Interview with Cullen Corley
On Tuesday February 9 (that’s right, I said Tuesday), the great Champagne of Bands reunites with the foundation of Cullen Corley of Kuuluuko and Electric Laser People behind the drum kit.
For those of you not in the know, Champagne of Bands was formed by the good folks over at Boston Band Crush this summer for the exciting One Night Band project. Read all about it here and then come back to read my chat with the always affable Mr. Corley.
Brendan Boogie: So the most important question – what’s been your favorite part about working with me?
Cullen Corley: No warm up questions? Let’s see – I enjoy your presence as a person, first and most importantly – you’re positive and fun and easy to work with. You may have your songwriter order-giving sensibilities but you aren’t hung up on them. I’ve worked with songwriters before who would take things personally; a disagreement wasn’t only an artistic choice, but commentary on their ideas simultaneously which was sticky. So I think your positive nature and immediate-opinions-with-flexibility would be the short of it.
BB: Wow – you’re being actually nice. Most people use that question as an excuse to get into ball-busting.
CC: I figured so; it was a loaded question. But I think you gave me the runner-up for nicest person award in a ONB interview, so really I’m just keeping up appearances.
BB: Once again, you’ve cemented your legacy. Why don’t you tell the folks about your band with the unpronouncable name?
CC: Well, it’s a blues rock duo, sort of like Black Keys but on the harder, faster side. You know I wish I had my video camera one day when my bandmate, Stephen Salazar, was talking with a hip-hop producer we met at a recent gig. “It’s pronounced koo-LOO-koh,” he said and the producer responded “oh, kuu-LO-co.” And they literally went back and forth for a good 30 seconds, and he just didn’t get it.
BB: So you just invented the name so that people would have spontaneous Abbott and Costello routines?
CC: Yeah it’s been entertaining – we’re thinking of starting a “spot the misnomer!” contest after seeing our name misspelled in at least 10 magazines, newspapers, etc. by now. The most entries wins, I don’t know, a 2-on-2 basketball game or something.
BB: Or you could, you know, change the name.
CC: No, it means something along the lines of “have you heard?” in Finnish. We thought about that, but everyone we talked to about it said if they heard and/or saw the name a couple times, it really stuck hard.
BB: I’m pretty good at re-naming bands and cats. Want me to take a crack at it?
CC: People seem to warm up to it but I think we need to say it at least 20 times per show and get a banner behind us. Neither of us has a cat, unfortunately.
BB: I like to rename people’s cats. No one ever names their cats correctly.
CC: Are you anti-cats?
BB: I’m not anti-cats per se. But I do feel people name their cats all wrong. For instance, I renamed my friend’s cat from “Twiggy” to “Future Cat – The Cat from the Future!” It’s a much more exciting name. Really jumps off the page.
CC: I have a friend who wants to move, genuinely, to a state that allows ownership of bears, just so he can name it “Fertilicus – Bringer of Pain.” He’s a metal guitarist, if you couldn’t guess.
BB: Speaking of metal guitarists, one of the lads we worked with in Champagne of Bands is the great Duncan Wilder Johnson, metal and punk man extraordinaire. You have to play pretty fast when he’s guiding the ship, huh?
CC: I used to play metal but rarely touched on the fast, punky end of it, and I really like the exercise. I remember you saying “and now I’ll step out of my comfort zone,” and that’s how I feel to some extent working with Duncan. Which is great – I’m not in it just to keep the beat, really. I want to be challenged.
BB: Yeah, I am not used to playing music in which cardio is such a central factor. And my cardio is, shall we say, not so good.
CC: Believe me, sit in on drums for that song when we play it next.
BB: I’m the worst drummer in history. So One Night Band was one of my favorite experiences of my life. What were some of your favorite memories from the day?
CC: Everyone finally getting into the room together, and realizing that all anxieties were totally nonexistent. Everything just flowed and the second we were all in there together, realizing that everything would go so smoothly was a great feeling. I’ve drummed with lots of different people; once out of high school I put up a craigslist ad saying I was looking for bands, and, believe me, I really appreciate the feeling of knowing you’re all on the same page. One band I played with – once – had a pirahna tank in their kitchen.
BB: We were pretty lucky. We got a good group of guys except Tad.
CC: Well, at least he’s focused on singing most of the time so we don’t have to socialize.
BB: I didn’t know they didn’t CORE check people for One Night Band until Tad got there. So other than the CoB reunion, what other musical stuff do you have on the horizon?
CC: I’ve been working on a singer songwriter friend’s album. His name is Dylan Duncan and we’re just about finished with core instrumentals. Also, I’m going to work with a Berklee friend, whose major is film scoring and he writes very dramatic metal complete with orchestral scores, choirs. Also, Kuuluuko is talking with a friend about managing us, and I’m excited about that – we’re going to put our nose to the grindstone and really try to make some progress. And my other band, Electric Laser People, has been on winter hiatus and seen some changes over the winter in the personal lives of a few of the members (very very positive changes). So once we’re back in the groove, which should be in the next few months, I’m sure the vibe will just be amazing. I’m excited about that.
BB: Very cool. Finally, what are you most looking forward to about the Champagne of Bands reunion on February 9?
CC: I haven’t seen much of what all of you are working on, so I’m excited for a little taste of that. Also, reactions to the new super-epic song we’ve written – we should get a video camera trained on the audience for that one.
In the next week or so, stop by here for (hopefully) more interviews with my Champagne of Band-mates.
Tags: Champagne of Bands, Cullen Corley, interview, One Night Band, re-naming cats
