hot mess | ralphieaversa.com

Some in the music business knew of B.o.B and his talents well before he scored a number one record and two top ten hits with his album B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray. Count Cobra Starship’s Gabe Saporta as one of those people.

“I was a huge fan of his when ‘I’ll Be In The Sky’ came out, I thought that song was gonna be a monster,” revealed the front man. “To me, he was the new Andre 3000.”

Saporta enjoyed B.o.B’s work so much that he asked the rapper to cameo on “The World Will Never Do” – which is the last track on Hot Mess.

“That is actually one of the songs we’re proudest of on the record,” Saporta said of the collab. “It’s the last song on the album – and that always kind of happens with Cobra records – like, I kind of start listening to our own record from track 6 onward, and the last song is always, usually, my favorite.”
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Gabe Saporta of Cobra Starship invited “The RRS” aboard Cobra’s tour bus (which Toby Keith also uses, true story) to chat about the band’s tour with 3OH!3 and Travie McCoy along with a few select tracks from Hot Mess. In Part 2, Ryland Blackinton also joins in on the fun.

Part 1: Pacing Yourself On Tour, New Tour Bus, B.o.B. Collab

Part 2: Pete Wentz, Ryland Stops By

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Speaking of tracks from Hot Mess, Cobra recently released a video for track 7, “Living In The Sky With Diamonds” – a song that departs from the party-on message in the LP’s first two singles.

“I feel like all the songs we’ve done so far, people that haven’t heard Cobra Starship yet, a lot of them are probably like, ‘Wow these guys are just like, complete douches,’” the lead singer confessed, before I asked him to elaborate. “I guess if you only hear the two songs (“Good Girls Go Bad”, “Hot Mess”) they’re both about like, kinda getting drunk and going crazy and me encouraging girls to be on their worst behavior. But, we have a sensitive side too.”

The music video was shot by a film school student in the UK. English model Peaches Geldof stars in the production, which can be viewed on Cobra’s official website and YouTube.

From the outset, it seems as if Gabe Saporta is having the time of his life, and you really can’t blame him.

The band he fronts, Cobra Starship, just wrapped up a tour with Boys Like Girls, scored a Top 10 hit in “Good Girls Go Bad”, and was even paid a high compliment from the lead singer of a band they idolize; Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo told MTV News he’d most like to tour with Cobra, out of any band, dead or alive. But as exciting as all of the aforementioned is, Saporta seems just as pumped about everything else in his life – whether it’s having a picture of his face tattooed on his boss’s leg, or receiving a Red Bull and vodka from his tour manager after a taxing set.

During our ten minute chat, Saporta chatted openly about Hot Mess, the tour, and Decaydance Records head honcho Pete Wentz. Twice during the interview, he called over to Boys Like Girls, prompting lead singer Martin Johnson to join in our conversation for a second and drummer John Keefe to claim he was too busy with his own interview (truth be told, no one was interviewing him, but a BLG camera crew caught it all on tape). Never did Gabe look or sound tired… despite stepping off the hot, muggy stage of the Crocodile Rock Café in Allentown just prior to sitting down with The Ralphie Radio Show.
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Part 1:

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“Backstage shenanigans, non –stop bro,” proclaimed Saporta, before mockingly stating, “If Ralphie would hang out, but he’s gotta be (back home), his mom’s making lasagna.”

Actually, I had a club appearance. I might have taken a rain check on the lasagna (no offense, Ma) to hang out with these guys. It seems the party-vibe exhibited in Cobra’s latest LP isn’t a far stretch from the musicians themselves. Saporta told me that the band holed up for a few weeks in, of all places, The Poconos, to record the album. While “Hot Mess” has a negative connotation in our society, the lead singer feels that Cobra Starship is shifting the definition with the new LP and title track.
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Part 2:

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“For me, (hot mess) is awesome,” said Saporta. “Kate Moss, that girl’s a hot mess! She’s bangin’, but like, you’ll find YouTube videos of her doing drugs. And she loses her endorsements because she’s a hot mess. That’s rock ‘n roll.”

It seems for now though that the LP will be defined by “Good Girls Go Bad” which features Gossip Girl’s Leighton Meester. The record gained more traction on-air and in the club when a remix hit the Internets with a new verse from rapper Flo-Rida.

“I’ll tell ya where it came from, outta nowhere,” admitted Saporta. “Mike Caren, he’s a top dude at Atlantic (Records), really sweet dude. He discovered Flo-Rida. He’s like, ‘Yo man, I can get Flo to do a rhyme on one of your songs. You just gotta promise to do a trade later on.’”
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Part 3:

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Caren explained to Gabe that a trade meant in exchange for Flo-Rida rapping on “Good Girls Go Bad” – Saporta would have to hop on one of the rapper’s tracks.

“I’m like, ‘Lemme think about that? DUH!’” exclaimed Saporta. “Whenever he wants some cool punk rock singing on one of his songs, I’m in there like swimwear.”

The track also yielded the latest in the ongoing ribbing between Gabe and Wentz. Saporta set the record straight on The RRS, stating that the official bet was if “Good Girls Go Bad” went number one on the iTunes chart, the Fall Out Boy bassist would let Saporta pick his next tattoo.

Although for only 30 seconds, the song hit the top of the chart, confirmed by numerous screen captures. Saporta picked his third grade class photo as the tattoo for Wentz.

“Even though Pete Wentz is my friend, he’s also the boss man. And sometimes the record guys… they stop returning your calls if your record doesn’t do well,” explained Saporta. “So I’m thinking, ‘Yo, if I got Pete’s tattoo of my face on his leg man, he’s always gonna have to return my calls.”

Sure he’s never one to look back, but given his present, you have to at least give Saporta props for his foresight – even though it doesn’t look as if Cobra Starship will have a hard time snagging Wentz’s attention in the immediate future.

Archives For hot mess

EXCLUSIVE: Gabe & Ryland of Cobra Starship Talk Touring; Drinking; B.o.B. Collab

EXCLUSIVE: Cobra Starship’s Gabe Saporta Talks Touring, Hot Mess, & Pete Wentz

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