In 2014, Blothar the Berserker (aka, Mike Bishop) took over as GWAR‘s lead vocalist. Prior to Blothar taking on the role of lead singer, the late Oderus Urungus (aka, Dave Brockie) was the band’s frontman; Brockie tragically passed away in 2014.
As of this year, the band released a new album titled The New Dark Ages (which is also the second album to feature Blothar as the band’s lead singer). In a new interview with Revolver, Blothar talks about his history with GWAR. While talking about that history, Bishop ends up sharing a really comical story about a past job of his that involved, “[…] getting sucked off by a catfish on a giant Lazy Susan.”
Before this story is brought up, Bishop is asked about the late Oderus and what he was like – to which Bishop shares the following:
“He was an engaging, extremely talented individual, a born performer. He was a clown — he went to clown college — but he was also a great rock & roll frontman. And he was absolutely out of his mind. He would pretend to be the Terminator for two months and not break character. A lot of the things that made him so great onstage were just amplifications of his everyday personality. I remember one of Oderus’ great stories about getting started in ‘this business they call show’ was of running away with the circus, where he ended up cleaning shit out of dick slits with Q-tips. [Laughs] That was his job as an understudy.”
The interviewer then asks if Bishop has made any “similar stops” regarding his own creative journey. Blothar replies with:
“Oh, I’ve done some things that I am not proud of, to get to where I am. You can’t have this level of success without making some serious spiritual and emotional compromises. So yes, I’ve been compromised. And I suppose you want the details! [Laughs]”
Going into more detail, this is where Blothar talks about his experience working at place that was “a Chuck E. Cheese of sex.”
“Well, for a while, just to make ends meet, so to speak, I worked as a dancer in a porno booth in Times Square. People would put giant tokens in the slot and watch while I was getting sucked off by a catfish on a giant Lazy Susan. The place was like a Chuck E. Cheese of sex. It was horrible! But that’s the whole thing with showbiz — you take the compromise an inch at a time, and the next thing you know, you’re fucked! [Laughs] But yeah, getting back to Oderus — he was a friend, and a cherished and honored member of GWAR. But he still owes me a lot of yams, which is the currency that we use. I loaned him, like, 5,000 yams and the next thing I know, he disappeared with some prostitute, and we haven’t seen him since. [Laughs]”
Leave it to Blothar the Berserker to have quite the resume! A few months ago, we actually interviewed Blothar! You can find links to our two-part conversation with the GWAR singer below. Also, if you want to see Blothar in all his glory, the band just recently announced a new headlining tour! And one last thing – the new GWAR documentary, This Is GWAR, is now available to watch on Shudder!
GWAR Singer Blothar Talks About The Band’s Love For Geek Culture And Their Upcoming Graphic Novel