Big John Bates

Guitarist and vocalist Big John Bates launched his psychobilly sound across his hometown of Vancouver in 1999, supported solely by the classic bass-and-drums lineup. Drawing from the Cramps and the Reverend Horton Heat while focusing his lyrics on bad girls, motorcycles, demons, and alien strippers, Raucous Music issued his debut EP, Vibro-Psychotic, in 2000. Hullabaloo and El Toro Records joined forces the next year to put out his first full-length album, Flamethrower. Bates followed with his second album, Mystiki, in 2003. Take Your Medicine surfaced in 2006. Bangtown, his fourth studio album, arrived in 2009, and Clockwork Blues appeared a year later. Brandy Bones joined the group in 2011 on bass, cello, and vocals, splitting lead-vocal duties. The 2012 releases comprised the EP Headless Fowl together with the full-length Battered Bones.