Unapologetically fueled by rage and inner power, Spider Rockets‘ discography feels like you are standing in the eye of a hurricane. Frontwoman Helena Cos’s vocals rain down upon the multilayered instrumentals with thunderous vibrations that shake the earth while guitarist Johnny Nap electrifies the soundscape with
his guitar riffs.
Spider Rockets started in New Jersey, and eventually scaled up to premiere venues and music festivals such as the Vans Warped Tour, Popcomm, and touring with Puddle of Mudd, Saliva, Framing Hanley, Trapt, Saving Abel, and Tantric, among others.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Spider Rockets about the impossible task of choosing a favorite song and why you should focus on favorite colors instead, dream collabs, their latest project and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Are you able to choose a favorite song of all time? Or would you label this an impossible task?
Wow, that is a killer first question! How about: what’s your favorite color? An easier question. Mine is black, by the way. Classic, badass, goes with everything. My most unfavorite color: pink. Can’t do it. No pink hair, clothes, fingernails or accessories. I cringe at the idea of pink. It’s my kryptonite. Pink is Pepto Bismol – yes, there is a reason for that. And, wearing pink makes me look sickly – just saying. But getting back to music, let’s talk about influences instead. As for the band, our influences range from Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Metallica and Godsmack, with serious doses of AC/DC, Stevie Ray Vaughn and maybe a touch of Anthrax. For myself, I would add Green Day for their punk cheekiness and pop sensibility, System of a Down for their frantic yet super catchy musicality. Also, Avenged Sevenfold for their punk-metal hook-laden full-throttle assault. And, Disturbed for super strong anthemic, melodic songs within a heavy rock feel.
What about your single, “Casual Violence,” makes you most proud? Was there a specific goal you were trying to accomplish with this single release and the video?
First off, I am very happy about the way “Casual Violence” evolved. There’s a certain dichotomy in the title itself that we wanted to portray musically throughout the song. A balance between melody and muscle. With overtones of dark decadence. The song is about the nastiness that we inflict on each other. How we can be nonchalantly careless yet incredibly vicious – on purpose or even without even thinking. In the music video, we wanted the imagery and pace of the video to match the vibe of the song itself without being dreary or too serious. I think we achieved the right balance. Honestly, the response has been awesome – we are so glad people are enjoying the song and music video!
What inspires you to create music? What motivates you to keep going?
Life is inspiration, basically. The ups and downs, the scary things around the corner that you can’t see and the past that stalks you just because it can. Even the embarrassing moments. Managing to capture a snapshot of these experiences and emotions in a song can be thrilling and incredibly satisfying.
If you could collaborate with anyone – dead or alive, famous or unknown – who would it be and why?
Someone I would want to write music with? Or to perform music with? That’s not something I really think about. As a band, we already work together that way. Johnny, our lead guitarist, comes up with a riff and I come up with the lyrics and melody, to start the process. Sometimes, I have lyrics or a melody first. Regardless, we collaborate and then bring the ideas to the rest of the band. Then, we all hash it out and fine tune until we feel a song is complete. It’s pretty fulfilling to be able to work together creatively like that and feel that we are doing better work each time. Finally, we bring the songs to our producer and go through another round of analysis and rewrites. I don’t have a craving or urge to work with a particular someone outside our circle – just for the sake of it. The focus for me is just doing what we do and doing it well.
What was the last song you listened to?
I just got back from picking up a few things at the grocery store where I heard “Hotel California” for the millionth time. Yes, I was singing it while I strolled through the canned goods aisle, like a little weirdo. Ha! Anyway, always loved that song, the way it unfolds slowly and travels through a dark creepy story and climaxes with the epic dual guitar lead.
Where is the best place to find you and stay connected?
Website: www.spiderrockets.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/spiderrockets
Twitter: www.twitter.com/spiderrockets
TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@spiderrockets
YouTube: http://youtube.com/spiderrockets
I appreciate Your time. Want to say anything else before we part ways?
Check out our “Casual Violence” music video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNzyLd8oxVY. We invite you to keep up with us on our website and the other sites above where we will have some announcements coming soon!
