The Story of Batmobile

Jeroen Haamers (vocals and guitars in Batmobile) tells about the band

The start of Batmobile

Johnny and me were in the same school in Breda, I was 17 and he was nearly 19 in that time. We were the only rockabillies in town so we didn't have much choice when it came to forming a band. We're talking about august 1983. So we decided to get together, we listened to some of our mutual heroes (Johnny Burnette, Elvis but also and very much so The Blue Cats) and we thought we had to do something like that as well. We rehearsed a few times and realized we were missing something; that 'thing' was the slap-bass. My brother Eric played in several bands in those days and was a 'real musician' (Johnny and I were just annoying little pricks) so Eric joined us and Batmobile was a fact. By the way, we had a some kind of musical life before Batmobile; we all played in several bands; from punk to rock 'n roll, but the bands never had that thing Batmobile had from the start.

Influences

Influences are very different, as you know my main influence is Elvis; Frankly I only listen to the man, all other I saw (and still see) as inferior. Johnny's heroes were Johnny Burnette, Cliff (the wanker) but also old ska heroes. Eric liked the old guitar heroes (Link Wray, John and the Nightriders). But as years go by you realise there are all kinds of great artists/bands who influence the way of writing or playing music, like Gary Glitter, The Sweet and Mud, Ramones, Johnny Cash, The Jam and Motörhead.

First gigs

The first year or so we played mainly in and around Breda in bars and pubs; I think most bands do as they're figuring out what the hell they're doing. The more we played the more we developed a sound of our own. Until one for us legendary concert in a bar near to Breda, there were a few old, boring and very ugly fucks watching us, screaming for Fats Domino and Stray Cats-songs......well we got so fed up, that we played those songs very much in overdrive mode. The audience didn't know what they heard and we had the time of our lives. That was the night that our version of rocka-psycho-batmobilly was born.

First recordings

After the big change we started to play different kind of venues and we became more known in Holland; bigger halls booked us and after a few months Bert from Rockhouse came to check us out and told us about his plans for the first mini-album were made; we're talking about the end of 1984. The first (mini) album called 'Batmobile' was recorded in a big professional studio in Holland. One day recording, one day mixing. It was done very fast, but we knew that what we did was pretty cool. After the mini-album was released, people started to call us from everywhere and nowhere asking us to come and play. These were the days we first went abroad

First foreign gigs

Our first big concert abroad was in Hamburg in the Markthalle in september 1985. We played with Rochee and the Sarno's (a great band and good friends) and we had a blast. I think our German fans and us hit it really off that night. Very soon after that we've played in England, quite a few times in the legendary Klubfoot. There was even a live-recording and video made of one of the concerts overthere. I think for a smalltown guy like myself (I was 17 when we started Batmobile) concerts in cities like these were quite impressive, especially at the start of the band.

Here's the guys in action in Bremen

I think it's safe to say that Batmobile was starting to be quite well-known. I think the time I really realised that, was a holiday in England in 1986 when I went to a bank in Torquay of all places, a place for the elderly I thought, a guy who worked at the bank (thanks Paul) recorgnised me and took me over to his house and treated me like I was some rockstar. That was the frst time I got in touch with 'fame' in it's smallest way of course.

Radio appearences

In 1986 we did a session for national radio in the Netherlands. They asked us to do something special for them, so we recorded some rock 'n roll songs from our own past; Mud's TigerFeet the Sweet's Ballroom Blitz and Gary Glitter's Rock 'n Roll and Do You Wanna Touch were songs we did that session. Songs we still do in our live shows and some of those songs we did later on our recordings. In 1986 we recorded our 2nd album Bambooland.

Batmobile-sound

The first four albums we were really looking for the right Batmo-sound. Everytime we recorded something, we weren't satisfied with it and the next time it really had to be completely different. That's why our fans always had to get used to our newest recordings. I think that's is still the case by the way. Bambooland sounded a lot different than the mini-album. More the rockabilly-style we liked personally. The recordings were done in a much cheaper studio but we took much more time for it and we produced it ourself, with the help of Ronnie Roteb.

Count Orlok

Meanwhile our drummer Johnny together with Eddie our 'guy who helps us with everything' started up Count Orlok Records where we brought out Bambooland on the Count Orlok label. It did very well for us and for the Counts.

Festivals, concerts and stuff

These days were the days of the big festivals in Belgium and later in England. The concerts in Dendermonde, Gent and Antwerp were legendary I think. It were also the days of the first big tours, the German tour in 1987 was very special for me. First I found a naked girl in my hotel-room who was really planning a 'Long Hot Night' (finally she shacked-up with the support-band). A few days later I got really sick during a show in Nurtingen. They put a bucket backstage for my rescue. After every song I had to run backstage to shit on it. Two days after I short-circuited the tour, the last show in Freiburg I missed because of the illness. That was the only show ever that Batmobile did without me. Our soundman played the guitar that night and everybody including the audience did the vocals, quite special. Those days I really didn't know how many people knew us and really appreciated us. I only thought we are three idiots from Holland making some music only the three of us like so, who wants that. But many people did want us.

And TV

In 1984 we made our first appearence on national TV. This was in a program for youth and it's subject was different styles and we represented psychobilly. We showed them how to take a razor to your head, talked about our outfits and music and we played two songs, Killers Crew and Bring All My Love. After that we did a few TV appearences with a great one in 1989 just after we released "Amazons from Outer Space'. We had a big interview, we did a gameshow with another band and did some live songs like Hard-On Rock. Also we appeared on a piece of the HD-Superralley withe Night Without Sleep. There were also quite a few appearences on national radio. We did some live-sessions with several radio-stations.

The first appearence on national TV in 1984!

Those days we became quite known in the Dutch music scene. We played in all the great clubs in Holland and abroad. Thinking about those days some concerts come to mind. The first big Belgian psycho-festival in Dendermonde where we brought a few hundred plastic bats and threw them in the audience. There were some legendary gigs for us in France; printemps the Bourges, Cirque Fratellini in Paris and great gigs in Rennes with the Toy Dolls, Mark Foggo and the Selecter. Our first tour in Japan was something else. We were used to being treated very well at gigs but over there they treated us like rockstars, with all the trimmings; a limousine, body-guards, a girl who handed us dry towels and water, press-conferences and more..... It was real crazy. I remember our first gig in Japan in the Club Citta in Kawasaki. I am never nervous before a gig, but this was intimidating. We recorded a live video, just because it was possible overthere. We did a second live video in 1995 on our third Japan-tour. But that time we brought our ‘own' cameraman and soundman and we did it much more professional. That video is, I think, one of the best things we ever released.

The Batmo's with a Japanese fan

Other records

In 1988 we did Bail's set at $6.000.000 on the English Nervous label and though we were very pleased with the cooperation with Roy Williams, we decided to do Amazons from Outer Space (1989) on Count Orlok again. I think ‘Amazons' has a real different sound and can be called crazed rockabilly at it's best. After that one we did ‘Sex Starved' and ‘Batmobile is Dynamite'. I think that we really discovered our own sound on these two albums. Dynamite is a collection of great cover-songs that deals with explosions in general. In 1992 we recorded Hard Hammer Hits and we were boycotted from several countries because of the distasteful cover. We had to release a censored version. With this album we released a CD-single, Midnight Maniac, with two versions of that song and an unreleased track Thinking ‘bout you baby. For our tenth anniversary we released ‘Blast from the Past, the Worst and the Best'. We re-recorded 25 old songs as a kind of ‘the best of...' album. With it we released a CD-single (Shoot Shoot featuring a live version of Gorilla Beat and alternate versions of Slapping Suspenders and Gates of Heaven) for which we made a video-clip After that album we did our last one so far called Welcome to Planet Cheese (1997) which did quite well for us. Next to our own releases we were of several compilation albums (Psychoattack over Europe, Revenge of the Killer Pussies, and more). Now the Japanes label On The Hill is working on a Tribute to Batmobile CD and as far as I know are there more that 25 bands that do our songs on that one. We will do a new song on that CD ourselves.

After a 3 year break we are back to do some concerts again. We decided it was time for that because we just missed playing together and meeting people at concerts............and the big money ofcourse........
So starting 2004 you can catch us live on stage again.

All the best and we'll keep you posted of the latest.

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