It's definitely more electronic than [our] first record. I think we used a lot more synthesis, but from the second record I think it's similar in a lot of ways. But I think we just pushed the envelope a little harder. And we just kinda had a clearer idea of what we wanted to do, and we just got better at the production end of it."
Comprised of vocalist Gabe Saporta, bassist Alex Suarez, drummer Nate Navarro, keytarist Victoria Asher and Ryland, Cobra Starship formed through friends and friends of friends after the members of Gabe's previous band, Midtown, went their separate ways. In 2006, the band signed to Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen where they found a home next to bands like Paramore and Gym Class Heroes. While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets was the debut effort that put Cobra Starship on the road to success, and almost exactly a year later, in 2007, they continued feeding their fans by releasing ¡Viva La Cobra! , with the idea of hitting the world hard by putting an album out every year.
But things weren't meant to work out like that. There was an effort to bang out another record in 2008, but only about eight tracks were recorded in NY before a cyst was discovered on Gabe's vocal cords and surgery was imminent before the band was able to forge on. It turned out to be just a minor setback for Cobra Starship, though, and undeterred they embarked on the writing and recording process again - this time holing themselves up in the Poconos for some ultimate reflection and inspiration. Moving on to Los Angeles, they began working on some of the final pieces of Hot Mess , co-writing with Kevin Rudolf (signed to Cash Money Records) and Kara DioGuardi (singer/songwriter, producer and American Idol judge).
"Obviously, this last record kinda put us on a different track just because it took a bit longer to make," Ryland said. "Even though we did have something ready to go, it wasn't what we felt was the best record that we could make. The first two records we put out a year apart... I definitely think that gone are the days when you can sort of take four years to make your sophomore record, but it works for some people. It's just, for us, we just wanted to stay with it. And we're constantly writing anyway so at the end of [ Hot Mess ] we had 27 or 28 songs. So, we could have put an album out a year after [ ¡Viva La Cobra! ], but I'm thankful we didn't because it wouldn't have been as good as the one we completed.
"What was new for us was the co-write thing. We did our first couple of co-writes on this record with Kevin Rudolf and Kara DioGuardi. Before that we had done everything either with Patrick Stump from Fall Out Boy or by ourselves. I found it to be a really enriching experience musically for the band."
Based in NYC, where creativity and exceptional storylines are lurking in every corner, Cobra Starship is inspired by its surroundings and takes advantage of using the city as a muse. "Probably the three bands I've been influenced by the most right now are all New York bands," Ryland admits. "A lot of our friends are in bands too, so I definitely think New York has played a role in our style." Not to mention the recent collaboration with one of the stars from the Empire State's staple TV show, Gossip Girl , on Billboard chart climber "Good Girls Go Bad." As self-described "secret fans of the show," the band jumped at the opportunity to work with Leighton Meester and look forward to continued partnerships in the future.
"There's a lot of people I'd like to collaborate with in the future," Ryland says. "I think the big one would be [Justin] Timberlake. I think that we are the bastard stepson version of him, and not nearly as talented, not nearly as good looking, and he could just be that little edge that we need to push us to the next level."
Nominated this year for two MTV Video Music Awards, making a stop on the notorious Warped Tour before embarking on their own promotional tour and joining the Boys Like Girls tour, it looks like the fivesome will do well enough on their own whether they get that Timberlake collabo or not. nth.