by Ari Roth
Spider Rockets have been around for quite some time now – they trace their origins back 16 years to 1998, when they originally formed as a duo – but they are finally beginning to break through on a wider level than ever before. With the release of their most recent record, 2012’s Bitten, they made a significant leap both musically and in terms of public attention, with an album full of powerful, direct, well-developed hard rock songs. The band’s playing was more focused, and vocalist Helena Cos explored themes of “love, hate, interesting uses of power, anger and fun.” In fact, as Cos revealed to me, they are already in the process of writing the next album. Although she admits that it’s early enough in the process that “right now it probably is fair to say that I can’t see the forest from the trees,” she does affirm that it will likely “follow from our last record in that it will be a streamlined, straight ahead record for the most part. Unless we find a new tree in the forest…”
Spider Rockets have become known for their elaborate live shows, keeping their fans satisfied even as the band maintains a careful pace of studio releases. Spider Rockets “aim to bring our music to life for the audience and make it memorable,” and Cos fantasizes about a Spider Rockets dream show featuring “shooting rockets, flying spiders, flying members of Spider Rockets, a cat walk, many, many lights and boatloads of confetti and balloons shooting out at the audience at the end.” Still, the band has made its mark in the nitty gritty world of hard touring city to city. Cos fondly recalls “freezing our asses on tour with Pop Evil in the middle of the winter in the Midwest,” as well as successful jaunts with Saliva, Papa Roach, Steel Panther and Trapt. At a particularly wonderful New York state show with the latter, Cos remembers the concert becoming “a magical night where the fans and bands became one for a huge party.” A feature on the cult punk staple Warped Tour certainly didn’t hurt their profile, and interest in the band has been growing steadily for years, in large part due to their commitment to live performances.
Cos, who grew up involved in musical theater and classical music in high school is certainly a powerful frontwoman, but she’s quick to highlight the collaborative role that each member plays in the band. Both creatively and as part of a functioning unit at home and on the road, each band member contributes something crucial to the dynamic. It isn’t always easy, though. She says that “a band is like a family. You love each other, you hate each other and sometimes you just are.” The band is made up of many personalities, and each contributes something different. Cos identifies herself as “the day-to-day worker bee,” an important quality to have when you’re in the music business for this long.
Cos describes guitarist Johnny Nap as “pretty laid back, but he is the guy everyone turns to. He’s the rock. He doesn’t make a big fuss about things, but gets the job done—whether it is writing the riff for a new song or fixing something that’s broke.” Oftentimes, Johnny’s writing on guitar will serve as the foundation for an entire song, although Cos also went in-depth on how Spider Rockets songs can come about in many different ways. In particular, she describes Bitten highlight and album closer “Bring Me Around” as “a Frankenstein for us. We recorded it in parts and pieced them together. We wrote parts of it in the studio, too. Also in the mixing process, parts were pieced together. It is really satisfying the way the music and vocals weave in and out bringing the mood of the song to the forefront. It’s a pretty deep song with some dark lyrics. A bit soul bearing…”
It isn’t all business and darkness, though, and the band has some lovable quirks. As Cos tells me, “[drummer] Dan [Prestup] can eat his way out of a hole in the ground and makes sure we don’t miss too many meals on the road. He has a sixth sense for when a Denny’s is within a couple of miles I’ve seen him wake up from a dead sleep on the road and say, ‘hey, isn’t there a Denny’s around here?’ And he gets it right more times than not. [Bassist] Greg [Manning] is the band’s comic relief and in-house intellectual,” with the former characteristic certainly present on this hilarious promo video that the band shot for a show just a few days ago.
Prestup isn’t just a formidable eater: he’s also one of the most accomplished, virtuosic, and downright speediest drummers on the planet, winning several awards, including 1st place in the “fastest feet” category at 2005’s NAMM Show. Despite his prodigious capabilities, Cos lauds the fact that Prestup “is very conscious of playing for the song. We actively work on that as a band and when we write together, the song is always forefront—not technical prowess or tricks.” This ultimately is one of the band’s greatest strengths, something that makes them stand out amid a rock and metal climate that often favors showy instrumental skills over songcraft and musicality. Cos does acknowledge that “in terms of musical evolution, we like exploring. If you look through our catalog, you can easily find songs where we branched out a bit,” and the band has certainly evolved and experimented throughout its history. Still, she stresses that “we temper the exploring with crafting songs that we feel are memorable. A good riff or hook is priceless.” As Spider Rockets have matured, they’ve honed in on the living core of each song, mastering the difficult art of songcraft and growing as a band in the process.
While the band continues to write and record great music, they have also embraced social media as a way to “bring us close with fans even when we are not close by.” The band has a huge social media following, with their band-managed Twitter account in particular giving them “that immediate connection” with their followers. Without being signed to a major record label, the band has been able to broaden its fanbase through both touring and the internet, particularly their popular music videos on Youtube. On that front, Cos announced in our interview that the band also plans to unveil a brand new video in a month, which is certainly something to look forward to. Other plans include touring, further writing and recording for their hotly anticipated next release, a feature for their music on TV, following on the heels of Bitten’s opener “Going Down” appearing on WWE wrestling earlier last year. Whatever the future holds, Spider Rockets are in it for the long haul, and they will keep on honing their craft and rocking out for years to come.
If you like what you hear, the band is playing in Philadelphia this Saturday, August 16th, at the Legendary Dobbs, along with Marc Lancaster, Spin, The Defused, and Taking October. Tickets are still available, and you can purchase them at the bar’s site here.
