Ink And Guts
MEAT MELT
Silvester Goregnome
There was a time in my life when the old Universal horror classics took ahold of me as a wee lad through the magic of television. It was the early 70’s and I remember tearing my head off after seeing Son of Frankenstein on Creature Theatre for the very first time. Every Saturday night at 7pm, a classic horror film was showcased and I was there in the thick of things, captivated by every horrific moment.
So I guess you must be wondering what this has to do with our new feature Ink & Guts? Well like any mad scientist – I’m unveiling my latest creation and I am quite proud of it. The intention with this feature is to bring you interviews and feature articles centering on the world of comic books, graphic artists, tattoo artists and metal musicians with whom horror is associated with.
I love horror in all its facets, and to start us off right, we’ve hit up Silvester Goregnome of Fondlecorpse fame to help us usher in this new feature at HMS. Silvester is one true gorehound, dedicated musician/artist and all around nice guy who was gracious enough to literally spill his guts to this very eager scribe. I will warn you – it gets bloody, but it’s informative as hell too!
HMS: I asked Adam Geyer the same question, so let me hit you up with this to start us off. HMS is a website I launched dedicated to my passion towards horror and metal. Obviously your work reflects similar interests, so have you always been a horror and metal fan?
Silvester: For me horror and metal always went hand in hand really. Musically as kids do, I started listening to rock/hard rock stuff from my parents’ LP collection and also growing up in the 80’s all the cartoons had cool heavy metal intros too that warped my brain. In high school things really came together when I discovered the world of mail orders and tape-trading and you got that first cassette filled with obscure death metal bands, so from that day on I was hooked and started my own paper zines, bands, distro, label, wrote to bands and went to gigs every weekend - you name it I did it. My fascination with horror is mainly because cartoons in the 80s were filled with monsters and mutants and horror-like stuff and I always loved that as a kid. Of course Star Wars was big and all those alien creatures were mesmerizing to me as a kid growing up; you had Jim Henson with the Muppets and tons of cool movies filled with monsters so, I was into anything with monsters and weird creatures from then on. And a big reason I am also nuts about creature feature movies to this day - to me most weren’t even scary but more things I could relate to. Again high school was when the tape-trading and VHS trading was a big deal and my collection has been exploding ever since. Also I was lucky to grow up in the 80s where there was a new awesome creature based movie around every corner with amazing monsters and effects. Also, I got into zines like Deep Red and Fangoria and the like that kept me up to date with new and amazing movies, posters for my walls and hook ups for paper catalogues from which you could buy VHS tapes. Shit just is hardwired in my brain and metal and horror belong together in my book and will be a part of me till I drop dead or become a zombie!
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HMS: I knew from an early age that I was going to be a life-long horror fan. When did you realize your initial obsessions for the genre?
Silvester: As far back as I can remember I was always into creatures and mutants and monsters and the progression to horror was a natural one and inevitable hahaha, but growing up as part of the VHS generation that helped a lot too. I remember always going with my parents to the video rental place and seeing these interesting covers on the shelves in the horror section and all the posters and standees and always wondering what they were about and I wanted to see it ALL! Then the parents would rent it and send me upstairs to bed but I would sneak back downstairs and watch it through the crack of the door. And even if it gave me nightmares I just knew I wanted to be scared again and again and see more of the creepy stuff and it all escalated from there. The stuff that scared me most as a kid is now my favorite movies. Then you grow older and can rent all the stuff you loved the covers off hahaha and start building a collection and the rest as they say is history.
HMS: As a kid I was obsessed with Karloff as the Frankenstein’s monster. Did you identify with a particular horror character growing up?
Silvester: I am not sure if I was ever obsessed with any particular characters or monsters. I guess I more saw them as part of a group to which you could belong. Kinda like being part of the gang. If there was a Midian like from the movie Nightbreed I would probably be living there and raising hell with the rest of the creatures and I thrive in the darkness. I guess I identify to monsters that are loners, misunderstood and outcasts. Frankenstein’s creature would be one of those iconic monsters I could relate to. I guess since I am a bit of a misanthrope I can relate more to creatures then people really - which is why I write more about monsters and creatures and hardly ever write songs and lyrics containing people unless they are fodder for the monsters hahaha. The creatures and monsters are my friends. People.......not so much hahahaha.
HMS: I know you are a big toy collector, so going through your collection what is your favorite treasure that you can’t part with?
Silvester: That is a hard one but I think if I have to choose it would have to be Krite, my critter prop that I got that was pulled from the original mold and has been infamous for many years and a prized cherished possession. And he kinda has gotten a life of its own over the years as anybody that follows my band Fondlecorpse knows. He is definitely the one thing that I could never part with. Other than that I am a big collector of 80’s action figures and nostalgic stuff and horror memorabilia, autographs, props, books, magazines etc etc. I just got a vintage in box Wampa from Star Wars. He is pretty bad ass. I remember buying it as a kid and finally got one with the box again. And as you get older I buy a lot of stuff I could never have as a kid. Collecting toys and action figures always made me happy so the collection keeps growing. I have a lot of stuff that might not be worth much or is special but it is special to me because of the memories attached to it all. These days I am very into the NECA stuff. Those guys make some amazing fucking figures these days. Last convention I went to I bought some gremlins and aliens stuff. So awesome - and the sculpts are amazing! I can’t wait to see what they will unleash this year with the Alien 35th anniversary coming up and all. There is just something about having a display case filled with tons of figures that just makes my day.
HMS: What is your favorite splatter scene?
Silvester: I would say if we are talking pure splatter then it will have to be the movie Braindead / Dead Alive from Peter Jackson. That movie has tons of awesome splatter moments and tons of gory laughs from start to finish. The Ratmonkey, Father McGruder, The perverted Uncle Less, Void, the bloodiest most crazy splatter scene I always loved is the scene where Lionel takes a lawnmower and wields it as a weapon and just takes out hordes of zombies and everything is covered in fucking blood and guts which has to be the best most amazing glorious splatter scene in the movie. That stuff always brings a smile to my face and will always be one of my personal favorite splatter movies. This movie is just a fun rollercoaster of blood, guts and gore! hahaha.
"...metal and horror belong together in my book..."
HMS: I was recently listening to Impetigo’s Horror of the Zombies and I know you did the layout/design on the reissue in 2007. I consider them to be the gods of gore, so what are your thoughts about them?
Silvester: Definitely and it was an honor to work on those lay-outs and be part of that. I have always been a big fan of Impetigo and consider them the gods of gore for sure and one of the few bands I consider a direct influence on Fondlecorpse both musically and how they always ran their band. All their stuff is brilliant but Horror of the Zombies will always have a special place in my heart and is perfect in my eyes. I was lucky enough to finally meet them and hang with them in person when they did their one off Reunion gig at CIM a few years ago. That concert was legendary. I actually own one of the severed prop heads that were impaled on stage signed by the whole band that is another prized possession for sure. So that head will always remind me of the fun special time it was hanging out finally with the guys! Definitely was an amazing time.
HMS: Does music play an important part of the creative process when you are working on a layout piece for Razorback records, Deadbeat Media or any other project?
Silvester: It depends on the project or lay-out really. If I have the music of the album I will play that while working on it or their older albums if I have them. But usually I also ask the band what they want and try and figure out what the mood and atmosphere will be they want to convey with it. And I start brooding on the feel for the album and mess around with stuff till I figure it captures the mood of the album and band and projects what the band is about. I always try and design something that conveys the soul of the band. So I work on characters and other fun stuff to put in the lay-out to make it unique. Or at least that is what I try to do for all the stuff I work with, and give everything its own vibe. I hope the end result is something everybody enjoys.
HMS: Favorite metal band?
Silvester: That would have to be a tie between Impetigo and Autopsy, those are the two bands I can always listen to and it’s always awesome. Those are two staples for me for sure that will never tire and that you can find on heavy rotation around the house for sure. And runners up would be Misfits and then old Slayer - that shit will get my blood pumping everytime also.
HMS: The cover to the latest Fondlecorpse EP seems to be a nod to Abel Ferrara’s The Driller Killer; your thoughts on this?
Silvester: That is pretty much true. The cover is a direct nod / worship of the Driller Killer movie and depicts Reno Miller (Abel) and his weapon of choice in front of his masterpiece the bison painted up by the amazing Adam Geyer. And we wrote the song together too. The sample from the movie we used as an intro for the single CD with the rant from Reno has a meaning to us and as artists we can appreciate the struggle of an artist to a point it drives you nuts. You put your everything into your art and do it for nothing else then to create something amazing. But the world has always makes everything about money and other shit we can’t be bothered with. So the song has a special meaning to us as artists and things we can identify with beyond us loving the movie and Ferrara as a director who did a bunch of classics I love. Just got the steelbook of the King of New York I am going to enjoy watching again! And wait till you see the cover Adam Geyer did for the next full length -fucking crazy shit!!!!
HMS: As you know we are going to be interviewing FX artist Steve Wang, so if you had the chance to interview him what would be the one question you would be dying to ask him?
Silvester: Yeah I am excited to read that interview. Steve Wang worked on a ton of bad ass FX to movies I love and he used to make some bad ass masks I always saw back in the day that looked awesome. I guess the question I usually want to ask most FX people, what is their most favorite creature/character they worked on and is closest to their heart and why.
HMS: How did you acquire the “Goregnome” moniker?
Silvester: It is actually a name that goes back many years and has a long history. I used to have a group of friends in high school that called me “the dwarf” after the drunken dwarven warriors, over the years this became the gore dwarf since I had more horror movies then the local movie rental places and would have horror marathons all the time. So that got added since I am a gorehound and then slowly it became the Goregnome over time because that one is even more easy to say, so that slowly took over as the main alias for me and got a life of its own as a character. The whole meaning of it is pretty much that I am short, fat and barrel-chested; I am built like a dwarf with a beard that loves horror movies hahaha. That is pretty much the short quick story of the name.
Now the character itself and how he looks in art and is described in songs came afterwards and actually has a whole mythology and history I started writing for it when I was 16ish I think and has been expanding over the years because I figured it would be a cool thing to do. There is a comic I drew with his whole history in the 90s and some parts of that have surfaced on some releases in songs and art. For instance the character in the art of the Blood and Popcorn MCD that Jeff Zornow drew, the other faceless hunter besides the gnome is a character I might have pop up more prominent in the new stuff, that one I also used in my first band called “Moronic” back in the day and some older folks might recognize him from an old demo tape cover from back then. He has an interesting story to whom and what he is and how he is connected to the Goregnome. Someday I want to do more with all this stuff, we will see when I start expanding the universe and when I finally finish writing the book I am writing and working on.
HMS: OK so this is the final question. The world is coming to an end, so what do you do on the final night of your existence?
Silvester: The answer is simple, seeing as it is inevitable. I would get a nice big pizza and some drinks walk outside to the comfortable porch swing and snuggle up with my amazing little lady under a quilt blanket. We watch the world come to an end and enjoy the show and screams of a dying humanity and watch the world burn. I’d give some pizza to my buddy Krite also since he would be there of course. I would have no regrets because I did what I set out to do and be in the best company in the world and wouldn’t wanna be anywhere else. I am content to go out with the rest of the plague called humanity hahahaha!
Click here to enter the Goregnome Zone! (with additional artwork by Adam Geyer)
Kenneth Gallant, Editor HMS
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