AN insurance salesman who plays a bizarre green goblin in Hollywood’s favourite band has managed to keep his true identity a secret.
John Goblikon has legends such as Post Malone, Terry Crews and Joe Rogan all singing his praises but no one knows who the little green goblin really is as he aims to disrupt the music industry forever.
Instagram @mikeb_s550 John Goblikon is a real-life goblin who’s a life insurance salesman but also the lead singer of Hollywood’s favourite rock band[/caption]
Clemente RuizNekrogoblikon is made up of five musical geniuses and a famous goblin[/caption]
Instagram @tonytakestimeJohn is a rock star outside of the work office and constantly plays sold out shows across the US and Europe[/caption]
NekrogoblikonJohn dubbed “the mascot for the misfits” has connected with fans from children to 50-year-old’s[/caption]
Nekrogoblikon is far from your average band – made up of five blokes providing a cacophony of musical notes to a little green goblin who belts out heavy metal bangers night after night.
The goblin – known only as John Goblikon – has captured the whimsical imagination of US music lovers for over a decade now.
The self-proclaimed “mascot for the misfits” has taken his band of regular talented dudes to new heights and far away from the typical genre of heavy metal and rock and into a new genre – Goblin Metal.
John is regularly seen wearing a full shirt and tie paired with his smart work trousers and Converse trainers as the unconventional star rocks up for gigs.
Despite his popularity soaring in the last few years, John has kept his job selling life insurance.
Speaking to The Sun, his fellow band members in Nekrogoblikon dubbed him “every musician and comedian’s favourite musician and comedian”.
The band also said he’s become “more famous than any of us thought was possible”.
Guitarist Alex Alereza said: “Our sound guy always says that when John gets on the stage the audience is so loud he can’t even hear his own mix to play it.
“All eyes are on him and he has them all in a trance the second he gets on stage.”
John – with an impressive 37,000 Instagram followers – has gone on to have his own range of hot sauce, write a book, host a podcast, do hundreds of cameos per year and even be compared to the iconic actor Terry Crews.
He has spent the last few years travelling around the world, taking time off work to live out his rockstar dreams.
The “Kings of Goblin Metal” have done multiple UK and European shows and even joined the legendary Limp Bizkit on tour.
Nekrogoblikon’s close friend Brandon Dermer was shooting a music video for superstar Diplo and his group Major Lazer and wanted the White Chicks and Brooklyn Nine-Nine star to be a part of it.
Being a proud pal of John, Crews and Dermer started talking about the goblin and the movie star wanted to get involved in the next music video.
Dermer has shot all of the metal band’s videos and is an integral part in the media fanfare they’ve built up over the years.
After working for massive companies like MTV and Comedy Central, he also went on to shoot music videos for some of the biggest artists in the world like the Jonas Brothers, Young Thugg and Noah Cyrus.
Brandon took John under his wing and was determined to make him a superstar.
The celebrity shout outs continued as in 2020, Post Malone waltzed onto the Joe Rogan Experience and told the world how much he loved Nekrogoblikon.
Rogan and Malone watched clips of the band perform and according to the boys in the band themselves, this made them explode into the mainstream.
Surprisingly, John didn’t come into the world as the confident, bubbling goblin he is today.
The man who first saw John and recommended him to Nekrogoblikon was comedian Dave Rispoli who now helps Brandon with John’s career.
He labelled the goblin “the physical manifestation of anxiety”, and “the ultimate underdog”.
Dave – who’s an expert comedy writer and has worked for Sony and Hulu – also said: “We always view him as a ball of anxiety and a thing that’s relatable as it clashes with empathy all at the same time.”
Instagram @nekrogoblikonofficialGuitarist Alex Alereza, left, says that when John comes on stage the audience are stuck in a ‘trance’ and are so loud the crew can barely hear anything[/caption]
Instagram @mikeb_s550 Nekrogoblikon have been dubbed the ‘kings of goblin metal’[/caption]
NekrogoblikonBrandon Dermer, left, with Dave Rispoli – the two men who helped to push John’s career further and further into the mainstream[/caption]
Instagram @tasty_riffsThe band said that ‘people don’t see it as just a one note joke’ despite having a goblin as their lead singer[/caption]
When Nekrogoblikon first started they were just a band singing about mythical creatures and focusing their lyrics on goblins.
The band knew something was missing from their act but didn’t fancy donning green face paint and putting on a wild outfit to play a goblin.
After finding John on LinkedIn, the pair connected and Dave went to the band and pleaded them to give the little man a chance.
Nekrogoblikon always regarded what they did as “serious” despite the fantasy lyrics and wacky approach to the act, so they needed John to actually be able to sing.
After hiring him as a mascot for the first few months and getting him to come up on stage at gigs, the band started taking their new unworldly buddy to singing lessons and he became the lead singer.
Since then, everything seemed to click into place and the band was complete and excelling.
Alongside John and Alex the band is made up of Dickie Allen, Joe Nelson, Aaron “Raptor” Minich and Eric W. Brown.
They’ve gone from strength to strength and despite the “gimmick”, they feel they’ve become an excellent group.
Brandon and Dave said: “The way people interact with us isn’t from a place of ‘oh look at this weird funny thing that’s pretty cool’ but in a much deeper way with some empathy.
“As they can relate to him it’s catapulted him as this figure as people don’t see it as just a one note joke at all.”
Alex remembers when the band first started to perform at pubs and clubs and even their first album when the idea of John was nowhere to be seen.
He said: “It was kind of done as a joke, a member thought it’ll be so funny to make an album about goblins so we did, and we really enjoyed the music that came with it.
“It was truly a passion project where we even sold our van to make some cash and Brandon bought in some brands to kick in even more money.
“We just put all of our resources into it and people really liked the music and videos.”
Nekrogoblikon has gone on to gain an army of fans since John’s arrival.
Alex puts this down to their take on the genre and how they’ve elevated it with the goblin man.
The lead guitarist said: “We’re the gateway drug to metal music as it’s such a different concept to most heavy metal bands and this inventive thing is easier for fans to get into.”
Despite being heavily involved in a metal band, Brandon isn’t actually a huge fan of the style of music but still loves watching the group play.
He relates to a lot of their fans saying: “A lot of our crowds probably came from a sh**** job that day just like John from sales and it’s an incredible release, it’s just cathartic.”
Their fans range from six-year-old kids to 50-year-old men and women and the band recognises this as “the coolest thing” about their job.
Dave went on to say: “The music brings unexpected crowds together from people in all walks of life.
“Anything Nekrogoblikon or John related is just a very warm positive relationship, it feels like a little goblin army as its all positive and together – that’s what I’m most proud of.
“In a world full of trolls we need more goblins.”
Going forwards Dave, Brandon, Alex and the rest of the band have some very ambitious goals.
For Alex and Nekrogoblikon it’s all about making more music and keeping the fun involved in everything they do.
But Dave and Brandon have much bigger plans for John than just sticking to music.
The hopeful pair said: “We’ve always seen John as a character that can mould and grow as times change.
“Our long term plan could potentially be to make him president one day.”
But for now, John the goblin remains a life insurance salesman who spends his spare time playing in front of thousands and bringing in hordes of fans as he screams his lungs out.
Nekrogoblikon plans on continuing to disrupt the music and comedy industry one wacky stunt at a time.
Instagram @therealjohngoblikonJohn has no plans to quit his 9-5 day job despite the bands rising popularity[/caption]
NekrogoblikonComedian and actor Reggie Watts with John and Brandon[/caption]
NekrogoblikonJohn has become so loved in Hollywood that he now has his own podcast with guests like Blake Anderson, pictured, Bobby Lee and Amanda Cerny[/caption]
NekrogoblikonNekrogoblikon opened up for Limp Bizkit front man Wes Borland, pictured, on tour[/caption]
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