In 2004, Hustler magazine named the Genitorturers "world's sexiest rock band." It was about time: Throughout most of the Nineties, you could catch the band's erotic blend of heavy metal and BDSM performances at clubs like Washington Square in South Beach.
The band soon became famous for piercing fans' penises, nipples, and tongues onstage, while frontwoman/pro-dom Gen prowled back and forth in her fetish gear. The band's first big coup? In 1992, it opened for GWAR at the Cameo Theater — and a number of audience members had to be carried out in stretchers during the set. "This was our Alice Cooper meets Marquis de Sade era," Gen explains by phone.
While still a pre-med student, she formed the band during the late-Eighties in Orlando. "I was always interested in medicine and body modifications," she says. "I was a piercer for years. We incorporated that into the theatrical elements of the show. People take these things for granted; nowadays you can just go to the mall and get it done. Back then it was really underground."
The band's most hard-core fans still appreciate that. Together they form a sort of subculture, dubbing themselves "Gen-Heads" and following the band from show to show across the country. No doubt they'll be out in full force at Studio A on Wednesday, when the band revives its tradition of throwing a South Florida Halloween ball. This year's show is also a release party for the Genitorturers' new album, Black Heart Revolution, as well as a new DVD titled Live in Sin. "The concept for the new album is that the powers that be don't quite like what we've created," explains Gen, "and we urge our fans to incite a revolution."
