After
many incredible years, I’m making the difficult decision to close the
book on Cobra Starship. If you stop reading this now, I want to say
thank you if you’ve ever supported Cobras in any way. Whether
you came to our shows and bought merch, or simply listened to a track
and shared it with a friend, you allowed us to live out the most
incredible adventure, and I am eternally grateful for that.
I
started Cobra Starship with a fundamental desire to reconnect to music
the same way I did when I first picked up a bass at 12 years old; when
things were carefree, pure, and less complicated. It was
almost 2007 when Cobras set out on its first tour, and just a few short
years later, a groundswell of support from diehard kids all over the
world catapulted us into unknown territory. To this day I am humbled by
how much love our fans showed us, and by the
completely unanticipated level of mainstream success we achieved. When
my dad reluctantly accepted that I was dropping out of school to pursue
music, he never imagined that I would have platinum records, VMA
nominations, or even be able to move out of his
basement (to be honest, I even had doubts about that last point). But
because of you guys, we were able to achieve more than what most kids
who start jamming in their parents’ garage ever dream of. I grew up as a
little idealist punk who always saw himself
as an outsider, and the fact that I got to play in the main arena still
blows my mind, so thank you.
To
me, the most rewarding thing about Cobra Starship is that we were
successful not because we played the game, but because we broke the
rules and paved our own way. There was something magical about
how everything came together, and we were blessed to have your support
and to see our dreams materialize. However, I know that sometimes when
things go on for too long, that magic can start to fade … And as hard as
it is for all of us, I would rather close
this chapter of our lives and be able to look back on it fondly than
allow something that means so much to us stagnate. My only hope is that
we were able to be the backdrop to some of your fondest memories, and
that those experiences have positively impacted
you in a permanent way.
Again,
I want to thank you; and I want you to know that even though Cobra
Starship is coming to an end, the things that we stood for (rooting for
underdogs, taking control of your destiny, taking shots
at the establishment, not taking any shit, and not taking yourself too
seriously), will live on and will continue to matter to me. I hope they
will continue to matter to you too.
To
Nate, Victoria, Ryland, Alex, Halvo & Andy, I want to thank you guys
for believing in my crazy vision and putting your trust in me to steer
the ship. No book could ever capture the insanity of our
adventures. We built this thing from scratch and we have so much to be
proud of. Being in Cobras with you taught me what it takes to be a
leader, and for that I will be forever grateful.
I
want to thank everyone on our team who worked with us and all of our
crew who took care of everything for us. We came up with something
totally out of the box and we were able to bring it to life by
putting our heads together and creating new strategies. We are lucky to
have worked with some of the greatest people in the business and we
couldn’t have done it without you.
Looking
back on everything, I realize just how grateful I am to have made music
for a living. Not simply because I got to (quote-unquote) “live the
dream,” but more importantly, because I was able to
have such a cathartic lens by which to understand my life; writing was
my therapy and shows were my salvation. I also realize how fortunate I
am to have experienced a somewhat tumultuous road as an artist. It was
because of the challenges along my journey
that I was forced to look inwards, accept responsibility and transform.
I feel like I’ve lived a hundred lifetimes and that I’ve learned things
I could have never been taught elsewhere. I was able to connect with
people all over the world and from all walks
of life, and I will take these lessons, experiences, and connections
with me wherever I go. But now the time has come to move on.
That of course begs the question: Well, where are you going bro?
The
truth is that there is nothing that I am more passionate about than
music. And although the time has come for me to pass the baton, nothing
would be as rewarding for me as the opportunity to share
my wisdom and experiences with the next generation of artists.
And so, me and my boy Mike Carden are starting a company to do just that:
theartistgroup.org
Get at us. We’ll see you in 2016.
Love you guys.
And even though it’s over, just remember that Cobras never say die.