If You Go
77 Daniel Street
Portsmouth, NH
(About 50 minutes from downtown Manchester)
PORTSMOUTH, NH – If you’re looking for a weeknight funk party, you need to head over to The Press Room when Cool Cool Cool lands March 12 as part of their Never Noticed Tour.
I had a chance to talk ahead of the performance with co-vocalist Shira Elias and co-vocalist & percussionist Sammi Garett about the band’s roots, touring with a couple legendary musicians and what folks should be on the lookout for in the coming months.
Rob Duguay: Cool Cool Cool started out in 2022 after the end of the funk band Turkuaz, which you both were a part of, the previous year. In what ways does this current band you’re in set itself apart from your previous band?
Shira Elias: The personnel is a little different and basically it’s an amalgamation of the eight of us and all of our collaborative styles together. It’s definitely still a high-energy funk band and we’re always throwing a party, but Turkuaz was more of a singular vision and now this is a little bit more of a collaborative situation. It’s the eight of us all putting in our styles, our visions and seeing what comes out of it.
RD: You just mentioned that the band consists of eight people, so how stressful can it get when it comes to getting together to exchange ideas for songs and the other aspects that come with being in a band? Is there a lot of exchanging of schedules that come into play?
Sammi Garett: We’ve been playing together for a while now and we just know each other so well. We kind of just all fall into place with songwriting and collaborating and it’s extremely easy to work with everyone. I think that’s why this works so well, we’re all very easy to work with and we all love working with each other so it’s just great.
SE: Yeah, schedules can definitely be hard to line up. We’re all spread out throughout the country so it takes some effort, but we make it work.
RD: It’s awesome that you’re able to function that way. This current tour you’re on, which includes a stop at The Press Room, is in support of the single “Never Noticed” that came out last November. Where was it recorded and what was the experience like making the track?
SG: It was recorded at Color Red Studios in Colorado and it was our very first 100% collaborative song that we all wrote together. We all sat down and really worked it out in the studio, we recorded it, it came together and we really love how it came out.
RD: I think it came out great from listening to it. Another thing that Cool Cool Cool did last year was being the opening act for Jerry Harrison from Talking Heads and Adrian Belew from King Crimson as part of a tour celebrating Talking Heads’ seminal album “Remain In Light.” How did you all get linked up with them for this run of shows and what are each of your favorite memories from being part of it?
SE: That experience, and we’re continuing to do it, has been a dream. It’s obviously super iconic, legendary people and the music has influenced us a ton so getting to be a part of that and hear all the stories has been such an honor. It’s amazing to work with both Jerry and Adrian, they’re not only prolific musicians and heroes, they’re also amazing human beings. Having them be our bosses while learning from them has been a wild ride but really amazing.
SG: It’s even extra special because we all grew up listening to their music and even before we met them, we were covering Talking Heads songs. Now, to be playing with members of that band, it makes it even more of a magical and wonderful experience.
RD: That’s fantastic. To follow up, this single you have out, can we expect a full-length album from Cool Cool Cool at some point this year?
SE: We’ve been working on a lot of new music. As far as the exact timelines, we’re still kind of working that out, but a full-length album is definitely on the horizon and we’re going to be releasing some new music very soon.
