Monday 28 April 2014

The Coolness Q&A

Band Name:
The Coolness.

Where are you from?
We are based in Bethnal Green, London, but originally all from a small island called Portsmouth just off the south coast of England.

How would you describe yourself?
Curly haired geeks. 100% Rock n Roll (but using Apple Macs and Casio keyboards). We make catchy songs people can get naughty to.

Who are your main influences musically?
We vaguely remember listening to Brit Pop and Rave music when were very young. As well as 90s music we also love cheesy 80s hairspray rock and electropop. Being a child of 90s and watching TV shows like The Beatles anthology means we also love 60s psychedelia. We believe we have an original genre defying sound. Maybe it’s down to our idealism of the ‘cool’ aesthetic but we cannot recall any specific artist. Obviously writing music using GarageBand and Logic means we love many electronic and modern pop production techniques.

What do you hope to achieve in music?
Well, if we were actually in music - which isn’t actually a physical entity - then we would hope to have some kind of ghost erection.
We don’t aim to disappoint. To be honest we already feel we are achieving a great deal considering the fact that we are 100% independent and artistically free. We would like to take some of this success, the crazy ideas it spawns and take it to other continents as we have never played on Asian or South American soil. We have already written around 50 songs as the Coolness and hope to release these properly one day, once we can afford the right person to mix and master the songs and do them justice.
Apply here, LOL!

What have been the highlight of your career so far?
We discovered the singer Charli XCX on Myspace and she played her first 10 shows with us. She’s gone on to do well and could potentially do something incredible. We get more joy out of doing things for others than ourselves. Loads of other bands have supported us and gone on to greater things too, acts like Fat White Family, Is Tropical and Crystal Fighters to name a few. We like to think that because we have a unique sound and theatrical performance that it influences and inspires all of those around us.

What what’s the moment you want to forget?
Getting arrested and wrestled to the floor by security in Tesco, Milton Keynes, for grazing on 50p pasties. We had just played a show at The Crawford Arms and were extremely hung over. Until 2012 The Coolness used to be a four piece band and have a bass player. Very recently this person in an act of selfishness decided to delete our entire Youtube channel (well 40 videos and hundreds of thousands of views). Obviously we want to play at festivals this summer and most promoters religiously look at Youtube so it’s a bit annoying. I guess these things happen if you surround yourself with people with a self-fulfilling mentality, so we only have ourselves to blame.

If you had to pick just one your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why?
We would pick our song ‘Pieces’. It’s a bitter sweet and heartfelt disco ballad, very fast (140bpm+) and has a distinct 8 beat keyboard signature refrain, many backing vocals and loud rock guitar. ‘Pieces’ lyrics are about being consumed by a deep long depression and dealing with the struggles it brings. We’d like to think this song will inspire anybody feeling down. Not many bands can write disco ballads but we feel it’s our speciality and these types of songs last the test of time.

Where can we listen to it?
We recorded this demo in a few hours using the built in Mac mic and a midi pad virtual drumkit but you get the picture…



Where can we find out more about your music?

Is there anything else you'd like to add that I forgot to ask?
We would like to add that if anyone is reading this and is doing or considering music or art as a way of life then we would like to tell them that it’s never going to be easy and therefore not to give up. Go on the dole, sleep on friends' floors and eat beans if you have to. It could take years or decades before you get any kind of recognition at all. The important thing is to never give up, concentrate on your art as being an idea above anything and to sell this idea or message in the most interesting and true way possible.

1 comment:

  1. holly Molly my rock n roll balls are on fire!

    ReplyDelete