Before we began the interview Mike was having wardrobe malfunctions…
I sat down with Ryland Blackinton (guitar) and Alex Suarez (bass) at the Minneapolis stop of the gargantuan Honda Civic Tour featuring Cobra Starship, Paul Wall, The Academy Is…, +44, and of course Fall Out Boy. We discussed the fact that they are indeed a real band, the state of music, and how being in a band may quite possibly be the easiest job ever.
“That One Snakes on a Plane Band”
PZ: How did you guys get involved in Snakes on a Plane?
Ryland: This is how it worked: Gabe had a few of his solo songs that he was working on and his manager, who is also The Academy Is’… manager and Gym Class Heroes’ manager (among others), wanted to get Gabe’s songs associated with something that would give it a good spring.
PZ: So he’s not just riding off of Midtown, he actually has something else attached to it.
Ryland: Absolutely. Actually, it was already called Cobra Starship before Snakes on a Plane.
PZ: It’s incredibly coincidental, I had always thought that he just built that name off of the movie..
Alex: Yeah, a lot of people think that.
Ryland: So they saw an opportunity and got involved in it. That’s actually when we became a part of the band after the song had been written and recorded.
PZ: How much do you think that has to do with your success for such a young band? I mean Cobra hasn’t been around that long and you’re already on a huge tour.
Alex: Yeah, it’s pretty massive. We couldn’t be more fortunate to be where we are right now. I think Snakes on a Plane basically cut out a huge part of us going through-
Ryland: Shit?
Alex: -rough times that a lot of bands go through, like touring in a van and all that. Boys Like Girls has been on tour forever and they just got a bus on this last tour. Seeing them every day on the Cartel tour in a van I was just like, “Man….” I mean I used to play in a band and we used to go on tour without a bus all the time and it was fun, I was really young, but if we were doing that now we would probably just kill each other. Now I’m like 26 and I’m getting around that age where you [want stability]. I was watching these guys [Boys Like Girls] work so hard, hardly sleep, take turns driving, wake up at four in the morning, drive for two hours then go back to sleep.
Ryland: Meanwhile they’re killing it in merch too. They could have had a bus, but they’re doing the smart thing..
Alex: Yeah, very admirable. It will pay off for them. But, yeah I feel Snakes on a Plane basically helped us skip the initial stages, skip a lot of crap. I think a lot of people we’ve met are like, “Oh these guys are brand new and they’re already doing big tours, they’re a one hit wonder,” or whatever. I think sometimes it turns people off, but once they get to know us they’re like, “Alright, they’re cool.”
Ryland: I can see where it’s discouraging.
Alex: Yeah. “Fucking assholes!”
Ryland: We all remember every day how lucky we are to have a bus and all that.
Alex: We definitely don’t take it for granted.
PZ: What are your expectations with Cobra Starship? Because I think a lot of people feel like it was just a gimmick for Snakes on a Plane and not an actual band. What are your upcoming plans? Are you going to record soon?
Alex: Yeah there are definitely plans for another album. There are a lot of people that don’t even know that we have a CD out. They just know we’re that one band that did that “Snakes on a Plane” song. I wouldn’t say it’s been difficult or anything, but we often just get recognized as “that band”. We have a lot of fans that are really hardcore fans and love the CD, so I think we’re building our fan base. This tour has been helping us insanely.
PZ: He [Gabe Saporta] paid his dues in Midtown, he had to be serious for so long; Forget What You Know [Midtown’s final record] was such a heavy record thematically that I’m sure he’s just glad to be having fun.
Alex: I think he’s just going places he’s always wanted to go, but obviously was always restricted from, being in Midtown. We definitely have a huge array of styles. Our next record could go in any direction. It could be a hip-hop record and we could probably get away with that.
Ryland: It could be all country. We’re not going to stop it, whatever happens.
Eyeliner is For Women
PZ: It seems like a lot of bands feel like they have to fit a mold and make the scene kids like them so they put on eyeliner and all that other bullshit. I’m really glad you guys are cutting the bullshit and just playing fun music. You have a song called “Pop-Punk is Soooo ’05”; how do you feel about the genre of music you’ve been placed in or the bands you’re associated with?
Alex: I don’t listen to a lot of bands that we’re associated with, I mean, I do now that we’re buddies with them, but I was always involved in a different kind of music. Being in this scene, it’s a whole new world for both of us. I guess I’m really glad that this is the band that I’m involved with, compared to a lot of the other stuff.
How do you feel about bands who seem to be in it for the look? It just seems like there are so many bands who will just jump on the newest bandwagon, I mean, (are you kidding me?) Screamo isn’t going to be around in 2 years.
Alex: Yeah, those guys [screamo bands] got really popular, which is great, they’re good at what they do. I don’t know how long that style of music will last.
PZ: It just seems like a lot of bands are putting the look before the music and that really bothers me.
Ryland: Well it’s just like, what’s the expression? Keeping up with the traffic. These kids just want to get there the quickest way they can.
Alex: A lot of people can make it just with their image, you can’t deny that. That is definitely a card you can play, but you need good music to back it too.
Ryland: That actually reminds me of an earlier question; how is the state of the current music scene? It’s not that much different from early pop days, it’s sensationalism, good looks, and flashy moves. There have always been elements of that, but right now it’s definitely in its heyday.
Life on the Road: Easiest Job Ever?
PZ: So what have you guys been doing on this tour when you’re not playing shows?
Ryland: We got a Nintendo Wii on the first day of tour, so we’ve been playing that.
Alex: We’re actually going to be recording songs with Joe Trohman, just for fun. A five song EP that we’re probably going to make available for download, just to keep the creative gears in motion. There’s a lot of downtime on tours like this, especially for us. I’m sure Fall Out Boy is busy all the time because they get mad interviews. We get a few interviews, then we play at 6 or 6:30, then we’re off for the rest of the night pretty much. Plus, we usually stay up pretty late so it’s like, “What do you do?” We’ve been hanging out with The Academy Is… guys a lot.
PZ: I think a lot of kids have a lot of misconceptions of what it’s like to be on tour.
Alex: Yeah it’s like sit and wait and then you’ve suddenly got a million things to do. And then you end up waiting for hours and hours.
Ryland: It is so easy. This is seriously the easiest life ever. Are you kidding me? Yeah, you get bored sometimes, but otherwise...
Alex: Basically your schedule is: wake up, get some coffee at 6:30 or 2 o’clock in the afternoon and then get some breakfast at 3 then some lunch at 5.
Ryland: Especially since it’s all catered too. So it’s like, “Ehh I could eat.” Eating out of boredom, that’s the worst.
Alex: “Maybe I’ll check back in a half hour, see if they have some new cookies.”
Ryland: Sometimes it’s really clinical like that, really mundane, and you feel like you’re just getting dumber ever day. But, if you have resources to things that are good for killing time and also stimulate some creativity; like reading, practicing guitar, we could probably do a little more of that.
Alex: We’re also going to be writing demos on this tour for our next record. Patrick Stump is going to be producing it, so we’ll be working with him on some stuff. He’s really psyched about it.
PZ: So have you guys gotten a good response on this tour?
Ryland: Definitely. The only bottles that have been thrown at us have been empty ones and to me it’s like, “Hey, they took a minute to get all the beer out.” But really, we’ve gotten a really good response. It’s funny because we play first so a lot of kids won’t even come until The Academy Is… is done playing. So we start and there are a couple thousand kids and then by the end of our set there’s a bunch of people actually checking us out.
Alex: I think we were definitely shocked at how many people show up early to catch our set. We were certainly expecting a smaller number and even if kids are waiting outside it’s like, “How fast are they going to get them in?” They can’t move a lot of people in here in thirty minutes, which is all we play for, so we were like, “Is everyone going to be here right when we’re done playing?” But, our first show we were like, “Wow, there are a lot of people here early.” Which is incredible, kids will just sit out there and wait all day.
Ryland: But, we keep all our hits for the end.
Alex: We definitely set up our setlist so more people hear the hits.
Cobra Starship does what more bands these days should be doing, making you dance instead of making you mope, without selling themselves short. Hear their hits anytime on their debut album, When The City Sleeps, We Rule The Streets, and make sure to catch them this summer on the Honda Civic Tour.
