Hot Action Cop – Interview

Interview with Hot Action Cop frontman Rob!

How long has Hot Action Cop been together?

Hot Action cop has been together for about two years.

Did you put the band together after getting signed?

I had a different band, but it was just a Nashville thing. This town is very competitive. You go to New York and you don’t feel the sense of competition because it’s so big. But here everyone wants to be in a band. Our drummer and bass player wanted to lead their own band and they got bored.

Did you bring the style to the band?

I wrote the whole record, all the music and lyrics. Some of the songs on the record, the last, hidden song I wrote like fifteen years ago.

Wow, that’s the first time I’ve heard that. That is a long time.

I know, it’s something that has always been bumping around. You get money coming in from a label you get time to work on them.

I can tell by listening to the record that you listen to a lot of different stuff. Did you shoot for diversity or did your listening just come out?

Definitely both. I listen to everything. I’d like that to be reflected in my understanding of music as a writer. I don’t want to just get big off sexual innuendo, heavy guitar, or whatever to hook a young audience. I find fans are really getting it. They really understand it. I love music and they seem to feel it. It’s really cool.

When you are working on the music, what is the foundation; beats, guitar, or lyrics?

I usually turn on the local hip-hop station. The biggest thing in Nashville is the hip-hop stations, they have three I think and they dominate the radio. I just start listening to stuff and strum along on the guitar then turn off the radio and work something out. Everything is guitar based.

It sounds like southern hip-hop for sure.

It is. I’ve been listening to hip-hop since the early ‘80s.

Same as me, I listened to Metallica and the Beastie Boys at the same time. So I can understand how someone who is younger or older doesn’t totally understand since it’s really a part of our generation.

You said it right there man. I knew most people would think that I was just another white guy rapping. But that is why I love the southern style because of how they flow over the beats. I just wanted what I’m listening to be reflected in my style.

So was it Outkast?

Actually it was early Ludacris.

Really?

Yeah. I love that stuff. It sounds like they have fun when they are doing it and I wanted that.

What comes first? Music or lyrics?

Definitely the melodies. Whenever I listen to Radiohead I get inspired. They have these ‘70s AM radio type melodies. It’s really cool. All of the sudden if I get an idea I’ll throw a hook together. I love how they do it in hip-hop where they get a chant going like they are in a military march. You put a couple of words together and it’s a song.

How did you get signed to Lava?

Well we were recording a demo and were going to release it ourselves. We were playing around in Nashville and I had this four song EP with Michael Baker and he was playing it around and people were telling him that he should shop it for a deal. He shopped it around and we got like six or seven offers.
You’ve got some good artists on that label, Kid Rock for one.

They have guys who can make a big bang and some who can confuse people, but the one thing about Lava is they aren’t afraid to try shit.

I saw the video for “Freak For The Flava”, where did that concept come from? Especially since you don’t really appear in it much except for your heads.

Well I’m a very normal looking guy. I don’t worry about my image. If you come and see us live we put on a high-energy show and have fun doing it. People like it more when you are who you are. I don’t have piercing or tattoos. It’s okay for other people, but for me it’s just a very join the club sort of thing. I wear glasses and shit and I don’t really care. Unfortunately from the record label standpoint they start to freak out because I don’t have anything. (We both laugh) There is no long hair, baldhead or anything; I’m just a normal dude. I think they got scared by it and didn’t know how to approach a video. That is my feeling on it.

It was pretty funny.

Marc Klasfeld is a genius. He’s got great ideas and he is very creative. He did the Alien Ant Farm video for “Smooth Criminal”. But for our video I think he had a lot of restrictions on him because I think they said “Look, this guy doesn’t have much of an image so…” (We both laugh) Tell that to a video director and he doesn’t know what to do.

Well Moby isn’t exactly flowing with image.

Exactly. That is the thing; all around the world you can take normal looking guys and focus on who they are.

Radiohead doesn’t have any image.

Exactly. They don’t focus on their image and neither do their fans and they have millions of them.

+ charlie craine