Big Time

Posted on September 30, 2010 Written by

Well, where to start?

There have been some big changes in the world of Cobalt and the Hired Guns since we last reported, and soon all those changes will be reflected in this here website. We’ve been cookin’  up some exciting stuff an’ the smell comin’ from the Cobalt kitchen is deeeelicious. We’re working hard on the new album, we’ve got some awesome shows coming up, new photos and videos are on their way, and there’s rumor of some Secret Weapons to be unveiled at our live shows and on the album, but shhhhhh! They’re seeeeeeecrettttttt. In fact, I may have already said too much.

Basically, we took a bit of a break over the summer, but now we’re back. Big time.

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Major News from Cobalt HQ – goodbyes, hellos, and the new record

Posted on April 18, 2010 Written by

Hi everyone!  A lot of BIG news:

1)  Saying goodbye to Matt…

It’s with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to one of our founding members, Matt Hart, as he moves out to Seattle on April 30th.  He’s got a hunger for salt water and topography, and will be broadcasting his experiences diving into a completely new music scene on a new music blog called Mid-By-Northwest.com.  Please go check out the articles he’s already got up there, drop him a comment, and subscribe to keep up with him and his future musical adventures in the Pacific Northwest!  He will also be retiring his @CobaltMatt twitter handle, so now you can follow him at @MidByNorthwest.

So Tuesday’s big show at Subterranean with Big D & the Kids Table will be Matt’s last big club show with the band for a while – until the enormous Album Release Show in the fall (more on that later) for which he’ll fly back.  Also, in case you were worried, the newer songs Matt sings, like “Uptown” and “Wreckage,” WILL be on the new record!  Matt will definitely be missed, but we also have a lot of excitement about the next musical chapter in the Cobalt story, and we’ve got some cool ideas brewing for what that’s going to look and sound like.

2)  Announcing a new member to the Cobalt family!

As is often the case, as one door closes others open, and we are super-stoked to announce a new member to the band and Cobalt family – Amanda Raber on saxophone. She’s been playing with us at pretty much every show since last fall and we are smitten with her talent, energy, dedication, and general awesomeness.  Now we’re making it official!  We asked her to prom, er, to be in the band, and she said yes.  We’ll be working her in on sax, kazoo, jumping around, and any other instrument she’s willing to try – plus she designed the sweet posters around Chicago for the Big D show!  This is going to be awesome…

3)  We’ve been making a new album!

If you follow us on Twitter you’ve probably been getting our weird, tired messages about amp-forts and and Lady Gaga.  That’s cuz we’ve all been hard at work making the new Cobalt record!  We’re adding layer upon glorious layer to six new tracks and we’re learning a lot by taking our time with it.  Look for a HUGE release show in the fall. There is also something really special we want to do for a certain Cobalt Super-Fan across the Atlantic Ocean for this show, so keep a lookout for more info from us on that…

Thanks for reading, thanks for your support, and see you soon!

Love,

-Cobalt & the Hired Guns-

Filed Under: Latest News, Matt's Blog Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Working with Brian Humphrey

Posted on February 26, 2010 Written by

He keeps asking us to die. Really. He talked a lot about how we were gonna be “Doing a lot of dying this weekend”. It was intense, but it’s supposed to be an intense process when someone pushes you past your comfort zone. But that’s when you grow. It’s when you’re at your best and you do your best work.

He came in on Friday, arriving just as we were loading out for the Metro. A bit of background about Brian: We found him ’cause he helped produce a few tracks on State Radio’s first record Us Against the Crown. He did Camilo & Mr. Larkin- both amazing songs, and the production was really good. So Mike tracked him down and asked him to produce our first record, Jump the Fence.

He flew out in November of 2007 and we rehearsed all weeekend on 8 songs. I’m talking 12 and 14 hour days. It was long and strenuous. Then he came back in December for 11 days at CRC and we made the record together.

It’s been a while since we saw him- we worked with Jeff Piper on the double single- he was in the studio for Jump the Fence helping out, and we wanted to work with him more closely. He’s one hell of a guy as well. For this next, upcoming record we asked Brian to be involved again. He pushes us really hard.

So he came into town for the Metro show, said hey to Chad and then Saturday morning we got to work. If you know our songs, we’re working on Ghost of the Road, One Bedroom For Two, Like You Like Me Like Me (Myspace), Uptown, Wreckage and Lazarus.

He had us really focus on our parts. This meant re-writing a lot of the stuff we’ve been working on for the last few months. As a songwriter, and as someone who’s played guitar since he was about six, this is really hard for me. I kept hearing that the parts I wrote were stepping on the vocals or too busy. So there was a lot of simplifying that I had to do. And then also making my parts more complicated.

In ways, I was working too hard: I was trying to write a catchy guitar hook for every part of the song. That doesn’t need to happen. They’re good songs- but part of that is an ego thing: you want to show off how good you are, you want to play the stuff that people remember, and you kinda wanna show off. But when you do that, you screw up the whole dynamic of the song. And when I say YOU, I mean I, just to be clear.

So even when I’d written a good part Brian was often saying things like, “I like that, it’s good. I think you can do better. Let’s work with it.” And he was right. Nearly every time. I could do better, but I needed to be pushed outside of the comfortable little box I’d built for myself. It really shook my confidence as a songwriter and player though. Brian does it all out of love though, and you feel that while he’s pushing you. Still. I cried twice on Sunday. It was emotional and overwhelming. But I feel better about it now, and I feel like my parts are stronger.

He’s kind of like having a shrink for your art. And when you pour so much of your soul into your art, that can be hard when someone really challenges you.

It’s gonna be worth it, I almost can’t wait to show you what I mean. I’ll leave you with a picture of my weapon of choice.

Filed Under: Latest News, Tom's Blog

Introducing, You!

Posted on February 26, 2010 Written by

hey.

Hey out there in bloggity land! This is Jesse. Right now the band is having some down time in Durham, NC while we’re waiting to play a show with State Radio tonight.  It’s actually sunny here, which is wonderful, because it is a crappy dark snow mess in Chicago right now.  We now have this amazing new website (thanks Mattdotcom.com) and I have CONTROL over my own blog! CoBlog.

So I’m Jesse Alexander.  I use the pronouns ‘he’ ‘him’ and ‘his’. I’m a Sagittarius.  I play drums and sing and write songs for Cobalt & the Hired Guns.  I’ve been writing and playing music since I was 12, and started playing drums when I was 16.  My first band, spoont., was a power pop indie project in DC, and we fucking killed it for 3 years in the DC/MoCo high school touring circuit. In 2003 I went to Oberlin College in Ohio to study Biology and Comparative American Studies.  I also helped to run the Oberlin Bike Coop, and co-started ‘Women and Trans Night’ for women and trans and gender variant folks to come learn about bike mechanics. Among many other fun things, fall of my freshman year Tom, Matt, and Mike, and I formed Cobalt. There are some other less abbreviated versions of this story all over the internet…specifically in this awesome interview on Maybehip.com. Over the course of 4 years we played and wrote songs and toured the US twice (and got college credit for it) and eventually decided to all move to Chicago together to become a big kid band.  So in June of 2007 I moved to Uptown, started working at the Cycle Smithy, and got an Illinois drivers license.  After a bit, I got a ‘big guy’ job working as a Research Technician (III) in the Allergy/Immunology department at Rush University Med Center (RSLPMC for those who like acronyms). This was an awesome Molecular lab science experience for me, and also a great 18 mile round trip bike ride, but in July of 2009, taking vacation time to go on tour was not something I was able to do anymore.  Rush is generous with time off, but not 5.5 weeks in 2 months generous. Cobalt & the HGs booked a major US tour during July and August 09, and I left my job.

And thus it was major transition time.  A new phase of life.  No job to wake up for. No bike commute. No health insurance. Sleeping past 7am. Daytime band rehearsals.  Woah. I also started going by a new name, using male pronouns, and beginning my life as a male-identified person.  Sweet!

I think that pretty much brings me up to today, February 26, 2010.  :)   This post has actually spanned two days, so now it’s the future of the first paragraph. Or something.  The point is we played another show with State Radio and Big D and the Kids Table last night, and it was a grand time.  Cat’s Cradle in Carborro, NC is a gem of a venue; all the staff are extremely friendly and welcoming, and it was a pleasure to play there.  I also really enjoy playing with bands for more than 1 night… I feel like it gives me an opportunity to actually get to know the folks we’re playing with.  We play a lot of shows with a lot of bands I’ve never heard or met before, and  sometimes show situations are stressful and people don’t want to hang out with people they haven’t met before, or whatever….there isn’t usually a lot of inter-band mingling.  Being on tour and hearing a band do their thing on stage in different cities and hanging out with them before and after the show is a cool dynamic.  It’s like having a little bit of history together.  It’s great to make friends, have beers, pack up and be able to say, “k, see you in Durham next week!”.  As we play more shows in Chicago with bands we know, I’m noticing this is happening more.   The Chicago Roots Collective is doing some cool things to try and build some community in the Chicago scene we’re a part of.  Nice dudes. I’m getting off topic.  I’ll come back to this another time.  Check out the CRC website. Good bands.

Moving on… I’ve compiled a lot of digital Cobalt documentation over 6 years.  Some of it will stay that way, as it should, but in the coming months I plan on providing you with lots of never-before-seen footage of the band. Featured content will include things like this awesome lunch I ordered while we were recording the Double Single at Chicago Recording Company, and this photo of Larry waiting for AAA to bring us a tank of gas after we ran out 3 miles after leaving a show in Indianapolis.

AAA to the rescue, as usual

lunch.

Good times.  I’m looking forward to being more present here in blog land, so stay tuned for the future. I’m on twitter and facebook and myspace all @ jesseleft.  So…holler at a boy. TTYL.

<3 Jesse

Filed Under: Jesse's Blog, Latest News

Cobalt Sold Out. The Metro. With State Radio.

Posted on February 25, 2010 Written by

Wow.
They are so friendly.State Radio are just a killer bunch of guys.

I’m sorry- let me start at the beginning. Mike got in Wednesday. Seeing him back in town- it’s not just like him coming home; it’s like all of us getting home again. Brian Humphrey, our producer came in for the show on Friday- we found him ’cause he produced some of State Radio’s tracks in their first record. He’s an amzing guy, but I’ll write a separate post about this weekend and the 20 hours of rehearsals we had. Seriously.
Captain Shmando & Jeff Brown of Goodbyehome
Thursday we had practice with all 10 of us for the first time. Me, Matt, Jesse, Mike like usual- but we flipped Larry onto bass just for this show, and we had Jeff Brown holdin’ it down on accordion for us. But the horn section is where it’s really at. Amanda made it happen. She is so effing sweet. She got us Brian, our trumpet player, and Jeff V (little Jeff- he’s like 6’6″) on tenor sax. I helped get Matt Prest of Canasta in the room too. So we had a 4 piece horn section. I was living the dream. Brian plays in Doppler Shift and Jeff V. plays in Kemman. They all know it each other- it’s a very six degrees of Kevin Bacon Situation. We call them & the Hired Guns. So that makes us Cobalt & the Hired Guns & the Hired Guns. We’re finally living up to our name.

So. 10 people in a room. And it sounded pretty good. It was really cool having them come in and bring this new energy.
So Friday we loaded up early and showed up- it was kinda hectic. But Crystal greeted us again- she’s got pink hair. They helped us load in. It was cool- I remembered a few of them from last time- and some of them remembered me (or at least acted like they did). Cash is particularly friendly. But I think he and I bonded quickly, ’cause he’s the only other person I know (besides Mike) who plays through my amp.
Rachelle, the production manager informed us our set had been moved up 15 minutes and we would now be going on at 6:45 instead of 7. That was a bummer, but it was just one of those things that happened. The band was contracted…but they probably didn’t realize there was a hard stop at 10pm, and their sets were long. She’s business, but she’s good at it, and I respect that. Sometimes I have to be a stage manager too, It’s a tough gig. Our vip list was too long too- we got it all worked out though- had to buy a few extra tickets, but that’s what we do. It sucks though ’cause a bunch of the folks that were coming to review the show missed some of our set. I guess we’ll have to play more shows.

[ugh. i just deleted a bunch i'd written. sorry. here's a pic of us rocking out instead] ======>>
look at 'em go!Big D and the Kids Table were really cool folks- they offered to share gear with us, which is very generous of them, and rarely done. There were a LOT of people backstage. I think Big D had 9 people, we had 10, State Radio is just a trio, but they’ve got a tour manager too. So I think it was about 25, all told.

and then the show:
Cobalt & the Hired Guns climbed the stairs, had the largest huddle ever and took the stage. First I should tell you, the show was all ages. So there were a bunch of teenages pressed across the front, but I saw some 9 year olds in the balcony. Yes, 9. I went up later and checked. Some cool little 9 year olds, I tell ya. They started screaming just as we walked out. I love playing all ages shows. The kids are just excited to BE there. To be part of what’s happening. Their energy and enthusiasm is contagious.
The band was really tight. As tight as we’ve ever been. We only had a half hour so we made that set as concentrated as we could. It’s like drinking the Hershey’s Syrup without the milk, or Cranberry Juice Cocktail Concentrate (yes, I’ve done both of those things, thank you for asking) without dilluting it with water. It was worth it. The set, for those of you that know our song titles went like this: Rome, Of Summer, You Left Your Sweater…, Lazarus, Myspace (Like You LIke me Like Me), Wreckage, Uptown. and out. about 28 minutes all told.
horns!
The horn section became the kazoo section on You Left Your Sweater… that was a special treat. Oh and Joe Shanahan was there! He’s owned and operated the Metro for 25 years. He’s a legend in the scene and a straight forward guy. He told me his friend’s 9 year old daughter said “Cobalt & the Hired Guns was her favorite band in the world”. I need to meet this 9 year old and buy her an Italian soda or something.

So I stayed sober this time. Good call on my part. Passing out in the Metro’s dressing room is something you can do once, but that’s enough. Plus, you know, little kids running around.

Jesse pulled off a pretty epic stage dive during State Radio’s set.

Here’s the link to that: http://bit.ly/aQVNLK


Good gracious those guys are so nice. They’re friendly and outgoing- Chad complimented all of us on our set and gave us a shoutout from the stage….And we’re playing with them again TONIGHT! Down here in North Carolina as I write this, getting ready for our show at Cat’s Cradle in Carboro. We visited WKNC yesterday and had an interview with Justin. We got pretty goofy. SO GET UP AND GO ONLINE AND GET YOUR TICKETS AND COME ROCK OUT WITH US! Let’s do this again!

There was also a pretty sweet after party that involved the following things: deep dish chicago pizza @ 3am, alcohol, friends who’d never been to the rehearsal space before, the forming of a street team, and my dad.

Oh also PS- a good friend of the band is on American Idol- Crystal Bowersox. She’s a sweetheart and one hell of a singer, so if it’s what you do, vote for her. Her originals are even better than the cover’s she’s doing, but she’ll do those again when she’s not on FOX or whatever. But vote for Crystal, she rules.

Filed Under: Latest News, Tom's Blog Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Metro review on Stic-of-the-Week

Posted on December 17, 2009 Written by

sticA great little review of our big show at the Metro last Saturday just posted at the Stic-of-the-Week blog.  Here is a small exceprt, click the link to read the whole article:

For those of you who are not familiar with this band, I would say what are you waiting for? Put down your coffee and go download their CD today off iTunes.

Hooray for good reviews!  Read the full article.

Filed Under: Latest News, Reviews/Press Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Fearless Radio interview with Ryan Manno

Posted on December 14, 2009 Written by

fearlesslogo1In the week leading up to our big show at the Metro with I Fight Dragons, the Cobalt & the HGs crew was VERY busy with various promotional gigs.

The funniest one was probably our spot with Ryan Manno and Fearless Radio - playing some tunes and answering some questions. This one was just Jesse, Matt, and Larry.  Listen in to find out why:  Cobalt & the Hired Guns on Fearless Radio

Filed Under: Audio/Visual, Jesse's Blog, Latest News, Matt's Blog, Reviews/Press Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Lumino Magazine interviews Tom & Matt

Posted on December 13, 2009 Written by

luminoIn the week leading up to the big Metro show with I Fight Dragons, Tom & Matt got a chance to sit down and wax philosophical with Barmey Ung of Lumino Magazine.  Here are some clips:

You have to give them props for being so organized and really representing what a music scene is supposed to be about – community. In Cobalt’s music, it comes through, in their lyrics, in their personalities, interactions with one another and with their fans.

Read the whole article and check out some cute pics of the band here:  Lumino Magazine: Cobalt & the Hired Guns Get ready for Metro

Filed Under: Latest News, Matt's Blog, Reviews/Press, Tom's Blog Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Vote for us as Band-of-the-Month at the Deli Chicago Magazine!

Posted on December 3, 2009 Written by

delilogoWe are honored to have been selected as a finalist for the Deli Magazine’s Chicago band-of-the-Month poll! We are also happy to be in such good company, especially with our Chicago Roots Collective brethren Band Called Catch.

SO now we need your vote! It takes anywhere from 1.5 – 2.3 seconds to do, and we really appreciate it. If we come out on top, our gorgeous faces and logo will be the big banner at the top of their site, and we would win some recording time to lay down our new songs like “Uptown” and “Like You Like Me.” note: you can only vote once per IP address. It is currently VERY close so we really need your help!

here’s the link, pass it on:  http://chicago.thedelimagazine.com/snacks/

thanks so much y’all!

Filed Under: Latest News, Reviews/Press, Stuff We Like Tagged: , , , ,

“You Left Your Sweater…” wins #1 IndiePop song

Posted on December 1, 2009 Written by

OurStageLogoMany Much Winnings!

With your help our song “You Left Your Sweater…” was the #1 song in the IndiePop channel on OurStage.com!  The song garnered several thousand plays in the month, and people seemed to really dig it :)

Thanks SO much to those of you who took some time, especially on the last day of the month, to vote for us n the Finals.  We didn’t win the grand prize, but can’t be too disappointed considering we did win the grand prize last year for “Up to You.”

If you have never checked out OurStage.com we highly recommend it – both for bands trying to get your music out there, and for music lovers to find hot new tunes!
Filed Under: Latest News, Matt's Blog Tagged: , , , , , ,
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