ROCK IN DETROIT’S

DECEMBER 2025

BAND OF THE MONTH:

 

NUKE AND THE NIGHTSHIFT

 

They are not only as enduring a nuclear waste and catchy as a radioactive virus.  They are also one of the busiest and most sought after bands in the region.  Fronting The Toxic Offenders, the Hellriders, and now The Nightshift, a man named “Nuke” spoke to to Rock in Detroit about what keeps his core glowing.

ROCK IN DETROIT: Although the moniker “Nuke” fits you like a glove, one suspects that your parents chose a more pedestrian handle for their son.  How did you come to be Nuke?  Were you a Nuke before the Night Shift arrived?

NUKE: My parents named me Ralph after my grandfather due to the fact that he was so emotionally happy at the time of my birth. I was best buddies with him, and he ended up becoming a father figure in my life. Grandpa Ralph passed away in 2016 at the age of eighty-eight. I was at his bedside. I believe I came up with Nuke in the 80s due to a love for the Troma movies Class of Nuke’em High and Toxic Avengers. I knew I was gonna be Nuke when I started the band Nuke and the Toxic Offenders in the 90’s.

ROCK IN DETROIT: For readers who are curious, here’s a link to the 1995 song “Toxic Avenger” by the Dickies, complete with scenes from the movie. Would you say that this captures where you were in the mid-90s? Were the members of the Toxic Offenders at all uncomfortable with the name?

NUKE: For sure! I believe the members of Nuke and the Toxic Offenders were pretty aligned with the name. We were all about cheesy TV violence, skateboards, cheap fast food and getting kicked out of the Ren Cen at 3 AM for loitering.

ROCK IN DETROIT: Tell us about the Nightshift.  Who are they and how did they come together?

NUKE: The Nightshift members are three talented brothers. Corey Morrish/bass, Braden Morrish/guitar and Scotty Morrish/drums. In 2003, my band at the time–Nuke and the Livingdead heard of a rural punk scene going on in Oscoda, Michigan. We were invited to perform there, and since Nuke and the Livingdead would play just about anywhere, we took the gig. All ages! It was great! We played in a church gymnasium, and our show was ultimately the last show allowed there. [Laughing] The Morrish brothers, although very young at the time–ages 10, 12 and 15, I believe–took inspiration from our performance and actually started a band together the very next day. They called themselves The Yulgits.

ROCK IN DETROIT: So you inspired them.  Did you ever consider Nuke and the Yulgits?

NUKE: The Yulgits did call me on stage one show to sing a song with them and they labeled it “Nuke and the Yulgits” on Youtube. I think that’s as far as that name went.

ROCK IN DETROIT: Fortunately, the internet never forgets.  Here’s the clip of Nuke and the Yugits!

You’re obviously the frontman for the band.  Is Nuke and the Nightshift a democracy?  Who does the song writing?

NUKE: Our roster consists of songs from the past Nuke bands–Nuke and the Toxic Offenders, Nuke and the Livingdead, the Nuke and the Hellriders–and of course originals from Nuke and the Nightshift. The process is that I write the melodies on a bass or guitar and then add lyrics, or sometimes lyrics come first and then the music. I take this simple recipe and give it to the brothers. I encourage them to add and fill in whatever they like. They really do a great job juicing and spicing the songs up! I have utmost faith in their decisions.

ROCK IN DETROIT: You guys perform on lighted “Night” and “Shift” platforms.  What’s the idea behind that and where did you get it from?

NUKE: The Bang Boxes are a Nightshift idea to get the logo/name out there in a more theatrical way rather than using the classic backdrop. The guys designed and customized them with some help from a customer of theirs. Two of the members are electricians.

ROCK IN DETROIT: The boxes are unique! Ever have any problems with them in a show?

NUKE: those things are tough! They double as grind boxes for skateboarding. The Led lights are also hooked up to Brady’s phone so he can control the different color schemes.

ROCK IN DETROIT: You’re a hard working band.  About how many shows would you say you’ve done in the past twelve months?

NUKE: 2024 ended with around 78 gigs. 2025 is going to come in much less due to my canceling some shows and booking less. I unfortunately am dealing with a health issue, but I am hopeful that I can get it squared away in the future.

ROCK IN DETROIT: Seventy-eight, wow! That’s more gigs than many bands will play in the course of their careers. How do you manage to squeeze in so many shows?  Are they mostly weekend gigs?

NUKE: Most of our shows are weekends with the exception of a few Thursdays and Sundays revolving around mini tours. Scotty books as well as puts on a lot of shows! I will book certain shows if I know the promoter from back in the day. Sometimes the internet is not always the most effective way. Every now and then you gotta just pick up the phone and call the venue.

ROCK IN DETROIT: Relatedly, you play more venues in different parts of Michigan than the average “Detroit rock band.”  A lot of bands would probably like to extend the scope of their performing area.  Could you tell us how you did it?

NUKE: We reach out and network with as many areas as we can reach. We all work Monday-to-Friday, so we travel and play as far as we can go in time to get back. Vacations are usually on the road to a more distant venue such as headlining Skatopia Bowl Bash in Meigs County, Ohio last summer. We’re 100% independent so its very hard. We ask for nothing from the almost nonexistent music industry. We don’t believe in Go Fund Me either. We work and pay our own way. Merch sales buy gas and more merch. We love to perform live, it’s in the blood.

ROCK IN DETROIT: If you played 78 shows in 2024, how many venues do you think you played?  How many different cities?  How can you draw an audience in so many places?

NUKE: We do hit a lot of those places 2 times a year. Cities like Grand Rapids, Detroit, Oscoda, Indianapolis and any town in between. North/south, its hard to keep track of. A band is never guaranteed a big crowd but if you give the audience something to look at and be entertained by then they will come back for you!

ROCK IN DETROIT: I take it you guys are not in it for the money.  But when you play that many shows, does the fun/excitement level drop?

NUKE: the money just recycles itself. Merch is a great way to keep things rolling! In the beginning we would do a lot of all night shows to raise the cash we needed to get started. 4 sets of full force originals in one night! I would change cloths 3 times on those nights. The excitement never fades. If i won the lottery, we would be out there playing much farther away.

ROCK IN DETROIT: Cold Hearted Rock and Roll is your follow-up album to Clockin’ In.  How would you compare the two? Would you say The Misfits were an influence? Anyone else?

NUKE: For Cold Hearted we wanted to expand a bit from the pure punk Clockin’ In album. We wanted to show that we could express ourselves through blues, punk, metal and rock’n’roll. The members influences are so varied: rap, metal, punk, classical, hard-core, reggae, rockabilly. I myself love Richard Hell and the Voidoids, Thunders, Iggy, Cramps Circle Jerks, Fear, Hank Williams Sr, George Jones, Roky Erickson and the Doors to name a few. I’m big on 50s rockabilly too!

ROCK IN DETROIT: Could you pick out a representative track for the uninitiated to listen to to get a sense of the energy and power of Nuke and the Night Shift?

NUKE: I think I’ll go with “Sadistic” since it’s on the last album, and I think it’s a good representation of a lot of what we do.

 

ROCK IN DETROIT: Some of your song lyrics refer to hell, zombies, devils and ghouls.  Would you consider yourselves Satan-worshipers?

NUKE: No, I do believe that Satan exists, but I worship the god who I believe created all matter and energy, the god, his angels, the mother Mary and Jesus. The band at this point has never really sat down and discussed any personal beliefs together, but I’m sure we’re gonna know each other for a long time, so maybe one day.

ROCK IN DETROIT: Do you feel your songs reflect your personal views on life and religion?

NUKE: I put a lot of my personal emotions in the songs, and I frame them in a metaphorical way and try to add an element of entertainment as well.

ROCK IN DETROIT: You took a hiatus a couple of years back if I’m not mistaken.  Could you tell us about that?

NUKE: You may be talking about 2016 when I recorded the 4th and last album for Nuke and the Hellriders. I finished that album and then moved out of the city to northern Michigan. I exiled myself. [Laughing] Four years later I received a message from Scott Morrish whom I hadn’t seen in thrrteen years. Scotty indicated that the three brothers were playing music together again and they sent me a video of them playing an old song of mine, “Brew Crew.”  I went out to visit and jam with them in Oscoda, and we all decided that night that we were going to start a band no matter the travel distance between us. It was an exciting unexpected new chapter in music for me.

ROCK IN DETROIT: That’s a great story. But what led to the “exile”? Were you intentionally exiling yourself from music or what that just an unintended side-effect?

NUKE: Seventeen years of the Detroit factory life and the last few years down there taking care of my grandfather before he passed away had left me completely drained! After he passed away, I decided I had to leave. I wanted/needed a change of pace and I needed quiet time for myself and my family. I had no idea where I would work or what I would do. I just sold everything and left. I’m glad I did because it all worked out.

ROCK IN DETROIT: Based on your extensive, packed performing schedule, it seems things really did work out and you’ve gone about as far as a “local” act can go.  What’s next for Nuke and the Night Shift?

NUKE: I would say you are correct on that! To continue or to progress we are going to have to sit down as a band and make a plan for the future. Otherwise this will just become a recycling of the same shows/mini tours. Maybe that’s as far as it goes? Only time will tell.