Insomniaxe Strike Back- Psychobilly Rockers Back on Circuit

Tim Wenger | October 1, 2013 | 0 Comments

by Tim Wenger

Denver pyschobilly rockers Insomniaxe are back on the grind, seeking to enlighten the masses that the pyschobilly scene in the Mile High City is not as dark and desolate as it seems. “We’re tired of the same of shit, the awful music scene as far as pyschobilly goes,” says Colden King, upright bassist and the only remaining original member from the band’s 2007 formation.

The band took a hiatus from 2011 until a couple months ago, with part of the reason for the break being front man Clay Greene’s incarceration. “

They have pulled back together, driven by the desire to continue spreading their madness to the far reaches of the scene. Immediate plans for the group including the completion of a full length release, five years in the making. They plan to head into Black in Bluhm studios to work with Jesse Fox. The guys are hesistant to put a date on the release. “Tentatively next year,” says King. “If we can bust something out this year that would be amazing.” A split record with Denver punk rockers Potato Pirates may also be in the works, with the bands covering each other’s songs.

Insomniaxe have done a fair amount of touring and have become known for wild, outrageous, and often violent live shows. They have seen stabbings, beatings with a chair and numerous other acts of random destruction in their day. “We did a few tours, mostly west coast,” says King. Live shows have become the staple of the band and the reason for the wild reputation they have.

Reno, Nevada appears to be the guys’ favorite stop. Hearing them tell this story, you see their eyes light up as the reminisce on what must have been an absolutely insane evening, one of many that Insomniaxe have been a part of, out in the middle of the desert. “I always got so messed up out there,” says Greene. “The first time we played out there, the venue got changed like five times,” says Greene.

“The first place we were supposed to play at didn’t have a cabaret license and the cops shut it down,” says King. “Then we went to this other place and they said we couldn’t do it there. Then we went to this Irish Pub place, and it was supposed to be rockabilly vs. pyschobilly.”

“We were the only pyschobilly band,” says Greene. You can imagine how that went down, Insomniaxe bringing the crazy, booze-fueled madness to a lineup filled with malt shop rockers, but it happened and they survived to tell the story.

“Hayride to Hell was supposed to play (after us), but it got shut down because a riot squad showed up because there was a bunch of ‘Hells Angels’ there and they started a crazy ass brawl right in the middle of our set.”

“A bunch of people got stabbed, there was a bunch of cop cars outside. It was totally awesome,” says Greene.

They did not let the madness keep them from rocking, however. “We just kept going,” says King.

“Reno’s a hellhole, but it’s a fun place to play,” says Greene. “I don’t think I’ve had more fun on tour with a band besides this one.”

The guys get a kick out of watching people rock out to their songs, and do their part to provide some “quality” merchandise to send them home with. “It’s cool seeing people who you don’t know, people who you’ve never seen in your entire fucking life and will probably never see again, singing the words to your songs,” says King laughing. “It’s like, who is this? Who put you up to this?”

“I remember when we ran out of merch half way through the tour,” says Greene. “We went to the good will and bought a bunch of underwear and army shirts. We screened them all at our buddy’s house.”

“We silk screened Insomniaxe tighty-whitey underwear from the thrift store, and we sold out of those the first show that we sold them at.”

“I’m wearing this gold stretchy Elvis jumpsuit with Insomniaxe underwear underneath,” says Greene. “I took the jumpsuit off and I’m all ‘Whoever takes this underwear off with their teeth can fuckin’ have em!’” Needless to say, the underwear ended up in the hands (and probably around the waist) of a deserving fan.

“The oldest, most methed-out gambling queen in the joint was like ‘Me! Me! Me!’” says Greene. “That was nasty! Fucking awesome.”

Back on the homefront, Insomniaxe are hoping to re-generate the buzz they had prior to their hiatus. “We’re trying to get Denver back, like when we were in our heyday, we would play a place and it would fill up,” says King. “Clay was not the original singer. We had this other kid that was a drunken mess more so than any of us combined. We kicked him out. Clays been in the band longer than anybody else besides me, so he’s original as far as I’m concerned.”

They will be gigging around town and hope to hit the road in the near future. “The show’s gotten a lot better now,” says says Greene.

“We’ve gotten away from the whole ‘let’s get completely fucked up and destroy places,’” says King.

Online: facebook.com/insomniaxe