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Thursday, January 26th
Mandi Perkins
Jon McLaughlin (2008 interview)
Jacks's Mannequin
Shwayze
The Color Fred
Tyler Hilton (2008 interview)
Treaty of Paris (2008 interview)
HelenaMaria
Jason Reeves
Joey Page
Nathan Morris
Dave Pittenger
Cobra Starship
An exclusive interview with Musiqtone
Fall Out Boy. Gym Class Heroes. The Academy Is. All three have found mainstream stardom on Fueled By Ramen. Could we add Cobra Starship to that list? Time will tell. And being on a tour with fellow labelmate The Academy Is alongside with Armor For Sleep and The Rocket Summer certainly helps.
Kim: Could you please introduce yourselves and what role you play in the band
Ryland: Sure. My name's Ryland and I play guitar.
Alex: My name's Alex and I play bass guitar.
K: Could you give us a brief history on the band?
R: Well the band started as a project of Gabe's that was called Cobra Starship in the beginning and then he had a bunch of demos he let us hear. We looked into it but we weren't able to join at that current time but then about four of five months later we got together again, he had written more stuff, and we joined the band.
A: We have Nate who we met on tour with Armor For Sleep and then we found Victoria on Myspace.
R: We've been together a little over a year.
K: Where did you get the name 'Cobra Starship'?
R: It came from two jackets that Gabe owned. One said "Cobra" on the back and the other said 'Starship Disco' so he just put two cool things together.
K: Describe your sound for those who have never heard it before.
A: That was it that was the answer.
R: Ya, you can't explain it.
A: No, we did explain it. What would you say our music is like?
K: Ummm, well a friend did ask what kind of music you played and I said you were a little bit of everything.
A: Well there you go, we're a little bit of everything. We're like the melting pot of music.
K: What do you think separates you from other bands?
A: We have a bigger tone influence.
R: We're much taller then most bands. I'm 6"5' almost 6"6'. Alex is 6"3' or 6"4', Gabe is 6"4', Victoria is 7"3'.
A: She used to play basketball for a living.
R: And Nate is, well I don't really know. But we're all really tall.
A: Nate's really cute, so ya.
K: So do have like and average height?
A: Six foot requirement to be in the band.
K: Aw, really?
A: Well we can put you heels for that, we won't have to tell anybody.
K: Your latest album "Viva la Cobra" was just recently released in October, how do you feel this album is different from your first?
R: I don't think we necessarily had more time to do it because both records were put under pretty strict deadlines. The fact that all of us were involved might make it sound a little more like a real band, the full thing you know. The first album is great, you know. Gabe was pressed for time and he just had to get these songs done. Like everybody says when they hear it they wish they could go back and fix stuff but I think that this sounds complete and it sounds full.
A: I conquer.
K: Patrick Stump produced Viva la Cobra, how was it working with him?
A: Really awesome. He's a really great guy, he's really talented. He's kinda like a mad scientist. We were just transferring songs back and forth when we were on tour with them and he would just come up with crazy ideas on the spot and just made it kinda happen.
K: He sang on Guilty Pleasure, right?
A: He sang on the whole record. Ya, he's all over the record.
K: Ya, I read that he sang in the last chorus of Guilty Pleasure and I went back and listened to it and you can definitely hear him.
A: Ya he's like, "Wooohoohoohoooo". He did that all in one take too! He was just like, "Yo guys I'm just gunna riff on this for a minute. I just wanna throw something in there." That was like one of his favorite songs that we did. He went in and did it in one take, and it's the take that's on the record.
K: This past summer you toured Australia and Singapore.
R: and Belgium, Germany, France, Tokyo….
K: How was that?
A: We were with The Academy Is. We had a great time. We got to go to new countries; we were basically circumnavigating the entire globe, almost. It was unbelievable.
K: Do you have any goals for this tour specifically?
A: To have fun I guess.
R: This tour in kinda like, our new CD just came out and we couldn't be happier. We want people to hear the new songs and we want people to be interested in the new record because we've been touring straight for a year, you k now? So a lot of these kids have seen us before and we just want to give them new stuff, meet new people.
K: Do you have any pre-show rituals to get pumped up or anything?
R: Two that I can think of. One Vodka, and the other one is we all gather around in a circle and put our hands in and we go "One, two, three, COBRAS!". It's good to have something.
A: And it's funny that that's our thing. Probably because it's a real athletic thing to do but none of us were ever involved in any sports.
R: Ya, we get winded just doing that.
K: Who are your musical influences?
A: We all kinda take from different parts
R: Well for the record? That's easier to say. We really liked Queen, Weezer and Ratatat…Funkadelic.
K: If you could collaborate with anyone on the next album who would it be and why?
A: Michael Jackson OR Justin Timberlake. Then there could always be someone like Jay-Z or Kanye. Kanye is pretty awesome. Maybe not necessarily for the beats but something would be amazing. It would always be cool to work with Fall Out Boy again, VIP we've collaborated with. We're pretty stoked with everyone we've been able to work with. I don't know about the next album though, we gotta start thinking about that.
R: Ya, we should.
K: What's you're opinion on the music industry today?
A: It's crazy. It's insane.
R:I think we are potentially at the weirdest place, musically, in a long time
A:I think really for bands now there is no other option but to tour. Everybody is like "Oh the record industry is turning over, no one is going to buy CDs anymore with modern technology. Just tour like crazy, and that's it. Back in the day it was really difficult [to tour] for bands but now new tours are coming out all the time. The market was getting flooded with CDs but now nobody cares about CDs so now the market is being flooded with tours. Whatever, it's the game, you know?
K: What's your opinion on Myspace and its contribution towards the music industry?
R: Massive.
A: Ya, a lot of bands wouldn't be where they are if it weren't for Youtube or Myspace or Purevolume. You can't deny it. I feel like you can't really go anywhere without a Myspace. Even like a while ago when Napster was free, or illegal, that would help out a ton of bands.
K: That kinda leads into my next question, how do you feel about downloading?
A: Oh, we totally support downloading. No one buys records anymore. We'd rather have someone know all our songs, come to a show and buy a hoodie or something and like us enough to want to buy something we sell.
R: Ya, I'll like go to his house and hook up my external hard drive and take like seven albums I didn't have before. I mean, we do it why shouldn't you?
A: We'd rather have people know our songs then worry about record sales and have them come out and see us on tour.
R: And know all the words because they downloaded it and be into it.
A: And them wanting to download it, I mean that's pretty sweet too. It's like them going out and buying it. Being like, "Hey I need to go download the new Cobra record" and then maybe they'll feel guilty which is really nice but it's the fact that they still want it.
R: We have a pull out poster though which everybody is gunna want to get their hands on which only comes with the CD.
K: Do you have any big projects coming up after this tour?
A: Um ya, we're going to do a headliner.
R: Mid January through mid March, it's gunna be a big one. We're very excited. It's our first time headlining a tour.
K: Who is going on tour with you?
A: I heard a couple rumors about The Cab.
K: They're on Fueled by Ramen, right?
A: Ya, their on Fueled by Ramen. They're like a new band. It's all relatively new bands so we're trying to come up with a clever name for the tour like 'New Kids on the Block Tour' cause it's all like new bands. I don't know if we're going to do that or not though.
K: What are your goals both short term and long term?
R: Um, our goal short term is going to be to have a good time tonight. Long term….
A: Try and have a good time for a long time.
R: Ya, there ya go.
Kim Kaminske is a staff writer with Musiqtone. You can reach her at kimkaminske@musiqtone.com.
(C) 2007 Musiqtone. All Rights Reserved. Any part of this interview cannot be used without written express consent from both the representatives of The Academy Is and Musiqtone.
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