Robot Wars

Cowboy Robot’s career has followed an unusual path. The group describe their inception as being a “happy accident”; bassist and production whiz Mike Wolpe (essentially the band’s senior member, and lynchpin) was so excited by the potential shown in separate solo demos by Jon Arman and Kaleb Hanly (the group’s lead vocalists), that he suggested a songwriting collaboration between the two.

“We ended up recording a CD (Penny Arcade) for fun, but we had no intention of starting a group,” Wolpe laughs. “By the time we had finished the record, they had somehow hypnotized me into thinking that I wanted to be in a band again!”
The group (completed by the arrival of drummer Shane McLafferty) began gigging together in Los Angeles, but, in an unorthodox move, opted not to stay there. They have since taken up residency in Ireland – Dublin, specifically – and are now aiming to find a label in their adopted musical home. But what on earth possessed them to leave LA in the first place?
“LA’s a tough place, and a weird place,” explains Jon Arman. “A lot of people ask us why we came here, when most people assume that bands want to go to LA. But Los Angeles is just a little too mixed-up, and getting people out to shows there is really tough.”
But what was it that attracted them so strongly to Ireland, and how did they come to the decision to move here? The group are a little hazy on specifics, but they seem to recall that it was one of few places they could all agree on when the issue of relocation was broached.
“The idea just kinda got thrown out there,” recalls Arman, “and everyone just came to the conclusion that this would be a great place to be, and a great place to develop away from home. It’s not quite the madness of London, but it’s got enough madness of its own!”
The group’s experiences in Ireland have been a little different to what they had anticipated, but the adventure has undoubtedly been a positive one. Plus, as the group’s other guitarist/vocalist Kaleb Hanly notes: “The trick is to not expect so much – to just come here and do it!”
Cowboy Robot arrived in the Republic with the intention of setting up a residency at an individual venue, as a method of honing their live prowess. The two obvious precedents for such a move are The Beatles and My Bloody Valentine, both of whom left their native countries to focus their live energies in Germany, for a stretch. Those two acts emerged better for the experience, though Cowboy Robot have found, to their disappointment, that it is quite difficult to find consecutive, single-venue gigs nowadays. However, they have managed to secure several disparate live shows in Dublin, which have gone down extremely well with the locals.
“The audiences we have gotten in front of really responded to the energy and power of the band,” explains Mike Wolpe. “We’ve had several comments about how powerful our force is, in the live setting.”
As a bonus, the group have been afforded a great deal of time to write and rehearse, since migrating, and even refer to their trip as a musical “Boot Camp”. This abundance of practice time has turned Cowboy Robot into “a different band” to their LA incarnation, and should ensure some surprised reactions when (if?) they return to the States.
However, this brutal rock power that Cowboy Robot have built up in practice almost cost them dearly, during their initial period in Ireland. The group were occupying a farmhouse in Trim, amongst neighbours who took exception to their prolonged, noisy jam sessions. The group were hit with a legal suit for the disturbance (though this has subsequently been dropped). Failte romhaibh, indeed.
Still, the four-piece retain fond memories of their time in Trim.
“When we were in Trim, we would go to the traditional jams,” recalls Mike Wolpe. “That was a blast! You would never find anything like that in the States: you don’t go to a pub and listen to a bunch of musicians playing trad. Ireland is full of great musicians, and just being in the energy of it has been influential.”
Sound-wise, their brand of rock is streetwise and surf-flavoured, yet always pierced through with a core of rustic Americana. The band themselves see the vocal interplay (and contrast) between Arman and Hanly as their major strength.
“Like peanut butter and chocolate!” describes drummer McLafferty, enthusiastically. Which is intended as a compliment, whether it sounds like one or not.