Cog’s first album, The New Normal, made the Sydney three-piece one of the most talked-about hard rock acts in Australia, drawing comparisons with the likes of Tool and Faith No More.
Yet, of course, Cog have their own sound, and in Flynn Gower have one of the most distinctive vocalists you’re likely to encounter. An elongated vowel style, focusing on heavy use of diphthongs and stretching out words to where they’re barely recognisable are the characteristics that set him apart.
Yet, when he speaks, he just sounds like an average Bondi boy, albeit one who’s far too busy to hit the surf these days – he’s spending all his time focusing on the release of Cog’s second album, Sharing Space. Like a lot of independent bands, Cog are completely involved in every process of the album’s release, rather than just focusing on the writing and recording of it.
“It’s just an average amount of pressure,” he says of the band’s feelings towards putting everything into their own music, rather than letting others attempt to control its destiny. “That’s what we’ve chosen to do and what we do, and when it’s fun at the same time and exciting and challenging then you don’t tend to look at it as pressure.”
As such, the creative process of making Sharing Space should be pressure-free, right? Wrong. Sharing Space was fraught with difficulties in the studio. Most of them were self-inflicted by the band, and had nothing to do with the new album, but instead harkened back to the American release of The New Normal.
Cog elected to work with The New Normal producer Sylvia Massy again because the last time worked out so well. The studio set-up that she has in Weed, Texas is so fantastic that it’s hard not to want to work there: part of her studio is a theatre, meaning that all drums are recorded live in the theatre (a.k.a. Studio A), complete with an SSL mixing desk in the theatre, and several other studios as part of the complex.
“We felt totally at ease going back there,” Flynn says, “because the last album worked so perfectly. We were there for ten weeks, eleven weeks, and everything went smoothly. We were hoping for the same scenario this time but unfortunately it didn’t go according to plan in some respects.
“The long and the short of it,” he continues, “is that we organised to release The New Normal in America through a label that Sylvia had created and we gave her a lot of money, a truckload of money, to do it. We got over there and found out it wasn’t up to scratch. So we pulled the pin on it and said ‘give us our money back’. We can’t afford to throw money away, and I think that was two months into the process. Even though we pulled the pin on that, we decided to keep recording because she’s a great producer and she knows how to run a studio – it’s just that the label thing didn’t work out.”
Unsurprisingly, it completely changed the recording dynamic for everyone involved. “I think we could just separate it and accept it as two things, but I don’t think Sylvia could,” Flynn proffers. “As time went by we just saw less and less and less of her, until in the last two or three months we didn’t see her at all.
“It didn’t go according to plan,” he adds dryly. “But we were always giving it our best, and doing the best we could.”
One thing Cog wanted to avoid was writing from the prospective of it being a follow-up as opposed to a debut. “I didn’t really look at it like that,” he shrugs. “I was aware of it in the back of my mind, but we were just working on music.”
The band set out to challenge themselves, and as such Sharing Space is a more complex and layered beast than its predecessor, taking all the elements found on The New Normal and amplifying them. The epics are even more epic, and the singles – such as What If? and Bird of Feather – are tighter and punchier.
“We kind of did that on the last album,” he says of having both ten-minute sprawls coupled alongside more direct numbers, “and we like contrast and dynamics. I think we like songs that are journeys and at the same time we like songs like What If? and My Enemy and Bird of Feather. Variety is the spice of life!”
Cog’s new album Sharing Space is out now. They’ll be tearing up stages around the country in May and June, presented by FasterLouder.
Thursday 15th May – Palace Theatre (formerly Metro), Melbourne
With Kora (NZ) & Jakob (NZ)
Friday 16th May – Enmore Theatre, Sydney
With Kora (NZ) & Jakob (NZ)
Saturday 17th May – The Tivoli, Brisbane
With Kora (NZ) & Jakob (NZ)
Thursday 22nd May – Hotel Great Northern, Byron Bay
With Jakob (NZ) & Sleep Parade
Friday 23rd May – Coolangatta Hotel
With Jakob (NZ) & Sleep Parade
Saturday 24th May – Powerhouse, Toowoomba
With Jakob (NZ) & Sleep Parade
Sunday 25th May – Sands Tavern, Maroochydore
With Jakob (NZ) & Sleep Parade
Wednesday 28th May – Wollongong Uni Bar
With Kora (NZ) & Jakob (NZ)
Thursday 29th May – Uni of Canberra
With Kora (NZ) & Jakob (NZ)
Friday 30th May – Newcastle Panthers
With Kora (NZ) & Jakob (NZ)
Saturday 31st May – Sawtell RSL, Sawtell
With Kora (NZ) & Jakob (NZ)
Thursday 5th June – Wrest Point Showroom, Hobart
With Sleep Parade
Friday 6th June – Siroccos, Burnie (Tasmania)
With Sleep Parade
Saturday 7th June – Batman Falkner, Launceston
With Sleep Parade
Sunday 8th June – Batman Falkner (all ages), Launceston
With Sleep Parade
Wednesday 11th June- The Pub, Bendigo
With Sleep Parade
Thursday 12th June – The Gov (Licensed all ages), Hindmarsh
With Sleep Parade
Friday 13th June – The Gov (Over 18s only), Hindmarsh
With Sleep Parade
Saturday 14th June – The Edge Hotel, Buronga
With Sleep Parade
Tuesday 17th June – Bundy Sugarland, Bundaberg
With Melodyssey
Wednesday 18th JuneGreat Western, Rockhampton
With Melodyssey
Thursday 19th June – McGuires Hotel, Mackay
With Melodyssey
Friday 20th June – Bombay Rock, Townsville
With Melodyssey
Saturday 21st June – Brothers Leagues Cairns, Manunda
With Melodyssey
