Sid Terror And The Undead: As He Nailed The Coffin Shut On The Band, I Wondered - Is There Life After Death For Sid?

Originally published in Rave-Up #13 (natch!) 1988
Interview by Devorah Ostrov

The 1984/1985 Sid Terror and the Undead lineup

L-R: Sid Terror, Hans Hunt, Trent Addams & Joe Dirt

Like their namesakes, Sid Terror and the Undead returned to life a year ago to bring some excitement to a decaying local music scene. Now, with their job still incomplete, the Undead have decided to call it quits and quietly slip back into their grave. While there was still a semblance of life left in the band, Rave-Up got together with Sid and bassist Hans Hunt to discuss the task they'd chosen.

Rave-Up: Interestingly, Sid Terror and the Undead is breaking up only a year after reforming. What's the reason behind the split?

Flyer for the Last Show Ever!!! Sid Terror and 
the Undead with The Phantom Creeps 
(January 16, 1988 at Chatterbox) 

Sid: The band was put back together as a one-year experiment with a self-imposed expiration date of January 16, 1988. The reason being that if we were not signed in that time, then we would move on. We almost made it. There was some interest from a few different labels, but it would have taken a lot more nurturing to get signed, and I'm one for weighing my options and sticking to my own promises. Our final show was exactly one year and one day from our "Resurrection Show."

Rave-Up: There was quite a lot of time between the break-up of the original Undead and this new version [of which Sid was the only original member]. What happened during that time?

Sid: I just wanted to take some time off and work on my films. I do a lot of special effects work for films, and I wanted to get that better established.

Rave-Up: It seems like the first version of the Undead was a lot more punk, maybe even hardcore, than the new band.

Sid: I don't think we were ever hardcore because I never liked hardcore music, and for a very short time would I even consider it a punk band. We started out making fun of a recently dead rock star [Sid Vicious], who I had a very slight resemblance to. This pissed off a lot of people, so we intensified it, just as a statement to say: "Stop taking yourselves so seriously. Rock 'n' roll is supposed to be fun!" Our sound was based on raw rock 'n' roll, with the subject matter being weird horror films. After all, we were horny teenage rock 'n' roll delinquents who loved horror movies!

The 1987 lineup 
L-R: Hans Hunt, Sid Terror, 

Luis Valentino & Joe Dirt

Rave-Up: Because of the band's name, did promoters tend to book you with "death rock" shows?

Hans: Well, sometimes... Actually, we had a problem on our last tour of getting booked with a lot of hardcore bands opening up for us.

Sid: Which did not go well at all. I'd say half the shows on the tour were misbooked. They really didn't know what to do with us. In Portland, we actually got on the bill with a speed metal band. They came up to us after the show and said, "How do you guys keep playing so long and so hard? " And we're not the kind of band that plays super hard or super fast.

Rave-Up: You mentioned your film work earlier, and I know you have a real passion for film and video. Is your music influenced more by films rather than by other bands?

Sid: Sometimes. I listen to everything, and I just assimilate it all. I don't set out to write one particular song, but for some reason, I'll see a film and the title will stick with me, or whatever, and I'll use that for a song.

Rave-Up: What were the most influential films for you?

Sid: Vampira films, Marilyn Monroe, Ed Wood films... My favorite film is Brian De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise. [The Undead song "Sinister Urge" is based on an Ed Wood movie, and the group takes its name from a fictitious band that appeared in Phantom of the Paradise.]

Sid Terror's Undead - Coffin Buster CD reissue

Rave-Up: Don't you have a family history of involvement in B-grade horror films?

Sid: My great-grandfather on my mother's side was Max Schreck, who played the vampire in the silent version of Nosferatu.

Rave-Up: I want to talk about your video work for a minute. Didn't you do some award-winning work for a Greg Kihn video?

The Undead with Social Unrest &

the Afflicted at The Tool and Die
October 2, 1982
 (Artwork by Sid Terror)

Sid: I was nominated for Best Effects in a Rock Video for "Jeopardy." That was the first video I did with him.

Rave-Up: What kind of special effects did you use in it?

Sid: Tons of zombie stuff. It took place in a church, and everyone turned into zombies or mutated Siamese twins!

Rave-Up: Do you have a favorite special effect?

Sid: In this one film I did called Disciple of Dracula [not yet released], at the end of the film, when the vampire finally gets it, we did a lot of things that haven't really been done on film — kind of like a meltdown!

Rave-Up: Is it true that the Undead were asked to do some songs for the Return of the Living Dead Part II soundtrack?

Sid: They were interested in some songs we had recorded, but because we didn't like the deal, we didn't go for it. They wanted all kinds of publishing rights, and we wouldn't be able to play the songs live or put them on our own album. So, we decided against it.

Rave-Up: Now that you've had a chance to look back on the career of Sid Terror and the Undead, do you have any regrets?

Sid poses beside the headstone of 

Sophie M. beloved wife of A. Loser

Sid: The Undead was a hell of a fun band to be in. I wouldn't trade all those good times for anything. We may never live down all the stuff we did, but by the same token, I don't necessarily want to relive it all, either. I mean, who wants to be Sid Terror "Teenage Vampire" forever? Not me!

Rave-Up: Your last show featured the "onstage suicide" of Sid Terror. By doing that, did you bring an end to the character you've become one with over the years?

Sid: "Sid" committed suicide when he stepped off the stage at the end of the final show. He no longer exists except in our fond memories and worst nightmares. There's still a lot of Sid in my personality, naturally. It's like Bruce Wayne and Batman. But from now on, you'll see only me onstage, and I'll be using my real name which is... *

* In the original article, I transcribed what I heard as "Bobby Omen," which seemed appropriate. I've since found out what Sid's real name actually is, and it seems I got it slightly wrong. But I still prefer Bobby Omen!