Cobra Starship Primer (Part 2: Tour Group)
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Cobra Starship (the touring band)
Obviously, it would be nearly impossible for the supergroup to all tour together. I mean, they all have their own bands who are expecting them to sing... So, Gabe puts together a touring group. From left to right, Ryland Blackinton (guitar) , Gabe (vocals), Elisa Schwartz (keytar), Nate Novarro (drums), and Alex Suarez (bass). They are the most random band ever.
However, not everything was hunky-dory with the Cobras, and in the middle of the second tour, Elisa was replaced on the keytar by Victoria Asher (aka Vicky-T) due to Elisa not being able to deal with life on tour and missing soundchecks, etc. Here is Cobra Starship, Vicky-T era.
I'm not exactly sure on the timeline at the very start of Cobra Starship. Alex, Ryland, Elisa, and Nate were brought on board early enough to be credited as "additional instrumentals by the Starship band" in the liner notes of While the City Sleeps..., but all the songs were written by Gabe, Dave Katz, and Sam Hollander, with the exception of "Keep It Simple", which was Gabe and Ted Leo. (Travie, of course, wrote his own rap in "Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)".)
However, the liner notes for the second album, Viva La Cobra!, declare "Cobra Starship is a band" and "All songs written by Cobra Starship with Patrick Stump".
The record--Cobra's second--came out on October 23, 2007 and critiques the VIP lifestyle (MTV article).
Viva! was written entirely while they were touring and was produced by Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy.
When Decaydance hit Las Vegas for the 2007 VMAs, Cobra Starship got to hang out in the Friends or Enemies suite with Fall Out Boy, Gym Class Heroes, and other friends. Everyone was scratchy-voiced from screaming and drinking, but it was still awesome.
Dramatis Persona, Take #2:
Elisa Schwartz is a classically trained pianist. Going from that to keytar just hurts my brain. She'd never been in a band before joining Cobra and probably wasn't prepared for life on a bus with 13 guys (on their first tour, Cobra shared a bus with GCH).
Her departure was highly dramatic (Cobra sent her a press statement to edit...she posted it along with an angry message on the Internet...Gabe shot back with a 21-page missive explaining just what she'd done to deserve being fired mid-tour). Like I said: dramatic. A copy of Gabe's 21-page long explanation of why they kicked Elisa out can be found in this thread. Oh, and Ryland and Alex's two-cents are tacked on the end.
Vicky-T (Victoria or Vicky-T, never Vicky) worked with Optimo. Her ex knew Alex, which is how she came to be a Cobra. She seems to have no problems with life on tour and is fitting in great. It's okay to have a crush on her.
She has a tiny black dog named Gizmo who she calls her boyfriend. He came on the Sleeping With Giants tour (Cobra got so much work done on the second album while on the Honda Civic Tour that they only need a couple weeks in the studio to record it. Once that was done...well, they got bored, and TAI brought them on as the opening act for the Sleeping With Giants tour, which was already under way), but she said he didn't do well and probably won't go back on the road with her.
She was a Maxim front page girl at their website. See? Pretty. Also, talented. There are several songs from her side project up on her myspace. "I Want You Dead" just proves she's meant to be a Cobra.
It's rumored she's the one who came up with the idea for the music video for "Send My Love to the Dance Floor, I'll See You In Hell (Hey Mr. DJ)". It's known that she was the genius behind the "Guilty Pleasure" video.
It's also rumored that Gabe stalked her on myspace before inviting her to play keytar in his band. She was a singer first, not a keytarist, but she does marvelously.
In her blog, she claims to be so shy that she usually comes off as a bitch, but she really isn't.
The keytarists can't seem to stay out of trouble though. At the end of HCT, Vicky-T got into some drama over a song she wrote called "Black and Light": MTV article. Enter again, Gabe the Spinmaster.
You know the koala is thinking "boobs..."
Then there's Nate Novarro. "Nasty Nate" as he likes to be called. He was the drum tech for Armor for Sleep when Gabe made the offer to him to join the Cobras. He's tiny and drums like a fiend.
Gabe: "Well actually, Nate Novarro, our beloved boy-toy drummer, was the first full-fledged Cobra. He committed to it right away; moved up from Atlanta and into my basement to join. And even after only being in Jersey City for 3 days and having his car stolen, his faith was unscathed; he never doubted the Cobra."
Gabe: "Nate just got out of high school and he’s the most mature one of all of us".
CS apparently got the same bus Armor for Sleep had been using, which meant Nate had been stuck on the same bus for god-knows-how-long. When he spoke up, they switched to a different bus because Nate never complains about anything.
At some point, he did have the chance to meet Maja Ivarrson.
Alex Suarez. Member of (This Is) Ivy League (along with Ryland) until Gabe came along and derailed their LP with his offer of membership in Cobra Starship.
The "London Bridges" EP is available for sale.
He and Alex met in 1997 when they were both in high school and then reunited many years later in New York.
Here he's DJing at a club. He plays bass and keyboard for Cobra. For Ivy League, he does guitar, drums, vocals, and beats.
He has promised to wear a full three-piece suit even on Warped Tour this summer. Gabe wants him to make one out of dental floss.
After high school, he studied cooking and has done at least one cooking segment in promotion of Cobra Starship. Sorry, ladies and gents, he's already got an adorable girlfriend, Lauren.
With the koala who has welcomed many, many bands to Australia.
'Ryland Blackinton'--that's what he wrote when I asked him to sign my shirt. It's legible too. When I more recently got him to sign a poster, his signature looks more like 'Ryla ♥'. The price of fame, I suppose.
He's tall and lanky and sometimes performs in all white.
He's also not British, but you might be fooled into thinking otherwise. He studied acting after high school and moved to New York to pursue that career. Lucky for us, he took a right turn into music when reunited with Alex.
Ryland's description of his job: "Wake up, load in, set up, play mario kart, soundcheck, watch Willow, shred, meet fans, watch Willow again(battle scenes) then fall asleep with my clothes on".
Sometimes, for kicks, he stars as "Guy Ripley, BBC reporter" on TAI...TV. Absolutely hysterical.
Guy Ripley appearances:
Guy Ripley's True Things
TAI TV Tour Finale
Guy Ripley's True Things: Reeding and Leeds part 1
Guy Ripley's True Things: Reeding and Leeds part 2
The Red Bus
Guy Ripley Sleeps With Giants
Other people who you might see mentioned:
Alex Sarti, the tour manager for the Honda Civic Tour
Julian Gilbert, the photographer. A lot of these pictures are from his gallery.
Lauren Dukoff, a friend of Victoria's who took quite a few of the pictures used in this primer.
Tony the Tour Manager, we know him best from managing TAI, but he was CS's tour manager for The Really, Really Ridiculously Good-Looking Tour.
Videos:
The Church of Hot Addiction. Second single of the record While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets. Features strippers, Mexicans, Elisa Schwartz, the band playing on a burnt-out upside-down car, and Gabe marrying a furry in a Jewish ceremony.
Send My Love to the Dance Floor, I'll See You in Hell (Hey Mr. DJ). You know the bit about the cobra I quoted above? This is the full story (shh...Nate, Ryland, Alex, and Vicky-T are really robots!)
Making the Video.
Guilty Pleasure. The official home video for the first Viva La Cobra! single.
The City Is At War. All white costumes! An albino dog! Playing _____ dealers in the Big City.
Slightly less professional videos:
Alex, dancing. Also, Gabe humps him.
Vicky-T popping up on stage. Guest appearance by Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy.
Nate, Vicky-T, Ryland, and Julian crammed in a car with Mike Carden, Bill Beckett, and two other people.
Cobra Starship's home-made Teletubby porn. I kid you not.
More dancing, but with Nate this time. I swear, the boy is the Stealth Cobra.
Ryland with his finger up his nose
Some people playing Mario Kart with Ryland. The really great part comes at the end when Gabe harasses Victoria about cutting her bangs.
Interview of Win with Alex and Ryland (Gabe proves he's an attention whore by butting in, but we love him anyway.)
Gizmo not being impressed with Gabe's shenanagins.
Nate is a Guitar Hero-playing fool
Gabe gives us a tour of the studio in Brooklyn where they're recording their second album.
Nate doing a Pete impression, and Gabe calling a street team member and then Alex Sarti called
Viva La Cobra is the first one of his own records that Gabe's bought.
Gabe goes shopping for his own album...and protests the price.
Gabe is a shoe whore who films himself in mirrors.
Ryland mocks Gabe and Alex gets orgasmic over a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.
Cobra Starship supports Light Bulbs for Burma
So, that's Cobra Starship. They're not here to save the world (or your life)--they're just trying to make sure you go out partying.
Cobra Starship (the touring band)
Obviously, it would be nearly impossible for the supergroup to all tour together. I mean, they all have their own bands who are expecting them to sing... So, Gabe puts together a touring group. From left to right, Ryland Blackinton (guitar) , Gabe (vocals), Elisa Schwartz (keytar), Nate Novarro (drums), and Alex Suarez (bass). They are the most random band ever.
However, not everything was hunky-dory with the Cobras, and in the middle of the second tour, Elisa was replaced on the keytar by Victoria Asher (aka Vicky-T) due to Elisa not being able to deal with life on tour and missing soundchecks, etc. Here is Cobra Starship, Vicky-T era.
I'm not exactly sure on the timeline at the very start of Cobra Starship. Alex, Ryland, Elisa, and Nate were brought on board early enough to be credited as "additional instrumentals by the Starship band" in the liner notes of While the City Sleeps..., but all the songs were written by Gabe, Dave Katz, and Sam Hollander, with the exception of "Keep It Simple", which was Gabe and Ted Leo. (Travie, of course, wrote his own rap in "Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)".)
However, the liner notes for the second album, Viva La Cobra!, declare "Cobra Starship is a band" and "All songs written by Cobra Starship with Patrick Stump".
The record--Cobra's second--came out on October 23, 2007 and critiques the VIP lifestyle (MTV article).
Viva! was written entirely while they were touring and was produced by Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy.
When Decaydance hit Las Vegas for the 2007 VMAs, Cobra Starship got to hang out in the Friends or Enemies suite with Fall Out Boy, Gym Class Heroes, and other friends. Everyone was scratchy-voiced from screaming and drinking, but it was still awesome.
Dramatis Persona, Take #2:
Elisa Schwartz is a classically trained pianist. Going from that to keytar just hurts my brain. She'd never been in a band before joining Cobra and probably wasn't prepared for life on a bus with 13 guys (on their first tour, Cobra shared a bus with GCH).
Her departure was highly dramatic (Cobra sent her a press statement to edit...she posted it along with an angry message on the Internet...Gabe shot back with a 21-page missive explaining just what she'd done to deserve being fired mid-tour). Like I said: dramatic. A copy of Gabe's 21-page long explanation of why they kicked Elisa out can be found in this thread. Oh, and Ryland and Alex's two-cents are tacked on the end.
Vicky-T (Victoria or Vicky-T, never Vicky) worked with Optimo. Her ex knew Alex, which is how she came to be a Cobra. She seems to have no problems with life on tour and is fitting in great. It's okay to have a crush on her.
She has a tiny black dog named Gizmo who she calls her boyfriend. He came on the Sleeping With Giants tour (Cobra got so much work done on the second album while on the Honda Civic Tour that they only need a couple weeks in the studio to record it. Once that was done...well, they got bored, and TAI brought them on as the opening act for the Sleeping With Giants tour, which was already under way), but she said he didn't do well and probably won't go back on the road with her.
She was a Maxim front page girl at their website. See? Pretty. Also, talented. There are several songs from her side project up on her myspace. "I Want You Dead" just proves she's meant to be a Cobra.
It's rumored she's the one who came up with the idea for the music video for "Send My Love to the Dance Floor, I'll See You In Hell (Hey Mr. DJ)". It's known that she was the genius behind the "Guilty Pleasure" video.
It's also rumored that Gabe stalked her on myspace before inviting her to play keytar in his band. She was a singer first, not a keytarist, but she does marvelously.
In her blog, she claims to be so shy that she usually comes off as a bitch, but she really isn't.
The keytarists can't seem to stay out of trouble though. At the end of HCT, Vicky-T got into some drama over a song she wrote called "Black and Light": MTV article. Enter again, Gabe the Spinmaster.
You know the koala is thinking "boobs..."
Then there's Nate Novarro. "Nasty Nate" as he likes to be called. He was the drum tech for Armor for Sleep when Gabe made the offer to him to join the Cobras. He's tiny and drums like a fiend.
Gabe: "Well actually, Nate Novarro, our beloved boy-toy drummer, was the first full-fledged Cobra. He committed to it right away; moved up from Atlanta and into my basement to join. And even after only being in Jersey City for 3 days and having his car stolen, his faith was unscathed; he never doubted the Cobra."
Gabe: "Nate just got out of high school and he’s the most mature one of all of us".
CS apparently got the same bus Armor for Sleep had been using, which meant Nate had been stuck on the same bus for god-knows-how-long. When he spoke up, they switched to a different bus because Nate never complains about anything.
At some point, he did have the chance to meet Maja Ivarrson.
Alex Suarez. Member of (This Is) Ivy League (along with Ryland) until Gabe came along and derailed their LP with his offer of membership in Cobra Starship.
The "London Bridges" EP is available for sale.
He and Alex met in 1997 when they were both in high school and then reunited many years later in New York.
Here he's DJing at a club. He plays bass and keyboard for Cobra. For Ivy League, he does guitar, drums, vocals, and beats.
He has promised to wear a full three-piece suit even on Warped Tour this summer. Gabe wants him to make one out of dental floss.
After high school, he studied cooking and has done at least one cooking segment in promotion of Cobra Starship. Sorry, ladies and gents, he's already got an adorable girlfriend, Lauren.
With the koala who has welcomed many, many bands to Australia.
'Ryland Blackinton'--that's what he wrote when I asked him to sign my shirt. It's legible too. When I more recently got him to sign a poster, his signature looks more like 'Ryla ♥'. The price of fame, I suppose.
He's tall and lanky and sometimes performs in all white.
He's also not British, but you might be fooled into thinking otherwise. He studied acting after high school and moved to New York to pursue that career. Lucky for us, he took a right turn into music when reunited with Alex.
Ryland's description of his job: "Wake up, load in, set up, play mario kart, soundcheck, watch Willow, shred, meet fans, watch Willow again(battle scenes) then fall asleep with my clothes on".
Sometimes, for kicks, he stars as "Guy Ripley, BBC reporter" on TAI...TV. Absolutely hysterical.
Guy Ripley appearances:
Guy Ripley's True Things
TAI TV Tour Finale
Guy Ripley's True Things: Reeding and Leeds part 1
Guy Ripley's True Things: Reeding and Leeds part 2
The Red Bus
Guy Ripley Sleeps With Giants
Other people who you might see mentioned:
Alex Sarti, the tour manager for the Honda Civic Tour
Julian Gilbert, the photographer. A lot of these pictures are from his gallery.
Lauren Dukoff, a friend of Victoria's who took quite a few of the pictures used in this primer.
Tony the Tour Manager, we know him best from managing TAI, but he was CS's tour manager for The Really, Really Ridiculously Good-Looking Tour.
Videos:
The Church of Hot Addiction. Second single of the record While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets. Features strippers, Mexicans, Elisa Schwartz, the band playing on a burnt-out upside-down car, and Gabe marrying a furry in a Jewish ceremony.
Send My Love to the Dance Floor, I'll See You in Hell (Hey Mr. DJ). You know the bit about the cobra I quoted above? This is the full story (shh...Nate, Ryland, Alex, and Vicky-T are really robots!)
Making the Video.
Guilty Pleasure. The official home video for the first Viva La Cobra! single.
The City Is At War. All white costumes! An albino dog! Playing _____ dealers in the Big City.
Slightly less professional videos:
Alex, dancing. Also, Gabe humps him.
Vicky-T popping up on stage. Guest appearance by Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy.
Nate, Vicky-T, Ryland, and Julian crammed in a car with Mike Carden, Bill Beckett, and two other people.
Cobra Starship's home-made Teletubby porn. I kid you not.
More dancing, but with Nate this time. I swear, the boy is the Stealth Cobra.
Ryland with his finger up his nose
Some people playing Mario Kart with Ryland. The really great part comes at the end when Gabe harasses Victoria about cutting her bangs.
Interview of Win with Alex and Ryland (Gabe proves he's an attention whore by butting in, but we love him anyway.)
Gizmo not being impressed with Gabe's shenanagins.
Nate is a Guitar Hero-playing fool
Gabe gives us a tour of the studio in Brooklyn where they're recording their second album.
Nate doing a Pete impression, and Gabe calling a street team member and then Alex Sarti called
Viva La Cobra is the first one of his own records that Gabe's bought.
Gabe goes shopping for his own album...and protests the price.
Gabe is a shoe whore who films himself in mirrors.
Ryland mocks Gabe and Alex gets orgasmic over a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.
Cobra Starship supports Light Bulbs for Burma
So, that's Cobra Starship. They're not here to save the world (or your life)--they're just trying to make sure you go out partying.