Triple Cobra Jun 6 @ Cafe Du Nord

Attiss Ngoval

Billy Fortune

D'aria Rose

Athena Valbracht

Ryan Blair

Paul Volpe


LittleBook: Why did you start a band??
Triple Cobra: Bands are awesome. They totally get you chicks and make you tons of money.

LB: How did you find each other??
TC: Some of us were old friends from Minneapolis. Some of us met on the street. Some of us met through other bands. We've been through a lot of lineup changes.

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??
TC: There are many. A lot of cool shit happens on tour. As far as the glamour goes, getting picked by Spin as the best discovery of SXSW this year was pretty cool, but that's hardly a moment. We've had a lot of glorious stage mishaps, which are always memorable. We've had countless wardrobe malfunctions (such as pants ripping while doing a guitar solo in the splits), prop malfunctions (such as accidentally firing the BARREL of a confetti cannon into the face of an audience member), dance malfunctions (such as tripping over a wire hutch and falling into a row of stage lights and consequently taking down a silhouette screen in the process) and other hilarious accidents. It definitely keeps it fun. Other than what goes wrong, what goes right tends to be pretty memorable too - it's hard to forget a crowd of 600 fully costumed drunks rushing the stage on Halloween and getting up there with us to sing "hey hey yeah!" at the top of their lungs.

LB: Where do you practice? What do you drink at practice? What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?
TC: We practice at Secret Studios in San Francisco. It's like the country club of rehearsal spaces. We drink Manhattans and when we're not practicing we sit by the pool.

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009?
TC: The hardest thing about being a band in this day and age is that shitty bands have just as much access to DIY media as anyone else. It's harder now than ever to convince people that you're not just another bullshit band who spends more time accumulating friends on myspace than touring. People have waaaayyyyyyyy too much garbage to sift through these days before they find anything good. Of course, the interweb can work to your advantage as well - I'm not trying to downplay its importance, just pointing out its folly as well. Lousy bands. Why can't more of them be good? Think of all the cool shit people could do if they just quit trying to be in bands and explored other areas of their lives.

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??
TC: We are touring the US and Canada in June. It will be awesome, yeah-ha. We want people to know that they will get a completely rad and exciting live show if they come and see us. We're all about playing live. Records are cool, but they don't sweat all over you and you can't buy them drinks afterwards.

LB: What's up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??
TC: Our CD is available at our shows, on websites like iTunes, Napster & Rhapsody (and others), and at certain stores. We recorded it at Coast in San Francisco. We also have a 3-song EP which is basically a limited-edition digital only download. You can get that at our shows or at www.triplecobra.com

LB: Favorite San Francisco Band or a memorable show??
TC: Most memorable San Francisco show: Halloween 2007 @ 12 Galaxies. Over 600 in attendance in that tiny place. It was insane. It's going to be even better this year - for Halloween 2009 we'll be at The Rickshaw Stop.

LB: Favorite venue to Play??
TC: The Independent

LB: Have you played the Cafe Du Nord before? What do you like it?
TC: We played Cafe Du Nord in February. It's a great place, despite having a small stage. I like it because if it's raining outside you can sit at the bar and watch people fall down the stairs as they come in.

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice??
TC: I take my shirt off because I am sweaty and because I have a beautiful body. We're still working on getting the girls to take their shirts off, but so far we have not been successful.

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??
TC: Our lighting guy.

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??
TC: Fried chicken. Red wine.

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??
TC: It's heading for awesomeness as long as you stick with Triple Cobra.

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free , do you offer free downloads??
TC: We don't offer free downloads. If you want to steal our album, we are in total support of that, but we will not facilitate it. It's nice when people give us money, but if money is going to stop someone from enjoying our music or seeing a show - - - steal the album. Sneak into the show. Enjoy yourself. Money is totally cool, but there are things that are way better.

Perfect Machines - Friday Jan. 9th @ Thee Parkside, SF

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??
Sam: When I started starting bands back in grade school I did it for girls, popularity, and for the incredible amount of teen angst that had been building in my brain ever since girls and popularity had become an important part of my life. These reasons for starting bands were fleeting and after awhile I continued writing songs because I became addicted to it. It's very therapeutic. Playing live is a rush too and I couldn't imagine my life without it. I would be a very boring, stifled person without music. Johnny: I did it to get Dudes. Seriously. Adam: I've been playing music and been in bands since before high school and I can't imagine a life with out either of those things in my life in one way or another.

LB: How did you find each other??
Sam: I have not been in a band without Adam since I was fifteen. We have known each other since the age of two and I can't think of anyone who I can sync up to so quickly on a creative level. When we jam it's like our thoughts exist outside of our heads for each other to read. So when Perfect Machines started back in 2005 with just Ben (our former guitarist) and I down in Santa Cruz, I pushed hard to have Adam, from an hour north in San Francisco, be our drummer. Johnny came to us after our original bassist left about a year ago and since then we have progressed far beyond the realms of the average garage band. Johnny keeps Perfect Machines blood pumping. He has an incredible business mind and and ability to promote. As a band, there is a very good balance of personality and expertise from each person which makes for every base to be covered as well as very tight bonds of friendship to exist.
Johnny: I was getting antsy sitting behind the drum kit in my last band. A mutual friend of ours alerted me to Perfect Machines needing a new bass player. I checked out their tunes, and it was love at first bite.

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??
Sam: About a year and a half ago we played a show for a Solis Clothing store event in San Francisco. It was catering to the ritzy SF club scene. There were DJ's, celebrity guests like UFC fighter Randy Couture and Jenny McCarthy's little sister (who is apparently a Playboy Playmate). There were living mannequins modeling the clothing and Champagne being handed out by models... and we were the entertainment.... a shitty local punk band. It was awesome. We made absolutely no contacts and didn't sell any CD's that night but the Solis clothing store gave each of us whatever clothing we put on. We easily walked out of that place with over $1000 of clothing that I never wear.

Johnny: Playing to a sold out crowd at Slim's opening for The Horrorpops. I had to work my ass off to book that show. Persistence is key. Adam: I have personally have too very memorable moments. The first is our CD release party which we had at 111 Minna art gallery in San Francisco, and the other is the first time we played Slim's.

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??
Adam: Post show: Jack n' Coke. Sam: I can't eat at least three hours before a show. I don't know why I do it. It isn't nerves. I think it is the tiny superstitious part of me that has noticed that in the past, when I ate before a show, bad things happened. I don't know. Sometimes this can prove to be detrimental, like when I don't eat at all that day and almost faint on stage. After the show: I drink my weight in Whiskey. Johnny: Pre-show: 2 beers. Enough to loosen me up, but not enough to get me sloppy. Post show: All bets are off.

LB: What do you drink at practice??
Sam: Glory! Johnny: On rare occasions we'll have a few beers, but usually just water. We get down to business at rehearsal. Adam: Water and Soda. Boring.

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a Bay Area Band??
Sam: Being broke has destroyed so many great Bay Area bands. It's been tough for us too. When you are in your 20's and you've been doing this for over 10 years, Mom's garage isn't really an option for a practice studio anymore. Practice spaces are expensive and few and far between but a necessity for most bands in San Francisco. It's also pretty hard to get a gig that pays more than we end up spending at the bar that night. Perfect Machines is very nice to their bartenders. Johnny: Getting outside of the Bay Area Bubble. Adam: The Bay Area Scene is the hardest part of being a Bay Area band I think. It has gotten better in recent years but it's been a hard climb back towards what it used to be.

LB: What's next for Perfect Machines??
Sam:
Right Now:
1. You can listen to us on any Ecast jukebox in the world. They are in bars all over the city.
2. We are training a new gutiarist who will blow your mind.
3. Our new songs are harder, faster, and more rockin' than ever and we can't wait to prove it to you.
Near future:
1.New CD.
2. New Guitarist
3.Tour Japan.
4. eat lunch
5. short nap
6. World domination
7. eat dinner
8. Sell out.
9. Lost respect from fan base
10. Fade into obscurity.
11. whack off
12. sleep

LB: What's up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??
Adam: Our CD is self titled: Perfect Machines. It's available for purchase at CD baby and shows for the physical CD.. it's available for digital purchase at iTunes, Amazon MP3 Store, Rhapsody and about 13 other digital distributors. It is also on every Ecast digital jukebox in bars all over the world. We recorded it in the fall of 2007 at The Compound Recording Studio in Ben Lomand, CA. It was engineered by Joe Clements of Lorelie Records.

LB: Favorite San Francisco Band or a memorable show??
Sam: In my humble opinion, besides Perfect Machines, no one can hold a candle to Live Evil and Proto-Man. Those bands could rule the world.
Johnny: Proto-Man, Von Iva, The Bruises, Get Dead.
Adam: Proto-Man

LB: Favorite venue to Play??
Sam: I gotta say that we have never had better care taken of us then from the people at SLIMS. We've played there a couple of times and the staff there have bent over backwards to make us feel welcome which is nice for a nobody band like us. It's nice to feel like a rock star every now and then.
Adam: SLIMS
Johnny:Slims

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice??
Johnny: Not as of right now. Maybe one of these days I'll grace everyone with my shirtless presence.
Sam: Next question.

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??
Adam: Me.
Johnny: Adam... haha
Sam: Adam

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??
Adam: Somewhere good hopefully.
Johnny: It's becoming the mainstay of music today. No one buys music anymore, but kids still go to shows. If you impress people enough with your live show, then they'll buy your merch, hence how we've sold most of the physical copies of the albums and merch.
Sam: I have no fucking idea.

http://www.myspace.com/perfectmachines