Groovie Ghoulies back in the day.
By Alex Felsinger
Some old dogs don't need to learn new tricks
The burn-out - or sell-out? - rate for punk-rock musicians can be high, but the Bay Area has some long-standing forces who make a point to keep their fires glowing.
Kepi Ghoulie, the long-time frontman of the Sacramento pop-punk trio Groovie Ghoulies, has played essentially the same music for the past 22 years, since recording his first 7-inch EP in 1986. He still looks the same, wearing tight black pants, Converse All-Stars, and striped T-shirts. He makes music and sells his art for a living. At 43, he still epitomizes the do-it-yourself ethics of punk rock.
The band built a fan base through three-chord songs, lyrics about monsters and freaks, and an inexorable supply of kindness and empathy for punk kids everywhere. Kepi is the founding and only constant member of the Groovie Ghoulies - his wife, Roach, joined the group to play lead guitar shortly after they married 17 years ago.
Late last year, the combo - and presumably the couple - abruptly broke up just days before the release of the album 99 Lives (Springman), giving no explanation except "personal reasons." But for an outfit that has repeatedly stressed in multiple songs that all their fans are part of the "Ghoulie family," the break-up had larger implications. The band members were self-pronounced punk-rock guardians for kids growing up in small, boring towns, and was hardly ever anything but selfless - dirt-cheap, request-only, all-ages shows were their standard - and it had all to come to an end.
Only a few months later, Kepi is already back. He has been playing small solo shows in Sacramento, but also performing with old friends including Danny Secretion (of Sacramento's Secretions), Dinogirl (from the Medusas), and Jaz, who has played drums for the Ghoulies in the past. The new ensemble - simply named Kepi the Band - has a full-length coming out on May 6 on Asian Man Records. A separate acoustic album, released under the name Kepi Ghoulie, will emerge that same day.
Although the new electric recording looks to the same fast-paced, monster-themed rock 'n' roll the Ghoulies were famous for, Kepi decided not to keep the original name. "The last line-up with Roach and Scampi was for five years," he told me. "I wanted to leave it at that. I thought I would miss being 'the Groovie Ghoulies,' but luckily I don't. I played a show at Gilman, and there were people coming up to the merch table as if they had just heard a brand-new band. I liked that. I don't mind starting over."
On Feb. 20, Kepi opened up a four-band acoustic Asian Man Records showcase at Bottom of the Hill with Kevin Seconds, Mike Park, and Sundowner (Chris McCaughan of the Lawrence Arms). He played alone, with an acoustic guitar worn lower than Johnny Ramone's electric, and took requests for the entire set including a cover of Billy Bragg's "A New England." Smiling and cracking bad jokes, he was the same ole Kepi.
"If you get jaded, you're screwed," he said later outside the club. "I know everything sucks. I know the world sucks, and I know the war sucks, but what can you do? I guess you could become jaded and bitter, but then you just suck yourself."
Kepi has two shows planned in Sacramento this month, and in May will embark on a two-month tour with Asian Man label-mates the Queers, Bomb the Music Industry, Lemuria, and Andrew Jackson Jihad.
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