Deja Voodoo (Canadian band)

A Déjà Voodoo ticket from 1986

Déjà Voodoo was formed by Gerard van Herk (guitar and singing) and his friend Tony Dewald (drums). Combining 1950s horror imagery with rockabilly and country musical influences they created a sound which gained them a unique standing amongst Canadian artists. Van Herk's guitar only had the top four strings and he sang in a deep voice, whilst Dewald's drum kit had no cymbals, which resulted in a low-treble rock style they termed "sludgeabilly." The band toured in Canada, the United States and even Europe. Déjà Voodoo even managed to encourage other artists in Canada to form bands along similar musical styles. In Canada, the band was most renowned for live performances its annual “Voodoo BBQ’s,” the last of which was held on June 23, 2006.

Early days

Both born in the Sixties, Gerard and Tony both grew up in Montreal. During the 70’s both men went to several concerts for local punk groups. In 1981, the two joined together to form Deja Voodoo. Their music generally consisted of short songs influenced by rockabilly and punk artists. Another major influence was a band by the name of The Cramps. An American punk band “The Cramps” had managed to achieve a degree of success in the late 70’s with their own gothic look. As Deja Voodoo was embarking on its first performances, Montreal was receiving an influx of immigrants from Western Canada and independent record labels were starting to spring up. In turn numerous amounts of niche bands began to appear across the city. As a result of an over saturated market Déjà Voodoo struggled to find an audience in its first year. While they remained popular locally in Montreal it wasn’t until 1982 that the two-man band began to see interest outside of the Quebec area, particularly in Toronto.

OG Records

The turning point for Déjà Voodoo came with Gerard and Toni’s creation of Og Records in 1983. Named after a fictional caveman the independent label allowed for Deja Voodoo to control its own distribution. The first record released by Og records was Deja Voodoo’s “Gumbo”. The album sold relatively well in Montreal independent scene but failed to penetrate the mainstream market. This would later be rectified with the release of Deja Voodoo’s third album “Cemetery” in 1984. Cemetery was the first Deja Voodoo album to be sold in vinyl form, selling widely across Canada and even to some small in the US and Europe. As well as launching their own careers, Gerard and Tony used Og records as a way for like minded artists a venue to publish what was being referred to as unique “sludge-a-billy” sounds. Og records continuously received tapes from other underground Canadian artists and routinely released compilation CDs in the It Came from Canada series. Five of these titles were released between 1985 and 1989. Some of the artists in the compilation CD’s included other Montreal hits like Jerry Jerry and the Sons of Rhythm Orchestra, Terminal Sunglasses and The Gruesomes. In its seven year life span Og Records released twenty nine albums. The last of which being a recording of Deja Voodoo’s performance in Finland.

Tours and career

Once Og Records took off, Déjà Voodoo started touring in across Canada. At first focusing on Ontario and Eastern Canada, however later they branched out to Western Canada going as far as Edmonton. Most interesting though is that Déjà Voodoo was able to embark on several European tours primarily in Greece and Finland. Despite the audience’s relatively small exposure to Canadian music, Déjà Voodoo managed to create a strong cult following, especially in Scandinavia, a feat which at that time no other underground Canadian artists had managed to achieve. In Canada, they did manage to get semi-regular airplay on CBC radio's overnight Brave New Waves program. As Déjà Voodoo’s popularity grew and other bands continued to sign on with Og records, Gerard and Tony started putting on popular indoor events, each December called “Voodoo BBQ’s”. Often held in Montreal, these massive public shows put on by Déjà Voodoo and other bands signed on to Og records often drew large crowds and were well received by critics. The last Voodoo BBQ was held in Toronto in 2008 as a kind of reunion show.

Conclusion

Despite their relative success Déjà Voodoo never managed to break into the mainstream markets and by 1990 both Gerard and Tony decided to split up Déjà Voodoo. Both men had reached their thirties and were interested in pursuing other careers. As well both members decided to sell Og records that same year. Since then Gerard has gone to become a university linguistics professor, and for the last 20 years Tony has worked as a brewer on the West Coast and currently is employed by Lotusland Vineyards. Despite their brief existence, Déjà Voodoo vastly contributed to Canadian music by increasing the Canadian public’s exposure to alternative styles of music.

Discography

Albums

• Cemetery (1984) (Og Music)
• Too Cool to Live, Too Smart to Die (1985) (Og Music)
• Swamp of Love (1986) (Og Music)
• The Worst of Deja Voodoo (1987) (Og Music)
• Big Pile of Mud (1988) (Og Music)
• Live at The Backstage Club, Helsinki Finland (1990) (Og Music)

Singles

• "Monsters in My Garage" (1982) (Og Music)
• "Cemetery" (1984) (Og Music)
• "Too Cool to Live, Too Smart to Die" (1985) (Midnight International)
• "Hiekkaa Hietarannan" (1988) (Gaga Goodies)

Cassettes

• "Gumbo, 17 Sludgeabilly Greats!" (1983) (Og Music)

Appearances on compilations

• From Montreal (1983)
• It Came from Canada, Vol. 1 (1985) (Og Music)
• It Came from Canada, Vol. 2 (1986) (Og Music)
• 50th birthday tribute to Buddy Holly (1986) cassette (hipocket records)

Music videos

• The House of Doctor Stimuli
• White Sugar

External links

• Deja Voodoo MySpace page
• Barry, Chris. “Sludge Report”. Montreal Mirror, Oct 20-26 2005. Vol. 21, No.18. (accessed Oct 10, 2008)]
• http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/multiarticlesub.aspx?csid1=5&csid2=779&fid1=452 (accessed Oct 10, 2008)