The Matadors (band)

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The Matadors are a psychobilly band based mainly in London, Ontario, Canada. Their music fuses traditional rockabilly with punk rock.

[edit] Brief history

In 1995, Joel "Hooch" Parkins (lead vocals, guitar) formed The Matadors, which fused rockabilly, blues, swing and southern rock boogie and calling it "horrorbilly." Parkins invented the term after reading a book called The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by authors Al Ries and Jack Trout which states that "if you cannot be first in your category, set up a new category".

The Matadors have been on the forefront of the Canadian psychobilly scene since their inception. They are most noted for their 'larger than life' live shows which have included giant stage-blood shooting puppets, foam launching machines and dancing girls.

The Matadors' first Canadian tour was in 2005. They were packaged with Canadian veteran psychobilly band The Dead Cats. The Matadors are currently the largest grossing Canadian psychobilly act to date in terms not only of record sales but audience attendance. Although not given the recognition of their peers, The Matadors are/have been the largest act in their genre in Canada.