Interviews: Vas Littlecrow

Vas Littlecrow, a multidisciplinary artist based in Rice, Minnesota, is a person of great intrigue. A rennaissance woman of sorts, she is an entrepreneurial artist with a taste for the strange. First aired last April, Vas Littlecrow's comic about a reckless and absurd band who plays equally brutal and reckless music is quickly gaining popularity. I took this chance to interview Vas about her rock influences and how they played into the creation of the comic, "Rasputin Catamite." Be warned, this comic is not worksafe. Mature audiences only. Less talk, more rock... Let's go!

"Rasputin Catamite" has such an interesting musical background. Could you explain a bit about the characters in the comic and their specific rock influences, or even who they would credit as influences?

When I came up with the concept of their sound and look, I was influenced by GWAR!, GG Allin, Lordi, Otep, Mayhem, Egor Letov,Brujeria, Kalinov Most, Yanka Dyagileva, Thomas Dolby, The Ramones, Army of Lovers, Chris German, and Buryat Folk Music. As for the individual characters, in their alternate universe:

Zoya, the founder of Upir's Mark, practically worshiped late Siberian punk rock goddess Yanka Dyagileva. Yanka's entire music library is available online and it is definitely worth a listen. Zoya was also a big fan of the Ramones. GG Allin was pretty much her inspiration for Upir's Mark. I often get the impression that Zoya prefers punk music.

Dmitri is the male lead singer, synth player, theremin wrangler, bassist and founder of Upir's Mark. He started his career in the music business, playing in some government-sponsored Soviet boyband. After he dropped out of school, he became a DJ for illegal parties. During this time, he met up with his girlfriend, Zoya Malama. Together they formed Upir's Mark, a fairly unclassifiable Siberian rock band, with their friend Alex. The original Alex left the band due to some personal disputes. He was replaced by the much cuter and far more talented Alex "Sasha" Saatchyan, who also happened to be Dmitri's best friend.

Sasha like many rock guitarists, has always been partial to British and North American classic rock. His favorites include The Guess Who, Van Halen, The Animals, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, the Mothers of Invention and many others. He also has a soft spot for indigenous Russian music in its many incarnations, and Rromani fiddle.

How did the band Upir's Mark in "Rasputin Catamite" get its name?

The name of the band, is a reference to the fact that Dmitri Satan is a particularly vicious Russian species of vampire known as an Upir, and the fact that he marked Zoya with a hickey. I didn't think the name was all that catchy for an actual comic strip, so I named the actual series Rasputin Catamite, as a rather mean-spirited parody of Napoleon Dynamite, which is originally what I set out to mock. In fact, Sasha's original character design was supposed to resemble that of Napoleon Dynamite's. As time went by, Rasputin Catamite just sort drifted away from its original mission and Sasha was redesigned to look more like across between Robert Plant and a scrawny version of the Greek god Adonis. Rather by accident, Rasputin Catamite turned into something original.

I noticed that the early "Rasputin Catamite" cartoons had a distinctly Ramones-esque feel... how did the idea reach conception ?

The original frame design drawing, which was originally intended to be the only frame design, is based upon the look of the Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated" video. I always loved the visual simplicity of that video,and I absolutely adore the Ramones. On the other hand, I hated Rasputin Catamite with a passion because it was such an intensely crappy comic strip. I only planned for it to last for a month. But people really liked it, so I'm pretty sure it will go on for several years. Upir's Mark has grown on me quite a bit and the art in Rasputin Catamite has improved quite considerably. Presently, there's the regular free site, Rasputin Catamite, as well as a rather messed up splatter-erotica paysite with many of the original episodes and a lot of original work.

If "Rasputin Catamite" were to headline a show in the US, whichbands would they choose to open? Which lineups would they open for? Or do they even play second fiddle? Which "fictional" bands would they tour with?

With all of the health code violations and illegal activities that Upir's Mark were known for perpetrating on stage, I doubt that the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the early-to-mid nineties would have even allowed them to enter the US. Considering the legendary messes that Upir's Mark left behind, I think it would've been rather impractical for them to play second fiddle to most bands. With that said, Zoya and Dmitri were big fans of GG Allin's many ventures,and were capable of matching and/or surpassing their level of violent filth. I'm sure they would've opened for GG with his blessing. Dmitri would've probably liked opening for The Mentors, but I think that Sasha would've been completely opposed to the idea on the basis of El Duce's excessive anti-gay rhetoric and assholian nature.

I think that early Iggy Pop, Mayhem or Bloody Mess & the Skabs, might've appreciated Upir's Mark for an opening as well. On second thought, I think that Mayhem and Upir's Mark being in the same lineup would've been a bad idea. Those two bands would've battled it to the death,with most of the audience being slayed in the process. If Gwar used actual gore, feces and bodily fluids, Upir's Mark might've appreciated the privilege of opening for them too.

As for cartoon bands, Dethklok of the Metalocalypse is the only one that would probably survive playing with Upir's Mark. If that happened, it would be one hell of a show, for anyone who survives. The audience would likely be annihilated by the end of the show.

Can any of the Upir's Mark music be found on the web?

I do have a short test video in my possession of the Upir's Mark crew (in puppet-form) with some other band's music that I can share with you.

What are the top three songs you would make on a mix tape for Rock Sellout?

1- "BDF" by Gwar (Quite possibly the most offensive and repulsive song ever written.)
2- "Jocko Homo" by Devo (Quite possibly the most truthful song ever written.)
3- "I Wanna Be Sedated" by the Ramones (It just seemed appropriate.)