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Nekrogoblikon
Nekrogoblikon is an American melodic death metal band based in Los Angeles, California. The band's music centers on a goblin theme. The group was formed in 2006 by Nicky Calonne and Tim Lyakhovetskiy. Lead guitarist Alex Alereza remains the member with the longest active tenure. Nekrogoblikon has released five full-length albums, Goblin Island, Stench, Heavy Meta, Welcome to Bonkers and The Fundamental Slimes and Humours, and one EP, Power.
The band became famous for its music video "No One Survives" (2012). It starred a fictional John Goblikon, created by director Brandon Dermer and portrayed by actor-comedian Dave Rispoli, soon becoming the band's mascot and touring hypeman. In 2022, musician-comedian Grady Welch began portraying John Goblikon on tour, becoming the lead singer following Calonne's departure the next year. Welch is credited as Goblikon's "vocal coach" while Rispoli is credit as his "writer" in the band's lore. The character spawned a talk show web series Right Now with John Goblikon from 2015 to 2019 and 2021 to 2022, followed by a long-form podcast series of the same name in 2024.
Nekrogoblikon was formed in 2006 by Nicky Calonne and Tim Lyakhovetskiy in Palo Alto, California. The two of them recorded Nekrogoblikon's first album Goblin Island in Lyakhovetskiy's basement. On his return to school at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Lyakhovetskiy found Ashleigh Carracino, Alex Duddy, Spencer Bartz, Alex Alereza, and Austin Nickel to form the rest of the band. The group played eleven shows before Bartz moved to Japan and was replaced by Eddie Trager.
On July 19, 2011, the band released Stench. Stench was reviewed positively by "Pop and Hiss", the Los Angeles Times music blog, which praised its technical proficiency and songwriting, and described its inclusion of electronic elements as working "surprisingly well." Metal Sucks also praised the album with a 4.5/5 rating, describing it as more professional than Goblin Island, and complimenting its technicality. Blistering gave the album a 9/10 rating, calling it "fun and entertaining."
In September 2012, the band released a music video for "No One Survives," directed by Brandon Dermer. Before the video's release, the theme of goblin music was just a comical idea, and the band had never considered dressing up or including a goblin character on stage. At that time, Dermer, an assistant at a film production and management agency, had some experience making music videos with comic musician and actor Jon Lajoie. Dermer approached the band as a fan who was determined to help create a music video. The band initially rejected the idea and said they would not dress up and be compared to Gwar. Dermer returned to the band with a more fleshed-out character and vision that the band agreed to on the understanding that they had no money to finance anything related to the video or the character. Dermer reached out to "around 80 brands and got 3 to pay for it," which included a Goblin costume and mask created by Monster Effects.
The video depicts a goblin named John Goblikon (played by Dave Rispoli), who works at a sales and marketing firm. A coworker (played by Kayden Kross) invites him to her birthday party at a bar, where John attends, hoping to win her affection. His excitement quickly turns to depression, thanks to the Birthday girl already having a date at the party. The bartender (played by the aforementioned Jon Lajoie) proceeds to overserve John; we learn that he is not shy in his dance moves. The scene ends with John violently mauling his coworker's date in the parking lot and he is optimistic that she will still give him a shot despite the murder. The video became viral and was viewed more than 1.5 million times in the first three months.
Dermer stated that he didn't expect much to come of the video. Still, it was on the first page of Reddit after a few days, and then it went even more viral when DJ/Producer Diplo discovered it organically and posted the one-word tweet "Nekrogoblikon." Dermer eventually ended up working with Diplo on various projects and music videos.
During interviews, the band members claimed that John Goblikon is a real goblin and different from the one credited in the music video. They explained that Dave Rispoli, the comedy actor and writer credited in the music video, met John on LinkedIn, and Dave facilitated the introduction between the band and the goblin. His first appearances with the band were as hype-goblin and go-go dancer. In later interviews, the members fully embrace the lore of John Goblikon as a real goblin and full-fledged band member.
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Nekrogoblikon
Nekrogoblikon is an American melodic death metal band based in Los Angeles, California. The band's music centers on a goblin theme. The group was formed in 2006 by Nicky Calonne and Tim Lyakhovetskiy. Lead guitarist Alex Alereza remains the member with the longest active tenure. Nekrogoblikon has released five full-length albums, Goblin Island, Stench, Heavy Meta, Welcome to Bonkers and The Fundamental Slimes and Humours, and one EP, Power.
The band became famous for its music video "No One Survives" (2012). It starred a fictional John Goblikon, created by director Brandon Dermer and portrayed by actor-comedian Dave Rispoli, soon becoming the band's mascot and touring hypeman. In 2022, musician-comedian Grady Welch began portraying John Goblikon on tour, becoming the lead singer following Calonne's departure the next year. Welch is credited as Goblikon's "vocal coach" while Rispoli is credit as his "writer" in the band's lore. The character spawned a talk show web series Right Now with John Goblikon from 2015 to 2019 and 2021 to 2022, followed by a long-form podcast series of the same name in 2024.
Nekrogoblikon was formed in 2006 by Nicky Calonne and Tim Lyakhovetskiy in Palo Alto, California. The two of them recorded Nekrogoblikon's first album Goblin Island in Lyakhovetskiy's basement. On his return to school at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Lyakhovetskiy found Ashleigh Carracino, Alex Duddy, Spencer Bartz, Alex Alereza, and Austin Nickel to form the rest of the band. The group played eleven shows before Bartz moved to Japan and was replaced by Eddie Trager.
On July 19, 2011, the band released Stench. Stench was reviewed positively by "Pop and Hiss", the Los Angeles Times music blog, which praised its technical proficiency and songwriting, and described its inclusion of electronic elements as working "surprisingly well." Metal Sucks also praised the album with a 4.5/5 rating, describing it as more professional than Goblin Island, and complimenting its technicality. Blistering gave the album a 9/10 rating, calling it "fun and entertaining."
In September 2012, the band released a music video for "No One Survives," directed by Brandon Dermer. Before the video's release, the theme of goblin music was just a comical idea, and the band had never considered dressing up or including a goblin character on stage. At that time, Dermer, an assistant at a film production and management agency, had some experience making music videos with comic musician and actor Jon Lajoie. Dermer approached the band as a fan who was determined to help create a music video. The band initially rejected the idea and said they would not dress up and be compared to Gwar. Dermer returned to the band with a more fleshed-out character and vision that the band agreed to on the understanding that they had no money to finance anything related to the video or the character. Dermer reached out to "around 80 brands and got 3 to pay for it," which included a Goblin costume and mask created by Monster Effects.
The video depicts a goblin named John Goblikon (played by Dave Rispoli), who works at a sales and marketing firm. A coworker (played by Kayden Kross) invites him to her birthday party at a bar, where John attends, hoping to win her affection. His excitement quickly turns to depression, thanks to the Birthday girl already having a date at the party. The bartender (played by the aforementioned Jon Lajoie) proceeds to overserve John; we learn that he is not shy in his dance moves. The scene ends with John violently mauling his coworker's date in the parking lot and he is optimistic that she will still give him a shot despite the murder. The video became viral and was viewed more than 1.5 million times in the first three months.
Dermer stated that he didn't expect much to come of the video. Still, it was on the first page of Reddit after a few days, and then it went even more viral when DJ/Producer Diplo discovered it organically and posted the one-word tweet "Nekrogoblikon." Dermer eventually ended up working with Diplo on various projects and music videos.
During interviews, the band members claimed that John Goblikon is a real goblin and different from the one credited in the music video. They explained that Dave Rispoli, the comedy actor and writer credited in the music video, met John on LinkedIn, and Dave facilitated the introduction between the band and the goblin. His first appearances with the band were as hype-goblin and go-go dancer. In later interviews, the members fully embrace the lore of John Goblikon as a real goblin and full-fledged band member.