Robot Wars
Transplanted Americans Cowboy Robot explain why Ireland has proved such a perfect adopted home.
Kilian Murphy, 07 Dec 2007
Cowboy Robot’s career has followed an unusual path. The group describe their inception as being a “happy accident”; bassist and production whiz Mike Wolpe (essentially the band’s senior member, and lynchpin) was so excited by the potential shown in separate solo demos by Jon Arman and Kaleb Hanly (the group’s lead vocalists), that he suggested a songwriting collaboration between the two.
“We ended up recording a CD (Penny Arcade) for fun, but we had no intention of starting a group,” Wolpe laughs. “By the time we had finished the record, they had somehow hypnotized me into thinking that I wanted to be in a band again!”
The group (completed by the arrival of drummer Shane McLafferty) began gigging together in Los Angeles, but, in an unorthodox move, opted not to stay there. They have since taken up residency in Ireland – Dublin, specifically – and are now aiming to find a label in their adopted musical home. But what on earth possessed them to leave LA in the first place?
“LA’s a tough place, and a weird place,” explains Jon Arman. “A lot of people ask us why we came here, when most people assume that bands want to go to LA. But Los Angeles is just a little too mixed-up, and getting people out to shows there is really tough.”
But what was it that attracted them so strongly to Ireland, and how did they come to the decision to move here? The group are a little hazy on specifics, but they seem to recall that it was one of few places they could all agree on when the issue of relocation was broached.
“The idea just kinda got thrown out there,” recalls Arman, “and everyone just came to the conclusion that this would be a great place to be, and a great place to develop away from home. It’s not quite the madness of London, but it’s got enough madness of its own!”
The group’s experiences in Ireland have been a little different to what they had anticipated, but the adventure has undoubtedly been a positive one. Plus, as the group’s other guitarist/vocalist Kaleb Hanly notes: “The trick is to not expect so much – to just come here and do it!”
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