Introducing: Wildcohen
Technicolour psych-dance duo from Sheffield…
YOUR NAME: Rob Cohen
BAND NAME: WildCohen
WHAT DO YOU DO/PLAY? I sing, and play guitar mainly, but I do venture into drums and the world of keyboards and pianos and drum programming and sound FX. I love sound FX and psychedelic backwards weirdness!
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN TOGETHER AS A BAND/PLAYING MUSIC?
I first met Jody Wildgoose, when he was playing in The Various Vegetables. I was in Marmalade Sun at the time. Marmalade Sun supported Jody’s band, and we both used to busk in and around Yorkshire. So we used to help each other out, and do the occasional duet together. We started working together on the WildCohen project Summer 2015, so we have been playing music years, under various bands, but WildCohen have only been together two years.
GIVE US THREE REASONS WHY WE SHOULD TRACK DOWN, LISTEN AND DISCOVER YOUR MUSIC?
I personally think it is the best project I have been involved in. When people talk about the x-factor of one person, I also think there is an extra factor as a combination of people that work together within a unit. When we started work on WildCohen, I knew straight away from the first song ‘Leave A Light On’ that this was bigger than anything I had done before,. Not sure why, but there was a spark! And I think we are attempting to do something different, that is ever-changing, that we both believe in passionately. That is the most important reason you should check us out!
WHERE DO YOU SOUND BEST – FESTIVAL, CLUB, BEDROOM – OR SOMEWHERE ELSE?
We are hoping to take our sound to all of the above and somewhere else. The only thing we haven’t fully ventured into is dance music, although a lot of the music I write starts off as a dance mix and then turns into something else. I generally write a lot of dance music and Jody is an amazing multi-instrumentalist and songwriter and arranger, so, he pulls apart my ideas and injects multiple levels of ideas into it. I am not sure how he does it, but he is a bit of a genius like that!
WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST … RECORD?
‘Remember You’re a Womble’ by The Wombles, when I was about three, but the first serious album I got was Sgt Pepper, when I was about eight. I remember not being impressed by the music around at the time, and then my uncle gave me Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and even through it was about 20-years-old as an album, it was life-changing.
CD?
First CD was Jimi Hendrix, Axis Bold As Love, which still is one of my favourite albums ever. I bought it because I liked the cover, and also because it was one of the first CDs to be produced along with the Beatles and Stones.
DOWNLOAD?
First track I downloaded was Searching for Sugarman, at the time of downloading music and iPods. I had most of the classic albums I could find from 60s and 70s, but Rodriguez was an amazing find, I think I heard about him, as a dance DJ had done a remix of the original track, and I had to go and try and find some more music by him after that, and at the time it was only available on download.
SO, WHEN IT ALL GOES RIGHT AND YOU’VE GOT A MANSION AND A SUPERMODEL GIRL/BOYFRIEND, WHAT WILL BE YOUR BIGGEST MUSICAL INDULGENCE?
I don’t want any of the above. I have everything right now. I’m an opulent man, if that is the in the right context. I am married with a two-and-a-half-year-old that is like a whirlwind. I just want to carry on enjoying what I am doing and keep on having the time to do what I am doing. Which can be difficult, as anyone will know who has a family. I would imagine my biggest musical indulgence might be to, eventually, have the money to invest in the musical youth. I don’t mean ‘Pass the Dutchie’. If I had the money, there are hundreds of amazing artists and bands around now, that I have found on YouTube or Spotify throughout the UK. I would like to invest in and get all that great music out to peoples’ ears! There isn’t much out there to help anyone these days. I would like to change this, if I had the opportunity to indulge in that sort of thing.
SO, WHEN IT ALL GOES WRONG AND YOU’VE ACRIMONIOUSLY BROKEN UP CITING HUGE MUSICAL DIFFERENCES, WHAT DO YOU FALL BACK ON?
I am an artist by day, so as long as I have arms and hands I will be painting and designing, I do all the shirts and artwork for Spoonjuice Records and Creative Abuse, and anyone who wants to employ me to visualise something for them, I did alot of work for Festival 23 last year, so I am always busy with something creative!
CITE SOME INTER-BAND MUSICAL DIFFERENCES…
I really don’t think there are any and I love all kinds of music and so does Jody. I don’t put things in pigeonholes. There are amazing pieces of music from dance through to classical with everything in-between. We are both influenced by everything, and at some point within our mixing pot I hope that WildCohen manage to mix everything that is good that influences us both into that same melting pot!
WHO ARE YORKSHIRE’S FINEST IN CULTURE, SPORT AND MUSIC?
I think you would have to give me an A4 sheet of paper to get this all down. I can’t speak for sport as I don’t follow any kind of sports, but the best unsigned rock band I have heard recently is Heads Off or anything Danny Lowe is involved in. Best dance stuff Lords of Flatbush or anything Steve Edwards is working on or Hiem (Electronic Duo). Best Indie bands Fizzy Blood, White Light, Best Friends or Splashh are amazing. The best 60s pop stuff, The Clear. Best solo artist either Michael Eden, Ian Britt, Neil McSweeney or Steve Edwards again. And that is just what I am listening to at the moment. There are hundreds of really great unsigned bands all over Yorkshire. It’s impossible to keep up with it,. If anyone wants to tell me about bands I am missing out on, let me know. I am always interested to hear anything else amazing out there. I am definitely a connoisseur of fine bands and unsigned diamonds in the rough!
NAME YOUR SUPERGROUP – WHO’S PLAYING WHAT AND WHO’S ON VOCALS?
I have discussed this with various musicians over the years and everyone has a different answer. But I like the idea of John Lennon on vocals, Jimi Hendrix on lead guitar, George Harrison on rhythm guitar, John Bonham on drums and John Paul Jones on keyboards and bass.
GO SEE THIS FILM: Sugarman (documentary). If it has to be a film, Arrival. That was an amazing film!
GO READ THIS BOOK: The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions: The Official Story of the Abbey Road Years 1962 – 1970.
GREAT LOST BAND/ARTIST: Rodriguez.
WOULDN’T BE CAUGHT DEAD SUPPORTING: The current political mess that runs (ruins) the UK.
LONDON, L.A OR LEEDS? Leeds for definite. London is just too fast and I am from Yorkshire. Anywhere that has two speeds on an escalator is just not anywhere I want to be,. And L.A. I have never been, so I can’t comment.
AND FINALLY… AS YOU LEAVE THE STAGE, WHAT ARE YOUR PARTING WORDS.
BloochyKoo, the mother of all universes is watching you! But are you listening?
More info: wildcohen.co.uk
Band image: Carl Rose
