Mac Sabbath and Okilly Dokilly

(Originally Published on South Florida Insider)

“American Cheese” Tour-mates Mac Sabbath and Okilly Dokilly Bring the Shred to Lake Worth and Shed Some Light on Their Favorite Food Stops, The Origins of Their Bands, and Their Wildest Tour Stories – Interview and Review of the Concert at Propaganda in Lake Worth, FL

Story and Photos by: Gleb Barabanov

Viral Internet sensations Mac Sabbath and Okilly Dokilly brought their “American Cheese” co-headlining tour to the Propaganda in Lake Worth, Florida this weekend, bringing the city a much needed injection of heavy metal. The double-decker lineup packed the crowd into the small club to near capacity, with everyone clamoring to see the burger-metal legends and their Ned-Metal partners. Local openers MRSA, The Muggles and Playboy Manbaby did an awesome job of warming up the crowd and entertaining them while the headliners prepared their sets.

Okilly Dokilly finally took the stage after the local openers finished and they put on an absolutely amazing show. The Ned-Flanders themed metal band quickly gained prominence online after their inception and is currently on tour supporting their second album, Howdilly Twodilly. Their songs lyrics are mostly parodies of Simpsons quotes and episodes, and the combination of death metal music and happy go lucky lyrics make for a very interesting combination. The five band members all dress in “Ned Flanders” costumes and wear glasses and mustaches to further their “Ned-Effect”, and after a few more songs they finished up their set so that the main event could begin.

As Mac Sabbath finished setting up their gear, the red and yellow curtain obscuring the stage was torn down and the sludgy notes of Black Sabbath began to ring out. The McClowny lead singer Ronald Osborne came out on stage wearing a straitjacket, which he broke out of during the course of the first song. The Burger-headed guitarist laid down the grooves perfectly, and the stage show and banter of the group reminded me a bit of a GWAR show. The group specializes in performing musically-perfect renditions of Ozzy era Black Sabbath songs, with the lyrics changed to depict a satirical take on fast food, low wage fast food jobs, and the dangers of consumerism. They played some absolute classic covers such as Sweet Beef (a parody of Sweat Leaf), Pair-of Buns (a parody of Paranoid), and Frying Pan (of course, Iron Man). The group did an amazing job and kept the crowd packed in ’til the end of the night even despite the late set time.

In addition to putting on an amazing show, Head Ned from Okilly Dokilly and the Manager of Mac Sabbath were kind enough to take some time out of their day to answer a few questions about life on tour, the origins of their bands, and more.

Mac Sabbath:

What first inspired you to start a Themed Cover Band? Were you guys a Black Sabbath cover band before you donned the costumes? 

No no no it’s not like that at all. I got a mysterious phone call to come to this burger chain and experience something completely new. When I got there I met Ronald Osborne who had this whole concept of trying to save the world from the current state of food and music and bring everyone back to a time in the 1970s where rock had substance. This clown would never do anything normal, it’s just not like that. He insists that he teleports in the time space continuum, so this is the kind of thing we’re dealing with here. I’m just a manager. I am the conduit between past and future fantasy or reality, depending on how you look at it.

Which Black Sabbath era do you tend to play from? Do you stick to the Ozzy years or do you dabble in the Dio-Era tracks as well?

Well the band just met with Ozzie perform for him and there’s a video of them hanging out so Although I never thought they would do anything but classic era, it just seems less likely now, ya know?

Whats your favorite spot for fast food on tour?

Although the Mac boys have coined the genre “drive through metal” they do not condone a drive through life style. It’s quite the opposite. The band’s existence is to warn you of the evils of fast food. If you delve into the lyrics it’s pretty hard hitting about the government poisoning you on purpose so we will not be condoning Burger King diamond, fleetwood jack in the box or any such nonsense.

Whats the favorite place that you’ve visited on this tour? Any cities that really stood out to you that you never visited before?

Well New Orleans is like no place on earth. I don’t remember much but I am still recovering. I can tell you that!

What’s your absolute favorite Black Sabbath album?

I’m hard pressed to pick between the first 3. Never been a favorite guy. But that body of work is 100 percent what had shaped in modern music that is worth a dern!

If you could do a Burger King themed side project, which band would you choose to cover?

Burger King diamond must be distorted!

Do you have any original projects you would like to tell me about? Music or otherwise?

I sing in a band called rosemary’s billygoat. I just manage Mac. Let’s face it none is looking up the managers band. Haha

Okilly Dokilly:

How did the thought process for starting this band work? Was it a conscious idea to start a “Ned Flanders” based band or was it something that you guys came up with off the top of your heads?

-The original idea actually started with the band name. Our original drummer, Bled Ned, and I were trying to come up with the absolute worst name for a death metal band. We just imagined a crazy metal show with pyrotechnics and brutal stage props. The lead singer would walk out and say, “Hi, we’re the Cherry Limeades” or “Hi, we’re the Afternoon Naps.” Someone said, “Hi, We’re Okilly Dokilly.” From there we added the idea to make everything 100% Flanders themed.

You’re obviously huge fans of The Simpsons. What’s your absolute favorite episode of the show?

Hurricane Neddy is number 1 for me. There’s far too much good Ned content for me to pick anything else.

What other Television shows are you fans of? If there was another “show-based” side project that you could do, what show would you base it on?

I grew up on animated shows, so there’s a vast list that mostly consists of 90’s Nickelodeon shows and other cartoons of the time. Futurama is one of my favorites. Our Futurama band would be a Bender band called ‘Bite My Shiny Death Metal’. Our King of the Hill band would be called ‘Propane and Discomfort’.

Could you share with us your craziest tour story?

That probably happened earlier this year. We were on tour in February and got an e-mail from Fox. They said that the producers from the Simpsons saw our music video for White Wine Spritzer and wanted to run it during the end credits of an episode. We were in disbelief. We worked them on it and it didn’t feel real until the video aired in April. We never announced it ahead of time, so when it aired, it was a surprise to everyone. The show that night was in Chicago and had sold out before the episode. About 2 hours after it aired, we got to play to a sold out crowd and celebrate with them.

What would you describe your live show like to someone that might be thinking of checking out the band for the first time in concert?

Most of the time there’s a mosh pit. All of the time there are a ton of Simpsons references.

Which member of the Spice Girls do you most identify with?

I think it’s gotta be Ginger Spice. I couldn’t find any striking similarities between myself and any of the spice girls, but Ginger was Ned’s Vegas wife’s name, so that seems like the best choice.