Dodge City has a small, but very vibrant music scene that is getting bigger and bigger as time goes by. And The Merkins are the trash punk highlight of the Southwest Kansas Music Scene. Not to be confused with the slasher-masked group of the same name, the 5 piece brings an entertaining show to their sets with colorful songs like “She Only Eats Ass At Night” and “Straight Edge Drunk” and an EP called “Shame Stain, they obviously don’t take themselves very seriously, even their name is…well, you’ll have to google that one.
“Colin describes the sound as “Trash Punk”. This is mostly because of the lyrical content of our music. While the lyrics are very rated R and comedic, a lot of the songs do come from a real place. Sometimes you just have to put a little humor to the stupid things that happen in life.”
7EIGHT5: Tell us a little bit about who The Merkins are?
The Merkins: We’re a 5 piece punk band (or “trash” punk as our singer likes to call it) out of Southwest Kansas. The band was originally mostly from Garden City, Kansas with the exception of guitarist, Hugo Hernandez, being from Dodge City, Kansas. Over time, we’ve had a few line up changes and the band sort of just became a blend of musicians from all over Southwest Kansas. When you live in an area like ours, you tend to do some traveling to make the band thing work. We’re a band that does not take ourselves very seriously. If you listen to our songs, you will understand exactly what we mean. We also have a lot of energy when it comes to our live performances. At the end of the day, we just want you to sing along, move around a bit, and have a good time with us!
7EIGHT5: What are your names and what do you do in the band?
The Merkins: We are:
Colin “Curly Merkin” Williams (Vocals),
Hugo “Mexi Merkin” Hernandez (Lead Guitar/Vocals),
Dwight “Sleezy Merkin” Imel (Drums),
Alonso “Fonzi Merkin” Carranza (Bass/Vocals),
and Wyatt “Lefty Merkin” Earl (Guitar/Vocals).
7EIGHT5: How long have you been playing together?
The Merkins: We’ve been a band since the summer of 2014, so almost 10 years. The only original members that have been in the band since the start are Colin and Hugo. Dwight joined the Merkins back in the summer of 2018. Alonso joined in the fall of 2022. Originally, we were a two-guitar band when we first started but that only lasted maybe about a year. So, for the longest time Hugo was the only guitarist in the band. We recently brought Wyatt on board to join as a second guitarist back in the summer of 2023.
7EIGHT5: Explain how you came up with the name.
The Merkins: Colin was the one that came up with the band name. If you don’t know what a merkin is…just google it. He initially wanted to call it “Merlin’s Merkin” but we settled on just “The Merkins” because we’re basic like that. Unfortunately, that name is used by YouTubers that call themselves “The Merkins”. They do parody videos of well known songs dressed as serial killers from movies. A good chunk of our followers probably still think we’re those guys but unmasked. Fuckers. Oh and every person that has ever been a part of the Merkins has had a merkin name usually determined by Colin…aka Curly Merkin.
7EIGHT5: Describe your sound. What kind of music do you play?
The Merkins: Colin describes the sound as “Trash Punk”. This is mostly because of the lyrical content of our music. While the lyrics are very rated R and comedic, a lot of the songs do come from a real place. Sometimes you just have to put a little humor to the stupid things that happen in life. As far as the music goes there’s definitely a lot of influences. You’ll hear some fast stuff and some not so fast . We try to make our music easy to sing along with catchy hooks and dirty humor.
7EIGHT5: Who influenced you growing up? What impact has that made on your music?
The Merkins: We all have a pretty eclectic taste in music, but we’ll stick to just the punk influences! Colin’s a huge fan of Guttermouth and Bad Religion. Hugo is really big on bands such as Black Flag, Minor Threat, Dead Kennedys, and D.I, as well as Alonso (Alonso is Hugo’s younger brother). Dwight has a lot of love for Social Distortion. Wyatt draws a lot of his punk influence from Blink-182.
7EIGHT5: Do you remember your first show? What was that like?
The Merkins: Our first show was at Hillside Ranch in Garden City. Hillside Ranch is owned by Colin and it’s one of the greatest spots to play a DIY show. It was definitely a little nerve racking but we had such a good time and it seemed like the crowd really enjoyed our set. It’s always a good time at our shows…unless we’re in Lawrence, KS. They didn’t like us very much that one time.
7EIGHT5: How have you guys grown since starting to play together?
The Merkins: Truthfully, we probably should have more “achievements” since we’ve been around for such a long time, or at least have more music written…but hey, it’s punk rock. Who cares? We don’t. Since we’ve had a lot of line up changes over the years and some of us are a little more fresh in the band compared to others, it’s hard to really describe the “growth” of the band. Some of us play in other bands that might be a little more active, as well. Really we’re just going with the flow when it comes to The Merkins. That being said, we did record our EP “Shame Stain” last year that we really love. We think it’s our best work. Give it a listen!
7EIGHT5: Where do you get your influences from when writing music?
The Merkins: It really just depends on the mood and day. Like we mentioned earlier, we have music that’s fast and some that’s not so fast. Shit…we even have a ballad. It’s a creepy ballad but a ballad nonetheless. We think ultimately it just comes down to what the music feels like it’s doing. We never want to force anything but usually our best songs come together within 20-30 minutes, or at least a basic structure for it before fine tuning it and adding any ear candy.
7EIGHT5: What comes first for you, the lyrics or the music?
The Merkins: It’s always been the music first. Colin often has lyrics that he’s just written over the years and then just applies it to a new piece of music by adding and deleting what is necessary to make it work. As far as the music part goes, it can be a toss up of a riff that Hugo may have that the band just builds around, or he’ll sometimes have a completely structured song that he presents to the band. Recently Wyatt introduced the band with a couple riffs. It is currently a work in progress, so keep an eye out for a new song at one of our shows!
“Do it because it’s fun. Do it because it relieves stress. If it causes stress, go do something else.”
7EIGHT5: Where do you want to be as artists in 5 years? What’s a goal you are hoping to achieve?
The Merkins: Quite honestly we’re not really sure. This is something we really never discussed because outside of the band we’re pretty busy people. The Merkins are strictly just for fun. We try to play shows here and there when we can. We try to write music here and there when we can. We don’t really have any intentions of making a career out of music. It’s cool when people sing lyrics like “fuck your mom” right back at you. That feels like an achievement! It’d be cool to open for some cool touring act at some point. Does that count as a goal?
7EIGHT5: How do you go about setting up shows to play?
The Merkins: Hugo is sort of the “manager” and handles all the booking. We have to be very picky when it comes to booking shows mainly because of the content of our music. Typically if we’re interested in playing in a certain area we reach out to a band from said area to help us get things going for a show. We’ve made a lot of connections over the years so it’s been easier for us to book shows when we’re able to.
7EIGHT5: What do you do outside of your music?
The Merkins: We all work, some of us have kids, and one of us goes to college! That’s about it. It’s hard for us to really get together outside of the music thing because of that, but we’ve had some occasional hangs where we just enjoy each other’s company. Otherwise, we’re just talking a bunch of shit on our group chat on Messenger.
7EIGHT5: What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned since the band started?
The Merkins: Do it because it’s fun. Do it because it relieves stress. If it causes stress, go do something else. Also, if you get offended by our music, just know that we won and we don’t care that you’re offended when we sing things like “she only eats ass at night” or “she masturbates on roller skates”. And for those that enjoy The Merkins we say “hell yeah”.
7EIGHT5: What’s your social media status as a band?
The Merkins: We’re on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube all under the handle @themerkinsgc . We’re not super active on our socials other than when we’re trying to promote a show, but you’ll find some good content in there!
7EIGHT5: How can people get a hold of you?
The Merkins: You can message us on socials or email us at: themerkinsgc@gmail.com . Leave boob pics. Thanks.
Next up for The Merkins, they’re headlining the next Gunsmoke Sessions in Dodge City at Silver Star Hall on March 23rd, along with For The Birds, Ghost Town Strays, Merlin, and Sterling Ray.
