MUSIC
The Cosmic Rough Riders... By Matt Ridgway 20 September 2001
I'm sat in the manager's office in Virgin. No I haven't been caught shoplifting again. I'm actually interviewing Glasgow's finest The Cosmic Rough Riders. They're in at the Virgin Megastore, Dundee playing a set and signing CD's to promote their new single 'The Pain Inside'.

While James and Stephen played with Steve's new phone Danny told me how he always knew he'd be in a successful band. Danny's been in many bands but when I asked why this one is a successful band he said; "this band is the one that showed the most commitment… The one that had the strongest belief in itself."
And he feels that this is the key for a band to be successful, but "the first thing you need is good songs, without good songs you're wasting your time."

The Cosmic Rough Riders are doing quite well with a bunch of celebrity fans, Liam Gallagher, Fran Healy of Travis and the latest thing from America, The Strokes. When I asked how it makes them feel. Danny said "It's good fun because I'd much rather listen to what the Strokes and Fran Healy say about the band rather than what certain other people say, because they're musicians and there opinion means a lot more to me."
When Danny referred to certain other people he was referring to the recent NME review, which was written by, shall we say, a friend of a friend of the band (In a roundabout sort of way).

The band refuses to admit that they're now famous, they claim they just 'haven't found it yet'. "We're on top of the pops and we're still hanging around outside shops" said James. Although Danny told me of a different story of how he got recognised in the street in Yokohama, Japan, not once but twice in a day. This just shows how The Cosmic Rough Riders have gone from signing on in Castlemilk to being international rock stars in just a year.

I asked the guys about the single and how well they think it will do. But that doesn't matter to Danny and the band. They told me how they "don't write singles they write a collection of songs". At the time of interview the single was sitting at 32 in the charts, which was better than 'Baby You're so Free'. But Danny thinks that the singles chart matters more to the record company that it does to them.

The band is currently on a UK tour with support from a young band called Electric Soft Parade. I asked how the tour was going and what they thought of Electric Soft Parade.
Mark: "They're nice kids"
Danny: "Yeah we really like the guys, they're nice guys"
It seems that the bands are getting on, although they were keen to make it clear that Electric Soft Parade were supporting the Cosmic Rough Riders and not any other way. They've only just started headlining this big UK tour and it's been selling out all over the place, so this is a real step for the band. I asked about festivals over their own tour:
Danny: "Festivals are good as you get to play to bigger crowds"
Gary: "You get a better sound check at your own gig..."
Danny: "You mean you actually get a sound check at your own gig"

At the Reading/Leeds Festival the Cosmics were unfortunate enough to be playing at the same time as the Strokes, I asked if this was worrying:
Danny: "At Leeds we were just about to go onstage and this guy announced 'on this stage Cosmic Rough Riders' and there was a big cheer… but, the Strokes are on in 10 minutes on the main stage, and about a third disappeared…"
But don't worry they told me that as people left more came so it wasn't a problem. At Gig on the Green the Strokes were on after the Cosmics so they both got to see each other. Danny described how after the gig they were approached by the Strokes who said 'it made the hairs on the backs of our necks stand on end and can we come on tour with you.' But the band simply replied by telling them to 'behave'.

The near future involves a holiday, and then a few dates in Europe. Shortly after that they may start recording a future album and in January they're planning on releasing a single not from the album. The Cosmic Rough Riders have a lot of material and could be in the studio for quite some time.

The actual set they played was an experience. Half way through the set they announced I could record the set for the web page. Before they were on stage the crowd started to grow yet when they came onstage there was silence. No one could really take in the fact that they were in Virgin watching the Cosmic Rough Riders. On stage Danny tends to be a brilliant front man, joking about how Alan Mcgee sent them and he's in fact God.

They started with the brilliant Revolution in the Summertime, followed by the equally as good single Baby your so Free. They went to play the Pain Inside - as they were there to promote it, but after a little discussion on stage they decided to play a B-side Camera Shy. Then they finished with The Pain Inside, substituting the guitar solo for la, la's from Danny.

Overall I had a great time with the band and really enjoyed the set. They sent luck to the launch of the web page and wish it success. A big thank you has to be made to Virgin in the Wellgate (and of course all the staff there), Mike (JESSOPS Wellgate Centre - for comming through for us in the last minute - it really was the last minute.. Cheers Dude), Alex (PR with the band - Cake Group Ltd), and of course the band for providing such a great interview. Visit The Cosmic Rough Riders Website.

The Single: "The Pain Inside" was released Monday 17th Sept. 2001 and the album, "Enjoy The Melodic Sunshine", is available on Poptones Ltd. Get it from Virgin Megastores NOW...

Talk about this review, The Cosmic Rough Riders and your fav. bands in the Disscusion Form...