Comic Book Inker)

Mar 30, 2015 Posted by Emily Matview In Interviews Tagged Tremorz Comments 0

Victor Moya has been a member of the Vegas music scene for decades, spending time behind the drumkit for revered locals such as Happy Campers, Faded Grey and Life’s Torment. Moya also ran the short-lived but much-loved Tremorz, an all-ages venue that saw the likes of Rise Against, The Movielife and The Killers grace its floor. He currently works as a comic book inker, and was recently announced as this month’s featured artist at Alternate Reality Comics, with a gallery opening event taking place April 1 from 5-8. With all this going on, we thought now would be a good time to ask him 5 questions.

I always think of you from your time drumming for Happy Campers, but I know you were involved with many other bands, including most recently, Life’s Torment. Can you give us a rundown of the bands you were in and tell us about your favorite gig you’ve ever played?

I got into drumming at 16. I wanted to play but I knew my mom would never buy me a kit. I was a bad kid and didn’t deserve it. So I talked my little brother John into wanting to play the drums and so she bought him a kit. Which I played of course. I was introduced to the guys in The Scooters, my first band, by Balcony Lights Frank when he was introducing me to my ex-wife, who was the guitar player’s girlfriend at the time. I know, I inimical, but it was much later after they broke up that she became my future ex-wife.

Anyway, I talked to those guys and were talking about covering a Beastie Boys song off of Polly Wog Stew but needed a drummer. So I offered up my services and that was that. That band was a ton of fun but I figured out I suffered from wicked stage fright at our first show. So for the next twenty years, I played shows with my eyes closed. Which is why I never changed my setup until just last year and finally played a show with my eyes open. It’s a whole different experience.

I’ve played in The Scooters, The Desert Rats, The Sweat Hogs, The Happy Campers, SPX, 2 Cents Worth, Keagan’s Quest (for like a day with Frank from Balcony Lights), Faded Grey, Kill The Head & The Body Will Follow, Broken Trust, The Loud Pipes, The Doomsday Machine, Apollo 14, Life’s Torment and tentatively, Elements Of Now.

As far as the favorite gig, if you are talking about the best single show I ever played, I would have to say it was the opening night of Tremorz, which was also my first show with Faded Grey. So no pressure not to mess up. None at all. A very close second though would be the benefit for Rick Honaker with The Loud Pipes. Rick taught me everything I know about booking punk shows and promoting. He was a great guy and I miss him.

Speaking of Tremorz, a lot of people also know you from your time running that venue. How did Tremorz come to be and where did the name come from? Do you have a favorite show you booked there?

Now for the Tremorz memories. Tremorz was an all-ages venue on Maryland PKWY across from UNLV. It was open one year to the day and got its name because it was on the second floor and whenever we had a ton of people in there losing their minds to the music, the floor would shake and almost roll to the point where it would knock people off their feet.

It was an exciting time in the Las Vegas local music scene. Some great bands came out of that time. My favorite show there though, I think was the Wesley Willis show. That dude was just awesome! I received the 20 greatest headbutts of my life from him.

I remember towards the end of Tremorz there were issues with having the shows be all-ages. Why was keeping shows all-ages important to you and why did the age restrictions happen? Was this what ultimately led to the venue shutting down?

Tremorz didn’t last any longer because we were facing a lot of opposition to having a place where minors could gather in one place. So we were railroaded into so many different licenses and permits and being cited for every show. We just couldn’t keep up with it and decided to let it go.

Keeping the venue all ages was of the utmost importance to me because I just felt that the kids needed a safe, legit place to gather and enjoy their music. The bands weren’t mainstream, well most of them weren’t yet, and couldn’t fill up the large venues so the only other alternative was desert or house shows and those were shut down half the time. Simple solution: open a legit all ages venue.

I tried to make a place that was “ours.” You know, not for the radio listeners. And everybody was welcomed to book shows there under my umbrella. I didn’t rent the place out or charge house fees for people who wanted to bring bands. Tremorz, for me, was one of my greatest accomplishments and my biggest heartbreaks.

How have you seen the punk scene change in Vegas, for better or worse? It seems like all-ages venues still struggle, so what advice do you have for people looking to start one?

After Tremorz, I dropped out of the music scene for quite a while and when I returned, boy was there a big difference. Everybody was professional now. The age of the desert show was officially gone and all these young bands were touring or signed to major labels and packing the venues on the strip. It was nuts! Of course there is still the underground punk scene. There always will be those guys that have the guts to let bands play in their living room and shell out cash from their own empty pocket to make sure the touring band has gas money. My hat is off to them and I thank them for carrying on the spirit of underground live music.

My earliest interactions with you involved talking comics at Silver Cactus. Now you’ve been more focused on comics in a career as an inker. How did you get into comics and when did you decided to pursue working within that industry? What advice do you have for aspiring inkers?

I don’t know if you can say I am more focused on comics than music right now, as much as I decided to make comics a job as opposed to a thought in the back of my head or a book in my hand to read. I’ve always loved comics and read them. My Uncles started me out in comics and punk when they gave me a box of Star Wars comics from Marvel and a Misfits 7 inch when I was 6 years old. Comic geek since. Loud and proud. Like most though, I just doodled and talked about when I was going to break into comics. We would hang out at Page After Page or Alternate Reality and drool over the forbidden Tim Vigil art or carefully listen to what books Ralph [Mathieu, Alternate Reality Comics owner] suggested we read. Ralph also introduced me to one of the greatest comics ever made, Preacher, by the way.

I didn’t actually make my move to make comics until I was in a car accident and broke my spine. I couldn’t make a living the way I used to and I was going to be on my back for at least 6 months so I had to stay busy. Why not stay busy and try to make some money? That week I inked up my first few pages of samples and emailed them out. A week later I got an offer for my first gig and it has been non stop ever since. It’s an unusual story for breaking in. It usually takes much more time and effort but the stars happened to be aligned for me and it all moved very quickly.

I’ll part with leaving some advice for aspiring inkers. Learn to draw. Any solid inker is a solid artist in his/her own right. Learn to draw. That is all.

Thank you, Vic! If you’d like to meet Vic and see his art in person, you’re in luck! Vic is the subject of this month’s artist spotlight at Alternate Reality Comics, taking place on April 1 from 5-8. More information on that event can be found on Facebook.