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/

Interview with Fake Fictions

When first heard, the name of Chicago Band, "The Fake Fictions," may seem to be just another cleverly redundant, hipster "in joke," though actually with their throaty base-lines and punky chord progressions they are exploring "issues of authenticity and falseness" in guitarist Nick Ammerman's words. Evident in their poetry, The Fake Fictions are seeking answers. Like any bunch of twenty-somethings in this day and age they ponder ways to self-fulfillment, the ramifications of American Capitalism, and the effects of drinking the office coffee.

Though their most recent, full length album "Krakatoa" was meant to mimic their live experience more closely than previous efforts, I was happy to hear a much fuller sound at the Empty Bottle last evening than the production of Krakatoa gives them credit for. Sarah Ammerman's bass skills made the show with drummer Ben Bilow and guitarist Nick complementing her to make music that sounded like the marriage of Pony Up! and Green Day.

As far as small venue shows go, this was not the rowdiest I've been to, but the raw complexity of The Fake Fictions performance had my toe tapping and head bobbing. They have definitely filled a gap in the illusive "Chicago Sound" with their true, power-pop quality.

Fortunately, I had a chance to do some emailing with Nick and Sarah, the husband and wife front people of The Fake Fictions, to get their take on the Chicago scene, Craigslist, and the coming holiday season:

The Deli: So, what spurred you and Sarah to move to Chicago from the East Coast? How do you find the Mid-west?

NICK: Uh well we were living in Richmond, Va., which is cheap and pretty and kind of culturally stagnant, unless you really really love hardcore music. And we realized we were young and free and didn't have anything keeping us there so we visited some cities to check them out and obviously Chicago was the best so we moved here.

I am a big fan of the Midwest. The countryside is verdant and the cities always have cool old industrial areas with giant brick warehouses and grown-over train tracks. The people seem very comfortable in their bodies.

SARAH: It's friendly, and the streets are paved with cheese.

TD:You found Ben under a rock says your website, other sources cite craigslist as the source of your percussionist. What is the best thing, other than your drummer that you have found on the list of Craig?

SARAH: Nick, didn't you find your guitar there?

NICK: No, I bought my guitar at a real store.

TD: The Fake Fictions have become quite successful on the Chicago scene despite the rather major set-back of your practice space catching on fire, the infamous impetus for Krakatoa. What do you attribute the success of The Fake Fictions to as opposed to previous bands you've been involved in? Is there anything specific to the Chicago scene that makes it easier to be a band on the rise?

NICK: Defining musical success by how many people come to your shows or how many CDs you sell seems like a recipe for a painful ulcer, crippling self-doubt, and eventual suicide. So the Fake Fictions are as successful as every band I've every been in, because I define success as writing interesting songs, playing interesting shows, meeting interesting people, and having fun. Of course, I have only managed to develop this positive attitude as psychological protection from years of playing shows to ten people and having closets full of unsold albums.

SARAH: I like to think of all these bands as creative projects, and in that sense they were all successful, but I guess this time around we have more time on our hands. No one is going away any time soon. We have fun, we're flexible, and there's always a place to play.

TD: Not going to lie, the thing that originally drew me to The Fake Fictions was the name of the band. It called to my literary geek-dom. I find that some bands use their name as a sort of mission statement, a way to sum up what they are all about creatively in a word or a phrase. Is there any such meaning behind The Fake Fictions? How did you decide on it? Any other names you tried on that you are willing to divulge?

NICK: The band name was chosen through a stringent vetting policy similar to that used for high-powered political appointees. We were trying to project an image of extreme intelligence and corresponding pompousness. Uh also we like books. Interestingly a lot of our songs are about issues of authenticity and falseness; it's a pervasive topic in our oeuvre.

The only name I remember that was rejected was the Glittering Prizes, after a Television Personalities song, and the reason I remember it is that it was my idea and I was pushing for it really hard and I'm still bitter about it being rejected by the other band members.

TD: The band's sound has definitely evolved over the past four years, moving from a slightly more saccharine pop to something more gritty but undoubtedly catchy on Krakatoa. Assuming that you will be safe from any pyrotechnics in the coming years what creative direction do you see the band heading in? What interests you about music and being a musician in 2008 and beyond?

NICK: This is a timely question, as we have just finished recording an EP of our more recent songs with our pal Max Brooks, which we plan to put online for free, hopefully before the end of the year. What this means is that we are at a convenient point to reassess where we are and what we would like to accomplish in the coming fiscal periods. It's a time of reflection. From my personal standpoint, I would like to further develop and exhibit my fiery and innovative guitar playing. So look for less "chords" and more "riffs." I would also like our songwriting to make people more uncomfortable.

SARAH: I think we'll always be musicians in one way or another, but it's definitely an exciting time right now, in our own lives and in the world around us.

TD:What is your favorite venue to play in Chicago?

NICK: We like playing quasilegal art spaces, galleries, tiny bars with no stage and a cheap PA ... basically any venue that does not employ a sound guy or require sound checks. We like to keep things informal and interesting. If you own a garage, an authentic diner, an independent shoe store, or a houseboat and you want to host a rock show, please get in touch.

TD: What is your favorite venue to see a concert at in Chicago?

SARAH: Empty Bottle.

TD: What is your favorite Thanksgiving dinner side dish?

SARAH: Sweet potato casserole.

NICK: Cranberry sauce, but only the kind that you get out of the can that retains the shape of the can. Not the kind with "cranberries" in it.

TD:How do you feel about people who already have their Christmas decorations up on November 19th?

NICK: Ambivalent.

SARAH: It's super.

(published 11/21/08 @ www.thedelimagazine.com/chicago)