We sent some questions over to Wall Street Riot’s vocalist Charlie Cosser. Here’s what he had to say…
PT: Hello! Who am I speaking to and what do you do in Wall Street Riots?
Charlie, I sing in Wall Street Riots.
PT: Where are you in the world and what are you up to today?
London! Today Karnig (our guitarist) and I have been doing some promo for our new EP. We’ve spoken to lots of lovely people like yourselves then we polished off a couple pints, some chips and fried squid.
PT: Right for those who don’t know you, who are Wall Street Riots? Where have you come from and what’s your story?
4 men
1 mission
1 desire
We’re all London-based even though I was born in Sydney, grew up in Paris before moving to London as a teenager. Karnig is Armenian and spent some of his childhood in the USA, Mike is half German half American but talks cockney and Rich is from Reading but is a Rasta at heart.
Karnig and I started jamming nu-metal and pop-punk tunes at the age of 12/13 at school before starting to come up with our own songs. When we were 15/16 Mike joined us and then after about a billion drummers Rich joined us and we quickly became Wall Street Riots.
PT: How would you describe the Wall Street Riots sound?
It’s raw pop music. Or punk rock with pop sensibilities.
PT: Is there a story behind the band name?
Not a coming of age tale as such but we definitely liked the idea of having “street” and “riots” in our name. The combination of us being bad at economics and a certain Rage Against the Machine video made us pick Wall Street! Then the recession kicked in…
PT: You’re just about to release your debut E.P. ‘Playground Politics’. How politically motivated are you as a band?
I guess the combination of our name and this EP title may lead a lot of people to believe we’re as politically motivated as Rise Against or System of a Down when we’re not at all. The EP title is a reference to the politics of the playground and childish behaviour not a reference to the government! We pay attention to what’s going on around us, we watch the news and have individual opinions on matters but that’s not what the band is about at all. We’ll wait til we get to U2 fame.
PT: Briefly tell us what inspired each of the four songs on the EP. What’s the story behind each of them?
If you had to tell someone to download one Wall Street Riots song to introduce them to your band, which song would it be and why?
1. Dr.King – Is about a guy we knew who lied to a girl about having a brain tumour in order to keep her romantically interested in him. He said he had a 50/50 chance of survival and needed to know if he stood a chance with her. She ended up turning him down. He even faked a doctor’s note from Dr. King!
2. Lords of Dogtown – Is about hanging out with your friends and feeling on top of the world… A cocky little number.
3. Did you know that retropop was an aphrodisiac? – We used to go to this party every week called Smash and Grab where we’d listen to lots of classic pop music. Everyone gets merry and a little frisky there. That was the inspiration behind this one.
4. Karma Kids – Well it’s pretty much all in the title and very clear in the lyrics. Back-stabbing, what goes around comes around, lying etc
I think Dr. King or Lords of Dogtown would be a good place to start. They sum us up pretty well and proving a nice pebbled walk way for those willing to commence the journey through the world of our tunes.
PT: What is Retropop and is it really an aphrodisiac?
Retro pop is just classic popular music! Of course it can be an aphrodisiac! You’re telling me you don’t get a little rambunctious to a bit of BackStreet Boys?! Come on!
PT: You’re throwing a release party for the E.P. on the 24th May. What can people expect from that?
The party to start your summer! We have ourselves and two other greats acts (Hunting the Minotaur and Kase) as well as DJ sets from those hot girls at Front Magazine! It’s going to be sweaty, energetic and fun!
PT: Frankmusik recently remixed your track ‘Dr King’. How did that all come about?
We’ve known Vince for a while and have spent many drunk nights with him just talking about music and our favourite bands. He eventually heard Dr. King and had it remixed within a day which was awesome. A guy in Michigan made a really cool viral for it too which kind of refers to the song’s story.
(there’s a free download link at www.myspace.com/wallstreetriots and search “frankmusik wall street riots” on youtube for the video…”)
PT: I understand you’re working on your debut album at the moment. How far have you gotten with writing/recording?
How is it coming together?
It’s still early days but so far so good. Our plan is to write 20-25 songs and pick the best 12 or so. Soundwise it’s pretty soon to tell but we’ve become a little heavier and grittier in places and very poppy and melodic in others. I can’t wait to lay it down!
PT: You’ve got a bunch of London dates coming up and a few others here and there, but do you have any plans to do a full tour in support of the EP release?
There are a bunch of shows coming up over the summer that people should come check out and fingers crossed a lot of touring come Autumn!
PT: When I saw you recently up in London you played a blinding cover of ‘Totally Addicted to Bass’. Any plans to record it? That would be awesome. Do you often like to throw in covers to your live set, and if so, what others do you have in rotation?
That cover was only supposed to be for one show but the feedback was great so we kept playing it saying “this is the last time!”. There was talk of recording it for a B-side but nothing has been decided yet. It would be nice to crack it out! That was the first cover we ever did and it would be fun to try some others out. We’ve had some interesting ideas!
PT: Thanks for your time and best of luck with the EP release. Anything you’d like to add?
That new Lily Allen tune is alright aye?