Cocktail Slippers spent some time answering our questions about their music and how they make it. Let’s see what they have to say!
First off, What’s up with your name? Is there a story behind it?
It´s the world´s most stupid story actually… The thing is, we couldn´t really decide on a band name. And our first album “Rock It!” was already done and ready for release so we had to agree on a name. Every band member came up with idea after idea but we couldn´t agree. Finally, we went to Sugar´s (bassplayer) apartment – she had baked a cake and found a stack of old women´s magazines from the 50´s to look at for inspiration. We all agreed that we´d lock the door and no one could leave the apartment til a band name was found. After hours looking thru old magazines – and still not agreeing – we saw an ad that was so stupid and cool at the same time. It had a black and whote picture of slippers with feathers on them and said: COCKTAIL SLIPPERS – for each and every occation!
So yeah, there you go – The Cocktail Slippers were born!
Tell us about your musical past, would you tell us about your early years?
The Cocktail Slippers prung out from a Norwegian all girl garage rock band called The Barbarellas. I think they´d existed like 10 years or so before I joined them In 1999. When the lead singer of Barbarellas decided to quit the drummer also quit. In 2000 we were only 3 people left from the Barbarellas and we were lucky enough to find the female drummer “Tammy Sticks”. Shortly after we went into the studio and recorded our firsk album “Rock It!” Then Steven Van Zandt started playing one of our songs (Rock´n Roll Babe) on his radio show “Little Stevens Underground Garage”, which eventually led for us to be invited to play at “Little Steven´s Underground Garage Festival” at Randalls Island in New York City in 2004, sharing stage with so many of our heroes – like Iggy and The Stoogies, The Strokes, New York Dolls, The Dictators, Bo Didley, Nancy Sinatra, The Fleshtones, The Fuzztomes and many many more. The rest is history…
How would you describe your sound?
I funny mix of all good stuff I´d say! It´s rock´n roll even though we don´t really have any rules when it comes to gengre and song writing. When it works it works – and in some strange way, no matter how the song started out it always ends up sounding like The Cocktail Slippers…
Which artists have the biggest influence on your sound?
Hm, for me personally I´d say Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath, The Ramones, Blondie, The Who and The Beatles. But we´re five girls in the band with very different musical referances so it´s always hard to point out exactely which bands who have the biggest influence to our music.
What’s the last song you listened to?
“Don´t Stop My Now” by Queen! It´s a song I can always listen to. When I´m in a great mood it makes me wanna dance and fool around and when I´m tired it kinda wakes me up and get´s me started on stuff. Like this interview… I´m on vacation at my parent´s farm in Denmark at the moment and it´s really hard to pull my self together to do anything other than chilling, haha.
What’s your source for hearing new music?
I tend to use Spotify a lot, but I also LOVE going out listening to live concerts. We´re very fortunate to be playing as much as we do which gives us the opportunity to see new bands live – especially at festivals. There are so many great bands out there!
Who is your dream producer?
Hard to say – I think The Cocktail Sliippers as a band is very fortunate to have so many ideas within the band when it comes to producing. And “Little” Steven Van Zandt has been doing some of the producing with us as well. We´re actually really happy with things the way they are. But if I HAD to mention a dream producer I guess it would be Phil Spector….
If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be?
I would´nt mind working with Keith Richards that´s for sure!
What led you to music, and what motivates you to keep making it?My dad was a drummer so I actually started playing drums when I was 7 years old. I´ve always been pretty hard on myself – and I didn´t think I did aenough progress on the drums so I switched to piano. Classical piano was too dull for me though so I tried out guitar. It was quite obvious that guitar was my instrument so I stuck to that. I´ve been playing guitar since I was 9 years old.
Tell us about the songwriting process. How does it all come together?
We don´t have any template for making songs (actually we don´t have templates for anything in the band, which is quite nice!) But very often one of us will have an idea for å guitar riff, a bass line or a catchy vocal. Then we just work from there – sometimes a few of us – sometimeas all the band together in the rehearsal space. We spend a lot of spare time together too, and it´s not unusual that a dinner and whine evening turns into an idea for new songs.
How do you connect with your audience? What is the easiest way for them to connect with you?
In generel we´re trying to be as available as possible and answer as many comments and messages personally as we can. Of course it´s not always possible – but it´s a really good way to connect with our audience on social medias fro example. Actually we´ve become pretty close friend with several “fans” just from writing – then later meeting up. It´s such a great thing when music binds people together isn´t it?
What’s next for you?
Right now we´re having a week off for a short summer vacation. But starting in less than a week it´s festivals, clubs and rock´n roll venues through out the year. Mostely in Norway, but we´re REALLY looking forward to coming back to USA in November. It´s been way too long since last time. It´s not going to be the longest run this time about but we´ll be visiting several places on the East coast – Providence, Boston, New jersey, Holyoke, Ringwood, New Haven and of course New York City to mention some.
Anything else you’d like to add or let us know about?
We´ll be recordning and releasing new stuff during the falls. Meanwhile – please do check out our lastest single “GOOD LOVE” released in June by Wicked Cool Records.
Bio:
Cocktail Slippers is a Norwegian rock band known for their exhilarating live performances and infectious sing-along anthems. With a sound deeply rooted in the rich history of rock ‘n’ roll, Cocktail Slippers have garnered a loyal fan base and critical acclaim both in Norway and internationally. Their music blends elements of garage rock, punk, and pop, creating a unique sonic tapestry that never fails to captivate audiences. With a string of successful releases and electrifying shows under their belt, Cocktail Slippers continue to push the boundaries of rock music while leaving an indelible mark on the industry.
With their latest single, “Good Love,” Cocktail Slippers continue to leave their mark on the rock music scene.
This is the girl power within Cocktail Slippers:
HOPE (Silje Hope): vocals
ROCKET QUEEN (Stine Bendiksen): guitar and backing vocals
SUGAR CANE (Astrid Waller): bass and backing vocals
VEGA (Sara Andersson): guitar
SMASH (Maria Storaas): drums
