Monster mash: The Dead Beatclub pays tribute to the B-52s music with a spooky twist

It is going to be quite the monster mash-up when The Dead Beatclub takes the stage or rather flatcar at the Santa Fe Railyard.

The performance on Friday, Sept. 6 is part of the Sky Railway’s “Flatcar Series,” a free summer concert series that takes place in front of Nuckoll’s Brewery at the Santa Fe Railyard, 1611 Alcaldesa St., in Santa Fe.

“We start at 5:15 sharp and we play for 90 minutes,” said Billy Miles Brooke, bassist for The Dead Beatclub. “We start on the train and we’re gonna be rolling down about 200 yards, real slow, toward where the crowd is and we’re gonna start our first song, We roll on down and stop the train right in front of Nuckoll’s Brewery. They have all this open space and they have three levels of outside seating. And it’s the Railyard, so there’s lots of places to stand and watch or dance.”

The Dead Beatclub’s concept was inspired by an early 1970s animated television show called the “Groovie Ghoulies.” The band featured on the show was made up of monsters including a vampire, werewolf, Frankenstein, and a mummy. The Dead Beatclub is made up of its own ghouls with Brooke on bass, Rod Harrison on vocals, Montana Joanna Standish on vocals, Jessica Cunico on vocals, Richard Christner on guitar, Ross Hamlin on keyboards as well as Andy Primm and Ron Crowder alternating on drums.

The Dead Beatclub will cover music by the new wave band the B-52s dressed as various spooky characters including the Bride of Frankenstein, Elvira, Frankenstein, and a vampire.

“People love huge spectacles and they love dressing up,” Brooke said. “So I thought, okay, so let’s do the B-52s, but we’re gonna do it with a twist. We’re gonna make it a monster mash up... So, I’m recreating the Groovie Ghoulies and the music is that of the B-52s. We play it exactly like the record so it’s really fun.”

Brooke said The Dead Beatclub is looking to perform at events rather than playing at bars. He said they are accepting bookings for Halloween.

“It’s going to be a special thing,” Brooke said. “We’re trying to only play special events and high profile things. We want to make it really special and magical every time we get seen. So there will be some outdoor big concerts and also weddings, funerals, bar mitzvahs, big galas. Anybody who’s interested, we’re the funnest band in the world.”

Brooke also plays guitar and some bass in another band, Teenage Werewolves, which originated in Los Angeles. The band is a tribute act for the punk-psychobilly band The Cramps.

“We used to play here and there back in the day, but then some of our members moved away, so we haven’t played Albuquerque or Santa Fe in ages,” Brooke said. “We started getting bigger and bigger in England and we have a big cult following. We usually do a big tour for about three weeks every year in England and rush off into Spain and other parts of Europe. We love playing.”

Brooke said he began to wonder why Teenage Werewolves were playing in places other than New Mexico where he now resides. He said that is what led to him creating a version of Teenage Werewolves and The Dead Beatclub was born with its setlist being music by the B-52s.

“I said, ‘Who would I want to go see?’” he explained. “What’s super fun that everybody who hears this band would just love to dance and smile and you can’t stop. And that would be the B-52s for me. And so I’ve had a couple musician friends and singers in mind and I threw this idea at them and they loved it.”