An interview with Dead Man’s Party

Rob Elfaizy is the front man of Dead Man’s Party, the Oingo Boingo tribute band. Rob has been playing music for his entire life, since before he could even hold an instrument. He was a student of the Suzuki method, which is a high caliber system for musical education. He has played violin, classical guitar, and piano. He was drawn to the electric after he got older, taking influences from bands like Oingo Boingo. After Boingo had broken up, he started to play shows their songs as a tribute. It turned out that there was quite a demand for Oingo Boingo music and he had emulated the band well. Rob had been so successful that the original members had heard about them through the grape vine. With Boingo founder Richard Elfman’s approval of the DMP’s legitimacy, they quickly grew into a successful entertainment sensation. Some original Boingo members have even played on stage with Dead Man’s Party. Like many genuine tribute bands, the tribute had developed organically. Rob had played Halloween shows with Boingo songs just for fun, and it turned out to be a tremendous success.

The members of Dead Man’s Party also have other original projects in the works. However, their main focus is their tribute to Oingo Boingo. They also play certain Elfman works, like cinema and soundtracks.

There are hardships every band has to go through. For DMP, the main difficulty was finding the right musicians who focus on the music in the context of passion. “We take the music very seriously. However, we make sure not to take ourselves too seriously,” Elfaizy says. This is an important concept for any musician to understand, for it is very easy to get short-sighted by the money and general hustle of the industry.

Oingo Boingo is a very unique band, with an interesting mix of a wide range of influences. With classic rock, punk, ska, big band music, and circus style music, Oingo Boingo brings a very unique vibe to their audience. The song writing and arrangements are something that is almost unprecedented to the rock and roll scene. What makes DMP unique is their ability to perpetuate that energy and re-create it in a way that satisfies even the most hardcore Boingo fan.