Name: The Cocktail Slippers
Members: SMASH (drums), VEGA (guitar), SUGAR (bass), ROCKET (guitar), HOPE (vocal)
Nationality: Norwegian
Current release: The Cocktail Slippers' new single "Good Love" is out via Wicked Cool. They are currently also on a 2023 tour:



If you enjoyed this interview with The Cocktail Slippers and would like to stay up to date with their music, visit their official homepage. They are also on Instagram, and Facebook.
 


Where does the impulse to create something come from for you? What role do often-quoted sources of inspiration like dreams, other forms of art, personal relationships, politics etc play?

We make music all the time.

Sometimes it starts with a guitar riff, sometimes it starts with a cool word. Sometimes it's inspired by another song that one of us just heard on the radio and from time to time it builds up from sentences and feelings. We don't have a template to write. And maybe that's a good thing?

We're definitely NOT a political band. We all have political opinions but we never mix that with our music …

For you to get started, do there need to be concrete ideas – or what some have called a 'visualisation' of the finished work? What does the balance between planning and chance look like for you?

Hahaha, if only people knew how little we actually plan ahead when writing material …

Sometimes there's more or less an idea to what kind of song we wanna make. Like, is it a slow beat or a hard rock'n roll tune.

But we tend not to plan too much. The songs kind of write themselves once we start working on them in the rehearsal room …

Is there a preparation phase for your process? Do you require your tools to be laid out in a particular way, for example, do you need to do 'research' or create 'early versions'?

We have like ten thousand early versions of most songs!!! The one thing you thought was “THE ULTIMATE HOOK“ a week ago can easily be cut out the week after.

We all listen a lot tot he sketches (or early versions) we make and try to rethink them. We're never in a hurry when we're in a song writin g process. We think it very important to keep working keep pushing and keep improving the work we do.  

Songwriting is all about re-writing you know, haha.

Do you have certain rituals to get you into the right mindset for creating? What role do certain foods or stimulants like coffee, lighting, scents, exercise or reading poetry play?

Hm, not really. We all drink coffee and there's quite a few pots being consumed a week at our rehearsal space. Other than that we don't really have any rituals ….

But we hang out a lot in our spare time as well, which means that we're more or less always thinking about the creative process and our songs. Hanging out is a great inspiration – doesn't matter if it's a barbecue at someone's garden, a night out, hanging out at bars or playing with our kids together.

What do you start with? How difficult is that first line of text, the first note?

The first line or first note is often the easiest actually – it's putting pieces together, making them all grow and combine them to a song in a natural flow that can be challenging.

Guess that's more or less the reason for all the “early versions“ …

When do the lyrics enter the picture? Where do they come from? Do lyrics need to grow together with the music or can they emerge from a place of their own?

It depends. Sometimes we have a really clear intention and direction for the lyrics. At other times they come much later.

Needless to say the lyrics should fit the musical expression at least to some extent. It probably wouldn't work to sing about your childhood playground and how much you loved your grandma's cooking in a straight forward punkrock song.

Or actually, come to think of it … maybe it should be tested …

What makes lyrics good in your opinion? What are your own ambitions and challenges in this regard?

Good lyrics in our opinion consists of words and sentences that capture the ear. It  can be a story that makes you sentimental or it can be words that take you back in time to your first break up and remind you of what a duschhhhb*** that boyfriend or girlfriend was. Or it can be lyrics that just make you happy. Like a song about cake and candy.

Again, we really never had a template for these things. We always just do whatever feel right to us ….

To quote a question by the great Bruce Duffie: When you come up with a musical idea, have you created the idea or have you discovered the idea?

Hahahaha, well … to be or not to be – who was first, the chicken or the egg?? How many million songs are released every single week? A LOT!! It would be impossible to always create ideas.

It's probably a combination of both. You'll often get an idea from listening to a song by some artist or band – and not that we just steal it, but we can sometimes use that as a reference to create something new, add another twist and make it our own.
 
From your experience, are there things you're doing differently than most or many other artists when it comes to writing music?

We don't know ... Guess there are a lot of artists that co-write with many people on each and every song these days. We don't.

But we do love the “throwing ideas and thoughts ball game“, and we've been very fortunate to be able to play that game with great musicians such as “little“ Steven Van Zandt and Michael Scott Hartunbg (producer and songwriter at Propeller Studios in Oslo).

That said – we do most of our own work alone within the band and are really happy about that.

Many writers have claimed that as soon as they enter into the process, certain aspects of the narrative are out of their hands. Do you like to keep strict control or is there a sense of following things where they lead you?

We're easily followers!!! – and dreamers and believers! We like to try out stuff all the time. Keep the inner child alive and not get tied up with restrictions and boundaries.

And we think the fact that we always write the songs together in the rehearsal space, even is some one came up with close to a finished song, is a great advantage to us.

Often, while writing, new ideas and alternative roads will open themselves up, pulling and pushing the creator in a different direction. Does this happen to you, too, and how do you deal with it? What do you do with these ideas?

It happens ALL THE TIME!!! We tend to try it out – we always leave the door open for new ideas and impulses. Quite often we end up going back tot he original stuff. But then we've tried it!

We don't like to be too strict in the songwriting process so we always take the time to try out if someone comes up with a new idea.

There are many descriptions of the creative state. How would you describe it for you personally? Is there an element of spirituality to what you do?

Mjaaaaa, it's more like we have our own closed circle within the band. I guess you could call that by itself spirituality, or close to a religion ... Rock'n Roll Religion maybe. Haha.

Once a piece is finished, how important is it for you to let it lie and evaluate it later on? How much improvement and refinement do you personally allow until you're satisfied with a piece? What does this process look like in practise?

It depends. Sometimes we just start playing new songs live even before they are completely done. It sometimes helps to figure out which parts works out and which parts one might have to work a bit more on.

Other songs are more or less done and we'll head straight to the studio for recording.

What's your take on the role and importance of production, including mixing and mastering for you personally? How involved do you get in this?

We are EXTREMELY involved in all steps when it comes to our songs. We produce ourselves – sometimes. With help from others and sometimes it's more like a split where we produce WITH someone else.

But we always participate and we always have the final word. It wouldn't work any other way.

After finishing a piece or album and releasing something into the world, there can be a sense of emptiness. Can you relate to this – and how do you return to the state of creativity after experiencing it?

We have never had that feeling. We play too much live to have the time to even check in on that emptiness feeling!

And we start writing new songs even before the singles or albums are released. So it's never really been an issue …

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you personally feel as though writing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Music is art. Making a great cup of coffee can probably be pretty close to art too … We wouldn't know, we don't have time for anything other than instant coffee in the rehearsal space – because we're making OUR art: Music!

It can probably be compared to cooks making gourmet dinners. It's a lot different than making a french toast, right?