COP PROBLEM Interview
By Paul on May 10, 2011 at DailyFastcore.com (Give Praise Records) | In Interviews
“Cop Problem is a totally radical band from Philadelphia! They have been blasting out the tunes since 2010, and I just recently found out about them – They play a killer mix of punk, hardcore, grind, crust – into a formula mix that is totally all their own! With angry political vocals spewing out over the intense tunes, it will leave you thinking!”
1. For those people who don’t know about COP PROBLEM could you just give a quick rundown on how this started?
Joshua: Summer of 2010, a mutual friend in South Philly introduced Randon and I. We began jamming together knowing that we wanted something d-beat oriented with a lyrical focus on real-life issues. With this loose idea, we were fortunate have friends in great bands from around country who were here in Philly to fill the void. I really, really enjoyed our formative stages. We would hop on bills with a rotating roster of musicians we were practicing with regularly. By Fall 2010, we settled on a core unit of my sister Deb Cohen on vocals, Randon Martin on guitar, Donny Mutt on Bass, and myself (Joshua Cohen) on drums.
Deb: As far as my inclusion with Cop Problem, I actually ended up filling in during a show that the one of the initial singers, our friend Steve, couldn’t make. Josh and I had played together for almost 10 years before CP, so Josh knew I was itching to do some live vocals again and asked if I wanted to fill in for a show. I wrote my own lyrics for the few songs they had at the time, and after splitting vocal duties with Steve for a month or so, and after playing with a few other musicians, the current line-up was solidified based on people’s available time and distance from the practice spot.
2. You folks have a strong political agenda, including you’re band name. How does this effect you as a band, does this just effect the lyrics, or where / who you play shows with?
Joshua: I would not say we have an agenda so much as our music focuses on issues we care about. The name Cop Problem is admittedly poignant and is going to turn some people off right away. I’m ok with that. Because I think the greater function of the name will stop and make others think. The name is not advocating violence against police. To me, the term Cop Problem refers to a global problem of both police and military not serving the intended function- which is to protect and serve the will and best interest of the people. Instead, when the common people stand up and fight for things like clean air, human rights, workers rights, animal rights, and against deforestation, discrimination, war crimes, and the general evils of the corporate will,- you have an often brutal police and/or military response. Cop Problem is the acknowledgement of this problem and an emotional expression and resistance to this world-wide phenomena. With that said- Is this all we focus on? No. We play with a wide array of bands that our as diverse as we are individually. We play with vegan, punk, hardcore, strait edge, metal and all-types of bands. As long as a band is not homophobic, racist, sexist, or obvious other no-brainers, we’re pretty open-minded.
Deb: Yeah I agree with Josh in that it’s not really an agenda. For me, the lyrics are a way to just get out things that I think about regularly, whether it’s social ills, politics, relating an experience, just commenting on life in general, or things specific to my life. Simply my reactions to things I experience, see, and read about. I definitely give a great deal of thought to my lyrics and always want to make sure I am expressing myself clearly and poignantly, but the idea is never to beat someone over the head with politics or ideas that I’m sure other like-minded people already think about and understand. It’s merely my take on the U.S., the world, global corporate culture, etc., and things that bother me that have no clear or present/single solution and sometimes the solutions don’t even seem attainable. Singing and writing lyrics more than anything is a way for me to get out all the static and constant over-analyzing that goes on in my head. It allows me to organize my thoughts and them send them out into the ether. And in the process hopefully there are some people that can relate, or the lyrics and music help other people cope with this fucked up world, or it frames a certain topic in way that makes people think.
3. What do you think are some of the biggest problems we are faced with in the punkrock / hardcore society? Do you view it as a utopia or are there problems running rampant?
Joshua: The punk rock and hardcore community is far from a utopia. Like any community it has it ’s pros and cons. I think you see it all really. You see those that are issue-driven whether it be vegan, strait edge, politics, the in-between, and those that just want music. Then there are those that are sexist, or racist, or whatever that slip through the cracks. I also think, like much of the culture, the punk and hardcore scene has become metabolized by the corporate system it was initially rebelling against. Those that are in the know and perpetuate a resistance to the norm, are few far between.
Deb: I think the same problems that affect the punkrock/hardcore community are the same problems that affect all people everywhere cause “punkrock / hardcore society” is, in the end, a gathering of people. It’s still a place where people can go to get out aggression and thoughts in a creative and healthy way. But I think it’s a constant challenge to live up to the ideals set for the community and to not embody the very values we claim to deplore (whether it be consciously, subconsciously, or unconsciously). And the further challenge is to live up to these ideals without becoming a slave to them, either to the point where you can’t grow or change due to fear of being ostracized, or you can’t see the forest for the trees, so to speak, and end up stagnating instead of growing, adapting and thriving, and pushing ideas, music and actions far beyond the lines of acceptance.
4. You are offering you’re Demo available for free, and you run a blog, Blow The Scene? Does this effect you’re outlook on punkrock as a band, or just another way to get the music out there?
Joshua: I think in this day and age you should be happy to get your music out there and have people listen. Free is cool with me. For the sake of being able to tour and to expand, you do at some point have to charge some bread for physical copies and other merch, but I always hope that people will continue to support at shows and online if they dig us. We are also cautious to always print on shirts that are not made from sweatshop labor, and do what we can to avoid extraneous waste, etc.. BlowTheScene.com along with my other writing experience has definitely broadened my view on different approaches to running bands. You see it all. The good, the bad , and the ugly. It’s nice to have a vantage point where you can learn from others. Blow the Scene is really just an extension of my life-long musical enthusiasm. I love being a part of the music community in as many capacities as possible, constantly seeing new bands and shows. I couldn’t ask for much more. The writing staff at BTS is a collection of artists and enthusiasts from different cities who donate their time to make a in-depth and diverse online mag.
5. You have a show coming up with CONVERGE, TRAP THEM, and DROPDEAD in May – Those are some bigger named bands, how did this come-about? Do you have any tours in the planning stages?
Joshua: Super excited about this show (http://www.r5productions.com/event/34941/) , three of my favorite bands. Randon and I just saw Dropdead play Philly a few months ago and it was so good! The energy is just awesome. I love bands that stand for something and aren’t afraid to let loose. We were invited on this bill by a rad local promoter Joe Hardcore (Philly Hardcore Shows), who along with a grip of other local promoters has understood what we are doing and supported us from the beginning and we are very grateful for that. We talk about touring almost every time we see each other haha. We would love to and definitely will, it’s just a matter of lining up every one’s schedules and making sure we have enough funds to make it happen and not financially collapse our personal lives haha. We’ve all toured in other bands, so the itch definitely runs deep.
6. What recording plans do you have coming up? Any potential labels that you would like to work with?
Joshua: We’ve been tracking everything you currently hear at (http://music.copproblem.com) ourselves. I do drum production, recording, and editing and we have close friends Anthony Mariano and Tim Shaw helping out with live recording and mixing. There are a lot of labels we grew up listening to that I’m sure we’d consider, although we have no plans of courting labels either. We have a clear vision of what we want and how we operate and if that happens to coincide with a supportive label, great, if not, we’re not loosing any sleep over it.
7. You have a lot of sounds that you are working with – Punk, Hardcore, Grind, Crust – How do you decide, when you write a song, which direction you will focus on?
Joshua: So far, the general wiring process has been, one person coming up with a riff, or sequence, and then we all take that rudiment and build off of it. Sometimes the rudiments of what we start with is somewhat close to what we end up with. Other times, the end product is way different then what we started with. We all have different tastes in music, and think it comes out naturally in the writing process. The songs we have up online now (Hope Without Reason and Answers to the Wrong Questions) were some of the first we wrote while we were still feeling each other out musically, I think the next wave of tracks we are going to post online are a progression.
8. There are only a handful of bands with female vocalists, more and more are coming up which is totally radical! How do you think this effects you as a band, and how do you think this effects the scene in general?
Randon: Punk and hardcore songs often advocate anti-sexist, anti-homophobic, and anti-racist sentiments in their lyrics, yet the scene is overwhelmingly dominated by white, straight, lower-middle class males. The fact that more females are being actively involved in the musical aspect of hardcore/punk contributes to bringing these messages of equality to life, while also breaking up the homogeneity of our scene.
Deb: You know, I’m glad you brought this up because bringing attention to the fact that Cop Problem has a female vocalist is a bitter-sweet pill to swallow. On the one hand, I’m very proud to be a female that can openly speak her mind and am super grateful that I have the platform of music to get out my thoughts and that I have a release for creative energy, and I can see why people are interested in this fact. On the other hand, as a woman who works very hard in all aspects of her life to never be defined by her sex alone, or what society deems acceptable for a woman, it can be really irritating to see descriptions of CP as simply “female-fronted hardcore,” as if that tells you anything about the actual sound of our band, or the different genres we mix together, or the content of my lyrics, or the type of stuff we play, and as if that is the defining factor of our band. To me, it’s just a fact that I am a female and I am the vocalist, and should have nothing to do with how people perceive the quality of our music or our message. And for a “scene” that actually does have many females involved, both as musicians and spectators (depending on the show you go to) and often prides itself on being so open-minded, it still blows my mind that this is something that people feel they have to explicitly point out. There is a difference in actually viewing women as fellow humans and just saying that you think women are equal to men. This is not to say I am not proud to be a woman, I just think explicitly separating bands that include females from bands that don’t unintentionally defeats the purpose of being all-inclusive/non-sexist.
9. You are playing a handful of shows in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. How does the local scene react towards you as a band? Do you have a favorite venue / place to play?
Joshua: We have been very fortunate as a new band. We’ve had the opportunity to play with some of our favorite touring bands and local bands both here in Philly and around the region. We have rad friends that come and support us and others that comprise the regional music community. I personally love house shows in South Philly and West Philly. There are a bunch of really cool spots and I know I am going to miss a few, The Bordello, The Dollhouse, Unholy Trinity House, International Waters, and many others. Broad Street Ministry is a cool larger venue with both an upstairs and a downstairs areas for shows.
10. Last Comments?
Deb: Thanks for interviewing us! And Shout-outs to Philly and all the bands and friends that have hooked us up with shows, let us borrow equipment, and have helped us record. The help and support is what keeps us playing and is more than appreciated!
Joshua: Thank you very much for this interview. Thanks to all of our friends who support us and keep fightin’ the good fight. Check us out online at www.CopProblem.com. A great new social documentary that just came out can be seen for free at www.endciv.com. Check that out. Think. Talk. Debate. Take Action.
Pictures Courtesy of Anne Spina Photography and BlowTheScene.com
