Kepi Ghoulie

With a cartoony voice, a love of <a href="spotify:artist:1co4F2pPNH8JjTutZkmgSm">the Ramones</a>, and inclusive spirit, Kepi (aka Kepi Ghoulie aka Jeff Alexander) injects his silly, funny, and friendly music with warm feelings and lots of hooks. Starting out as the leader of the pop-punk monster aficionados <a href="spotify:artist:46PqexcuFAphFVDvw3V2BZ">the Groovie Ghoulies</a>, Kepi also explored country music with <a href="spotify:artist:6a3Wu6tqDG1Ovwk2pUEhVe">the Haints</a>, set out on his own to make albums that were inspired by folk (American Gothic), aimed at kids (Kepi for Kids), and just plain fun rock & roll before digging back into the <a href="spotify:artist:46PqexcuFAphFVDvw3V2BZ">Ghoulies</a>' archives to curate a series of reissues in the mid-2010s. Whatever the setting or sound, Kepi can be counted on for his positive outlook, fun songs and delightfully innocent approach to life and music.

Kepi began his musical career by forming <a href="spotify:artist:46PqexcuFAphFVDvw3V2BZ">the Groovie Ghoulies</a> in Sacramento, California in the late '80s. Comprising Kepi, his wife Roach, and a parade of drummers, the band's horror movie-meets-bubblegum sound evolved over the course of numerous singles and nine LPs, mostly released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Lookout+Records%22">Lookout Records</a>; other labels took over when <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Lookout%22">Lookout</a> began crumbling in the early 2000s. Around that time, Kepi and the rest of <a href="spotify:artist:46PqexcuFAphFVDvw3V2BZ">the Ghoulies</a> formed <a href="spotify:artist:6a3Wu6tqDG1Ovwk2pUEhVe">the Haints</a>, a country-rock band that released two albums. The group disbanded in 2007, soon after Kepi and Roach's marriage dissolved.

Kepi jumped right back into music, starting a solo project known as Kepi the Band and quickly hooking up with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Asian+Man+Records%22">Asian Man Records</a>. The first release under the new name was 2008's Hanging Out, which was very <a href="spotify:artist:46PqexcuFAphFVDvw3V2BZ">Ghoulies</a>-sounding; he quickly followed up with another album, the acoustic American Gothic. It was released under the name Kepi and Friends and included appearances by <a href="spotify:artist:4FYk4moRCGHdXIK3AMcelO">the Muffs</a>' Kim Shattuck and power popper <a href="spotify:artist:7sM145gGWoxAkRvynlvWep">Anton Barbeau</a>. Kepi was a constant presence on the road, playing shows and spreading positivity. He was also a frequent visitor to the recording studio, the result being two albums in 2009 (Life Sentence and The New Dark Ages, a collaboration with <a href="spotify:artist:7rj9Z8BU8QjGUFsTfqrNuq">Vic Ruggiero</a> of <a href="spotify:artist:2QRPuDfRA9LtoeGFaMikmK">the Slackers</a>). After a live album in 2010, he released I Bleed Rock and Roll in 2011, then switched gears to make a kids record, Kepi for Kids, in 2012. He also started an annual tradition of releasing a new single every Valentine's Day.

Along with touring and working on paintings, he next partnered with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Eccentric+Pop%22">Eccentric Pop</a> to reissue <a href="spotify:artist:46PqexcuFAphFVDvw3V2BZ">Groovie Ghoulies</a> albums, starting with Flying Saucer Rock-n-Roll! and Appetite for Adrenochrome in 2014. That same year he released an album of country-influenced songs, appropriately titled Kepi Goes Country, and a re-recording of the <a href="spotify:artist:46PqexcuFAphFVDvw3V2BZ">Ghoulies</a> album Fun in the Dark, backed by Dutch punk band the Accelerators. More <a href="spotify:artist:46PqexcuFAphFVDvw3V2BZ">Ghoulies</a> reissues followed in 2016 with the re-release of 1994's Born in the Basement. Kepi released his eighth album, Lost and Lovin' It! in 2017, a collection of songs that merged the strains of punk, Americana, and country that have always run through his music. ~ Tim Sendra, Rovi