Review Fix Exclusive: The Goddamn Gallows’ Mikey Classic Talks ‘The Trial’ And More

Review Fix chats with The Goddamn Gallows’ Mikey Classic, who discusses the band’s goals, origin, creative process and new album, The Trail.

Review Fix: How did the band get together?

Mikey Classic: In the year 2000, I met Fishgutzzz at a house party in east Lansing Michigan. He helped fight off three gang bangers that jumped me out of nowhere. They threw him through a door and to this day he still has a scar on his forehead from the night we became friends. Years later, after we started the band, we found out that our drummer, baby genius, ripped those gang bangers off for some weed at that same party, and that’s why they got pissed and proceeded to find someone to jump. Me! (Mikey Classic). If he wouldn’t have ripped them off then I and Fishgutzzz would have never become friends and start the band.

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Classic: We like to get very stoned and see what happens, we like to bend genres of all kinds and hate the word “scene.” Usually one of us will write a song and we’ll all collaborate together either on the road or in the practice spot. Jayke will always know whether he wants to play mandolin or banjo or guitar. We love using unconventional instruments for rock n roll.

Review Fix: What inspires you guys?

Classic: A lot of our songs derive from back when we were homeless and struggling. Putting everything we had into the band to get on the road because at least a shitty van is a place to stay. When we started out, we would busk on the street all the time and in turn a lot of songs were written from those experiences. Nowadays things are a bit easier. Still struggling to make ends meet but no more homelessness. We like to think back on those tough times for inspiration all the time.

Review Fix: What makes the album special?

Classic: The Trial was a build up of different musical styles we’ve been working on for the last 14 years. We’ve been working on this particular album for around 3 years. We wanted to take our new songs out on the road with us to make sure they had all the kinks worked out of them. We also wanted to see the reaction of our friends and fans to a different, heavier version of The Goddamn Gallows.

Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?

Classic: Our friend James Hunnicutt likes to call us whateverthefuckabilly, but I like to say that we’re a satanic blend of punk, metal, and bluegrass.

Review Fix: What’s the standout track on the new album? How was it written?

Classic: Many people have told me that “down with the ship” is their new favorite. Fishgutzzz wrote it as a kind of sea shanty pirate song, but it definitely parallels life as we know it today.

Review Fix: How are your live shows different from your studio work?

Classic: We are told by our friends that we’re a live band. We put in as much energy as we can each night, and try to give the crowd the best possible night. Come see for yourself at a gig.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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