Interview with Witches in Bikinis Founding Member: Bill Rozar
by Paul Autry
At first glance, Witches In Bikinis have a concept that's rather simple. Six beautiful woman, dressed as witches...in bikinis...sing and dance to Halloween style music. But, if you take the time to look a little deeper, you'll quickly notice that there's a lot more going on here. It's musical theatre, it's camp, it's rock 'n' roll, it's pop, it's performance art, it's 70's girl group, it's pure entertainment...the complete package. It's Elvira: Mistress Of The Dark meets The Rocky Horror Picture Show with a little Betty Boop thrown into the mix. It's all that and much, much more. When they put it all together, there's no other way to describe it...it's just magical...and it works very, very well.
When I first thought of doing an interview with this band, my original idea was to do one with each witch so you could get to know them a little better. While I still plan on doing that, I thought it would be best to introduce you to them by way of founding member Bill Rozar since he's really where it all began. In my opinion, it's the best place to start. Having said that, it gives me great pleasure to introduce you to Witches In Bikinis.
Let's begin...shall we?
Paul Autry: You had mentioned that your two main passions are music and art. So, let's talk about that first. What got you interested in that?
Bill Rozar: Comic books. Spiderman, Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, etc. I used to read them all the time as a kid and draw the different characters and make up new super heroes.
Paul Autry: How would you describe yourself as an artist and how would you describe your artistic style?
Bill Rozar: Eclectic. I like to work in different media and employ different techniques. Mostly, I enjoy drawing and painting people, figures and portraits. But, I also like to do abstract paintings.
Paul Autry: I saw some of your work on your page and I thought it was pretty good. Now, do you do this for fun or do you (or have you) done anything on a professional level?
Bill Rozar: It's just for fun and relaxation. A few years ago, I started an artist community in Brooklyn that's called the Mindafloon Artist Group. We meet at my home studio and draw. We always have a model, listen to some music, have some snacks and beverages, then usually hang out afterward. It's nice. I've met a lot of great people through it, like Janelle and Joanna, who then became performers in Witches In Bikinis and others who have been involved with Witches In Bikinis in various, behind the scenes capacities, like Albie Bruno, for instance, who designed our logo, did much of our photography and artwork AND designed and built a special "Witches In Bikinis" electric guitar for me!
Paul Autry: How did you become involved in the music scene?
Bill Rozar: I'm only involved in the music scene through Witches In Bikinis. I have not put much effort into promoting my own piano/electronic music, samples of which are on my MySpace page, as I'm so busy with Witches In Bikinis. I just put it on MySpace in the hope that some people discover it and are touched by it.
Paul Autry: What are your musical influences?
Bill Rozar: I started studying classical piano when I was very young and then got interested in rock music as a teenager. The first bands that really got me interested in music were Black Sabbath, Led Zepplin and Alice Cooper. For the rest of my coming of age period in the sixties and seventies, I mostly listened to what is now called classic rock. But, back then, was just rock. My favorite bands were The Beatles, The Who, Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, The Beach Boys and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. In college, I started out as an Architecture major, but then, switched to music composition and piano performance. My two most influential professors were the great jazz pianist Kenny Barron and the minimalist composer Phil Corner. They really broadened my horizons musically.It was under their tutelage that I became a primarily improvisational musician and began honing my own style. Probably the biggest inspiration for much of my "personal" electronic music is the work of Walter Carlos (now Wendy Carlos) who did the soundtrack for "A Clockwork Orange" and "Switched On Bach." It made me appreciate classical music in a way I never did before.
Paul Autry: What instruments can you play?
Bill Rozar: Keyboards and guitar. I've been playing piano pretty much my entire life. But, I have only recently begun playing guitar seriously...and I'm having a blast with it!
Paul Autry: Since I got to know you through Witches In Bikinis, could you explain how that all came together?
Bill Rozar: Most of the music I have written over the past twenty years or so is like the music you hear on my MySpace page. I have hundreds of electronic and piano pieces written and recorded. But, I also wrote many pop/rock songs...and there was a group of songs that became known over the years as my "Halloween Songs." These were songs like "Hold Me, My Little Ghostie," "Monster Woogie," "Haunted Mansion," "Goblin Gaboom" and "Cemetery Boogie." Originally, most of these songs, including "Witches In Bikinis," were intended for a male voice. I actually started recording them myself before I met Janelle Lannan. But then decided they would sound a lot better with her singing them. I met Janelle through my Mindafloon Artist Group. I knew her first as a model and artist and we became close friends. One night, my wife Julie and I went to see her perform with a theater group she belongs to called The Anonymous Ensemble. We were knocked out by how well she sang. Right after the show, Julie suggested that we get together and record some of my "Halloween" songs. So, we recorded "Witches In Bikinis." It sounded great and was a lot of fun, so, we continued recording and figured we would do a whole album's worth of music. As we were nearing completion of the album, we decided to put together a live show and have a big Halloween party. We enlisted other dancers and singers that we knew and put together a whole show and performed it for about two hundred friends on Halloween. It was such a success and we had such a good time that we continued to do shows around Manhattan and Brooklyn and then it just kept growing and evolving.
Paul Autry: What was the inspiration/influence behind Witches In Bikinis?
Bill Rozar: The very first Witches In Bikinis song I wrote was "Goblin Gaboom," which was inspired by Jonathan Richman. I saw him perform live in Los Angeles in 1980, doing songs like "Ice Cream Man" and "I'm A Little Airplane" and I just loved it. From there, I somehow got on this kick of writing songs about Halloween. I was always into horror music and science fiction. I used to watch shows like Chiller Theater, Outer Limits and The Twilight Zone. I loved movies like "Plan 9 From Outer Space," "Forbidden Planet" and "Attack Of The 50 Foot Woman." The Wicked Witch of the West scared the crap out of me when I first saw "The Wizard Of Oz" at age three, it was years before I could watch it again. I was also a big fan of The Addams Family. I still remember watching the very first episode on television in 1964.
Paul Autry: How did you arrive at the current line up?
Bill Rozar: Most of the people are friends that I know through my artist group or friends of friends or people that responded to casting notices. A lot of people have been involved in the group to one degree or another. But, we now have a stable group of performers that I'm totally happy with. They are all very talented and we get along very well.
Paul Autry: In your opinion, how you would describe each Wtich and what does each one bring into the band?
Bill Rozar: In order of them joining the group....Joya, the dark blue haired witch, played by the spicy and stunning Janelle Lannan, is the director of the group. She has a powerful and versatile voice and a commanding stage presence. She actually did all the singing and voice characterizations on the first album, which many people find hard to believe. She will be singing "Alien Surfer Babes," "Party Like A Chimpanzee" and "O.O.B.E." on the new CD. Jojo, the tangerine colored witch is played by the charming and adorable Joanna Walchuk. Joanna sings and dances but is primarily an actress. She was actually the very first witch in a bikini and came up with the idea of wearing colored wigs. She can be heard reciting "All Hallow's Eve," which is a hidden track on our first album and will be re-released as kind of techno rap. Sinira, the purple witch, is played by hot hardbody Julie Betts. She is an accomplished professional dancer and occasional singer of "Subway Spooks." She is the group's dance captain and is usually the one who keeps us in balance when things get crazy. Kerinine, the green witch, is played by romantic beauty Emily Reiter. She is our "healer," onstage and off, and is also an accomplished professional dancer. She has a wonderful comedic sense and plays the serial killer in "Horror Flick Chicks" and Jennifer in "Jennifer Of The Jungle." Jupitheria, the pink haired witch, is played by the lovely and alluring Carolyn Demisch. She has a beautiful voice and can be heard singing "Video Vixen Vampire," "Dear Dr. Frankenstein" and "Jennifer Of The Jungle" on our upcoming album. Lunapheria, the light blue haired witch, played by the lusciously enchanting Karen Weatherwax, has a great voice and is an excellent dancer. She sings our title song, "Witches In Bikinis," at our live shows and can be heard singing "Calling King Kong," "Mermaids In Outer Space" and "Scary Kind Of Love Song" on our upcoming album.
Paul Autry: Speaking of the band, can you tell us a little about the musicians in the group? Who they are, what they play and how you all came together?
Bill Rozar: Luis Schittone, the bass player, was the first to join the band. He is an artist and toy designer by profession, who I met through the Mindafloon Artist Group. Then came our drummer, Arnold Aprea, another artist and craftsman by profession who came to us via Joanna. The last musician to join the group was Jon Hall on lead guitar. Jon is a friend of Arnold's from a previous band they both played in.
Paul Autry: Since so many people are involved in Witches In Bikinis, does that make it harder to find shows with a big enough stage and, on top of that, I'm sure getting to the show is quite a task as well. So, how do you do it?
Bill Rozar: Honestly, we're still figuring it out. It's definitely a challenge. Most of the places we play in New York City have small stages designed for rock bands with four or five musicians. We have ten performers, six of whom are dancers and need a lot of space to move around. Often we wind up clearing an area in front of the stage for the dancers. As far as getting to shows goes, most people in New York City do not have a car and our band is no exception. Usually we squeeze all the equipment and as many people as we can into our minivan (dubbed the WIB-mobile) and the rest take the subway.
Paul Autry: While we're on the subject of shows, for someone who hasn't seen Witches In Bikinis in action yet, how would you describe the live show?
Bill Rozar: There are six beautiful women dressed as witches in bikinis singing, dancing and acting out original pop/rock songs like "Horror Flick Chicks," "Zombie March," "Alien Surfer Babes," Party Like A Chimpanzee" and "O.O.B.E. (Out Of Body Experience)" with backup by a solid four piece band. And did I mention gorgeous girls wearing bikinis?
Paul Autry: From what I've seen, each song seems to have its own little routine. How hard was it to come up with something for each song?
Bill Rozar: We put a lot of time and effort into the dance routines. Most of the choreography was done by Angela Harriell and Amir Levi, with some of it done by the performers themselves.
Paul Autry: Witches In Bikinis has, in my opinion, an exceptional full length release. Everyone who knows me knows that it's all I've been talking about. But, what about other people, regular fans, the press...what kind of reaction have you gotten from them and are you happy with how people have been responding?
Bill Rozar: Wildly enthusiastic! I am thrilled with all the articles, blogs, reviews and interviews about us! I love getting e-mail from people telling us how much they like the music.
Paul Autry: What can we expect from future Witches In Bikinis material and can you give us some idea of when we might be able to hear some new tunes?
Bill Rozar: We are working on the second album which we expect to finish this spring. I have already written most of the songs for the third album. But, we have not recorded or performed any of it yet. The first album was mostly Halloween and witch related songs that I wrote mainly on keyboards. The songs on the second album explore different themes and ideas and tend to be more guitar oriented. The third album will expand the concept further while also re-visiting witch themes. We also plan on doing remixes of many of the songs with different singers, arrangements and musical styles.
Paul Autry: How far do you think you can take the Witches In Bikinis concept?
Bill Rozar: There is no end in sight. We've only been performing for a little over a year and the band only got together this past August. So, we're really just getting started. In fact, the recent Millenium Conference in Harrisburg was the first time we performed outside of New York City...and it was fantastic. Great audience, big stage, good sound. We want to eventually take the show on the road and play to bigger and bigger audiences. And there is a musical play in the works as well.
Paul Autry: What are your thoughts on file sharing?
Bill Rozar: I understand the pros and cons but I'm mostly concerned that young people today are getting too accustomed to not having to pay for recorded music. It's getting more and more difficult for musicians to make money from their recordings and that's not good. For myself, I hope to make enough money from my music that I can spend all my time writing, recording and performing and not have to have a day job. So, anything that helps make that happen, I am for...and anything that stops that from happening, I am against.
Paul Autry: What has been the highlight (so far) of the whole Witches In Bikinis experience and what else do you hope to accomplish with the band?
Bill Rozar: The positive response by the Millenium Music Conference community, Patriot News press, PennLive.com, OSHRadio.com and other MySpace blogs, interviews, subsequent invites and, of course, being invited back by John Harris to Camp Hill to play at Gullifty's. As for the future, I want to continue writing, recording and performing with Witches In Bikinis and make enough money so that I don't have to do anything else.
Paul Autry: Final comments?
Bill Rozar: People who have not seen us sometimes have weird preconceptions. They think we're actual witches or a burlesque show or they think that if we have girls on stage in bikinis then the music cannot possibly be good or the girls must not be able to sing or dance. All of these things are, of course, not true. So, I would ask that people come to the show with an open mind and just be prepared to enjoy something that's different from anything they've seen or heard before. Thank you, Paul, for all your suppost and enthusiam. It means a lot to us!
http://www.myspace.com/billrozar
http://www.witchesinbikinis.com
http://www.myspace.com/witchesinbikinis
