CHATTING WITH

I spoke to singer of Neon Cobra on a little site called CHATROULETTE, I know, crazy, right?

He mentioned he was in a band who played "sexy sexy rock n' roll", so obviously I was immediately drawn in. Being the super forward person that I am I harassed him until he let me interview him and his band (I also made a deal to tell him who are mutual friend was, after he gave me a link to the band's Facebook, as long as he let me and the mysterious person in to every one of their shows...for free, what can I say? I enjoy free). Here's how it went down:

"Partner: WHat publication are you interviewing for? GQ?

You: My blog, like every other teenage girl

Partner: how nice!

You: You wait, one day I might be writing for some fancy shit

Partner: I hope you do!

Partner: I know exactly what it's like to start from the bottom and scratch and claw and have goals and try really really hard to make progress, you know? So...I am cheering for you.\

You: Thank you haha, it's a tough business..music, well I guess for you it's hard artistically?

You: Or whatever

Partner: I think it's fun as shit.

You: that's refreshing

Partner: I've been doing it since I was 15, I'm 26 now, I've made pretty much $0 dollars doing it, after expenses and all that, butttttt....it never stopped being fun.

Partner: Which is a generic thing to say.

Partner: but whatever.

Partner: it's a blast.

Partner: I get to act like a fucking idiot with a microphone.

Partner: BUT ANYWAY!

Partner: If you tell me, YOU get to come to any of MY shows, for free.

Partner: We play really ballsy, sexy, rock n roll that will make you want to dance!" IT'S TRUE

ANWAY, below is my interview with the boys..enjoy. 

Photo by: Christine Houston

Well first, tell me a little about your band...(sound, members, how you came together, favorite Beatle member, etc.)

Thunder: We are Neon Cobra! We consist of Jason “Bad News” Plummer on guitar, Andy “Hammerpants” Hogan on Bass, Nick “Tickles” Payne on Drums, and me, Jason “Thunder” Walters on vocals.

Hammerpants: We sound like rock n’ roll punching you from inside your twat.

Tickles:  We came together thanks to the wonderful world of craigslist. I was on break at work and looking for a band to play with and entered "alkaline trio" into the search bar and up came an ad for a band looking for a drummer. I emailed them and practiced with them within less than 24 hours. That was Jason and Andy's band from Wisconsin. I remember thinking Andy was a dick and that Jason was cool but figured we'd never talk again. We became friends on facebook and when the guitarist Plum and I were looking for a singer Jason auditioned. Then our first bassist was too busy casting extras for Back to the Future 5 to play a show and Andy joined the band!

Bad News: I like snakes and my favorite Beatle would be Eric Clapton. 

Do you guys think Austin is the place to be? Would you ever consider relocating to reach out to more people (or for any other reason)?

H:  I'm not sure if we'd relocate, but we are absolutely looking to play

more out of town shows.

T:  Austin is the place to be but it's also a struggle to establish yourself as a band in this city. Any night of the week you're competing with 20+ shows going on. If I was to choose a place for us to relocate too it would for sure be Japan.

BN: Austin rules but you definitely need to get out of it too. If I could relocate it would be Japan or Australia, because they have lots of snakes.

T: I agree with everything they just said.

Have you guys played your worst show yet?

H: We played a motorcycle art show in front of approximately zero people and the sound guy called us a bag of dicks, that wasn’t the most fun show we’ve had.

T: Our first show was our worst show.

BN: We've had a few bad ones but I can always play shittier next time so I could make the next one worse if you want.

T: I’m perfect, so personally, every show has been my best. 

I'm completely obsessed with how you guys describe your band, you say you're unapologetic, and I believe it but  is there anything you regret musically?

T:  I regret leaving my cymbals on the roof of the van after a show once, but besides that i don't regret anything!

BN: We’re unapologetic so we don't regret anything that I know of.

H: I regret Corpus Christi.

T: I regret letting Hammerpants join the band. 

So far, what song(s) are you most proud of and why?

BN: All of them, but in general Sexual Wolves definitely stands out. Or Live Rad Die Radder because of its energy and message.

T:  The song I am most proud of is Live Rad Die Radder. First off, that song fuckin' rips! Also that song is a damn mantra! Plus that song fuckin' rips!

H: The song that rips!

T: From a creative stand point, Sexual Wolves is a masterpiece, it also turns out that that song fucking rips.

What do you guys think is the most annoying or frustrating thing on the business side of having a band?

T: I think we can all agree that underachieving clubs, lazy bands, and all around laziness in the music scene is the most frustrating thing.  It seems so simple, but if we all just worked together, we’d all get a lot more done. 

Dream city to play?

H: Manitowoc, WI

BN: Japan…is that a city?

T: Las Vegas!

T: Saskatoon! 

Who do you think is the most charming artist of all time?

H: Me, Hammerpants.

BN:  Lisa “Left-eye”  Lopez from TLC, she charmed me when she burned Andre Rison’s house down. It let me know that I might have a chance with her. 

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