HorrorPops are a Danish

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band that formed in 1996. The band's sound is rooted in psychobilly,

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blu ...

, and punk rock.

History

1996–1999: Formation

Band founders

Patricia Day Patricia Day is a Danish musician best known as the lead singer and bass player of the rockabilly/psychobilly band HorrorPops. Early life Patricia Day was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. Career Bands Patricia Day began her musical career perform ...

and

Kim Nekroman Kim Nekroman is the bassist and lead singer for the psychobilly band Nekromantix and the lead guitarist of HorrorPops. He is from Denmark, and worked for the Danish Navy as a submarine radio operator for eight years before beginning his music ...

first met when Day's now-defunct band, the punk rock group Peanut Pump Gun, opened for Nekroman's psychobilly band,

Nekromantix The Nekromantix is a Danish-American psychobilly band founded in Copenhagen in 1989. Their lyrics are generally structured around monster and horror themes. A central icon of the band's image is founder and frontman Kim Nekroman's "coffinbass" ...

, at the POPKOM festival in

Cologne, Germany Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 million ...

in 1996. Despite both belonging to the subculture scene of

Copenhagen, Denmark Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, the two had never met before, but they became friends over their mutual interest in alternative music.

2000–2003: Demo tape and signing

In 2000, Day recruited two friends, Mille and Kamilla Vanilla, co-workers at the body piercing shop she worked at to act as

go-go dancer Go-go dancers are dancers who are employed to entertain crowds at nightclubs or other venues where music is played. Go-go dancing originated in the early 1960s at the French bar Whisky a Gogo located in Juan-les-Pins. The bar's name was taken ...

s for the band's live show. The group also recorded a 7-song demo for use in a

press kit A press kit, often referred to as a media kit in business environments, is a pre-packaged set of promotional materials that provide information about a person, company, organization or cause and which is distributed to members of the media for pr ...

, but it was somehow leaked to the public, and resulted in two of the group's singles, "Ghouls" and "Psychobitches outta Hell" becoming club hits in Denmark. The group spent the next few years touring

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

until 2003. During this time, Caz the Clash became a father and left the band to focus on parenting. He was replaced by another Strawberry Slaughterhouse member, Karsten.

Hellcat Records Hellcat Records is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. The label, an offshoot of Epitaph Records, was started as a partnership between Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion, the owner of Epitaph, and Tim Armstrong of Rancid, w ...

Tim Armstrong Timothy Ross Armstrong (born November 25, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and producer. Known for his distinctive voice, he is the singer/guitarist for the punk rock band Rancid and hip hop/punk rock supergroup Transplants. ...

's record label, signed HorrorPops. The band released a

vinyl single Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

in September 2003, and began a

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

headlining tour. HorrorPops ventured out on their first US tour as headliner for the "Aloha from hell tour" with nine shows across California and Arizona. They were interviewed by ''Vogue'', and reviewed by ''LA Weekly''.

2004: Hell Yeah

Hell Yeah! was released February 10, 2004; the interest in the band grew and when they did their release show at

Amoeba Records Amoeba Music is an American independent music store chain with locations in Berkeley, San Francisco, and Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1990 in Berkeley, California, and remains in operation, having survived the decline ...

, it was packed, to the surprise of everyone in HorrorPops. HorrorPops was then supposed to follow up with a grand U.S. tour, but got stuck in immigration paperwork and had to cancel the whole tour.

The Offspring The Offspring is an American rock band from Garden Grove, California, formed in 1984. Originally formed under the name Manic Subsidal, the band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Bryan "Dexter" Holland, lead guit ...

was just about to head out on their month-long European tour and with a three-day warning HorrorPops got offered the chance to join them as main support. Horrorpops played every night for audiences numbering between 5000 and 16000 people, and then continued with their own -month headline tour in Europe. Shortly after the European tour ended, Horrorpops returned to the states to play

Jimmy Kimmel Live ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, California, as part of ABC's lea ...

and a few California shows, but realizing the work that lay ahead and how time-consuming the band had become, Mille had to leave the band to go back to school. Mille got replaced by another good friend of the band, Naomi, who was quickly renamed NoNo. HorrorPops started touring the states, first on Punks VS Psychos, then as main support for Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards and then back to Europe for another tour. The band toured continuously in 2004 and the band enjoyed it. The Horrorpops also played in a movie called ''The Punk Rock Halocust'' and therefore made them more popular. Later, Karsten had to leave the band; he met the love of his life and wanted to spend time with her which was hard to do with the band's tour schedule. HorrorPops played around 110 shows in 2004 and went back to Los Angeles to start work on their second album. They played one last show for the year in West Hollywood to announce their new guitar player.

2005–2008: Bring it On and Kiss Kiss Kill Kill

The band soon relocated from Denmark to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. The band's second album, '' Bring It On!'', was released on September 13, 2005, and featured their new rhythm guitarist,

Geoff Kresge Geoff Kresge is a songwriter, guitarist, bassist, and record producer. He played with the punk rock/ horror punk band AFI for most of their early career, from 1992 through 1997, and co-wrote the majority of their early material alongside fron ...

. The HorrorPops spent most of 2006 touring Canada, Asia, Europe, and the States, including a Warped Tour stint. Kresge left the group before the band's next album, bringing the group back to three members. Their third album, released on February 5, 2008, is called '' Kiss Kiss Kill Kill''. The band began a North American tour around the time the album was released. They began the tour with an electric show in San Luis Obispo, CA, USA where they have a fairly loyal following, and are currently touring with two bands from Los Angeles, CA. Their opening bands include

Rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...

, which is an all-female band, and

The Pink Spiders The Pink Spiders are an American rock band, formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 2003. The band consists of Matt Friction (lead vocals, guitar), JoCo (bass), Joey B-Side (drums), and Young James (guitar). Matt Friction and original drummer Bob Fe ...

, a pop punk band. They are on Vans Warped Tour all summer. After the release of ''Kiss Kiss Kill Kill'' they began to have a much larger fan base.

'Barbie doll' controversy

On 23 December 2010, Patricia Day filed a lawsuit in an Indianapolis federal court against the Hard Rock casino, charging infringement of the

right of publicity Personality rights, sometimes referred to as the right of publicity, are rights for an individual to control the commercial use of their identity, such as name, image, likeness, or other unequivocal identifiers. They are generally considered as ...

and false endorsement. In her lawsuit, the HorrorPops singer claimed Hard Rock and

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...

had been selling a Barbie doll in her image without her authorization. Mattel and Hard Rock have released a series of rock ‘n’ roll-themed Barbies, featuring pioneering female musicians such as Debbie Harry of Blondie,

Joan Jett Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin, September 22, 1958) is an American singer, guitarist, record producer, and actress. Jett is best known for her work as the frontwoman of her band Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and for earlier founding and per ...

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album ''She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achi ...

. In the lawsuit it is alleged that another doll, called the “Hard Rock Café Barbie Doll" or the “Rockabilly Barbie,” is made in the image of the HorrorPops lead singer but without direct acknowledgement of nor permission by Patricia Day.

Patricia Day's cancer battle

On 14 March 2022, it was announced on the band's

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

page that Day was battling cancer and that a

GoFundMe GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the be ...

page was set up for people to donate money to help Day pay for her medical bills. "If we decide to do a comeback tour after a 9-year hiatus, a pandemic will shut all shows down and remove all means of income. And of course, as the pandemic dwindles and touring starts to be possible, cancer decides to pay me a visit. Well, F Murphy and his god damn law and F cancer. I’m planning US shows for late summer & fall and Europe tours for ‘23 & ‘24 … and I can’t wait!!!" Day said.

Current lineup

–

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

–

semi-acoustic guitar A semi-acoustic guitar, hollow-body electric, or thinline is a type of electric guitar that was first created in the 1930s. It has a sound box and at least one electric pickup. The semi-acoustic guitar is different to an acoustic-electric guita ...

* Henrik "Niedermeier" Stendahl – drums

Former members

* Casper "Caz The Clash" Holbek – rhythm guitar (1998–2003) * Karsten Johansen – rhythm guitar (2003–2004) *

– rhythm guitar (2005–2006) * Sam Soto - rhythm guitar (2007-2008)

Discography

Studio albums

EPs and singles

Music videos

References

External links

@Horrorpops_official
at Instagram * *
Horrorpops interview on TruePunk.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horrorpops Hellcat Records artists Psychobilly groups Pop punk groups Horror punk groups Danish punk rock groups Musical groups established in 1996 Danish musical trios