Big thanks to Kevin Maimann for the interview . . .

and here it is!

Dead funny suits him fine

Rigormorticians frontman is firmly in the 'camp' camp

By KEVIN MAIMANN

Computer techie by day, rock 'n' roll zombie by night.

It's just another Friday for Rigormorticians frontman Troy Kirkland, known fondly as Mr. Mortician.

The Rigormorticians bring their Cowtown horror rock to New City Compound tonight, where they will open up for Vancouver folk-punks The Dreadnoughts.

Covered in corpse paint and singing about the dead, the deadly and the undead, it's understandable that some of Kirkland's work chums might miss his band's tongue-in-cheek humour and be slightly perturbed by his alternate life.

"I try to keep those two lives separate. A lot of people don't get the joke, especially around the office. The people that do get it and are cool with it generally enjoy it and have a good laugh about it, and the rest of the people just don't know," he says.

The singer/guitarist laughs frequently as he elaborates on the potential awkwardness of bringing up his night job.

"I think in the professional field, having a guy who's dressed up in a suit and tie all day and then ... he switches from a suit and tie to zombie makeup and shouting (things that) a lot of people would probably consider obscene at an audience full of drunk punk rockers, might be a little hard to swallow, given the day-to-day (person) that they see me as."

Kirkland has always been intrigued by the comedic side of horror, which shines through in songs like Me and My Monster, 1-2-3- C.H.U.D. and the title track from the band's 2008 EP, Gravediggin With Sexy Results.

"My favourite horror movies are the ones that never took themselves too seriously to begin with, or always had kind of a camp or cult value to them that gave me a good laugh," he says.

"All horror movies are kind of silly just by the nature of them."

Influenced by the writing of HP Lovecraft but without a serious interest in the occult, Kirkland's affinity for all things scary and silly started at a young age.

"I'd have to blame my mom for letting me watch bad horror movies when I was little on Super Channel," he laughs, naming Dawn of the Dead as the film that got him hooked on zombies and Alien as his all-time favourite flick.

His bandmates, who go by the endearing monikers of Spooky Spenny, The Axeman of Suburbia, The Belle From Hell and Fiendish McKillsalot, share his penchant for horror.

Musically, they bring a gritty punk injection to the plate, while Kirkland says his personal influences are "really, really un-punk," citing the likes of Chuck Berry and Creedence Clearwater Revival.

It's a formula that could certainly appeal to a wider audience with more conventional lyrics.

NO POLITICAL DRECK

But don't expect Kirkland to start spewing political angst or, worse yet, singing about his feelings.

"There's a lot of people who could get that point across far better than myself, and at the end of the night I want to go out and have a good time," he says.

"I don't wanna get bogged down with singing about what makes me sad and crappy, 'cause it's gonna take me away from having a good time."

The Rigormorticians are currently at work on their first full-length album.