George Van Orsdel - 2000s

2000s

After Fay Wray, George took some time off again to collect his musical thoughts. In 2000, he started playing drums in a Miami street punk band called Torpedo Lucas, who was very heavily influenced by bands such as Rancid, Social Distortion, and many others. Torpedo Lucas started playing around the south Florida area, quickly establishing a decent following. The band ended up recording 2 e.p. CDs within the course of 2 years. Eventually Torpedo Lucas broke up in 2002 after some line-up difficulties.

In October 2002, George decided to organize a Misfits tribute band called The Braineaters, complete with stage props, Crimson Ghost, the whole nine yards. It was a one-show band he put together. It was something he had always wanted to do but could never find other musicians who wanted to join him. George finally found Todd and David (who later became part of the original Van Orsdels line-up) and Brian from Underpaid. The show was a success!

After The Braineaters project, Todd, David and George decided to keep playing and so The Van Orsdels were born (2003). The Van Orsdels had the distinction of being south Florida's very first (and apparently only) psychobilly band. He was finally playing the music he had been longing to play, but was unable to find musicians who wanted to play psychobilly. They eventually found Bruno and The Van Orsdels were well on their way. The band members all adopted the last name of "Van Orsdel", in honor of The Ramones, and to portray a sense of unity. In 2003, The Van Orsdels recorded a 7 song ep CD, titled "Ain't Life a Drag?" which was very well received. They continued to play and establish themselves, locally and regionally. Then in 2005, the Van Orsdels signed to Crazy Love records and released their second CD, their first full-length release Miami Morgue Riot! which established the band on a national level and earned them many fans across the country, as well as globally. In August 2005, The Van Orsdels decided to do their first tour, so they booked a short East Coast tour which went very well. The Van Orsdels are still chugging right along, doing great despite many obstacles and roadblocks. The band has several projects coming soon, including songs that will be featured in an upcoming independent horror film Shadow Grove.

In 2007, George recorded a song for the Gris Grimly DVD release of his debut film Cannibal Flesh Riot!. The DVD was released featuring a bonus CD which included songs inspired by the movie. George's contribution was a song titled "The Ballad of Stash and Hub". He has also recorded some acoustic songs with The Van Orsdels, which were featured on the CD Leftovers. "The Ballad of Stash and Hub" was also featured on the Leftovers CD. George has also made several solo acoustic recordings, which have not yet been released. Due to the inactivity of The Van Orsdels as of 2010, George began writing and recording music for a solo project called The Family Ghouls, a horrorpunk project which consists of George writing and performing the songs under the name "Vincent Van Ghoul", playing all the instruments, and performing all the vocals. As of April 2010, several songs have been released as demo versions on The Family Ghouls' official MySpace page.Also as of April 2010, the future of The Van Orsdels is uncertain, as the band still remain on hiatus.

On August 11, 2010, George posted a blog on The Van Orsdels' official MySpace page stating that the band indeed is now officially done. There was an indication that there might possibly be a Van Orsdels reunion show in the future.