Welcome to yet another installment of FOOL’S (inter)VIEWS, and thanks to everyone for being so supportive and enthusiastic.  It’s been a barrel of fun for me, and it sounds like folks are getting a kick out of it as well.  Today, we have with us…

Tim Grogan, creator of GORG!    (http://www.myspace.com/gorglives)  Greetings, sir!  Can you tell the folks at home a little about yourself?

TG:  I'm a musician/producer/composer originally from Dallas, then LA, and now residing in Nashville. As a kid, I used to think I was an alien from another world and then I figured out that I wasn’t. I also recently designed and built a commercial recording studio here in Nashville, Studio515, which is my home base for many personal projects as well.

AC:  And tell us, just what the hell is GORG?

TG:  I decided early last year that I wanted to do an album length CD project of music that was inspired by the Halloween holiday. I came up with the centerpiece song for the record first, "Eat Em Up," which is about a troll-like character named GORG.  He is a bit different from other trolls in that he eats little girls and only little girls. No particular reason why it’s girls, that’s just what he does. Oh, and turns out he can "sing" and he has a rich, resounding bass voice.  Well, it’s really more like speaking. I just recently finished it and uploaded it to the MySpace page.  I’m making it available to download for free for a while.  Now I've still got six other songs to write and record for the project by September so I can market it in time for Halloween!

AC:  I gotta tell ya, it’s a very catchy tune.  People really should swing by your page and check it out.  I was singing it this morning, in fact, and my beloved femalien was like, “What’s that?”   And I love all the animated stuff.  What brought you to MySpace?

TG:  I created a MySpace page for GORG and the whole music project, to build a fan base, and to document the creative process of the project on the profile for fans to follow and even be a part of some of the creative decisions.  I actually found your MySpace profile while searching for appropriate friends for GORG.  I love how you post interviews and how you've created a community and forum for horror fans.

AC:  Well, thank you kindly, Tim.  I gotta say, it’s a far cry from the days when you couldn’t find any other horror fans to chitchat with.  Plus I get to “meet” folks I might never have crossed paths with, such as yourself.  What’s your normal daily routine like?

TG:  Routine is not exactly the word I'd use to describe what each day holds for me. I play drums or keyboards for some local artists and do a lot of session work here in Nashville. However, most days I'm busy doing something at Studio515, so that's the closest thing to a routine. That's become my main focus until it can have enough staff to kind of run itself. Then I'll be freer to pursue some other projects I've been wanting to try. But even so, I'm squeezing in time for GORG. He so damn hungry!

AC:  In your session work, is there a particular musical genre that is your bread and butter?  For better or worse, Nashville is still kind of stereotyped as a Country/Western town. 

TG:  Stereotyped, to be sure, but I’ve found Nashville to have a very diverse music scene and I’m very happy to be a part of it. Yes, I’m involved with quite a bit of country music which I love very much. I have a penchant for many different musical genres and I’ve absorbed a lot of styles. I think that is one of the main reasons people like what I do, ‘cause I have a fresh approach and I regurgitate all this crazy shit in a unique way.

AC:  What was the first movie (doesn’t have to be a horror flick) that first made a big impression on you?

TG: 2001: A Space Odyssey. I was just a kid when it came out and went to see it and it made a profound impression on me. I wasn't even sure exactly of all the different levels it was operating on, just that there were many significances to the film as a whole. I mean, I was 8 years old so it was hard for me to coalesce the experience, but it was a deep one.

AC:  You know, I wish I could have seen that in the theaters before “Open the pod bay doors, HAL” became part of the cultural lexicon.  By the time I got around to watching it (on TV), I already knew about the whole HAL scenario and how it played out, so it didn’t have the same impact.  Still, great, great flick.  Can you tell us the last 5-10 movies you watched, and give us your personal rating from 1-10?

TG:  OK, don't laugh. I haven't been out to see a movie in about three years, ever since opening the studio. Between running it and my other musical side interests, I've had very little free time. And by very little free time, I mean I’D LOVE TO CATCH A MOVIE!  Someone ask me out.  Kidding. The last movie I saw was O Brother, Where Art Thou? on DVD, which I would give a “10,” it’s a flawless piece.   I'm a huge Coen brothers fan!  After that, let’s see…

Blazing Saddles  “10”  Classic Mel Brooks and so un-PC
Monty Python and the Holy Grail  “10”  it's just part of my human fabric now
Night of the Iguana  “8”   Its melodramatic flair is monumental
Finding Nemo  “7”     I hadn't seen it yet. Plus it's CGI.
Dr Strangelove  “9”   I like to revisit some of the classics of dark humor

AC:  Um, hate to tell you this, but there’s not a horror film in the bunch, my friend.  We gotta get you back into the fold!  The closest thing would be *maybe* Dr. Strangelove, although Holy Grail does have some pretty good gore in the Black Knight and killer rabbit sequences.  What was the last legitimate horror flick you did see?

TG:  I think the last actual horror flick I watched was Army of Darkness.  I just love the scene where the evil army is approaching the castle and the skeleton band is out in front (strategically placed so the musos can absorb the first strikes of course) with that one skeleton cat playing a bone flute (OK, that sounded funny) and the skull percussionist. That guy is getting timpani sounds from human skulls! Danny Elfman did the theme for “The March of the Dead” in that too. Big fan.  It’s been a while but I also saw The Ice Cream Man with Clint Howard around that same time. What a glorious schlock-fest that is! I scream, you scream…

AC:  Now we’re talking!  Even though AoD is my least favorite of the trilogy, it’s still a lot of fun if you’re in the right mood.  And Ice Cream Man!  Clint Howard may never win any Oscars, but he’s certainly carved (pun intended) out a certain place in cult horror fans’ hearts, starting with Evilspeak.  Nicely done.  Even though you haven’t seen much horror lately, having looked at your page and listening to your music, it’s obvious that you have an appreciation for the genre.  How did the GORG endeavor come about?

TG:  I regularly embark on some personal project that just appeals to me. I have an inner beast that must be acknowledged! I love Halloween (the holiday) and I thought it would be so much fun to do a horror-based music project. But I wanted to approach it in some unique and totally idiosyncratic way, like from a disgusting, disturbing, yet humorous point of view. "Eat Em Up", the song based on GORG and his behaviors and preferences, came from this notion. I first thought of the troll-like character and wrote the song around him. Then one day in the shower, I started making these guttural sounds and out came this sound, "gorg". That's when my little girl-eating troll got his name. Then I thought how cool would it be to have at least one music video for the project. I approached a friend of mine, Paul Carty, who is a fantastic musician and 3D computer animation artist, and got him aboard for doing the CGI video. It's gonna be such a mixed up bag of horror meets Shrek meets black humor. At least if I can realize my vision it will be.

AC:  As I mentioned before, it’s already great fun.  Looking forward to watching things evolve for you.  Tell us the last goal you achieved, and a couple that are on your “short list.”

TG:  Last major goal I achieved would have to be designing and building Studio515. That's a lifetime accomplishment for me. Readers can check it out on www.myspace.com/studio515 or www.studio515.net.   On my short list to be done: Not counting finishing the GORG project, my partner at the studio and I have a fictitious band by the name of "The Real Nice Guys," that we’ve written and recorded 12 songs for.  I'd like to finish mixing that project and get it out there to the public and then actually assemble the band and play a few live concerts around Nashville. It's some pretty wacked out music but still somewhat commercially accessible.  I'd also like to do another piece of music and concert featuring the Theremin, like “Shower Caps” that I did in '98 with Bob Moog at Vanderbilt University.

AC:  Moog the electronic musical mastermind?  (and do notice that I pronounced it correctly…rhymes with “vogue,” right?)  You got to work with the man himself?  That’s awesome.  What was that like? 

TG:  Yes indeed, sounds like “rogue”. Good on ya.  Yeah, the concert was in conjunction with a lecture series by Bob on the history of electronic music. I extended the series by presenting an original composition for Theremin, piano, vibraphone, marimba, percussion, and string quintet entitled, “Shower Caps.”  I had the Theremin player (Ross Marshall of Plutonium Films fame) compare and contrast the function of a shower cap to the function of music in American culture, in a videotaped interview. His priceless response was shown at the beginning of the concert and went right into soundless film clips from the Plutonium Films repertoire being projected behind the musicians while we performed.  Kind of a performance art thing. It was a very difficult piece of music to pull off.

AC:  Very cool.  So, do you have any horror celebrity close encounter stories to share?

TG:  Well, I did have a chance meeting with Vincent Price once outside "The Whisky" in LA.  He was there to hear a friend's band, evidently, and I introduced myself as a big fan of his and he just said to me, "You resemble Jesus," then walked away.  Pretty impressive.

AC:  No way.  When was this? 

TG:  This was summer of ’91. The band was called Fistula and they were in fact a big gaping hole in the music scene.

AC:  And do you resemble the Big J?

TG: I had a moustache and shoulder length brown hair at the time and I’m tall and thin so… who am I to question the opinion of Mr. Price? I think he might have been well medicated at the time. I have been told many times that I resemble Frank Zappa. I’ll take that.

AC:  You could certainly do worse.  Who are some of your favorite horror icons?

TG:  Vincent Price, because, well, he's the man.  And he said I look like Jesus!  Also The Three Stooges.  I don't know why, but I've always viewed what they do as violent but goreless horror.

AC:  I gotta say, that’s a first.  I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone describe the Stooges as horror icons.  Although they obviously were a big inspiration to Sam Raimi, if you’ve seen any of his earlier pictures.  Please tell me you’ve seen The Evil Dead and Evil Dead II. 

TG:  I have, I have. Well, didn’t he do Army?

AC:  Yes, indeed, before he went off and got all webslingy on us.  Come back, Sam, we miss you!  All rightie, last question:  I’m a newbie to the horror genre, and I’ve never seen a horror flick from before 1995. Where should I start?

TG:  The Exorcist could be a great starting point. I think it has the ultimate unsettling and disturbing theme of demonic possession. That’s something that everyone can fear, being inhabited by the dark red guy with the bifurcated tail. Ooooo.

AC:  One of my personal favorites, and you get a quarter for using “bifurcated” in conversation.  Before we wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to add, about GORG or other projects?   Where can we keep up to date on your progress?

TG: I’d like to clear up a common confusion about the project. When completed, it will be a CD containing 7 original songs, each with it’s own unique theme. GORG will only be the subject matter of one song, “Eat Em Up,” and no other. The rest will be based on completely different characters in completely different settings. “Eat Em Up” is the centerpiece song and will be the only one in this collection to have a music video to go with it. That video will be available separately on DVD.   The only place to keep up to date with GORG is at MySpace where you can follow along as I upload the new portions that I get accomplished. You can see the whole thing come together there and be a part of some of the creative decisions by watching for my bulletins and then leaving comments and messages. Next up for folks to participate in will be the fine-tuning of GORG’s green coloration.

AC:  Most excellent.  Well, Tim, that’s about all the time and space we have for now.  Best of success in all your endeavors!  I hope you’ll stop by throughout the week and answer any further comments or questions anyone might have.  Thanks so much for joining us!

TG:  Well, thanks so much for your interest in GORG, “Eat Em Up,” and the entire project.  Many kudos to you for providing such an interesting format for horror fans to get involved in and I wish you continued success with your FOOL’S (inter)VIEWS!