History
Joel "Hooch" Parkins and former bassist Jeff Sheppard formed The Matadors in 1995. They began as a rockabilly cover band of sorts playing mostly classic country and older 1950s rockabilly. In the beginning The Matadors played clubs, corporate events and even weddings. Joel "Hooch" Parkins, as The Matadors story goes, then supposedly signed a deal with the devil, and from there The Matadors evolved into what it is now a highly theatrical, humorous, high energy rock and roll show.
Parkins wrote and recorded four songs in 1998 one of which was "Let's Ride" which can be found on subsequent Matadors recordings. Following these recordings Parkins became unsatisfied with being a cover act and took over on lead vocals. The Matadors play a fusion of blues, swing and southern rock boogie they have described as "horrorbilly." Parkins invented the term after reading a book called The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by authors Al Ries and Jack Trout which states that "if you cannot be first in your category, set up a new category".
The Band's song writer and driving force has been Parkins throughout its history with many line up changes over the course of the 5 albums.
The Matadors have been on the forefront of the Canadian psychobilly scene since their inception. They are most noted for their 'larger than life' live shows which have included giant stage-blood shooting puppets, foam launching machines and dancing girls. The band claims to be part of the Luciferian Brotherhood of Baphomet who are one of their inspirations. They also claim to have sold their souls to the devil in exchange for musical talent.
The Matadors' first Canadian tour was in 2005. They were packaged with Canadian veteran psychobilly band The Dead Cats. The Matadors are currently the largest grossing Canadian psychobilly act to date in terms not only of record sales but audience attendance.
The band recorded their third full-length album, Horrorbilly 9000, in only ten days.
During the recording of their fifth release, Sweet Revenge, the band had no permanent bassist. Former singer of The Creepshow and Parkins girlfriend, Jen "Hellcat" Blackwood, does guest vocals on the eleventh track on the album, If You're Gonna Bitch.
Read more about this topic: The Matadors (band)
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