Rod Usher: I got my first KISS-album when I was nine years old and I've loved music ever since. And it seems that since then I have a thing for bands with Make-Up and some kind of Horror-Image.

What made you decide to be singer as opposed to a guitarist or drummer?

I started out as a guitarist. I played a few years for an Old-school Hardcore band and then joined the grindcore/noise-band forced to decay for nine years. I did always sing a little but it really started when I played some Misfits-songs with friends for fun and I realized that I had a voice that sounded a little like Glenn's. Now I really have fun being the singer, cause you can really communicate with the audience, sing with them, etc.

Have you ever had any vocal lessons?

Yeah, about three lessons altogether. I didn't like the teacher and vocal lessons are sooo expansive over here, too. I do warm up before shows but I have to admit that I easily strain my vocal-cords because I didn't have much professional training and I sing too loud. I really have to take lessons again.

What influences you the most in your writing?

Tough question. Obviously the Misfits, but I'm a fan of so many other bands that all have some kind of influence. I've listened to a lot of The Damned and Nick Cave recently and the newer songs seem to be a little darker than the earlier ones because of that.

How does your family feel about your career choices?

I have a day-job as a journalist and at the moment I have a nice regular income. Lucky for me I'm online all the time in my job and nobody cares if I do band- and label-work in the daytime. And I work for Fiendforce evenings and weekends. But I do plan on making The Other and Fiendforce Records my fulltime-job. My family might be worried about that.

What other bands besides The Other have you been in?

The only band that some readers could know is Forced to Decay. Our album "Perkussive Perlokution" was released on Pavement Records in the US as well. We put out three albums, toured with many bands (like Crowbar for example) but eventually broke up the band.

Last year The Other released their first full length entitled "They're Alive", how well has it been received, both in the US and Europe?

It's been fantastic. I hope this doesn't sound arrogant, but from the many reviews we received only 2 or 3 were negative in a "well, they sound cool but it's just a Misfits-Rip-Off" - kinda way. All others have been spectacular and we've had interview-requests from all over there world. We are very proud of this album.

Which song off the album is your favorite and why?

"Invasion"! It's fast and furious with very cool vocal-lines. It has a Danzig-like Metal-vibe with a strong Misfits-style chorus.

I know you've already got 2 new songs loaded up on your myspace page, How soon can we expect a new album?

We have six new songs and want to have 13 done until we enter the studio again. We are planning for studio-time in September and a release in January to go with our tour with Blitzkid.

Roughly about a year or so ago you and Paddy (Scumhead) started the label "Fiendforce Records". What drove you to start your own label?

Well, it's been more than two years now since we started the label. I used to work as Head-of-Promotion for a label with artists like Pro-Pain and always wanted to have my own label, cause I knew that I would handle certain things a lot different. And Paddy founded the website www.fiendclub.de which unites Misfits- and Horrorpunk-fans from all over the world. So when The Other recorded their first songs, I saw this as the start for Fiendforce. Paddy and started working together and we decided that we had to define the genre "Horrorpunk" first with a compilation. "This is Horrorpunk" turned out to be a huge success and Fiendforce has now been getting stronger every day, also thanks to awesome bands like Blitzkid, The Crimson Ghosts, Frankenstein, Bloodsucking Zombies from outer Space, Shadow Reichenstein, Nim Vind and Mister Monster!!

Are there any draw backs to running your own label?

Absolutely: I have no time whatsoever and I'm thinking about label-work even when I try to relax. I also sometimes whish that money wasn't so important. There are so many magazines that will only feature your artists if you spend money on ads, no matter how much they like the album. We do book a lot of ads but only with magazines that have worked with us and supported us before and I hate it when some mags call you and tell you "thanks, we got your CD and would like to review it. You have to book an ad in return". Another drawback was a band which disappointed me very much. They're not on Fiendforce, so no need to make any wild guesses.

You've recently released a handful of albums such as Horrorpunk 2 comp, Nim Vind and Shadow Reichenstein. What can we as fans expect from these albums and artist?

Horrorpunk 2 will be a great seller like the first part and we're proud to say that we have 28 totally new bands on the CD and much more variety. Horror-Fiends are gonna love that compilation. Nim Vind's "Fashion of Fear" is a killer-album and a must-have for fans of The Damned, AFI and Horrorpunk and also Rockabilly in general. Each song is a hit and will stick in your head for weeks. Shadow Reichenstein is a band that is so unique that I can't describe them. "Werewolf Order" is the darkest album I've ever heard but without being too gothic. It's like a Horror-Soundtrack with big guitars. I'm sure Nim and Shadow are gonna be very popular soon, as they are fantastic at what they do. They already have a dedicated fan-base and the numbers are growing daily. Check these bands out!!

Do you have any plans to sign any other bands in the near future, if so can you give us a hint as to who it might be?

There's one Horror-Psychobilly-band that I would really like to sign. They are from Los Angeles and their singer used to be in The Deep Eynde. I would also like to work with the Bloodjunkies at some point, if that's possible. Who knows, maybe one or two of these things will work out. Other than that we have no plans right now other than to concentrate on Nim and Shadow and promote them heavily. We get many demos but we are very picky when it comes to signing a band.

You have a vast array of bands signed to the label, which FF release is your personal favorite and why?

I can't say, cause all the bands we sign we really really love. I've listened to every Fiendforce album for weeks from the day I got the recording. And each one is my favorite until the next one comes along. It seems that I only listen to our bands these days (ha, ha). Seriously, I can't pick one cause the are all fantastic. If we had dozens of bands and two releases a month, that might be different.

What's the rest of the year look like for FF, will we see anymore release, if so what and who?

Our release-plans have been thrown around a little. Frankenstein, Blitzkid and The Bloodsucking Zombies from outer Space were supposed to be released between June and October but all bands take longer in the studio as planned. That's totally understandable and it just means that right now we don't have any set dates for these albums yet.

Onto the fun stuff!

Outside of the music business, what can we expect Mr. Usher to be doing on his days off?

Going to shows, drinking and partying, or taking some time off and really hanging around on the sofa with my girlfriend. I love to rent a nice Horror-DVD to relax. And I write for a lot of magazines which is also stressful but a lot of fun, too.

I've read you're a reading fanatic, naturally Horror novels I assume. What are some of your favorite titles and authors.

Ohhh yeah!! I have a large library and I need to own every book I read. I love reading. It's mostly Horror- or Gothic-Novels but I enjoy some Thrillers or stuff by T.C. Boyle, J.D. Salinger and others as well. My favorite author is Stephen King and "The Shining" is my all-time favorite book. I recently discovered Jack Ketchum. His novel "The Girl next Door" is one of the most shocking and disturbing books ever. I've also recently enjoyed "Terratologist" by Edward Lee. And I love the classics: Nathaniel Hawthorne "The scarlet letter", H.P. Lovecraft (pretty much everything), E.A. Poe (again, pretty much everything), R.L. Stevenson ("Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"). More modern authors I like are Dan Simmons ("Children of the Night", "Carrion Comfort", "Summer of Night"), Bret Easton Ellis ("Less than zero", "American Psycho"), Skipp & Spector, and of cause Dean Koontz, even though that's not particularly sophisticated but very entertaining anyway.

I am dying to know.. What is your favorite Horror film and why?

The Shining: It scared me so much when I first saw it. I think it's one masterfully done Horror movie. I have some more all-time favorite horror-films, like The Exorcist, Tarantula, Blair Witch Project, Frankenstein, Nosferatu.

Give me your thoughts on the following bands~ (I know how you feel about the Misfits so I'll leave that one out)

Samhain

A very unique band with cool sound-experiments.

Danzig

I love all the Danzig albums except Blackaciddevil and I Luciferi. Obviously 1-4 are the band's best outputs and I whish Glenn would get Eerie and John back in the band and record with Rick Rubin. On the other hand I saw a Danzig show last week and it was breathtaking. Glenn's voice was great, the band was tight and they played "Skulls". Killer!

Roky Erikson

That psycho-rock dude? Never heard a song from him but I don't like Hippie-music

Alice Cooper

The Grandfather of Horror-Rock. I have many of his albums. Great stuff, especially the often overlooked "Constrictor" and "Raise your fist and yell". I hate to picture him playing golf with his politician-friends, though.

Michale Graves

Awesome singer who wrote some all-time classics before leaving the Misfits. Has since become a redneck-rocker.

X-Ward

The Doctor is a great guy and I only whish him the best. I do prefer his Horrorpunk-tracks over his Alternative-Rock songs on the band's debut album.

If you could accomplish any one thing in this world what would it be and why?

I wish I could show many people that there's more to life than Britney Spears and Burger King. I would like to open their eyes and make them realize how they are being manipulated and trained to be sheep instead of human beings that think for themselves. And I would also like to resurrect Bela Lugosi so he could witness how the fans appreciate his work now.

Can you leave our readers with a personal quote that you use in your everyday life...

Horror sparks creativity!