Kobra Paige Interview
Kobra Paige Interview
Canadian power metal superstars, Kobra And The Lotus are taking
the world by storm. Their latest album " High Priestess" is a tour de
force of in your face metal. It is the album to buy in 2014. "I am, I
am", "Soldier", "Warhorse", and the incredible title
track, "High Priestess, this album is full of searing metal anthems. I
spoke with Kobra Paige about life on the road with Kiss/Def Leppard, recording,
and tarot cards.
How is the tour going so far? I know it just started.
Yeah it’s going great. I hope it never
ends.
Is the Kiss/def Leppard tour going to Europe too or is just the
states?
Just the states. We don’t know their plans
after this tour but we are still planning to go overseas.
How long did it take to write the new album?
Oh man. That is hard to answer. Songs were
written before. About a year in the making. Some were ideas of riffs. Songs
were written at scattered times, when we had moments of opportunity. I
don’t write on the road. I try to stay healthy.
The album is darker. Do you feel that?
Lyrically. There are some more piercing lyrics
and some subjects are graphic. “Soldier” is darker. It wasn’t intentional. It
just happened. I guess it is darker. I never think about it. Just the way it
came out.
Was it because of touring or experiences on the road?
No, I write the lyrics from experiences in
my own life. Just topics that I want to bring awareness to. I wrote them all
basically about life and the journey we are all on.
Do you have any Native American blood?
I actually don’t. I am Ukrainian on both sides.
(laughs) I’m some kind of native. I’m from somewhere
“High Priestess” is the title of the album and one of my favorite
tracks. What inspired the lyrics?
High Priestess was inspired by a tarot card.
It has the high priestess representing arcane knowledge and she holds the
future. We have to journey through life to gain that knowledge. She won’t tell
you. So you have to prophess your own prophecy. That is where that comes from.
It was also a great metaphor for the album. Just an all encompassing view.
How cool is it to watch and learn from Kiss and Def Leppard?
They are great. They come down to talk quite
a bit. Especially Eric and Tommy(Kiss) they pal around quite a bit. Yesterday,
right before we went on, Paul (Stanley) came and grabbed me on the shoulder and
was like” you got this” The crew is awesome. Def Leppard is always buzzing around. Rick came down and
slapped one of our guys in the but and said “have a great show”. Production
team is awesome. We have been using their in ear monitoring system. It has been great.
So for this tour we can safely say you have a better bus driver
than the last one.
(Laughs) Oh yeah. He is awesome. Very mellow.
Down to earth. They are hard to come by.
I know last year you had a crashed trailer.
Yeah. we had everything happen with those
trailers.( last year's tour the
equipment trailer actually passed the van they were in as it went off the
road.)
The Kiss/Def Leppard audience is very diverse. How have they been
treating you?
They have been great. We have to go out
and win them over every night. We adore them. It is tough they are all sitting.
Security keeps them all sitting. Very different than what we have been used to.
No one knows us and it is a great challenge. Our job is to warm them up. We
come out twice. After we play and then after Def Leppard plays we like to hang
out.
Have you ever done any onstage duets with anyone?
I did the metal all stars tour. But not yet. I would love to.
A Halford/Paige version of “Victim Of Changes” would be awesome
Whooh. Yes! Push
for that!
Who else is on your musical list that we might not expect?
I love Devin Townsend. He
is brilliant. Of course Judas Priest is always going to be one of my faves.
For New England fans: Kobra and The Lotus will open for Kiss/Def
Leppard at the xfinity Center, Mansfield Mass. August 1st.
