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Author: Keith Clement

Pink Cocoon Interview

By Keith Clement

Greetings Marc, How are you today? I’m Keith from Metalheads forever, and glad to do this interview with you today?

Hey keith! I’m doing pretty good. Awesome I’m pretty excited about this interview.

Tell me how Pink Cocoon started?

It all started when I recorded the Alienation EP in 2 studios in Montreal. The EP was originally intended as a demo. I didn’t think it would receive any attention so I tried it out. I personally cannot listen to it now. The first 100 CDs have the word “6 Track Demo” on it but a few people mentioned to sell it as “6 Track EP”. I reprinted another 100 CDs and these are currently sold along with a few that I have given to bigger artists at shows. I have been playing live shows with various musicians on the bass and drums. The usual lineup is a power trio. First live show was April 21^st, 2017 at Crobar in Montreal.

You are a one man band, playing the drums, percussion, bass and the vocals, I’m always amazed how this is possible to everything by yourself, you should be a super man 😀 , tell me how you got this passion to be a multi Instrumentalist?

I am definitely not superhuman! I wasn’t sure initially that I wanted to be known as a multi-instrumentalist. I get bored easily. This might be a reason why I tend to switch from one instrument to another. Drums were my first main instrument since high school and then I switched to playing guitar. My parents set me up with a few guitar lessons when I was quite young but I don’t think these were super helpful. I’ve learned how to play guitar mostly on my own by listening to my favorite artists and bands.

I eventually became more comfortable singing and would sing when no one was around. I like listening to different parts of songs and analyzing the riffs, song structures and what the instruments are doing in total. I mainly wanted to experiment in studio and see if I can create an EP/ Demo off by recording each instrument/vocals/overdub/percussion.

I used to play drums in a band called Mooch and toured on the drums across Canada with my sister’s band Foolish. I played bass on a USA tour with The Hazytones as well back in March.

My focus now is guitar and vocals but I still consider myself a drummer at heart. My dad is an amazing drummer and used to play drums in ska/reggae band in the past. He has played a key role in my interest for music.

Do you have touring band mates, or how does it work when you are in a tour?

I do have touring band mates and musicians I can contact for tours. My friend Walter Salazar from Connecticut just played the recent 7 day tour on drums. Patrick Murphy and John Burton are playing bass and drums for various shows as well. I also played with Julian Iacovantuono, Tom G Stout, Colin Mac Andrew in the past. I am constantly in contact with musicians any need I have for live shows.

Tell me about your recent tour to the United States, how things worked for you and how was the reception overall?

It was a small 7 day north east coast tour hitting up 4 states in total. I played in Vermont (Burlington & Winooski), Brooklyn, NY, Connecticut (New London & Wallingford) and in Massachusets(Somerville). My goal for this tour was to get a vibe of the various cities and test it for a bigger USA tour in the future. I still have a lot of unexplored cities in United States(US). The US has a massive scene and I only really hit a small percentage of it. Overall the reception was great. Most shows took place in intimate sized venues along with 1 DIY spot. I just completed an interview in Brooklyn NY and decided to stay an extra few days to check out the New York music scene. The whole experience in general just expands your view on how big the music scene is across North America. Major shout out to all the new fans. Shout out to the OG fans in Vermont. Also shout out to the crowd in New London CT at 33 Golden Street for annihilating the new merch!

How is the support from your Home land Montreal, Canada?

The support is great in my hometown Montreal. Lot of cool fans, friends and family!

You have released an EP Alienation, how is the success of this EP, what was the fan reaction towards it?

To be completely honest, the success of the EP is great for something I originally intended as a demo. Red Handed Records in Burlington, VT recently printed out a small batch of cassettes for the Alienation EP and they have been selling at live shows & through the online shop.

What are the next plans for Pink Cocoon?

I am planning to record some new songs. I am currently working as much as I can in order to save up for the studio. A lot of is being organized at this time. I want the new recordings to sound as fresh as possible! I do not want to spoil too much but look out for a new track coming soon.

Do you have a scheduled tour for 2019?

Not yet but I mostly definitely want to plan another US tour. I would love to tour in Europe as well eventually. I just want to play everywhere pretty much. Next local show is September 7th at Turbohaus in Montreal. I will be planning some New York shows in August.

Your musical Influences are Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana, Black Label Society, When did you had the feeling to start a band, and what made you do something of your own?

Those are some of the original influences that I feel are ingrained in my style and songwriting. Although, I listen to many different styles of music from hiphop to trap to pop to heavy metal to plain old rock n roll. At this time I am influenced from all styles of music.

It must have started in 2016 when I had a vision in my head of this new project I wanted to start. I wanted to start something that tied doom metal, stoner rock with psych, grunge influences along with very pop song structures. I like to blend all my influences in studio and see what happens.

The new songs I am planning to record will demonstrate new musical influences and a new direction in songwriting as well. It has been a good 3 years since I recorded, so a lot has changed in that time.

Do you have a message for the fans and soon to be fans through our magazine?

Thank you to everyone who read this interview. Please check out Metalheads Forever and follow their social media pages!

Feel free to check out the Pink Cocoon website!

To those interested in buying online merch, there is an online shop on the website!

Keep it real out there and Rock on! Thx for all the support !