On Saturday, November 24th, The Sleeping With Giants tour featuring headliners The Academy Is... and supporting bands Sherwood, The Rocket Summer, Armor for Sleep and Cobra Starship finished up in Chicago at the Riviera Theater. While they were there, I got a chance to meet up with Alex Suarez, the bassist for the up-and-coming techno-pop-punk-alternative band Cobra Starship, who's sophomore album "Viva La Cobra" came out in October. Cobra Starship reigns from New York and also includes vocalist Gabe Saporta, formerly of the band Midtown, Ryland Blackinton on guitar, Nate Novarro on drums and Victoria "Vicky-T" Asher on keytar. Suarez talked to OADN about life on the road, the changes facing the music industry today, Cobra's plans for 2008 and the perks of working with people like Blink 182's Mark Hoppus.



OADN: Is there a moment that you could pinpoint as the moment you knew this is what you wanted to do for the rest of your life?

ALEX SUAREZ (bassist, Cobra Starship): Yes. When I was about probably eleven years old and my brother was really into metal, like eighties metal, you know. I was born in like '81 so I was really into that kinda stuff which I guess would have been 1992. Anyways, I used to sing Slaughter songs I don't know if you ever heard that band Slaughter, they're like a hair-metal band. I used to grab the remote for my stereo and like pretend I was at a huge concert like at an arena show singing the song and I'd go to the wall and be like 'yeah!' like there was fans and everything. And I always knew I wanted to do that. I never thought I'd actually get to do it though. I used to do that like all the time. I used to rock out with my guitar like, not plugged in, just pretending I was in the band and my mom went up there and would be like "What the hell are you doing?" and I'd be like "Shut up! I'm practicing!" It was really embarrassing. I didn't even know what else to say I was so embarrassed, just rocking out in my bedroom by myself with my guitar listening to like Manowar.

You know what's funny is, one of my roommates after I moved out I was probably I think I was like nineteen or twenty and my friend was like, eighteen, he used to do that like all the time in his bedroom but he was older. We were like "What the fuck are you doing dude?" Like he put on Engine Down and you could hear it like blaring in his room and he'd be just jumping around like 'yeah! yeah!' Walk in and he's like rolling all around the floor and shit. We're like "What the hell dude, I can't believe this." It's crazy. He's a really good musician, too. Yeah, it's awesome, I love that kinda stuff.

OADN: What is the worst part about being in the music business?

AS: Man, the worst part about, you know, it is probably like, the industry itself. You know, being in bands like you know--I thought I had a lot of it figured out and now that we're really into the industry and like mainstream scene and stuff like it's sweet, but like having to do with all the real stuff behind it like paperwork and like figures and stuff like that--splits and everything--it's crazy. And I was a little letdown, but whatever I'm still having a good time.

OADN: What do you think is the best part?

AS: This, dude. Touring, like the fact that we have fans that have been out since three AM waiting outside is insane to me, which is incredible. We're totally flattered like kids who are like "Oh we flew from California just to see you guys. We already saw The Academy {Is...} when they came." It's like jeeze, like what do you say to that? That's amazing! Somebody bought plane tickets to fly over here just to see us play twenty-five minutes? Yeah, it's really incredible, like you know, once people start to recognize you and stuff like it's just--it's not overwhelming it's just really sweet. It's amazing, it's like I can't believe this is happening.

OADN: How do you deal with that? Do people just walk up to on the street like "Hey!"

AS: Yeah, I got mobbed outside for like thirty-five minutes. Like, it was freezing but I don't care, you know? Where would we be if we didn't have these kids that wanted to meet us and see us play, you know? So, I'll just hang out with them just talk and take pictures and whatever, sign stuff. Sign their shoes.

OADN: That seems to be a popular thing lately.

AS: Yeah it's really popular. It's crazy. There's this older dude who was probably like twenty-one, twenty-two and he was like "Can you sign my shoe?" I was like "Yeah... you sure? Alright dude."

OADN: Who would you consider the most influential person in your life, whether it's musically or just in general?

AS: The most influential person in my life, umm...

VICTORIA ASHER (keytarist, Cobra Starship): Victoria.

AS: Definitely not Victoria. Let's see... That's a tough one. Umm, like, I mean I was always really inspired by my family, you know? Like, my brother who was always into music, both my brothers are into music, we're all musicians. Um, I was always really into business because my dad's into business too, like uh, I don't know, man. I just--my friends and my family, you know? Those are the people who I'm surrounded by and like, influenced by and stuff. They support me and stuff like that, so...

OADN: What's your opinion on how the music industry's going today? Do you think the availability of free music and downloading is going to affect it negatively and be its downfall or do you think it can turn itself around?

AS: Alright, so I hear stuff all the time, like the record industry is going down, nobody's buying CDs anymore when you can download music for free which shouldn't stop bands from touring because, you know, it's a totally different world, touring and CDs. You make a CD so people can hear music and you tour so people can see you play. You know, those are two separate entities. So it's like, you know, maybe if it's smart, if it's put out right-- I heard a couple things like, they're going to start to re-release vinyl and then send like a little USB drive--what are those things? Flashdrive or something like that with the music on it so you can put it on your computer and then you also have like, because some people still like the layout and appreciate that kind of stuff, you know? So, I think that would be really sweet because I love records, so if they start making vinyl again that'd be insane because I have a pretty big vinyl collection.

OADN: Yeah, I know I need the artwork with it.

AS: Yeah! Artwork's like, massive so that's one thing you lose with digital download but a lot of people don't care you know? They don't want the space they don't want like a million CDs stacked up when you can just have {an iPod} and have like, a thousand records on there. How many songs is that, you know? I think It's alright that like, people download music and stuff, I mean, that helps out a lot of bands you know. My old band, we did alright, and then we started doing really well because of Napster when that was free in like 1999, 2000. MP3.com was free then too and we had like 20,000 plays which, back then wasn't a lot. Like, Thrice had 30,000 plays you know? Those kind of bands. But, I mean, I think it's a good thing. I mean, it might stop CD sales, it's gonna hurt record labels, but I think record labels can continue to keep going releasing stuff, they're just gonna have to think up something really clever.

OADN: At what point did you say to yourself "We're successful" or haven't you reached that point yet?

AS: Define successful.

OADN: By your standards. By how you would define successful.

AS: I mean, am I rolling around in money-successful? Definitely not. Am I successful in that fact that you know, I get recognized walking down the street somewhere? I guess you could say that. Sometimes, you know? But, I'm having a good time. I'm pretty successful, I mean, look what we do. I don't have to go home and work, which is pretty sweet. So like, I just travel the country, travel the world with The Academy Is... you know? I'd say I'm doing pretty alright.

OADN: Are you guys planning on doing any headlining outside the US?

AS: Outside? I'm not sure yet. I know we're trying to figure out what our year's gonna be looking like. We're doing our headliner in January, then we're gonna see what happens after that. I'm sure we're gonna go back to the UK eventually. And then, I don't know, maybe Warped Tour? That'd be really cool. I think the lineup's gonna be really good this year.

OADN: Is there anything you wish you could change about your career up until this point?

AS: Anything I could change... uhh I don't know. Well, Ryland and I did a coin toss to see who would play guitar and who would play bass.

OADN: Would you change it?

AS: Not really. I kinda like playing bass. It's just been really difficult after thirteen years of playing guitar to become a bass player, you know? It's a little harder than it looks, I guess. It's just--crappy you know? But it's kinda sweet, I kinda like it. Maybe I take it for granted a little, but I kinda don't mind it so much these days.

OADN: So do you prefer playing more large scale tours--like Honda Civic Tour was huge this year-- or do you prefer playing smaller, more intimate sets like the Sleeping With Giants tour has been?

AS: Uh, okay so the tour we're doing headlining is gonna be really sweet because it's gonna be really small. Those are really fun. Arenas and stuff like that are cool they're pretty neat. I don't like outdoor venues. Like Honda Civic Tour was mostly outdoor shows, like if you have to play during the daytime like we did it's not so fun for a band like us because we need lights and stuff like that. It really helps with our show. So those are kinda like 'eh'. Arenas--we did arenas with Panic! at the Disco like seven shows or something, that was really cool. I like the arenas. Arenas are fun, but they're really, like, impersonal. You look ten feet out and you can't see anybody it just looks like little tiny--like someone just threw, I don't know, glitter and there's sparks going off, flashes and you're just like 'are those even people?' It's crazy. I really love theaters. Theaters are so fun to me because it's like, it feels like such an event. You've got your name on the kiosk--not that we've ever headlined at a theater--but like, you get to play this really sweet place, there's like a balcony and it looks cool and they're usually like really old and have a lot of history behind them and like overseas we played a bunch of theaters with Fall Out Boy, we did the Decaydance Fest and that was just like--we played venues that The Beatles played. It was amazing. Those are my favorites because they're just really neat and really sweet. Theaters always have really cool backstages that have little trick doors and shit like that so yeah. The really small, intimate venues are really cool but I'm gonna have to go with theaters as my favorite. And that couldn't have been a longer answer.

OADN: What's the most difficult thing about touring?

AS: I mean, I guess everybody being away from home. Living on a bus with nine people, you know? It kind of sucks but we've managed to get along pretty alright. There's definitely a point of the tour where everybody gets into each others' hair .

OADN: How do your families and significant others deal with you being away all the time?

AS: Oh, dude. My girlfriend is not happy with me right now. She just saw the dates for the headliner, I'm gonna be like all the way like in Texas or something. I'm missing her birthday, Valentine's Day, and our second year anniversary all in like a month's span so she's not too stoked. She wishes that I was around more and my family, like, they're really excited for me but like, I missed Thanksgiving again this year and I get to go home for Christmas which is good, although I went and visited them before this tour, which is nice. I live in Brooklyn, but my parents live in Florida.

OADN: What has been your biggest challenge as a band?

AS: Our biggest challenge as a band is--I don't know. We're kinda just like riding on a train that can hardly stay on the tracks things are going so crazy, you know? We're just trying to work as hard as we can. It's a lot of work, we just had another record come out within the first year of our first record coming out and it's about to get pretty crazy I think , after the new year. We have the headliner and the new CD. We're gonna start doing videos and dropping singles and trying to get radio and things like that so it's gonna be pretty intense. That's probably our biggest challenge. We all get along.

OADN: What's the hardest sacrifice you've had to make?

VA: Relationships.
AS: Yeah, definitely relationships. We all take a toll on that one. That's probably the one thing that we all have in common. I mean, it's hard to be in a relationship and be out on tour eight months out of the year.

OADN: What are some of the perks of working with people like--you had Patrick Stump from Fall Out Boy produce your album and you toured with Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker from Blink 182 this summer, that's got to be insane.

AS: Oh dude that was so sweet. It was pretty crazy I mean, I wasn't ever like a huge Blink 182 fan, so like--Mark Hoppus is one of the nicest guys I've ever met. I mean, I'm sure I'd be stoked too if I had as much money as he does but he's just like really awesome, really positive all the time, like I never saw that guy upset or slightly upset or not smiling once, so that was really nice to know. It was like, man, here's this guy, he's probably one of the most famous dudes in the music industry for that kind of scene and I'm on tour with him and he's really happy all the time. That's awesome, it gives me something to look forward to. Working with Patrick was so awesome. We got along with him really well. He's insanely talented and just really creative and funny and we just like hung out like friends doing a record.



Alex and Victoria also took time to answer some questions that their fans sent in: