http://sassafraschic.blogspot.com/2009/09/prabal-gurung-ss-10.html
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Cobalt and the Hired Guns
| Colbalt and The Hired Guns  |
| The Deli's Erin Keane sits down Colbalt and the Hired Guns When asked what the over-arching metaphor or philosophy of their band is,Cobalt and Hired Guns will respond resoundingly "Love and Fun!" And when you watch them live this becomes apparent. Jumping around on stage to a punchy bass drum guitarists Tom Fort and Matt Hart sing their infectious, roots infused pop songs with half-moon smiles on their faces. Formed at Oberlin College in Ohio, Cobalt is made up of the previously mentioned Fort and Hart, as well as Jesse Alexander on drums and Mike Roth on Bass. The band has been rocking for 6 years, joining us in Chicago by virtue of Fort and Hart's hometown connections. 2009 saw the release of their 4th E.P. Double Single to a sold out crowd at Schubas in the end of May. Double Single was the perfect way to kick off a Chicago summer. You Left Your Sweater is a boot stomping anthem about the transitory nature of summer love and Of Chicago is a Jason Mraz meets Dashboard Confessionals anthem. The addition Alexander's sweet vocals on Of Chicago is delightful and fills the track with the sort of tension that tugs at your heart strings. Last Wednesday at Schubas Cobalt played alongside Robot Lounge and Welcome to Ashley. Their much touted live show was a little less fun than expected as we saw the band playing with a darker, harder, and slightly more serious side, trying out new material that has yet to be nurtured to fit in with the established aesthetic of their oeuvre. Also, a loss of momentum between songs for adjustments or chatter made it difficult to really get down and rock. Perfect for the Midwestern set, Cobalt and the Hired Guns sound like a mix of John Mayer and Jason Mraz with a touch of ska and a hint of Wilco. They are a bunch of down to earth guys who just want to make you dance to songs that remind you of that time in college when you ran down to the lake on a hot night and jumped in with your clothes on. The Deli Chicago had a chance to sit down with Cobalt before the show on Wednesday to talk about the beginning of the band, formation of the Chicago Roots Collective, and to ask, Who are the Hired Guns? The Deli: How did Cobalt and the Hired Guns come to be? Mike Roth: We all went to Oberlin. I guess Tom and Matt knew each other from Unitarian stuff before they went to college and they were doing this acoustic duo type of deal. Tom and I lived across the hall freshman year and we both knew that we both played music. Tom Fort: So basically Matt and I met Mike and got to know him really well over the course of that first year and became good friends with him. At the end of the year he turned to me and said, "Hey if I buy a bass and learn to play it over the course of the summer, do you think I can join you guys?" And I was like yeah, but you have to really learn how to play it, and low and behold he showed up in the fall with a bass and an amp and had been taking lessons. So Mike joined the beginning of our Sophomore year and then we started to throw the word out for a drummer. Matt Hart: I got an email from Jesse right before we put our posters up around campus. We put up posters that featured Animal from the Muppet Show and when we finally ended up checking Jesse out, we went to his high school band's website and instead of a bio picture of him, it was a bio picture of Animal. TD: It was fate. MH: Yeah, and then a drum kit magically appeared in the shitty practice space we used on campus that hadn't been there when we tried out other drummers. It was amazing. That was all 6 years ago. TD: Wow, you guys have already been together that long? What about the name? Have you been Cobalt and the Hired Guns since the inception? Jesse Alexander: We were Cobalt for all of college and when we came here and put out Jump the Fence, our record from last year, we started to step it up a little bit and add some more flavor and the Hired Guns joined us for that record. And to maybe anticipate your next question, or rather to elaborate on that, while we were making the record we were largely about having our friends come in the studio and play horns, piano, organ, cello, and working with our producer. It was very much a group creative process. It was just a really magical, collective experience. So that's what the hired guns are all about. TD: What bands have you been hanging around with or sharing bills with? Who are the Hired Guns? MH: That's actually a good lead in to tell you about a project we're working on right now that's pretty exciting. It's a project called the Chicago Roots Collective that just started, and what it is is a group of 10 bands that are inspired by Americana and Roots music. We're very much the upbeat sort of punk infused version of that. There are some that are more on the folk side of that, some that are more on the blues side of that, but it grew out of the Chicago Bluegrass and Blues festival that we were a part of last year. It's this cool thing that we're trying to do using the Model of the Chicago Noise Machine that went on this summer. A collective of bands that can pool resources and bring fans together with other music that they're gonna love. TD: Getting that grass roots following built up? MH: Exactly, and the community. That's the really cool part about it. We're going to have a big debut show at the Cubby Bear on September 19th. It's 10 bands for 10 dollars, Saturday night. That should be really awesome. TD: Things are starting to blow up, that's exciting! So, would you guys say you have an over arching musical, performance, band philosophy you are working with? TF: Love and fun. We love each other, we love what we're doing, we love the people that come to the shows. We love playing the venues. MH: I mean, you'll see, like when we play, it's all about having a great time and not pretending that we're not. We're doing exactly what we want to be doing. So we try to share that. Catch Cobalt and the Hired Guns at the end of their Midwest Tour and in Chicago next for the Chicago Roots Collective Festival at theCubby Bear on September 19th. http://www.thedelimagazine.com/chicago/artists/colbalt/ |
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