Here is a band that is tearing up the east
coast with their alt-hard rock fused brand of music. Playing it from
within and with plenty of energy, anger and no influence on what the
scene is calling for in terms of “what’s hot” in today’s mainstream.
Spider
Rockets are preparing to tour in support of their infectiously catchy
new album, “Ever After” and I was recently given the opportunity to
throw a few questions at vocalist Helena Cos.
First off, give us a brief history on how the Spider Rockets
came to be.
Johnny and I started the band in the 90s. It started out as the two
of us playing every dive bar in Jersey with midi backup for our rhythm
section.
Where did you come up with the name?
Johnny did---we started with Spider Monkeys but the name was
taken---plus we heard stories about how spider monkeys throw their
feces at people….. So we adjusted---and we changed the band name to
Spider Rockets. Why rockets? It sounded right to us.
Tell us about the new album, ‘Ever After’
On this CD we got a bit more melodic, but went a bit further with
the dark vibe we’ve always had. To me ‘Ever After’ has a background
darkness to it. Kind of a haunting quality and sense of the gothic.
How would you say it compares or differs from previous releases?
The vocals were kinda buried on our past LP---mixed in with the rest
of the instruments. This time, we put the vocals out front. Also, our
songwriting has evolved quite bit.
How about lyrically? What sort of subjects/topics are Spider
Rockets ranting about?
In a very general sense some topics are deception, blame, obsession
and conflict. And those are just to get us warmed up.
Now musically there are several influences that shine through
from time to time. Where do you pull your sound from?
I guess you can say Zep, Sabbath and AC/DC are our roots. But you’ll
find influences from GnR, Metallica, Nirvana, Godsmack & System…. And,
from time to time, some Stevie Ray Vaughn and some southern rock, too.
And with that in mind, do you try to aim/stick to a particular
musical direction when writing new material? ( I guess what I’m
trying to get at is if someone came up with some heavier or even
some mellower ideas, would they be set aside as non-workable tracks
for the band?)
Yeah, I guess we do---but mostly unconsciously. But, the truth is,
we are still evolving, so there is plenty of room to experiment---in
degrees, of course. I mean, we are not going to start writing happy pop
songs or write a death metal album.
What does the tour schedule look like? I saw on the website that
you mainly play only in your area. That being New Jersey, New York,
Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware and D.C. Any talks in the works
for a more broader/national tour?
We are working on getting some mid-western dates in the mix for the
beginning of the new year. Also, we’ll be branching out further south.
Do we want to tour nationally? Hell yes and we’re actively looking for
a tour that makes sense for us.
I also read on the bio sheet that you guys had the opportunity
to play the Popkomm Festival in Berlin, Germany. How did you get
involved with that and how did it go? How well was the band
received over there?
We were offered the opportunity to do Popkomm and of course we said
yes. As it turns out, they told us that we were one of four North
American bands chosen—so we felt pretty honored. The festival was
great—well organized awesome venues and great sound. Everyone was very
professional and we were treated well. It was a great start for us in
Europe and we look forward to returning and doing more there.
Where would you like to see the band, say in the next five
years?
Continuing to grow musically and moving forward. Writing, recording
more CDs and touring.
You getting much airplay yet for the new album?
We got top adds in FMQB and CMJ as a start and got a good team
working on our behalf on the radio angle. Right now the CD is mainly
with metal radio—we’re thinking of expanding that in the new year to
other formats.
Other than the website, where can you find your merchandise/CDS?
The new CD will shortly be available in stores regionally--I believe
the game plan is to put it in stores in the northeast and then, branch
out. And, of course, we have CDs and merchandise available at every
live show.
Anything you’d like to add?
Our website and myspace sites both have links to buy merchandise and
CDs. You can also get the new CD on Screaming Ferret Wreckords’ site at
