Gigging, for most bands, is the coup de grace when it comes to artistic expression. There is no better feeling than getting up in front of good audience—whether it be 50 or 5,000 fans—and playing music that they respond to with smiles, applause, and (best of all) dancing.

The unfortunate truth is, most gigs, for young bands, fall on deaf ears. Most members of Rustmonster have played together for over a decade and have had their share of good and bad gigs. In an earlier venture called Funk Toast, the band was aggressive about playing for any audience, anywhere, any time. This translated into many stale gigs where audiences didn’t respond enthusiastically to the music. In some cases, the audiences were too small to even be concerned with the fact that a band was playing. A good friend once stated this rule: If there are more members of the audience than band members, we will play. While this is bleak, it also rings true.

With a history of great gigs and many pockmarks of not-so-great gigs, Rustmonster has ratcheted their gigging schedule back to about 3-4 gigs a year. They seek lively and sizeable audiences more so than big paying gigs. This has lessened the work aspect of gigs and given Rustmonster, a band centered on fun first and foremost, a more pleasurable gigging experience.

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I’ve been wondering two things in regards to the brilliant bunch o’ blaggards what call themselves Rust Monster. First: when can we expect to hear the much-anticipated project wherein they collaborated with none other than the great Munky o’ Bilge himself? And second: is there anywhere a pirate might get his hands on an MP3 of their song “Overture?” I’ve been dying to add it to me collection.

-Captain Jack McCool

First off, we write and record music that we like. It is always a compliment, and a bit of a surprise, when somebody actually likes it. To Captain Jack McCool, we say thank you.

Regarding Captain Jack’s second question:

Captain Jack, you asked for it, here it is. You can download our song, Overature, by clicking on this link: pirate music, Rustmonster Overature.

As a side note, this song was used to back up a band of breakdancing pirates at The Gangrene Film Festival: Pieces of 8.

You can actually watch the breakdancing pirate act in the video below.

Now to Captain Jack’s first question:

Bilgemunky’s song, Battlecry of the Preemptive Revengence, is written. It was an instant band favorite. We play the crap out of it and love it. We have officially added it to our live set, but we haven’t played it live yet.

We have recorded a minus track of the song. We haven’t put down horns, solos, or vocal on the song yet. Typically, we don’t like to release singles. We try to make our albums into running commentaries, almost like narrative pieces, pirate tales. We also like to reveal the big surprise by unveiling a completed project.

Unfortunately, our third pirate themed album is taking forever to record. This is due to a busier than usual gigging schedule and the fact that we have been more musically expressive in this album (but don’t worry, we still love songs like Poop Deck).

We have, to date for the 3rd album, recorded minus tracks for 7 songs. We have recorded the spoken word parts of the album. We still need to record 3 songs, put down the backtracking music for the story parts of the album, and lay down horns, vocals, and solos. We have buckled down and gotten to work on it. We want to get the album out as soon as possible.

There is a chance that we might release Battlecry as a single. But it will take some politicking from yours truly with the rest of the band. I will keep you posted.

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Check out the Funk Toast demo video below:

For more fun videos, including some short films made by members of Rustmonster, hit the Gangrene Productions Youtube channel at www.youtube.com/gangreneproductions

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Years later, The Angel’s Bane resurfaces, this time crewed by a mob of zombies. Rustmonster has written a song about Angel’s Bane after is is raised from the deep called Ship of Zombies. Look for a live video of this song soon.

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Below is a 1-camera video of part of the performance. We play Brutal Pirate in this clip. We will try to get more performance clips up shortly.

Enjoy

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Each year, the Gangrene Film Festival, an all comedy shorts festival, takes on a new theme, usually having to do with the yearly installment. In the eighth year of The Gangrene Film Festival, a pirate theme was used; the show’s name was The Gangrene Film Festival: Peaces of 8. The festival featured a band of break dancing pirates who graced the stage and danced to an obscure Rustmonster song created just for the event. The song is called Overture. check out the video below, you might just dig it.

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I thought I would start posting an occasional pirate song for your enjoyment. I will add a post category for this so you can check them all out. Along with the songs, I will include a little trivia.

The first song is called Billy Barlow. This song appears on Rustmonster’s second album, The Flight of the Filthy Vicar. Like so many Rustmonster songs, this one tells a story. The main character, Billy Barlow, along with a few friends, sacks a town, buys a boat and heads out to sea, only to  be attacked by a rival band of pirates.

Billy Barlow and his ship, the Angel’s Bane, are also mentioned in the main story line on The Flight of the Filthy Vicar. His crew and ship goes on to play a bigger part in the last half of the story, yet to be released on Rustmonster’s next album.

The music was inspired by the modern Russian Gypsie rock sound. For influences, check out such bands as Leningrad, The Ukrainians, and The Red Elvises.

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I was just reflecting on the fun of original pirate music. When it comes to pirate tunes, I like original, up-to-date material from pirate bands who are willing to experiment and stretch the genre. Forgive me for saying so, but I am not a big fan of the classic shanties. They usually are mariner songs, not specific to pirates. My favorite material stretches the genre. I like to hear a modern twist on the old saw.

I listen to a podcast regularly from bilgemunky.com. Bilge plays every form of pirate music you can imagine, from pirate rap to classic shanties. I recommend his show. He has the best collection that I know of.

Bilgemunky turned me onto a pirate themed band called Jollyship the Whiz-Bang (man, I wish I had thought of that band name). I would highly recommend these guys. I believe they work out of New York. My favorite of their songs is Kill it if it don’t got feet. Check out their video below. I know you will become an instant fan.

Rustmonster would love to do a show with these guys if the stars ever align.

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