“The problem with an original band is you have to describe it,” says Pete Kohl, a.k.a. Mo’Royce Peterson of the tribute band Tragedy. “What we do is easy to explain – we do heavy metal versions of Bee Gees songs. We say that and people want to hear it.”

Since its inception in August of 2007, Tragedy has become a staple of New York’s burgeoning, somewhat offbeat tribute band scene (see our gallery to the right or here). This weekend, the group will headline B.B. Kings with a number of other similar-minded acts. We spoke with Kohl about his group’s conceptual genius and self-described “decimating” live show.

How does one combine heavy metal and the Bee Gees?
It’s easy: We love disco, and we love metal. On the surface, they’re polar opposites, sort of like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, I guess. But it works, and it’s fun to go against the grain.

How did you get so popular so quickly? You’re headlining an 1100 capacity venue.
We’re fucking awesome, that’s the main thing. As we like to say, we rock sweet balls and do no wrong.

What’s with the popularity of tribute bands now?
Our success doesn’t really come from the tribute band scene. We play with some, like this weekend, but we play with some non-tribute bands as well; we’ve played with jam bands like Umphrey’s McGee and punk bands like Murphy’s Law. This isn’t a standard tribute—I mean, it’s songs people know, and that does help—but it’s a concept turned on its head.

Who’s your fanbase?
It varies. See, I think almost everyone like the Bee Gees, and almost everyone loves heavy metal, either genuinely or an ironic way. Admittedly, we don’t get many hardcore Bee Gees fans, but they have a universal appeal.

What’s your stage show like?
It’s mayhem. We have the three brothers up front, singing, playing cowbells, wearing tight white satin. And we have our beautiful back-up singers: Women’s Gibb, Angelpussy, Olivia Newton-Chong and Linda Gibb. Oh, and we have an intern/towel boy named Lance. He’s kind of an idiot.

Have the Bee Gees ever contacted you?
Not directly. We’ve been contacted by some fansites on MySpace, but nothing directly from the brothers Gibb.

Is anyone else doing what you’re doing?
We played with Beatallica; they’re more of a mash-up band, combining the Beatles with Metallica. Some of the straight-up tributes, like Appetitie for Destruction and Mr. Brownstone – yeah, two different Guns N Roses tributes – have been great. We played with Mini-Kiss, too, the midget Kiss cover band.

Is there anything you won’t play?
Actually, some real Bee Gees fans will come up and ask us for some more obscure songs, like from the 60s. But we’re only doing their best known stuff, their disco stuff from the 70s, and a couple of the songs they wrote for Andy Gibb and Barbra Streisand.

Do you have a favorite Bee Gees song to play?
They’re all so good! We like “You Should Be Dancing”…but we take some liberties with that. It turns into a Satanic ritual on stage.

Have you ever offended anyone?
Not Bee Gees fans. But some metal fans will; for some reason, they occasionally call us “faggots." But we tell them, through the power of Christ, we've left that lifestyle behind...like, weeks ago.

Tragedy plays BB Kings this Saturday and the Canal Room on April 19.