Sure, My name is Cooper and I�m lead singer of Bang Sugar Bang.
Okay what are the names of your other band members?
Matt plays guitar . Polly�s on drums . I myself play bass.. And sing some too.
What�s it like to be the only chick around?
I really like it actually. It actually works out really well for our band. But there�s plenty of other chick rockers in our rock scene we�re part of. There�s a lot of girl bassist, guitarists, and even drummers. So while I am the only chick on tour, but then in the scene I get to hang out with all the girl rockers and it�s really cool.
What are your major influences?
The top 3 would probably be the Jam, Spex, and the Pixies. And oh, the Clash, of course!
What do you like to listen to in your spare time?
It runs in the gambit. I have three CDs in my bag right now. Believe it or not, and I have Buddy Holly�s greatest hits and the Kill Bill soundtrack. So I have a very diverse taste. But I listen to a lot of old school punk like the Clash, and I love the Gun Club. I could listen to the Gun Club�s CDs everyday and not get tired of them. Also, a lot of Pixies, too. I love the
So do you relate to that classic punk rock stuff more than any other style
Yeh I Do. I think at around eleven I heard Anarchy in the UK for the 1st time and immediately my whole life changed. I thought, Oh my god, I found the people that I kind of fit in with. I don�t know what it is about that song, but it changed my life. Ever since then I�ve been a punk rocker. Always. (laughs)
I�m hearing and reading about a lot of constant comparisons to Exene (of the legendary LA band, X). How do you feel about that?
You know, of course I feel like she�s an amazing artist, so on that level I�m really flattered. But I think that we�re very different. I think we�re compared because she sings with John Joe and I sing with Matt. So I think the dueling vocals is where they get the comparison from. But If you actually really listen, our harmonies are more influenced by British invasion while their sound is way more rootsy. I can see why people say it, but I know that we�re very different. It�s still an honor, though.
I think it has to do with the limited famous girls in punk rock available. People only know so much.
Exactly. Everyone�s like Crissy Hyde! Deborah Harry! Exene! You get compared to the same people because there aren�t that many girls.
I read up on how you guys started your own club in L.A, could you tell me more about that?
Yeah, we started a club out here called Kiss or Kill with some friends of ours in another band called Silver Needle. We originally starts this because we were so tired of playing shows where the promoters were charging 10 to 15 dollars. Drinks were 6-7 bucks, parking was another ten. Then the bill of the bands didn�t even fit together right. Our band was playing next to a Christian death metal band and the next Arlo-Guthrie. So, by the time our fans even heard one note of us they already paid 30 dollars and then all the other bands weren�t even bands they were going to like. So us and Silver Needle decided we were to get together and do one night of music where the cover and the drinks were really cheap, and the music was a similar style that all fit together. And it was also important that everyone was real supportive. So everyone started hanging out at the club so it sort of became part of the community. It started out at about 2001 and it started out just the 20 people in the band watching each other once a month. Now over the past several years, we�ve had it every Tuesday night in L.A. and the average attendance is 250-300 people! That�s pretty good for a Tuesday nigh in L.A. This is all about the music, nobody really makes any money off of it. It�s really to just help out all the bands. We even made a Kiss or Kill compilation CD every year that helps out all the bands. We�ll sometimes take out some advertising for the bigger shows. Since it�s all about them music, people have really responded positively because it�s real. I guess it�s just a sort of place that you don�t have to look cool, you just have to be cool. Not to mention how cheap it is! There was nights where we were shooting tequila into people�s mouths with water pistols.
That�s a really great idea. In our area, there isn�t� much like that out here. Do you have any advice on starting up a good local scene?
I wouldn�t really know about that with such a small town. With L.A. there�s just a lot out here. There�s a lot of people looking for something like that. My advice for anyone trying to start up a scene is 1st of all, make the shows cheap, have the bands get along, have supportive fans. It�s really important for the bands to be supportive also. Like, if another band want to play a show one night, still show up and support them even though you�re not playing. A good thing is there to be little difference between the fans and the bands. Things like that. Keep the community tight. Everyone�s friends. Everyone gets inspired creatively and professionally.
Finally, can you tell me about your new album, �Thwak Thwak Go Crazy�? (never heard that one before)
We named it that because, well, I was under the influence and I was trying to write a song. I couldn�t desribe how I wanted the drums to sound so I said �At this point in the song it goes �Thwak Twak Go Crazy!� Polly thought it was so funny that it should be the album title. But, the album is really exciting. It was great for us to get to work with punk rock legends like Dave the X and Paul Wassler and it was the 1st time that we had a recording that really captures our live sound. That�s really good because one of our greatest strengths is our live show. Dave and Paul knew exactly what to do, they�ve been working with punk rock forever so they knew how to capture it. We had a lot of fun recording the record. My fingers are crossed, I hope it really kicks some butt out there. I hope our fans like it as much as we do.
Since we got the meaning of �Thwak Thwak Go Crazy� out of the way, what does you band name mean, too?
Bang sugar Bang comes from yet another time I was under the influence. We were try ingot think of a band name and we couldn�t think of anything . We made all these lists, it was really frustrating. And so I was sitting in front of the computer thinking of all my favorite band names. My favorite band names of all time are like Cop Shoot Cop and Love Shoot Love. I kept saying those names and Bang Sugar Bang came out. It worked.
So you�re playing with the Adicts in Cleveland on the 26th?
Yeah, I think so. I should really have those dates memorized. We�re all really excited to play there, we never played Cleveland before. We have so many musical friends that actually originally lived in Cleveland. The guy who we started Kiss or Kill with, Johnny of Silver Needle, is from out there. He�s one of my best friends so it�s going to be cool to see where he�s from. It�s awesome to be on tour with the Adicts. They put on one of the best live shows. It�s like a circus and you can sing along to every song. We�re excited to be on tour with them.