It’s one of the universe’s eternal truths that goths and summer do not mix. Luckily, Creeper frontman Will Gould is on hand with his guide to surviving the season with the creepiest of credentials intact. Throw your shorts in the bin and grab the nearest purple beverage, because summer is coming…
Avoid Summer Clothes
“I dress exactly the same as I do in the winter – I wear jeans. I wear really tight jeans but really baggy t-shirts, because then no one knows you’re sweating. Baggy on top, and tight on the bottom. Don’t wear shorts, because then you’ll look like you’re having a really good time, and you don’t want to do that if you’re creeping around. I have these vegan Dr Martens, too. I think any kind of boot is better than a shoe, but I do have some trainers, actually. I have some black Nikes. They’re running shoes, but I never go running.”
Choose Accessories Carefully
“I have a new hat. I wanted to look like Andrew Eldritch from The Sisters Of Mercy, like [1987 song] This Corrosion sort of era, so I have that, and it keeps the sun out of my eyes. I think sunglasses are another good one, and having multiple pairs of sunglasses, because I lose mine all the time, and if you go outside in sunny weather, it’s the worst thing ever. You squint all the time, and if you have a photo taken, you’re squinting. I imagine a parasol would be quite nice, though I haven’t got one.”
Make A Dark Playlist
“Have music on you, so you don’t have to talk to anyone. I’m listening to this Old Wounds record recently – they’re from New Jersey and I think they’re really, really good. We just got off tour with Andy Black, and he has this catchy song, We Don’t Have To Dance, so I’ve been listening to that. I’ve also been listening to something that’s not so creepy – this Father John Misty record called I Love You, Honeybear, and this song, Bored In The USA, that he has. I probably will listen to Mechanical Animals by Marilyn Manson this summer, because that’s my favourite. At least have headphones on, even if they’re not attached to you, so you can creep in the background, and they don’t suspect.”
Have A Purple Drink
“I’m going to drink really cheap alcohol this summer – whatever’s free. But I suppose if I was gonna make a drink, I’d probably have some sort of bourbon. At Christmas, my dad always buys me a bottle of bourbon, and I always like that, so I’d have a Jim Beam and some Coke. Maybe I’d put some blackcurrant in it as well, and make a kind of cherry bourbon and Coke drink. That’d be dark and purple, kind of Creeper colours, a bit like blood. I’d have ice in it, to look like a really gothic Don Draper. I’d have a 1950s cup, so I could swirl it around.”
Take A Sinister Holiday
“Go to the haunted mansion in Disneyland. The one in Paris, the third haunted mansion variant, Phantom Manor, is all tattered like a Victorian house and sits atop a hill opposite a giant thunder mountain, which has a mine train going around it. And the whole story is that the guy who owned this Victorian house was mining from the mountain and stumbled across this curse, and the house fell into ruin. There’s loads of cool stories about that. Or, maybe you’d have a summer holiday camp in Transylvania. I’ve love to go to there. Maybe we should do a Creeper creepy coach trip to Transylvania!”
New Testament: Creeper's Will Gould says it's okay to be different
