White Cowbell Oklahoma comes home in support of their re-released album
On Wednesday, Nov. 19, downtown Calgary was filled with the sounds of pure rock and roll, as White Cowbell Oklahoma rolled through town to tear up Dickens Pub. Having originated in Toronto, Ontario in 1999, White Cowbell Oklahoma has since developed into what their lead singer, Clem Clemson calls “a six pointed star of rock and roll.”
Clemson recently shared some humorous insights about White Cowbell Oklahoma with the Calgary Journal discussing the start of their 15th anniversary tour across Canada.
CJ: You guys seem to be touring addicts, and have made appearances in numerous countries. What do you find is different about touring in Canada compared to the shows you’ve played in other parts of the world?
CC: In Europe everything is closer, and we go to Europe all the time. We haven’t toured Canada in a while, but it’s our 15-year anniversary tour, so we thought that we have to do all of Canada. So we’re pumped, and really looking forward to hitting Calgary at Dickens Pub. White Cowbell Oklahoma are going to do what the great flood of Calgary couldn’t do, and blow the roof off of Dickens and turn it into a great big swimming pool.
CJ: White Cowbell Oklahoma has a reputation for providing very entertaining live performances. Are there any pre-show rituals that you guys do that you’d like to share?
CC: We usually do some parkour before the show. Beyond the pre-show rituals, I would say we just make sure that there’s a bottle of Tequila and a bottle of Bourbon on hand. Some people like to gargle it to improve their voice, but I prefer to drink it. Other than that, we all kind of meditate together and make sure the rock and roll is pure.
CJ: Can you tell me what preforming on stage with the rest of White Cowbell Oklahoma is like?
White Cowbell Oklahoma’s newest six pointed star of rock and roll line- up.
Photo Courtesy of White Cowbell Oklahoma.
CC: The on stage atmosphere of White Cowbell Oklahoma is complete volatility. The show is only partially planned when we go on stage, because we know that any number of insane things could happen. It really depends on the audience, because the audience is going ape shit crazy. We don’t understand these super powers that we have, but we sometimes drive people into a complete frenzy. We’ve had people jumping on stage, taking their clothes off, and engaging in sexual and lewd acts. People think we plan this stuff, but we’re all busy playing, and we only see the video on YouTube later. These are people who are probably very conservative, but they just go bonkers. I think everybody feels somewhat emancipated in the process, so we’re like a force of good, and semi-evil. But mostly good.
CJ: Your latest album Buenas Nachas has been well received by your fans. What aspect of this album are you most proud of?
CC: Buenas Nachas is exploring the Mexican spaghetti western of your mind and our minds. It still has some of the heavy prog stuff from it’s predecessor Bombardero. I think it’s our best album yet. We’ve just released in Canada our double-deluxe reissue of Buenas Nachas with all kinds of bonus tracks, two records, and multi-coloured vinyl. So we’re kind of proud that this is our vinyl triumph, because everybody knows that vinyl is the best.
CJ: White Cowbell Oklahoma has been together for 15 years now. A lot can change in 15 years, so how would you say your band has changed over the years?
CC: There has been a lot of line-up changes over the years. When we started off we had nine guitar players and three drummers. Southern rock bands always have too much, but we wanted too much of too much. Unfortunately our Tardis is in the shop, so we can’t fit that many people into the compact van we have, so right now we’re a six-pointed star of rock and roll. The line-up is excessively solid, and I don’t think that Calgary has met some of these new members. So it’s essential that people come to the White Cowbell Oklahoma show this Wednesday and meet these new members.
CJ: What does White Cowbell Oklahoma have planned for 2015? Are we going to see the release of a new album next year?
CC: Well we’ve already been in our secret underground laboratory planning new things. I think we’re going to release a teaser in the spring to coincide with the European tour that we have, and then I believe we are going to have a new album upon you. It will be insane and will feature this new line-up. We do have a new record in the works, but we also have some video projects in the works, and some astounding art installations in the works as well. There’s a lot of exciting stuff coming out in 2015.