From their heavy-rock riffs and southern Tex-Mex aesthetics, to collaborations with famous Canadian artists such as Feist and Sloan, White Cowbell Oklahoma has proven to be a rock group like no other.
With a dedicated cult fan-base and over 12 years of critically praised shows, the recent release of their newest album Buenas Nachas sees them paving new style paths, while maintaining the classic rock style that has defined them to date.
Lead singer Clem Clemsen, in the midst of preparation for an upcoming headlining tour, took time to discuss the band’s newest addition during a phone interview with The Peak.
The Peak: Buenas Nachas seems very different from your old stuff. What led you guys to record this album?
Clemson: Put it all down to LSD [laughs]. To be honest, we were heavily inspired by Bosch paintings and David Lynch. We noticed that in Europe, the audience would applaud after the guitar solos and riffs which we borrowed from older bands, such as Pink Floyd and Deep Purple. So we decided to delve deeper into our older record collections to get more indulged in those styles, which I guess must have had an effect in our songwriting styles.
P: Sweet. So I heard you guys have reduced your band roster?
C: Yeah, we reduced our lead guitar players from nine to three in order to focus more on the harmonies and guitar-monies. Nine players was way too much to handle.
P: What would you say is the aesthetic you were going for with Buenas Nachas?
C: Well, at the start we were heavily inspired by ZZ Top’s 1976 album Tejas and the whole southern, desert, Mexico vibe. So we were definitely trying to reference that type of desert imagery containing coyotes, cows, truckers on meth, etc.
P: What does the title of the album mean?
C: A literal translation would be “Good Evening” in Spanish. However, we intentionally misspelled the “Nachas” as a play on words that translates to “Nice Ass” in Spanish slang.
P: Nice. It seems like you guys took a more artistic, euro-prog rock approach compared to your previous [records]; should fans expect more of these styles in future albums?
C: Yeah, definitely. Most of the members in the band actually have a lot of conceptual ideas that we sit around and discuss, while eating peanuts and dressing like the Illuminati.
P: Your shows have a reputation of being very energetic and spontaneous, i.e. strippers, pyrotechnics, etc. Should audiences still expect this energy during live shows?
C: Definitely! When it comes to live shows we want audiences to get what they pay for, when they are paying all this money for tickets. We grew up in a time when artists such as Alice Cooper and Kiss were incredibly popular and very theatrical; we try to retain that classic show experience that is not only a reiteration of our recordings, but an all encompassing show. We want audience members to have that memorable experience of being at a White Cowbell Oklahoma concert, rather than simply any concert.
P: Wow, definitely sounds like an experience! Cannot wait to see it! Last but not least, are you excited to come to Vancouver?
C: Very excited. We are really good friends with the co-headliner Big John Bates, so it’s going to be cool to get drunk and heckle them until they throw beer bottles at our faces. Overall, we are looking forward to it.
White Cowbell Oklahoma will headline alongside Big John Bates and special guests at the Biltmore Cabaret on November 13. For more information, visit whitecowbell.com.
