to be ugly underneath. You can't have all fluff and no guts or it just does not do it. We try to mix the beautiful with the ugly in every song instead of having some songs that are pretty and some songs that push you up against the wall and take your lunch money. We want to mug you and still have you whistling our tune the next day.
NORM: Rob's right, there is an "assault" quality to what we do as a band. I believe Rob has a unique ability to uncover, unearth and unmask the beauty of ugliness in his lyrics. I believe we connect with that as a group too because, let's face it, we ain't pretty.
ROB: See I told you that you were better at describing it than we were.
NFT: Most gothic punk bands get likened to the Misfits straight away, mostly because they sound like a Misfits-clone band, but you guys don't - was that an intentional thing?
ROB: Kind of. We like the Misfits as much as the next guy but a lot of their songs are very blues based if you know what I mean. For the most part they are really cool songs based on traditional progressions. We try to stay away from traditional progressions in general, so I guess it is intentional in that way. We are trying to create something that is ours, we like to throw in some surprises. If you are going to write songs that people like right away because it is already familiar to them you may as well be playing "Sweet Home Alabama" at the corner bar... it pays better.
NORM: I don't get a gothic punk feeling from our band. I come from a different background altogether. I was into a lot of lesser-known Metal when I was first starting to play. Bands like Metal Church and Sabotage as well as some old school hard rockers like Nazareth and Deep Purple. I drew from the roots of Metal and in College I was turned-on to a great deal of underground like Husker Du, The Minutemen and Social Distortion. This has always made for a hybrid approach to writing and playing for me.
NFT: There are more dark/horror punk rock bands around now than ever - why do you think that is?
ROB: I think there are two reasons. The 90's were really stripped down. There was nothing showy about it. I really liked Nirvana but I got really tired of Kurt's green sweater. The whole grunge phase, which was really necessary at the time, totally took a lot of the more theatrical aspect out of music when all it really needed to get rid of was the 80's hair metal bands. I think people feel free again to add more to their presentation without being looked down on for doing so. And the other factor involved is the fact that the "gothic" scene has, over time, left it's roots and become something that revolves around dance music and that is just not for everyone. Some people, like myself, just can't stand the four-on-the-floor "international white guy dance beat" or also, like myself, they just can't dance. The horror scene started out way back with some really great rock bands and I am not quite sure just how it evolved almost exclusively into dance music, but the old genes are coming to the surface and the de-evolution is definitely something that I am happy about.
NORM: If you look at what Rock has become, it's just disheartening. I don't want to name names, but recycling fashion and rehashing old riffs into sample-loops and so forth is drivel and regurgitation. Revolution (and de-evolution as Rob said) has always been incited by the lesser-knowns, the outcasts and those who emerged from the shadows. Bands these days in this genre recognize the need to be different, to stand apart and do so with only a few common threads.
ROB: It's good.
NFT: Is it really true that you got the money to record "Lucky Stiff" from a slot machine?
ROB: Absolutely true. Stefanie and I went to Atlantic City for the night to celebrate our anniversary and I ran myself near broke, but in the morning before we left I had an incredible run and left town with enough money to book the sessions. That was the inspiration for the title.
BEGLEY: I never heard this story in my life and I am still wondering where that envelope from the bank went that I lost.
NFT: You have self-released two full length CDs - do you have any intentions of getting material out on any labels?
ROB: Our e-mail address is
Evilnet@aol.com. We are going to continue writing and recording music if anyone wants to be involved as a label or can help with distribution that is how you can reach us. We would love to find a label that fits but in the meantime we are not going to pause the process.
NFT: Why is the gothic element important to you? It's clearly visible through your music and artwork but how do you incorporate that into your shows?
ROB: That element has been important to me long before it had a name and way before I started playing music. I was always fascinated with things that were up that alley. I was always watching the "creature double feature", building monsters in the basement, writing book-reports for school about Edgar Allen Poe. That has always been a really big influence on me personally. My oldest brother Tom is an incredible classical musician who was making his own horror films with a super-8 home movie camera before I was born. It is just a very natural mixture for me; it is two things that I really love. When we play live we try to make it more than just four guys playing music. We incorporate film and lighting and whatnot to give you something more to look at. We have played some shows behind a semi transparent curtain with projection. Our buddy Jon Stark, a brilliant photographer, (who now lives in your hometown) used to help us out with a lot of the visuals. Now with Norm in the band we are a lot more self reliant. Norm is very crafty visually as well as musically.
NORM: Rob and I have been friends for years and one thing we have always had in common is a fascination with what lurks in the shadows. We wrote "Ghost In The Woods" together and the story behind the song is a tie that binds us as friends because it was an experience Rob had on common and hallowed ground that we frequent. There was something about the riff that intrigued us both, but when Rob brought the true-to-life character to the music, it really blew me away.
ROB: Begley grew up across the street from the graveyard and I think it ruined him for life.
NFT: What do you do outside of Live Not On Evil?
ROB: I am a tennis pro. Actually I have a punk rock clothing store called Zipperhead on South Street here in Philly. So I get to spend time with Shawn and Ruben from Dogpile. Ruben's backhand is horrendous but his band (Radio One) is really good.
NORM: I'm a Director of Creative Services for an online marketing firm. I oversee a half-dozen very talented designers. If not for the art and music in my life, there would be an immeasurable void.
BEGLEY: I like to catch live acts as often as possible and collect horror movies (but stopped lending them to Rob 'cause they never get returned).
ROB: I make most of my spending money by selling Begley's movie collection.
NFT: What bands have you been in before Live Not On Evil? Rob, weren't you in the Dead City Psychos?
ROB: Yes, as a matter of fact, The Dead City Psychos were the second half of the pact. That was Eric Dead's band, I played drums in that band. Waaaay back when I was still underage I played in the Sick Kids, who were produced by Lux and Ivy of the Cramps. I was in Doctor Bombay, Das Yahoos, and a bunch of other bands that I really enjoyed playing in but never got a record out. I got to meet a lot of really neat people in those bands.
NORM: I was in a band called Certain Flightless Birds in the mid-90s. It was a 3-piece with a lead singer. We were heavy and melodic and I guess the closest one could come to describing us was STP meets Bowie. I was in a few other bands with the same drummer through the years, but that band was our badge of honor.
BEGLEY - I Will I, Love Gutter.
NFT: How does Live Not On Evil compare to other bands you were in?
BEGLEY: This band by far is the most dedicated I have ever belonged to. It's like the saying "You make time for what you want to do."
ROB: It is my hands down favorite.
NORM: Ditto.
NFT: Do you think that a lot of kids these days and even bands who are doing the gothic thing forget about or dismiss important bands like Joy Division, Bauhaus, The Cure etc?
ROB: The Damned, 45 Grave, Killing Joke, Alien Sex Fiend, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Sisters of Mercy... tell me when to stop. Like you said earlier, a lot of new bands are starting up in this scene and I hope, just like with the old punk stuff, great old albums will keep being re-issued because they are brand new to a lot of people. I know I wait for stuff to get re-issued so I can replace the vinyl that I mistreated. I was super psyched when the Plasmatics "New Hope for the Wretched / Metal Priestess ep" came out on CD. I could not wait; it was brand new all over again. You just wait for kids to discover 7 Seconds, or Flipper or whatever, and you know it is just a matter of time before you can get it on CD. I heard a newer "Explosion" CD that ends with a cover of a Joy Division song, it is pretty out of place but it lets you know that stuff is still reaching people.
BEGLEY: I think kids just want to be original in general. They don't want you to know their influences because it creates more of an original appearance to their own. On the other side of the coin, I've seen ideas being used by larger label artists who mimic artists like Rozz Williams, Gitane Demone, Ron Athey and Dinah Cancer. These artists were doing this stuff 20 years ago but are never mentioned.
NORM: When I was one of those kids, we all congregated and shared and meshed. I think the reach for this generation is even broader due to the virtual avenues and the ability to share virally with immediate results. It is great to see enthusiasts at it with such verve and I think Rob really nailed it - it's only a matter of time once they discover how deep the roots go before they pay respect and homage to those who laid the foundation.
ROB: Also, Marco, I am glad you brought up Bauhaus, the first time I heard side A of "The Sky's Gone Out" I knew exactly what I had theoretically loved about music all my life.
NFT: What do you think of popular dark bands like AFI?
ROB: It might not be my thing but they are opening kid's ears to a lot of stuff that I really love so I am all about it.
NORM: As long as they don't have a perfume named after them or show-up on MTV's TRL or some crap like that, I guess they get a passing grade.
ROB: I would really like to see what would happen with some of these bands if they were promoted by the Major Labels without the labels getting involved creatively. I wonder if the public would react the same, I know the music would be more interesting. I don't mean any band specifically, just corporate music in general. They really make folks jump through hoops for them.
NFT: What are you listening to at the moment?
BEGLEY: T.S.O.L., Sleep Chamber and some Bluegrass.
ROB: This week? A whole lot of The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black, The Cromags, and The Muffs... that is quite a combination.
NORM: I've been in a very retrospective mood lately... this week I've been spinning Prong, Ministry, The Cult, Gravity Kills and a splash of Motorhead.
NFT: Any plans to come to Europe at all?
ROB: Once again our e-mail address is
Evilnet@aol.com and we would love to come to Europe. Europe has been very nice to us and we would like to be nice back.
NORM: I spent a great deal of my childhood in Europe. I was a Navy brat and we lived all over. I haven't been overseas in years and I miss it. The people, the culture, the architecture, the pace and did I mention the people?
NFT: What does 2005 hold for Live Not On Evil?
ROB: We are doing our best to push "Next Time Nail it Shut" which can be purchased at
www.SinisterRecords.com, shameless I know. We are setting up some dates this summer to hit the road a bit and I would love to see us finish off 2005 working hard and still smiling and wherever that takes us that is where we will be.
NORM: Now that we have had some "time behind the wheel" together, I think the brotherhood has brought out the best in us. With regard to working together in the studio, mastering house and live shows - we're tight. I believe that Rob will be delving deeper as a writer and we may even pass the pen around a few times as well. I think that for those taking an interest in LNOE, anyone spinning "Lucky Stiff" and "Next Time Nail It Shut" will hear a natural progression and maturity in the song-crafting. We'll do everything we can to support and promote our latest album as we work on material for the next album like any band who loves what they're doing should. Lastly, we will thank folks like you Marco for being a part of what we are doing and turning more people on to it. Cheers.
ROB: Yea, thanks Marco, No Front Teeth is totally awesome. What you are doing is really cool and thanks for inviting us to be part of it.
ROB: I think other people describe it better than we do. Lots of times we use quotes from your reviews, actually. We have always used the phrase "it is like a train wreck wearing a bikini". We like it dark and creepy but it has to rock hard. We like it pretty at times but it still has to be ugly underneath. You can't have all fluff and no guts or it just does not do it. We try to mix the beautiful with the ugly in every song instead of having some songs that are pretty and some songs that push you up against the wall and take your lunch money. We want to mug you and still have you whistling our tune the next day.
NORM: Rob's right, there is an "assault" quality to what we do as a band. I believe Rob has a unique ability to uncover, unearth and unmask the beauty of ugliness in his lyrics. I believe we connect with that as a group too because, let's face it, we ain't pretty.
ROB: See I told you that you were better at describing it than we were.
NFT: Most gothic punk bands get likened to the Misfits straight away, mostly because they sound like a Misfits-clone band, but you guys don't - was that an intentional thing?
NFT: There are more dark/horror punk rock bands around now than ever - why do you think that is?
NFT: Is it really true that you got the money to record "Lucky Stiff" from a slot machine?
NFT: You have self-released two full length CDs - do you have any intentions of getting material out on any labels?
NFT: Why is the gothic element important to you? It's clearly visible through your music and artwork but how do you incorporate that into your shows?
NFT: What do you do outside of Live Not On Evil?
NFT: What bands have you been in before Live Not On Evil? Rob, weren't you in the Dead City Psychos?
NFT: How does Live Not On Evil compare to other bands you were in?
NFT: Do you think that a lot of kids these days and even bands who are doing the gothic thing forget about or dismiss important bands like Joy Division, Bauhaus, The Cure etc?
NFT: What do you think of popular dark bands like AFI?
NFT: What are you listening to at the moment?
NFT: Any plans to come to Europe at all?
NFT: What does 2005 hold for Live Not On Evil?
ROB: Kind of. We like the Misfits as much as the next guy but a lot of their songs are very blues based if you know what I mean. For the most part they are really cool songs based on traditional progressions. We try to stay away from traditional progressions in general, so I guess it is intentional in that way. We are trying to create something that is ours, we like to throw in some surprises. If you are going to write songs that people like right away because it is already familiar to them you may as well be playing "Sweet Home Alabama" at the corner bar... it pays better.
NORM: I don't get a gothic punk feeling from our band. I come from a different background altogether. I was into a lot of lesser-known Metal when I was first starting to play. Bands like Metal Church and Sabotage as well as some old school hard rockers like Nazareth and Deep Purple. I drew from the roots of Metal and in College I was turned-on to a great deal of underground like Husker Du, The Minutemen and Social Distortion. This has always made for a hybrid approach to writing and playing for me.
ROB: I think there are two reasons. The 90's were really stripped down. There was nothing showy about it. I really liked Nirvana but I got really tired of Kurt's green sweater. The whole grunge phase, which was really necessary at the time, totally took a lot of the more theatrical aspect out of music when all it really needed to get rid of was the 80's hair metal bands. I think people feel free again to add more to their presentation without being looked down on for doing so. And the other factor involved is the fact that the "gothic" scene has, over time, left it's roots and become something that revolves around dance music and that is just not for everyone. Some people, like myself, just can't stand the four-on-the-floor "international white guy dance beat" or also, like myself, they just can't dance. The horror scene started out way back with some really great rock bands and I am not quite sure just how it evolved almost exclusively into dance music, but the old genes are coming to the surface and the de-evolution is definitely something that I am happy about.
NORM: If you look at what Rock has become, it's just disheartening. I don't want to name names, but recycling fashion and rehashing old riffs into sample-loops and so forth is drivel and regurgitation. Revolution (and de-evolution as Rob said) has always been incited by the lesser-knowns, the outcasts and those who emerged from the shadows. Bands these days in this genre recognize the need to be different, to stand apart and do so with only a few common threads.
ROB: It's good.
ROB: Absolutely true. Stefanie and I went to Atlantic City for the night to celebrate our anniversary and I ran myself near broke, but in the morning before we left I had an incredible run and left town with enough money to book the sessions. That was the inspiration for the title.
BEGLEY: I never heard this story in my life and I am still wondering where that envelope from the bank went that I lost.
ROB: Our e-mail address is
Evilnet@aol.com. We are going to continue writing and recording music if anyone wants to be involved as a label or can help with distribution that is how you can reach us. We would love to find a label that fits but in the meantime we are not going to pause the process.
ROB: That element has been important to me long before it had a name and way before I started playing music. I was always fascinated with things that were up that alley. I was always watching the "creature double feature", building monsters in the basement, writing book-reports for school about Edgar Allen Poe. That has always been a really big influence on me personally. My oldest brother Tom is an incredible classical musician who was making his own horror films with a super-8 home movie camera before I was born. It is just a very natural mixture for me; it is two things that I really love. When we play live we try to make it more than just four guys playing music. We incorporate film and lighting and whatnot to give you something more to look at. We have played some shows behind a semi transparent curtain with projection. Our buddy Jon Stark, a brilliant photographer, (who now lives in your hometown) used to help us out with a lot of the visuals. Now with Norm in the band we are a lot more self reliant. Norm is very crafty visually as well as musically.
NORM: Rob and I have been friends for years and one thing we have always had in common is a fascination with what lurks in the shadows. We wrote "Ghost In The Woods" together and the story behind the song is a tie that binds us as friends because it was an experience Rob had on common and hallowed ground that we frequent. There was something about the riff that intrigued us both, but when Rob brought the true-to-life character to the music, it really blew me away.
ROB: Begley grew up across the street from the graveyard and I think it ruined him for life.
ROB: I am a tennis pro. Actually I have a punk rock clothing store called Zipperhead on South Street here in Philly. So I get to spend time with Shawn and Ruben from Dogpile. Ruben's backhand is horrendous but his band (Radio One) is really good.
NORM: I'm a Director of Creative Services for an online marketing firm. I oversee a half-dozen very talented designers. If not for the art and music in my life, there would be an immeasurable void.
BEGLEY: I like to catch live acts as often as possible and collect horror movies (but stopped lending them to Rob 'cause they never get returned).
ROB: I make most of my spending money by selling Begley's movie collection.
ROB: Yes, as a matter of fact, The Dead City Psychos were the second half of the pact. That was Eric Dead's band, I played drums in that band. Waaaay back when I was still underage I played in the Sick Kids, who were produced by Lux and Ivy of the Cramps. I was in Doctor Bombay, Das Yahoos, and a bunch of other bands that I really enjoyed playing in but never got a record out. I got to meet a lot of really neat people in those bands.
NORM: I was in a band called Certain Flightless Birds in the mid-90s. It was a 3-piece with a lead singer. We were heavy and melodic and I guess the closest one could come to describing us was STP meets Bowie. I was in a few other bands with the same drummer through the years, but that band was our badge of honor.
BEGLEY - I Will I, Love Gutter.
BEGLEY: This band by far is the most dedicated I have ever belonged to. It's like the saying "You make time for what you want to do."
ROB: It is my hands down favorite.
NORM: Ditto.
ROB: The Damned, 45 Grave, Killing Joke, Alien Sex Fiend, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Sisters of Mercy... tell me when to stop. Like you said earlier, a lot of new bands are starting up in this scene and I hope, just like with the old punk stuff, great old albums will keep being re-issued because they are brand new to a lot of people. I know I wait for stuff to get re-issued so I can replace the vinyl that I mistreated. I was super psyched when the Plasmatics "New Hope for the Wretched / Metal Priestess ep" came out on CD. I could not wait; it was brand new all over again. You just wait for kids to discover 7 Seconds, or Flipper or whatever, and you know it is just a matter of time before you can get it on CD. I heard a newer "Explosion" CD that ends with a cover of a Joy Division song, it is pretty out of place but it lets you know that stuff is still reaching people.
BEGLEY: I think kids just want to be original in general. They don't want you to know their influences because it creates more of an original appearance to their own. On the other side of the coin, I've seen ideas being used by larger label artists who mimic artists like Rozz Williams, Gitane Demone, Ron Athey and Dinah Cancer. These artists were doing this stuff 20 years ago but are never mentioned.
NORM: When I was one of those kids, we all congregated and shared and meshed. I think the reach for this generation is even broader due to the virtual avenues and the ability to share virally with immediate results. It is great to see enthusiasts at it with such verve and I think Rob really nailed it - it's only a matter of time once they discover how deep the roots go before they pay respect and homage to those who laid the foundation.
ROB: Also, Marco, I am glad you brought up Bauhaus, the first time I heard side A of "The Sky's Gone Out" I knew exactly what I had theoretically loved about music all my life.
ROB: It might not be my thing but they are opening kid's ears to a lot of stuff that I really love so I am all about it.
NORM: As long as they don't have a perfume named after them or show-up on MTV's TRL or some crap like that, I guess they get a passing grade.
ROB: I would really like to see what would happen with some of these bands if they were promoted by the Major Labels without the labels getting involved creatively. I wonder if the public would react the same, I know the music would be more interesting. I don't mean any band specifically, just corporate music in general. They really make folks jump through hoops for them.
BEGLEY: T.S.O.L., Sleep Chamber and some Bluegrass.
ROB: This week? A whole lot of The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black, The Cromags, and The Muffs... that is quite a combination.
NORM: I've been in a very retrospective mood lately... this week I've been spinning Prong, Ministry, The Cult, Gravity Kills and a splash of Motorhead.
ROB: Once again our e-mail address is
Evilnet@aol.com and we would love to come to Europe. Europe has been very nice to us and we would like to be nice back.
NORM: I spent a great deal of my childhood in Europe. I was a Navy brat and we lived all over. I haven't been overseas in years and I miss it. The people, the culture, the architecture, the pace and did I mention the people?
ROB: We are doing our best to push "Next Time Nail it Shut" which can be purchased at
www.SinisterRecords.com, shameless I know. We are setting up some dates this summer to hit the road a bit and I would love to see us finish off 2005 working hard and still smiling and wherever that takes us that is where we will be.
NORM: Now that we have had some "time behind the wheel" together, I think the brotherhood has brought out the best in us. With regard to working together in the studio, mastering house and live shows - we're tight. I believe that Rob will be delving deeper as a writer and we may even pass the pen around a few times as well. I think that for those taking an interest in LNOE, anyone spinning "Lucky Stiff" and "Next Time Nail It Shut" will hear a natural progression and maturity in the song-crafting. We'll do everything we can to support and promote our latest album as we work on material for the next album like any band who loves what they're doing should. Lastly, we will thank folks like you Marco for being a part of what we are doing and turning more people on to it. Cheers.
ROB: Yea, thanks Marco, No Front Teeth is totally awesome. What you are doing is really cool and thanks for inviting us to be part of it.