2021 is poised to be a tremendous year for Violent Idols as they ready their second EP and continue their pattern of collaborating with some of rock music’s biggest names. Violent Idols have managed to rack up millions of streams in their first year as an unsigned independent band. Proving that music doesn’t have to be “safe” to sell, there seems to be no shortage of excitement over the band’s artistic output thus far. The lyrics of “Revenge” ask “Where does it stop? Where does it end?”. However, it’s clear with this release that “Revenge” is just the beginning of huge things for this mysterious and enigmatic Las Vegas band. Here’s our interview with V!

Beginnings:

I am the only official member of Violent Idols. You can call me V and I write and perform all the music with help from our producer Kane Churko. Kane and I met through wrestling actually. He’s a big fan as I am, and when the opportunity came up to work on Jon Moxley from AEW’s theme together it led to further collaborations.

Behind the name:

I wanted a band name that both represented the attitude of the music but would also be something that would look cool to wear. I asked myself what kind of band name could be on a shirt where a kid walking into Hot Topic would want to buy it without even having heard the music. I kicked around lots of interesting words and made many lists where I tried to combine words, etc but nothing was fruitful. One day ‘Violent Idols’ came into mind and seemed like a cool concept. When I looked it up and saw that nobody had used it before then I knew it was meant to be!

Inspiration:

Yeah, I like the obvious stuff like NIN, Rob Zombie, etc. but I also really like more eclectic things like the German band Notwist or Frank Zappa. I like things that make me questions how they were created that push the boundaries of sound and what you can do within a song.

I like things that make me jump out of my skin a little.

Everything we’ve done so far tends to have an energy that won’t allow you to sit down while listening. Not that we won’t do anything different, but I think I’m most excited about things that make you want to physically move around. It’s one thing to like something and another to be uncontrollably aroused by it.

Most of the time I come up with something that I’m excited about working on and send it to our producer Kane.

Sometimes he sends me a musical idea or an inspiring riff or beat and I start writing vocals to that. I don’t really care where an idea comes from as long as I connect with it and feel like it aligns with what Violent Idols are about. Most of the time you just know.

COVID-19:

I never thought we’d be a band for almost two years without even playing a live show! At the same time, we love recording and make videos and engaging with fans online so it’s allowed us to focus on those things even more. It’s a confusing time for sure, but it’s actually been really productive for us.

Fun facts:

We’ve never played a live show. The first song we ever released was the AEW wrestler Jon Moxley’s theme song. The first song we ever recorded was with K.A.Z from the legendary Japanese band VAMPS. Andy James appeared on our cover of “Break on Through” by The Doors then ended up joining one of the biggest rock bands in the world Five Finger Death Punch’s lineup a few months later! “Fuck You” was mostly written in my car while experiencing an episode of road rage.