I love the 80s aesthetic - Interview with Cobra Spell

After leaving Burning Witches, guitarist Sonia “Anubis” Nusselder teamed up with guitarist Sebastian “Spyder” Silva. A collaboration across the Atlantic Ocean began. She lives in the Netherlands, he in Mexico. But the band is also international in other ways. Besides the Netherlands and Mexico, the band members also come from Italy and France. Even though Sebastian Silva is no longer actively involved, he is still integrated into the band and takes part in song writing, among other things. Of course, this raises many questions. Reason enough to ask.

MHF: Hi, I’m Rainer and I write for Keep on Rocking and Metalheads Forever Magazine. I’m happy to be able to do this interview with you. How are you doing?

Sonia: Hey Rainer, nice to meet you. I am feeling very pumped and motivated today. We just released our EP ‘Anthems Of The Night’ and a new music video + announced 2 different tours. This weeks are being awesome!

MHF: In purely geographical terms, the distance between Sonia and Sebastian’s home countries is very great. How did this cooperation come about?

Sonia: We felt a big connection when we were jamming together. It clicked very well, and we knew immediately that we needed to work on music together. This is how COBRA SPELL emerged.

MHF: The other members of the band are from Europe but live in different countries. How were musicians chosen?

Sonia: Our singer Alexx Panza is from Italy, I saw him perform with his other band HITTEN in Germany and was very impressed by his performance and voice — this led me to ask him if he was interested to audition COBRA SPELL. Our bassist Angelina Vehera is from Ukraine, living in The Netherlands. I knew Angelina from many years ago, she was a friend of mine! I always loved her music taste. I asked her if she wanted to pick the bass for the band and so she wanted! Esmée van Sinderen from Netherlands and Léonard Cakolli from France came in a bit later!

MHF: The debut EP “Love Venom” was released in September 2020 and the follow-up “Anthems of the Night” in March 2022. How difficult was it to produce the songs in pandemic times?

Sonia: To be honest, it wasn’t any harder or easier than usually. I am able to record my ideas at home with my DIY little home studio in my bedroom. This is the way I compose the songs, I get an idea and I record it straight away. The pandemic didn’t had any kind of influence in the process.

MHF: How pleased are you with your two releases?

Sonia: I am very happy on how they turned out, because I took the time to really produce the songs in the way I envisioned them. I work better without the pressure of a deadline. Gives me the time to create something that I am proud of, and so I am with these 2 EP’s.

MHF: What were the reactions of the press and fans?

Sonia: The reactions of the press and fans on our new music so far has been AMAZING. We never expected that we would get so many positive comments and reviews on our music and concept, mostly because I feel like people saw COBRA SPELL as my little fun side-project — but for me it’s way more than that! It’s my main band. We finally were able to make a music video and cool pictures along to our music and I think this made people appreciate the band’s identity more besides the sound of the music we make.

MHF: Who is doing the song writing for Cobra Spell?

Sonia: The composition is 100% done by myself. The lyrics are done mainly by Sebastian and a bit of myself and Angelina!

MHF: Who or what inspires you when composing songs? Are there any musical role models?

Sonia: People that know me, know that I am an absolute obsessed with the 80s! Pretty much anything from the 80s. Such as music, cars, movies, fashion, architecture… you name it. I love the 80s aesthetic and it inspires me a lot. With COBRA SPELL I get hugely inspired by the 80s glam/heavy artists such as RATT, Dokken, Slaughter but also KISS, Alice Cooper, W.A.S.P. and many more artists.

MHF: Some of the musicians are also active in other bands. How do you manage to balance these different commitments?

Sonia: Well, right now we all have decided to commit to the band fully. I left my previous band CRYPTA to make this happen.

MHF: You have produced your EPs yourselves and released them on your own. How do you divide up the work that would otherwise be done by a label?

Sonia: It’s honestly a lot of work, to do it all independently. It requires strict planning and doing good research and asking a lot of people with experience. But it is definitely not impossible. I love managing stuff for the band and getting things done. I have learnt a lot in my previous bands when it comes to band business and I like to implement the knowledge I found useful on COBRA SPELL. A lot of work that the label takes over such as PR and distribution are things that can be done independently by hiring a 2nd company to do so. But of course, labels have their advantages for example most of them have insane good experience and great meaningful contacts that could bring a band to a new level.

MHF: What are your plans for the future? Is a full album planned? Will you also perform your songs live?

Sonia: We are planning on touring A LOT! We want to get out there and show you who we are and what we are about. So, it’s time for us to play live. As for a future release, we do have some material saved, but we don’t have any plans on releasing it yet. We want to see what the future holds for us now that we just released our second EP ‘Anthems Of The Night’.

MHF: Thank you again for this interview. Would you like to say something to the fans at the end?

Sonia: A big thanks for having me on here and for everyone reading this right now! Make sure to check our latest EP ‘Anthems Of The Night’ which is available on all major streaming platforms. Apt for the true rockers and wild ones. We also have 2 music videos on YouTube which will rock your socks off, haha! We have a lot of concerts and tours being planned and some of them already announced so make sure to check our Bandsintown too. Stay wild & heavy my friends!

Pictures courtesy of the band.