Last month the internet was set ablaze thanks to everyone’s favourite yellow God-botherer influencing a metal band. Dubbed Okilly Dokilly, the Arizona-based ‘nedal’ band were yet to even play a show before the world took notice of their innovative brand of racket-making. Now the dust has settled, we caught up with frontman Head Ned to see what’s what…
Hey there, Head Ned. Where did the idea for Okilly Dokilly come from?
“The short answer is, we’re just nerds who really like The Simpsons and metal, and thought this would be funny. Long answer: our drummer, Bled Ned, and myself were stuck in line at a grocery store. We were coming up with really cutesy and harmless names for really hardcore bands. Okilly Dokilly came up, and we built on it. We had the idea for dressing like Ned and came up with the term Nedal. It all was, and still is hilarious to us. We went a bit too far with that humour and, well, here we are.”
Did you try out other characters first or is Ned the stand-out character for you?
“No, we started with Ned. He is such a friendly and docile character, the idea of having him front a metal band is so absurd. We like ridiculous stuff though, which is why we did it.”
**Were you expecting the internet to explode about Okilly Dokilly?
**“Absolutely not. I recorded the demo in my house and mixed it myself, having never mixed anything before. My girlfriend took the photos and I did all the photo editing as well. We might have polished it a little more had we known, but we were just excited to get it done and release it. This was a fun side-project for us, and we’re absolutely humbled by the attention it got.”
Is it awkward that only four of you have a moustache?
“Ha, I’m the frontman and I actually shaved mine off after the photos. I was doing job interviews and wanted to be clean shaven. When Okilly Dokilly got the attention that it did, I managed to grow the ‘tache back in time for our first show. Stead Ned (guitar) had just gotten a new job, thus he was clean shaven. We’re not strict about the moustache, as long as I have mine and we get the point across, that’s what matters.”
**What are the main ingredients for nedal?
**“A few nerds with an affinity for The Simpsons and metal, some Ned quotes, green sweaters, pink shirts, grey pants, glasses, and a sense of humour. The pink flying V and keytar are also fine additions. Nedal is anything that is both brutal and Flanders at the same time.”
**Is there a big Simpsons metal scene that’s going unnoticed?
**“I don’t know if it’s a very big scene, but we’re not the first musicians, and definitely not the best, to combine The Simpsons and heavier music – I found that out after we started getting attention. There’s a band called Dr. Colossus in Australia and they have been doing it for a while, and I really dig their stuff.”
**What is the definitive best episode of The Simpsons?
**“In my book, it’s Hurricane Neddy. I might be biased, just because I’ve watched it so many times, researching Ned quotes.”
Okilly Dokilly now have a few shows lined up. Follow them on Facebook for more info.
