My Life With Cobra Venom

One year ago today, I went to the Viper Room to see Cobra Venom for the first time (and I'm just now realizing the irony – snakes, why’d it have to be snakes!?).  During CV's awesome set I thought “if this band ever needs another drummer, I’m there!”  Three months later, their drummer left and I got the  audition call.  Shortly afterward we created some merch, went on tour, performed live on a popular college station and played at least 2 shows per month around LA while constantly writing new music.  We recently finished our first full-length album and most importantly, we have a really great time just being in the band together.

This situation didn't happen quickly, though.  I met CV frontman Chris La Rocca four years ago while promoting a band called The Cauterized to Chris’ radio show on KXLU called Metal Storm.  This was actually a project for a class I was taking at Musicians Institute with Bobby Borg.  Bobby’s radio promotion tips helped me get onto Chris’ radar and Chris ended up liking The Cauterized, so he played them on Metal Storm.  I wanted to thank Chris in person so I went to see his band Eyes In The Fog play a show.  They were great and Chris was cool, so we kept in touch every couple of weeks for a few years.  Then one day I got a text from Chris about his "other" band doing a show at the Viper Room and you know the rest.

My point here is that it’s not just a good idea but also NECESSARY to immerse yourself in your local music scene.  Find mentors and make friends - not just "connections."  A college is a great place to start looking but if you’re not in college or don’t know someone that is, talk to people in your scene that are gigging or doing some other work in music.  Great things can and do happen.  They've certainly happened for me!

More news about the Cobra Venom album to come.  In the meantime, check out "Life On Land" below and visit our YouTube channel for more videos.