|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
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. |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
