Deja Voodoo

The founders of Sludgeabilly Deja Voodoo crawled from the toxic bayous of Montreal in 1981. Formed by Gerard Van Herk and Tony Dewald as a two piece dedicated to all things trash they played a lo-fi gumbo of 1950's Rockabilly and 1960's Garage along with a seasoning of country and blues in to a cocktail that was equally influenced by B-Horror flicks, EC comics Cartoons, TV trash and junk food which became highly influential.

Deja Voodoo put out a serious of 45s and six lps all on their own Og! record label (named after a cartoon caveman) as well as putting out a zine becoming one of the first Canadian bands to do so. They also toured heavily, not only in Canada and the USA but also in Europe where they developed a loyal following (especially in Scandinavia), again one of the first Canadian bands to do so. Deja Voodoo became known for annual "Voodoo BBQs" in various Canadian cities featuring various Og! bands. They actively encouraged other like minded folks to start bands and zines as well and began releasing a series of compilations entitled "It came from Canada" which unleashed the likes of The Gruesomes, Ray Condo, The Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, UIC, The Dundrells, Harald Nix, The 10 Commandments, The Legend Killers, The Dik Van Dykes, The Lost Patrol and more. Deja Voodoo would influence such one and two man bands as The Leather Uppers, Bloodshot Bill, Mississippi Grover, The House of Knives, The Flat Duo Jets and the White Stripes. The Gruesomes covered "Two men one coffin", The Glads (from Ottawa) have covered one of their songs, "A cat who's gone to the dogs". Spanish band Many Rodriguez y las Honky tonkys cover "Monsters in my garage" and Ohio band Thee Invadors cover "Cemetary", as the Hamilton one man band "Deminsion 13". The B.C. band "Raised by Wolves" is named after a Deja Voodoo song.

After a decade of trashing it up Deja Voodoo crept off into the sunset in 1990. The Og Records cataloge is out of print and unavailable on cd but the vinyl copies are collectors items and sometimes turn up on EBay.

Gerard has since become a linguistics professor and Tony runs a micro brewery. In 2004 Gerard Van Herk returned to play a few live gigs both solo and with Bloodshot Bill on drums starting with a Ray Condo tribute and a CKLN fm benefit, both in Toronto. On June 23 2006 there will be one final Voodoo BBQ featuring Gerard and a herd of ex-OG! vets such as Gerry Alvarez (of the Gruesomes) and reunions for the Dundrells and the House of Knives at the Silver Dollar in Toronto.

This is an official page, it's not actually run by the band but Gerard may check in occasionally, if you want to leave a message put in the comments section, if there is a TRULY IMPORTANT message I might pass it on. Any future news about live gigs or re-releases will be posted here as details come in.