George Van Orsdel

South Florida punk forefather George Van Orsdel has been in a million bands — Cell 63, Fay Wray, and Not Dead Yet, to leave 999,997 unmentioned. In recent years, though, he's mostly been the namesake and backbone of the Van Orsdels. And the question that always comes up once a year is "Didn't you friggin' guys break up or something?"

"The band never disbanded," he insists. "Back at the tail end of 2006, the band lost two members, and so we kinda took a hiatus for the holidays, but once 2007 rolled around, we got back on track with two new members."

So what about the lack of noise coming from his campground this year? "Right now we've been working on new material for the next CD, which if all goes well, we will begin recording within the next few months. Aside from that, we've just been busy playing and booking shows."

A new album, eh? "Back in October, we put out a limited-release CD called Leftovers, which featured a bunch of outtakes as well as some recently recorded electric and acoustic tunes. If all goes well, the next CD should be out towards the end of 2008."

After watching the local punk scene ebb and flow over the years, Van Orsdel hopes fans will support the psychobilly his band is into nowadays. "It's a little-known genre here in South Florida, but people should give it a chance," he says. "It really is a lot of fun. I mean, what's more fun than music, monster movies, and upright basses?"