Formed in 2008 in Fort Smith, Arkansas (which the band proclaims as “famous for its gallows”), the performance troupe White Collar Sideshow takes elements of vaudeville, carnival, the wild west, horror movies and industrial rock – with a heavy emphasis on percussion – and smashes them together to create what they describe as “a wall of insanity.” The quartet is comprised of “Ringleader” TD Benton, percussionists Herr Schwein and Leech, and bass guitarist Veronica, a.k.a The Faceless Woman (although you get to see her unmasked here).
Since it's almost impossible to describe such a visually unique band in mere words, we decided to catch up with three of the band members before a show, where they talked about their origins, inspirations and themes, and how those all come together in their latest audio-visual extravaganza The WitcHunt– a combined album, live performance and film based on the Seven Deadly Sins. WitcHunt the album was produced by Chris Baseford, who has worked with Rob Zombie, himself a major influence on the Sideshow sound; as a result, there's a raw, old-school industrial vibe to their tracks, which gets an extra gritty edge from their percussion-heavy instrumentation.
But that's enough from us... on with the show!