We had a quick chat with The Coolness about their new Album ‘Demo 1’ and experiences as a band in London and beyond. The Monkees they ain’t…
Interview by Chris Sharpe
Discovered via http://musosoup.com
Chris) Tell us where The Coolness are based and what the music scene there is like.
The Coolness) We are not the Monkees. We don’t all live in the same house. We live near central London; respectively Camden, Hackney and Turnpike Lane. Relatively close proximity. Our studio is in Manor House, Haringey. London’s music scene has changed greatly since we started playing shows. Demo 1 was completed during 2005; a peak period in London’s music subculture.
You can argue that the current (2018) live music scene in London is pretty much non existent. However; there are pockets of excitement and creativity bubbling. It’s getting better again (maybe). Most kids are currently drowning in a sea of Drake or illiterate and tuneless mumble rap. Guitars and live performance will be making a comeback any day (let’s hope).
Most of the fun, creative guitar or live band based stuff in London centres around the warehouse areas: Hackney Wick, Manor House and Fountayne Road (North East London). Although rent in these areas is as expensive as any other, it allows artists to love in close proximity, to have some extra space and maybe throw a decent underground event!
London, unfortunately, isn’t generally a place where young creative people from other English cities move to nowadays. The kids either stay in Bristol etc or move to Berlin or other European cities. Unless you already have money or want to make money in something corporate or tech based, then why move to London? The music scene (especially the underground scene) has suffered greatly because of this mentality. Venues in London and throughout the UK are closing down or become corporate entities on an almost weekly basis. This has been happening since 2011/2012 (more thans 300 venues).
You could easily blame this on high rent and the increasing property prices in London but personally we think it’s because of the lack of frivolity, talent and imagination caused by young people looking at their phones and caring way too much about what other people think about them! In our opinion there’s very few good local bands to go to watch who don’t sound like some post punk or 60s garage rock rehash.
How long have you been a making music?
Before the majority people reading this article were born.
Do you have any gigs in the pipeline?
We are still looking for a suitable venue. Too many venues are run by crooks/mafia. Chaz (our singer) is starting a spoken-word night with a man called Duncan. Please a keep look out for that. We will tour a little in 2019 once we put out a new release.
What would be your dream venue to play and who else would be on the bill?
Probably no one else on the bill apart from some good DJs, poets or a pop act with just a backing track. Most live bands would end up tampering with our amps and stealing our cables. The dream venue would probably be an arena or stadium gig in South America with everybody singing the lyrics.
What can people expect at your live shows?
The unexpected. Synths. Power slides. Scissor kicks. Leotards. Animal print. Glitter. Melody. Singalongs. Dance moves. Two-minute songs. Heartbreak. Nipple slips. The kitchen sink.
Tip off to us to which other acts you think deserve some attention right now?
Pregoblin, Faux Real and The Intergalactic Republic of Kongo.