The most ridiculous thing to come out of Boston since the Big Dig is most definitely Bang Camaro, a rock band complete with upward of 20 male vocalists who play nothing but chorus-solo-chorus, headbanging, fist pumping rock ‘n’ roll.

People traveled as far as Albuquerque to see Bang Camaro open up another dimension of partying and they were not disappointed. On the other hand, it seems like most Tucsonans were.

The zombie like presence of fewer than 50 local music goers checkered the dance floor at Plush on Saturday night, which was a poor turnout for such a critically lauded and fucking incredible band.

I know the problem had mostly to do with the East Side component of morally indigent Club Crawlers mixing with Tucson Meet Yourself’s abject food mongers, but what happened to all the college kids who load the karaoke playlists with Journey.

Bang Camaro were a literal jukebox of all the best parts of ’70s and ’80s metal, distilled into karaoke hits, which were yelled by a cast of seven dudes in unison. It was so awesome that before I knew it, I was headbanging in the absolute back of the club with some guy from New Mexico.

I hadn’t come to the show because I was a huge fan, but I left a convert. The next time you have a chance to see Bang Camaro, don’t be a zombie. Go fist pump and head bang yourself into a frenzy. It’s uncontrollable, unless you’re solely pacified by the wet blanket that is Journey.

Below is an interview with keystone Bang Camaro musicians Alex and Bryn. They talk in lengthy, sprawling paragraphs about everything that is Bang Camaro, partying and partying with Bang Camaro.

How long has Bang Camaro been around? What’re Bang Camaro’s origins?

ALEX: Bang Camaro was started three years ago as a recording project between Bryn and I. We got together after playing in the Boston music scene in different bands. Typically our bands would end up on the same bills and we’d get to talking about our favorite Ozzy and Metallica albums. Soon thereafter our respective bands broke up and we got together every so often to write guitar riffs together.

We had this outlandish idea of growing mustaches and traveling the country in Bryn’s van and calling ourselves Bang Camaro – because we thought it would be adventurous and funny. One day we wrote a song with huge power chords, big drum sounds that begged for a big vocal sound a la Motley Crue, Skid Row and Def Leppard. So we invited a bunch of friends to the studio to sing the words “Bang� and “Camaro� over it. We put it out on MySpace and people started downloading it like crazy. Soon booking agents in Massachusetts were calling and offering us shows with bands like The Misfits and Death From Above 1979. Bryn and I quickly put a band together and started writing more songs. It’s been a hell of a ride since.

BRYN: We do drive around in a van now but that’s about the only part of the plan that made it. We also didn’t plan on having to share the van with 13 other guys. We also didn’t plan on the smell. We wouldn’t trade it for anything though.

I hear upwards of 10-22 people are enlisted in the band to sing the choruses.

ALEX: It’s true. Bang Camaro has had a long list of singers in its history. There are times when we’ve had as many as 20 vocalists on stage with us.

BRYN: We actually build up supplemental choirs in other towns. We try to give everywhere we go the same Bang Camaro experience that we can in our hometown. It’s currently impossible to transport all 20+ of us. Our guys in Chicago have done about five shows with us now, and even played Lollapalooza when we played there. It’s been great to meet these musicians from different towns and actually get to perform with them.

How do you afford to feed and clothe yourselves?

ALEX: We don’t. We’re all malnourished and poorly clothed. I have holes in my pants! If we were in this for the money, Bang Camaro would never have gotten off the ground. The guys in the band do this for the decadent dream of rock ‘n’ roll. It seems we’re fortunate to be a group of guys who have found each other and have been bonded by the desire to travel and rock faces across the country.

BRYN: I’m hungry.

What’s it like traveling? Do you have to count heads to make sure everyone made it back to the caravan?

ALEX: Touring with a large group of guys presents its own unique challenges. For instance, since we’re not U2 we have to move, feed and house everyone on a rather tight budget. We travel econo. We have our own 15-passenger van and trailer that we call home when we head out. We take turns driving and letting guys stretch out their legs on the back bench. When we stop for the night we cram anywhere between 12 and 16 guys into two hotel rooms. Sneaking this many guys, our luggage and racks of beer into hotels late at night requires some creative solutions. Fortunately, we’ve only ever been kicked out of one hotel.

BRYN: One time, we left Rodrigo at a rest stop. While we were pulling onto the highway Pete started yelling, “Where is Rod?!� We looked back and he was chasing the van. Good times.

Your music is very conducive to sing-a-longs since you have so many people with microphones singing along. Even more so now that “Pleasure (Pleasure)� and “Night Lies� have been featured in Rock Band. How has your music and fan base changed since your Harmonix exposure?

ALEX: We owe a great deal to Harmonix for including our music in their games. The exposure has been tremendous. In an age when young people aren’t necessarily discovering new music listening to the radio, watching MTV and reading magazines, we’ve looked to alternative methods to get our music out there. Video games like Guitar Hero II and Rock Band came along at the right time for us. It’s been an amazing tool for exposing people, young and old, to pop music from different generations and I’m honored to be a part of this new tradition.

In writing our new album, we’ve been able to record music on our own and release it on the Internet as soon as it’s finished. It’s almost as if the pop music climate has reverted back to the 1950s forcing artists to put their best efforts forward. We feel a responsibility to make every song a single. There’s little room for filler – we have to put our best foot forward every time. We’ve seen how our fans have responded to our new material and we’ve been able to react to their comments in real time. For instance, we put out our first “Camaro Thursday� single on our Web site and MySpace late this summer and heard a few requests for more guitar solos. In response, we immediately wrote and recorded a new song and loaded it with searing face-melting solos. I can’t wait to get it out.

BRYN: Having songs in Rock Band has increased our exposure in ways we didn’t think were possible. One time we were driving through Idaho and stopped at a rest stop to hit the bathroom. A kid there recognized us and made his parents take pictures of us with him. This is all pretty mind blowing since we are an independent band that still handle nearly everything in the band, except for having a booking agent.

Is there a developer (or two) from Harmonix that find themselves in the ranks of Bang Camaro?

ALEX: Yes. Bryn, our lead guitarist and co-founder, is a programmer at Harmonix.

BRYN: Harmonix is a cool place to work at. Most people there are musicians, so we can hang out and talk about rock music all the time. The company is also really nice to let me take one to two months off of work at a time to tour with the band.

My friend Shaun Pope is convinced that your Rock Band publicity brings out an interesting crowd. Do you think people recognize you from the games?

ALEX: Absolutely. We’ve been able to tour the country as an unsigned band without a distribution deal, playing large venues all around the country and in Canada because of our involvement with games like Guitar Hero II and Rock Band. As for your friend Shaun’s take on our crowd, I challenge him to come see us and judge for himself. Bang Camaro fans are the best in the world.

BRYN: I’m convinced that Shaun Pope is a “Star Trek: TNG” fan, and has a Picard uniform hidden in his closet. HE KNOWS IT’S TRUE.

Is it annoying that some of them might be better at playing your songs on Rock Band than you?

ALEX: Nah. My hand to eye coordination is not my strong suit. I’ve played Bang Camaro songs on Rock Band a few times and, frankly, I’m terrible. It doesn’t bother me that our fans play the game better than I do. The opposite actually.

BRYN: It’s funny… we’ve played a few Rock Band nights at different clubs where we’ve performed. People get up on stage and challenge us at our own song. They usually always kick our asses. They usually can’t believe it. Then they just make fun of us a lot.

You must get a lot of fans air-guitaring and drumming right along with your music. Have you ever thought about playing a live, interactive Rock Band setlist? Think about it, you could recruit an entire nation of singers.

ALEX: Interesting idea. The logistics involved getting our crew of guys into the venue on time, completing a soundcheck, and making sure everyone is around to perform is nightmare enough. I can’t imagine throwing in a video monitor and Rock Band instruments into the mix. Though, if we can figure out how to make it work I’d be interested in seeing how it plays out.

BRYN: We played a festival in Milwaukee called Summerfest last year. We got to my solo in “Pleasure (Pleasure)� and a bunch of people put their hands in the air. It looked like they were air-guitaring along with me, but then I realized that they were playing the Rock Band part. That was pretty funny, and also scared the hell out of me. I realized that they knew every note I was supposed to play, so I couldn’t fudge anything.

Tell us a little bit about how your recruiting process for new members is going this tour. How does that work? Is it some sort of contest?

ALEX: I haven’t seen too many new faces on this tour. We’ve been fortunate to have met and recruited so many talented guys on previous tours that we often have the vocal mics covered whenever we come back to towns we’ve played previously. For instance, we have a crew of four guys who join us whenever we come to the Chicago area. They’ve done so many shows with us that they fit in seamlessly. That said we’re always on the prowl for new blood. Often we find guys over the Internet. Someone will usually e-mail me or Bryn expressing interest and we’ll ask them to send us a video of them singing one of our songs. All we ask is that guys look good, sing well and not show up wearing spandex.

Do you first find prospects, dress them up in denim and then urinate all of them like the Hells Angels?

ALEX: Not exactly. We have our preferred methods of breaking in new guys. It usually requires that they share a Super 8 bed with Doz on the road.

BRYN: One time, Glen puked on the crowd from stage. That didn’t have anything to do with our prospects, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

I was singing along to “Pleasure (Pleasure)” and I think I got what it takes to belt it out at the show. Who do I talk to if I want to be a Bang Camaro-head for a week and travel around the country singing with you guys?

ALEX: Send an e-mail to Bryn with “choir� in the subject line. Tell us why you want to sing with Bang Camaro onstage and send us a video of you singing one of our songs.

BRYN: Do it! Doz needs a sleeping partner.

Have you ever had a women singer or is this an all boys club?

ALEX: I like to think of us more as a Men’s Rotary Club. There already was the Cycle Sluts From Hell.

BRYN: Although Sebastian Bach looked like a girl, he definitely sounded like a dude. That’s the sound we’re after. Plus, Morgan would spend all of his time hitting on any female choir members, and that’s not really the stage show we want.

What are you working on album wise? What’s in store for Bang Camaro’s future?

ALEX: We just completed our next record. It’s more a collection of singles than a full album. Every other Thursday since August we’ve debuted a new one on MySpace, iTunes and BangCamaro.com, and celebrate them as “Camaro Thursdays.� We plan to put out a collection of all our online releases along with videos and behind-the-scenes type stuff. We plan to tour the U.S. for the rest of 2008 and put out more music early next year.

Is there anything you’d like to add about the band?

ALEX: One of the best parts about being in a rock band is getting to travel and meet people at our shows. At the end of every show we have a chance to hang out with people who may have heard about us through Rock Band, on MySpace, through friends, or just happened by the club. Having people come out and see us is the only reason we’re able to tour and play our music regularly. I am grateful to everyone who has supported our little 20-man band. It’s because of them we get to do this—my thanks to every one of them.

BRYN: We hang out with people after every show, and it’s a great time. I’m glad that when I look at a lot of our MySpace and Friendster friends, that I actually know who a ton of them are. Some people even invite us over to their houses when we come back to their towns… it takes a lot of nerve to invite us all over, but we try to be somewhat respectful. OK, not really.