Visual Tricks & Musical Treats • Vlad’s Skeletal Circus Drop Debut 12-Song Album Release

With the month of October showcasing a double-feature this year consisting of the thrills and chills of the traditional Halloween  season with the added horror of the pending 2024 Presidential election,  leave it to the merry musical minstrels of Vlad’s Skeletal Circus to add some much needed musical clarity and levity into the mix with the pending release of their 12-song self-titled debut album of original material designed to tame the savage beast and get him (or her) dancing.

Hailing from the genre of earlier character-driven pioneering  shock-rock bands such as Alice Cooper, KISS, and Marilyn Manson, and packed with multiple musical influences, everything the group performs is thematically consistent, with tongue-in cheek lyrics equally as silly as they are spooky.   “In terms of comparison, I like to say our sound is like Alice Cooper meeting The White Stripes,” explains  the Ringleader of this posse of musical misfits, Robert Nilsson (aka Vladimir Van Nilsson).

Along with bassist Adam Emmendorfer (The Creature), drummer/sometimes guitarist Connor Zielinski (Buzz Pumpkins), and occasional singer Zob Rombie (Vlad’s father Eric Nilsson), the group started gaining traction two years ago at their colorful appearance at the REVIEW’s 2023 Music Awards Ceremony, where they were nominated in several categories, including Best New Artist.  They also took first place at The Vault’s Battle of the Bands competition, and have been turning heads and perking ears ever since.

Lately the band has been up to quite a bit of musical mischief and spending lots of money. 

“We’ve just finished our first debut 12-song album, which is the type of album where you have to listen to the whole thing,” explains Vlad. “Most bands nowadays release singles in hopes each track will get as big as possible, but we’re such a concept band with our looks, tricks, and style; and because we’re a circus each of these twelve new songs function as a group of acts that will make sense if you shuffle it with other songs, but is really fun when you listen to it completely from start to finish.”

With a majority of the album recorded at Everyday Ghost Studios by Sean Haller, three tracks were also recorded at Muzik Machine in Freeland by Dicky Post,  but the entire album was mixed and mastered by Haller at Everyday Ghost so the album would have a consecutive feel, and will be released on October 13^th once the album art is completed.

Accompanying the release of their new album is an additional bag full of musical Trick-or-Treat goodies.

“We’ve additionally recorded our music video for the song Better Off Dead that was filmed at the Factory of the Dead,” continues Nilsson, “so I’d like to also give a big shout-out to Nicole, Mandi and Chris for helping us put that together. The video is filmed and edited by M.L. Jiminez at Creatavid, who is the very best at what he does, and we’ll also be releasing that when the editing is finished, which should be around the first week of October.  The song itself is one we’ve had out for a few months now and is very fun and circus-sounding and perfect for this type of chase-style video.”

While Adam compares their sound to a 1980s B-Horror movie with music in terms of being campy and a lot of fun, Connor clarifies it more by noting, “Our originals consist of story songs with a theme, but musically we keep it pretty simple. We’re not playing King Crimson here, but we play to our strengths and try and write fun catchy songs and not be taken too seriously.”

“We collaborated on the original songs featured in this debut release and have a lot of coloration going on with the production, so it sounds pretty cool,” he continues. “We had some friends come into record some guest spots and wanted the mix to sound like a fun musical circus.  In fact, one of our fans labeled our sound as ‘Perky Goth’, which I kind of like!”

In terms of live performances during the Spooky Season, Vlad’s Skeletal Circus recently performed a Live Stream at PapaDoc Studios in Bay City, and will also be performing at White’s Bar on October 18^th along with a Haunted House Festival in Vandalia, Michigan the following day on October 19^th, and at Lightning Rounds in Lapeer on October 25^th.

The group first formed five years ago after Vlad moved to Bay City from Florida. “I had already been doing this spooky niche style of rock ‘n roll down there, so wanted to find a band and some dudes to indulge me in the chaotic stuff that I do,” explains Vlad. “As a band our number one goal is to entertain and music comes second to us. We love to entertain and put on a show. It’s a circus and what do you do with a circus but have a good time.”

Because the circus is designed to appeal to all ages and interests, the group’s influences are all over the board. “I enjoy artists like guitarist Dick Dale, the country songs of Johnny Cash, and Cuban-American artist Aurelio Voltaire, who’s a big favorite of mine,” he continues.

“We also take stuff like The Stray Cats and mash it up, because our bass player is a metal head to the core, digging into Metallica and Megadeth and those kind of bands.” Additionally, all three members are big Classic Rock fans.

While the group says they have composed about 40 originals, they perform about 25 live on a regular basis, including the 12-tracks included on their debut album release. “The way I see it, because we’re a circus every song we write and perform is a different act, continues Vlad. “I ride a unicycle, I juggle, I ride the rollerball, and we do circus tricks. Anything to catch the eye.”

“We’ve been gaining a lot of traction over the past year because we’re such a head-turner,” notes Vlad. “People go where it’s fun and we’ll throw candy out to people because we treat our fans right and they treat us right. We play Country and Rap shows and regardless of the musical genre, all the audiences really like us and have a lot of fun. We like each other’s chemistry and people can tell if you care.”

The band says they hope to soon start performing at as many horror comic book conventions as they can, and when their new self-titled album is released on October 13^th you can check it out by visiting their Facebook page, YouTube channel, Spotify, and all the musical streaming services.

“We’re building a strong fan base and getting people in Brooklyn hitting us up and love seeing people attend our live shows, where we love to bribe our fans by throwing treats out to the audience,” concludes Vlad.

For a colorful, chaotic, broadly eclectic, and decidedly intoxicating visual spectacle guaranteed to bring joy to all those who gather in search of rollicking and inspired musical experiences, be sure to check out the numerous musical treats awaiting you this holiday season courtesy of Vlad’s Skeletal Circus.