onjuring up a heady mix of EC Comics, Jonah Hex, Horror, Mariachis and Spaghetti Westerns, Ghoultown is a band that seamlessly crosses genres, bouncing easily and beautifully outside the lines of conventional music.

If you haven't run across this incredible sound yet, then let Ghoultown take you down the back alleys of the Old West and show you what you're missing. Ghoultown's singer and lead guitarist Count Lyle was kind enough to drop by for a visit.

Question: There seems to be a pretty big underground explosion going on in the psychobilly, gothabilly arena. We might only see it that way since we completely dig this stuff, but from the musician's point of view, do you guys think this sort of music is getting its due or at the very least headed that way?

COUNT LYLE: Well, I never really bother to duck for an explosion 'til I see fire, and I myself haven't seen any fire yet. That could be 'cuz I live in Dallas and here there's no kind of scene of any sort for any sort of music much less one for gothabilly or even psychobilly. No rumbles, no grumbles and no midnight grease monkey masquerades that we've ever played. We had to go all the way to New York to play the release gig for the Gothabilly 2 compilation we're on, if that tells you anything about how the gothabilly scene is happening down here.

However, I do think there might be a little buzz about it in various parts of the country/world and of course on the Internet so who knows, maybe something will come out of it. I never heard the term 'til Skully Records contacted us about being on their Gothabilly 2 comp, so I am sort of new to the whole genre. Since then I've discovered that there's a lot of cool bands involved and the best part about it, they all have individuality. That's one thing a lot of genres lack. Maybe since no one (including me) knows what gothabilly is supposed to be, we are better off. That usually signifies that it might be good.

I sort of look to Kevin McQuain at Skully Records as the guru of gothabilly. He is helping to define the classification and put it in front of the world's ears in a form that can be recognized. I'm glad to be a part, though we are definitely at the fringe end of this or any other genre for that matter.

How did your involvement with the film American Nightmare come about? Can you tell us a little bit about your scene in it? As far as you know, is it still set for release this year?

COUNT LYLE: It was part luck and part destiny that got us in the film. When I first put up the Ghoultown website - even before we had recorded anything - a guy emailed me just saying how cool he thought our goth-western concept was. Later on, he turned out to be the musical director for American Nightmare and by that time we had recorded Boots of Hell. He played it for director Jon Keeyes who loved our sound and agreed to include us on the soundtrack. Jon came out to one of our shows and after being impressed by our stage presence, he decided to write us into the movie as well. So we have a cameo playing at a Halloween party where one of the characters is getting stabbed. We're playing "Boots of Hell" out in this field at night while a bunch of partiers are yelping and tapping their feet. One of our fire-breathers, who goes by the name of Goddess of Fire, has a role in the movie as a voodoo princess, which is pretty cool too.

The soundtrack has a few songs from our first EP along with a song I wrote especially for the movie called "Ten Seconds To Blood." The only place you can get that tune will be the soundtrack. My side band, The Killcreeps, are also on it. I've seen the movie finally and it's pretty damn good. I've seen a lot of B-horror movies and even though this is a pretty standard stalk-em-and-slash-em plot, it's done very well... a little more Hitchcock style. Debbie Rochon is great as the main character, and I think it's an honor to be in a movie with Brinke Stevens since she's been in so many underground horror flicks. As far as I know it should come out this year. They are going through the ropes of setting up a distributor and all that right now, so it's just a matter of business from here on out.

Did your early playing with hardcore punk G.G. Allin influence your music? He was definitely one tough hombre - what was it like to tour with who was arguably the hardest of the hardcore?

COUNT LYLE: It probably influenced my attitude and outlook on life more than anything. After doing those shows, I realized I had just come face to face with the real world. I was in high school at the time and witnessing the chaos around G.G. made me understand what it meant to really fuck around with life and death. I woke up and realized that I hadn't learned shit about life and death 'til I saw a guy cut himself up, roll around in shit and assault people in the audience... for real. This wasn't some fake rocknroll show, this was the real thing. Now when I see articles on how hardcore Marilyn Manson or Korn are, I just laugh. There are very few musicians like G.G. And I call him a musician because the guy could actually sing and play every instrument. Listen to his early stuff.

Touring with him was sort of dangerous on stage and usually afterwards depending on how many tough guys were out to try and prove they were more hardcore than G.G. Most of the time, though, he scared the shit out of everyone and rightly so. I saw an article in Spin magazine a few months after his southern "Hated in the Nation" Tour that I played on where it said he was stabbed after the show and had to go to the hospital. That was bullshit. Some idiot, whose name I won't mention, kept grumbling about how he was gonna kick G.G.'s ass for jumping some even stupider girl who insisted on sitting in a chair five feet from the stage in a white dress. G.G. got shit on her dress and the guy never raised one finger to him in the parking lot. A lot of stories flew around that guy and that was one reason he ended up in jail. He wrote and phoned us the whole time and that jail wrap was nonsense. The cops just needed an excuse to lock him up and a jilted lover was the perfect thing. Offstage he was really cool; it was just when the music cut loose, G.G. went fucking crazy.

I also learned that it's best to have a wireless guitar when on tour with G.G. because cleaning shit off of your guitar chords sucks! Unfortunately, I still don't own a wireless to this day. Maybe on the G.G. "Back From the Grave" Tour!

When will we see videos for your latest Tales From the Dead West? How involved are you in the production? Can you tell us some about it?

COUNT LYLE: The making of the videos is kind of a weird story since we've been in the process of making one of them since August of 2000. We are going for something of a dusty, spaghetti western Texas look, but ironically it's been raining so much in Texas for the last year we can never get them filmed. Every time we schedule a shoot and line up a location like a train yard or something, it fucking rains it out. Three times, the locations were flooded completely under water. Since we play out a lot, we only have so much time to go on these shoots and we have to schedule in advance.

Finally though, we've filmed part of a video for "Killer In Texas" and we have two more days of shooting to complete it. It's got scene where there's hanging bodies, a girl wrapped in plastic and thrown in the trunk of an old car, fire-breathing and us playing on a railroad track. Sort of a serial killer type thing. The director and I came up with the concepts. It's on 8mm black and white film, what they call reversal, so it's kind of grainy and really spooky. We are supposed to film another for "Gunslinger" in an old west town up in Oklahoma. The town is used in movies and commercials and looks realistic as hell. That video is supposed to be a bonus on the American Nightmare movie DVD, but it's not set in stone yet.

How is making a video similar to or completely different from taking part in scenes in a horror flick?

COUNT LYLE: There's not really that much difference in the two. For American Nightmare we had to lip-sync "Boots of Hell" about 15 times from various angles so they had stuff to work with in the editing room. Since there's some dialogue over the music in a few spots, they have to add the music later so they have total control over the sound. After a whole night of filming from 7 p.m. to 4 a.m., we appear for a minute in the scene. It was a great experience though, since I'm such a horror movie freak. Filming the videos is not much different except I get to do more directing and there's no dialogue overlays to deal with. I think watching them film the movie has helped me design the videos. One of the most entertaining things about our band is the way we look, so I hope to get the videos out soon.

Can you introduce us to the rest of the band?

COUNT LYLE: Besides me, there's the amazing duo of Queeno on bass and X-Ray Charles on drums. They have been with me since our previous band, The Killcreeps, so we've been together for almost five years in one way or another. Queeno started out as the drummer for The Killcreeps, but ended up moving to bass where I think she's really found her calling. As far as X-Ray, just listen to our music and you will see how important the drumming is to it. I'm lucky to have a player like that in the band. Then we have Jake Middlefinger who handles most of the lead guitar work, besides myself. He's really innovative, in that he's always taking old twangy licks and giving them some fire to bring them into the new century, Ghoultown-style. A good friend mine since we were three years old, Roberto "Lizard" Lazario, adds acoustic guitar to the mix. His dad used to play in some original Texas country bands back in the '50s, so he brings an authentic element to our style from his background of learning from his dad. As far as trumpeting, J. Luis was with us for the first few years and played on both CDs. He's since had to leave and now we have a few rotating guys who do shows for us like Pancho Villa and Rudy Blazo. I can't forget our fire-breather, Thurman the Dragon, either. He adds a "really scary" circus element to our Wild West Show.

Where are you all from? Everyone from Texas originally, or was that a calling?

COUNT LYLE: All of us were born and raised right here in Texas, except for X-Ray who originally drifted in from Nebraska. But he's lived here for nearly 10 years now himself.

The trumpet adds an amazing, haunting element to your music. Did you realize from the very beginning that you wanted this sort of sound from Ghoultown or was it a slower evolution?

COUNT LYLE: The trumpet was planned from the beginning. When I came up with the concept for the band, I definitely wanted to feature a Spanish-style spaghetti western trumpet. The members who were around at the beginning prior to finding J. Luis sort of looked at me weird when I said we were gonna have a trumpet, and I wasn't even sure myself how it was gonna work. But when we found out a friend of ours at our old job played and that he was into Ennio Morricone's music, we had him out to a practice. The minute he blew some horn, we all looked at each other and knew that was the shit. I don't overuse it, mainly letting it add atmosphere and over-the-top thrills where needed. I've recently begun learning to play myself so that we can double some of the parts live. The two trumpets in harmony makes it sound like some evil mariachi band. It's fucking great!

I read in an earlier interview that due to other obligations, J. Luis was unfortunately going to have to leave the band. Have you been able to find a replacement?

COUNT LYLE: It was a tough thing since he left partly because of medical reasons. A while back he was kicked by a horse and ended up having to get some surgery. It has been hard as hell to replace a guy like that since what we are doing is so out-there. On top of that, most trumpet players we have found only want to play jazz. For some reason, the Latin style is not considered a legitimate style of playing by many schooled players, or at least that's what some of them told us. I think it's a shame because the heritage behind the Latin and mariachi music is just as important as jazz.

Another problem is that on stage, our trumpet player wears a giant black sombrero and mariachi jacket with skeleton bones on it. Not the kind of thing the sophisticated horn player wants to do. We are using some contract players right now who are really incredible, but sooner or later I hope to find a permanent member. We are probably heading out for a U.S. tour in August, so hopefully before then. Otherwise, I better get my ass to practicing!

In "Killer in Texas," you talk about "train keeps on rollin." Did any of this come to you from the hunt for serial killer Angel Resendez and his murders near Texas railways?

COUNT LYLE: It's loosely based on that case definitely. I read a lot of true crime books and my favorite shows on TV are serial killer documentaries, so that will often influence my work. Real life seems to be the creepiest of all... "there's a killer on the rails."

Where do your greatest inspirations come from? Favorite inspiring artists (musicians, writers, painters, beermakers, whatever)?

COUNT LYLE: Movies and comics have more of an influence on my music than other music. I'm into old Universal horror films, sci-fi and stuff like the original Island of Lost Souls. I dig most of Hammer's horror movies and of course spaghetti western stuff like The Good The Bad and The Ugly and Gunfight at Red Sands. I'm a collector of old comics like Tales From the Crypt, Weird Mystery and Jonah Hex, so all of those influences go into the force behind Ghoultown, I'm sure. My house is like a museum of monster toys, posters, videos, cow skulls and weird western stuff. When I'm writing a song, I usually look up and latch onto the first thing I see. Just the other day, I was working with a riff and looked up to see the spine of a Return of the Living Dead video. I started singing that as the chorus and there was a cool new song. It works like that for me over and over.

Are you a Joe Lansdale fan? We just always think of his version of Jonah Hex when we hear your song and wondered if you Texans had run into one another?

COUNT LYLE: I have his Hex mini-series, but that's about it. I just noticed he did a comic called Dead in the West. We certainly seem to think alike. I'm definitely gonna check out more of his stuff now.

Speakin' of comics, how did you hook up with Bad Moon Studios? What can you tell us about your upcoming comic - is this gonna have that Jonah Hex, Weird West vibe?

COUNT LYLE: I met one of the owners and chief artist, Flynn Prejean, at one of our shows. After randomly seeing us play live, he ended up coming back to another show and then talking to Queeno. He mentioned he published a comic, she told me, I filled him in on my Ghoultown idea and there it was. Since then, I've realized that he's just the right person who can help me get this off the ground. His art and direction is perfect for the comic and I think everyone will agree when they see it. The Ghoultown comic is basically a stand-alone storyline that features a cast of characters that is not our band members. Our band appears in it occasionally, but for the most part it's a separate entity. What I've done is create a "vampire-cowboy" comic without using the obvious route of sticking cowboy hats on vampires and having them ride horses. There is a whole deeper story, which involves a people called "ghouls" that are victims of a hereditary disease called Palanema. They've been exiled to a town called Ghoultown, which exists in a post-apocalyptic-type Texas. Some of them drink the blood of normal people believing that it can help relieve themselves of the pain and madness caused by the disease. It has elements of horror, western and a little sci-fi, which reflects all the stuff I'm into. It's turning out to be really cool.

Is it a miniseries, ongoing or one-shot?

COUNT LYLE: There's an eight-page preview coming out this summer in the back of Bad Moon's Texasylum #5. After that, there will be a four-issue Ghoultown mini-series called Electrik Fire Machine. The first one will debut at the end of August at the Dragon*Con convention in Atlanta.

Will it be distributed via Diamond or will this predominantly be offered at your shows?

COUNT LYLE: For certain reasons, Bad Moon does not use Diamond. But they do have distro through Tower Record stores and a few other outlets. I will offer the books online through my record label, Angry Planet, and of course at any Ghoultown gig. Bad Moon sells most of their stuff by doing comic conventions.

Will Dragon*Con be the coming out party for the comic book? Are you performing at Dragon*Con too?

COUNT LYLE: Yes and yes. It'll be a Ghoultown blowout! I'll be signing comics at both the Bad Moon and Ghoultown booths. The entire band will also be there to sign CDs and stuff. We have a new Queeno poster that will be debuting there too and no doubt guys - or girls! - won't wanna miss the chance to get her to sign those. We're gonna perform at one of the nighttime concerts.

I've read you're a comic book fan, so this probably isn't your first convention? Is it the first convention for the band overall? Definitely gonna be a different vibe than say CBGB's.

COUNT LYLE: This is our first comic convention to play. I'm not sure what to expect, but The Misfits have told us it's cool. In fact, Jerry Only who is a friend of ours helped us score the spot. It'll definitely be a different vibe than CBGB's, but that's the great thing about Ghoultown... we can fit in at both places just fine.

So when can us East Coast southerners catch your show? Touring a wider area anytime soon?

COUNT LYLE: As we speak, I am talking to a promoter in Houston who is interested in coming aboard as our booking agent and eventual manager. So far, I have managed the band and booked the shows, but it's really getting out of hand. There is talk of either a West or East Coast tour happening in August, so it won't be long before the rest of America can see our Wild West Show.

Do you read comics now? What are your favorites of past and/or present?

COUNT LYLE: I'm mostly into buying back issues of old stuff like Weird Mystery, Tales From the Crypt, House of Secrets, Weird Westerns, Ghost Rider, Unexpected and things like that. Many of the horror comics, I collect for the cover since the inside art and stories are pretty bad. I even wallpapered one of the walls in my house with cheesy old horror and sci-fi comic covers. I also read the larger magazine size stuff like Creepy, Vampirella and Legion of Monsters. As far as new books, I don't like too much at all even though I try to keep an open mind. They all seem too much the same to me, especially the Image titles, and there's not a whole lot of horror comics nowadays. I do read Hellboy, Purgatory, Texasylum, any new Dracula stuff and any new mini-series based on Jonah Hex or western characters. A new El Diablo came out on Vertigo, but I haven't had time to read it yet. And I love Vampirella! I saw Forest Ackerman in New York and got him to sign some old Warren Vampi comics, which was killer. Like I said, my house is also full of vintage monster toys and collectibles. I have some of the original Vampirella paperbacks from the '70s. I dig the rare shit like that.

What's the most kickass concert/venue you've been a part of, and what made it memorable?

COUNT LYLE: I think the coolest show I ever played was in Chicago at the Vic Theatre in '95. That was when my old band Solitude was touring with Mercyful Fate. It was a cool old theater house like the Phantom of the Opera would have loved with an underground backstage and everything. It had a two levels and a bunch of side balconies where people could see the stage from above. The people there were just nuts for both bands. I need to get Ghoultown up to Chicago too.

What are your future goals for Ghoultown, besides filthy rich and all that?

COUNT LYLE: I have always said and will continue to say, I am only doing this so that I can become an action figure. And now with the advent of rock star figures like The Misfits, Ozzy and Rob Zombie, my crazy ass quest might eventually come true. I know I have to earn it, but damn I think our band would make some killer figures. We could be riding some badass horses or something. I'm not sure if action figures of my comic book characters will substitute for me, but that would be cool too. A Queeno action figure wouldn't be a bad thing either!

We want to thank Count Lyle for the great conversation and we'll be the first in line for those action figures!