(Photo courtesy of Michael Boroda)
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing my friend Ezra Cohen who, aside from being an all-around great person, has also been remarkably involved in the NH DIY punk community for a number of years now. Read below to hear what he has to say about his new band, New Hampshire punk, vinyl records, and hip hop.
Me: Hi Ezra, for those who don't know you, can you give a quick introduction about who you are and what projects you're involved in?
Ezra: Well, like you said, my name's Ezra. I'm from Portsmouth NH. I started booking shows and playing in band's when I was around 14 years old. When I started out playing in bands it was mostly Blink-182 type stuff, but I feel like my more recent projects have a little more depth to them (not that I don't still love Blink.) The bands I'm playing in right now are Notches (notchesnh.bandcamp.com) which is kind of Jawbreaker-y punk stuff, Betty Nico (bettynico.bandcamp.com) which is surfy, Best Coast-y stuff and I've also been playing drums in the band Billy Raygun (brnh.bandcamp.com) although I don't play on any of their records.
Speaking of Notches, you recently played your first (?) show over at UNH. How was that, and how did it compare to previous experiences you've had playing shows with your other bands?
Yeah! Notches played our first show in September at UNH with our good buds in Hay Fever, Me In Capris (Ex Brave Little Abacus) and The Young Leaves. I think it was the best first show I've ever played with a band. Those usually tend to be pretty awkward, but people seemed psyched on our stuff which was really cool. It was great to have our first show be with all of our friends. It was tons o' fun!
How does the writing process work? Is this similar to how your previous bands would write?
The writing process for Notches is just basic Zac and I sending demos back and forth. We've been trying to write more together lately. I think we're coming up with some cool stuff. Right now it's pretty similar to how I've written before, but we're trying to collaborate more on the songs.
Earlier, you mentioned your recent involvement with Billy Raygun, a band that has been a staple of the NH punk scene for a number of years now. Billy Raygun has also had a longstanding relationship with John Wilkes Booth records, a label that, unless I'm mistaken, is/was run by a current/previous member of Billy Raygun. Can you elaborate on this at all?
The Billy Raygun thing came about because I had been friends with those guys for a long time. They knew I played drums. So, when they parted ways with their old drummer, David, they asked me to play with them. David runs John Wilkes Booth Records which is an awesome pop punk label. We're all still really good friends with him. He continues to put out great records and be a great dude.
Awesome, that's great to hear that you guys are maintaining a solid relationship with David and JWB. It's too often that I hear about bands having ugly breakups or having members leave on a sour note. On the topic of records, are you a fan or collector of vinyl? If so, what's a particularly cool record that you have that you're fond of?
I didn't get in to vinyl for a long time, but last year I got one of those record players that can also rip mp3's to the computer and now I love it! Some records I've been listening to a lot lately are Loss Leaders by Boilerman, Vacation's self titled record and my friend got my Illmatic by Nas for my birthday. So, I've been spinning that a lot too.
Illmatic is a classic album. It's always interesting to see what music people listen to outside of the genre that they perform. What other hip-hop albums/artists are you into (if any) or what are some other musicians that may influence you that may come as a surprise to people who hear your music?
Hmmm. As far as hip hop stuff goes I really like Kendrick Lamar. I saw him play at UNH a little while back, which was really fun! I'm also secretly really in to the new Drake album. It's kind of a guilty pleasure. As far as other non-punk whatever type stuff I really love Bruce Springsteen, Fleetwood Mac and a lot of the early Motown records like Marvin Gaye and stuff like that. I think that's just that my parents would play around the house when I was a kid. So, I have fond memories attached to it.
Hell yea, Fleetwood Mac is a personal favorite of mine. I feel like a lot of people are influenced greatly by what their parents introduce to them at an early age, so I understand that. Moving on, what are you up to outside of music? Are there any other projects or activities that you're involved with that you'd like to talk about?
Right now I'm going to school at The University Of New Hampshire. I'm involved in this club called MUSO on campus. MUSO is a group that brings music, art and lectures to UNH. In March we're doing a show with Code Orange Kids/Full Of Hell that should be pretty fun! I'm also pretty sure Old Gray played a MUSO show last year. So, you're probably familiar with it. But yeah, good peeps bringing awesome bands to UNH! haha
Oh, awesome! I've heard and seen a lot of awesome shows that MUSO has put on lately. How did the Laura Stevenson/Speedy Ortiz/Comma/Notches show go the other week? The Code Orange Kids show sounds excellent as well, I'll be sure to promote that more as the time gets closer.
The Laura Stevenson show was tons of fun! That line up was pretty amazing. All those bands are so unbelievably talented. It was a great experience. Been jamming that Speedy Ortiz record a lot lately. Band is great.
That's great! Speedy Ortiz is fantastic, I've also been listening to them quite a bit lately. I think that's all I have to ask today -- do you have anything else you'd like to share with the readers?
I think that's all I really have to say right now haha. Oh yeah and Old Gray r00lz!!!! haha. Seriously though, "Wolves" is a jammer. That record slays.
Well thank you for the kind words and thanks for taking the time to answer these questions!
Check back soon to read a review of Notches' debut demo, or stream it below in the meantime!
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