Nik Allen, Mike Daab, Mike “Too Smooth” Schmitt, and “Dirty” Jon Hasselbring comprise CU’s newest powerpop dynamo, Hot Cops. A resurrection of sorts of the local Green Light Go, the band made a stunning debut this past March at the Canopy Club. This week, buzz got a chance to sit down and find out what these off-beat rockers are all about, according to themselves.
buzz: How does Hot Cops’ sound compare to UK “shoegaze” rock?
Hot Cops: We think we’re a little more lively than shoegaze. You can hear the vocals, it doesn’t drone as much, and it’s definitely faster. That’d be where the power pop angle comes in. We each listen to a lot of different bands, and the influences are still being melded together. Nik likes the “wall of sound”, so he plays a lot of open tunings, uses a shit-ton of reverb, and loops his guitar to death. That’d be the shoegaze side of it. Mike, our bassist, likes playing songs with a lot of energy and dynamics, so that gives us our lively side. “Too Smooth”, our drummer, enjoys fancy math-y beats mixed in with straight power pop, so that gives it that body. And, “Dirty” Jon, well, Dirty Jon likes to rock. We try not to interrupt him when he’s rocking.
buzz: If the band could choose any venue in the world to perform at, where would Hot Cops play?
Hot Cops: Peoria Pizza Works. Free popcorn and all the Candytown you can play!
buzz: Tell me the story behind the band’s name, “Hot Cops.”
Hot Cops: “The Police” was already taken, so, yeah, we picked the next best thing.
buzz: What is the band currently working on? Any long-term aspirations?
Hot Cops: A demo, and, if the demo sounds good enough, an EP. A Midwest tour would be swell, but we need some capital as well as some more time off work.
buzz: What’s up with bananas? (i.e., all the banana references on the band’s myspace page)
Hot Cops: Banana is the common name for a fruit and also the herbaceous plants of the genus Musa, which produce the commonly eaten fruit. They are native to the tropical region of Southeast Asia and Australia. Today, they are cultivated throughout the tropics.
Hot Cops plays at Cowboy Monkey tonight at 11 p.m., no cover!
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