Cool Kids: Too Cool For School
Artist: No Related Artist
They're kids and they're cool. They're, er, the Cool Kids. Hattie Collins meets them.
"You guys drive on the wrong side of the road," announces Mikey Rocks Cool Kid. "Plus you sit on the wrong side of the car," continues Chuck Inglish Cool Kid. "And I don’t want to be rude, but your food..."
It's safe to say that Chicago duo the Cool Kids aren't too enamoured with all things British. But to write them off as UK haters wouldn't be right either. "Your climate is much warmer than ours," offers Mickey. "In Chicago right now, it's freezing."
Like their home town, the Cool Kids are pretty ice cold themselves. Meeting two years ago via MySpace, the pair have begun to make an awful lot of noise with their '80s inspired beats and songs about BMX's, gold watches and, sometimes, absolutely nothing at all. "Yeah, that’s the point, just like, make some songs," shrugs Chuck, 23. "A lot of really good songs are about nothing, so I always wanted to make music that was just enjoyable to listen to." Mikey, 19, agrees: "Everything doesn’t always have to have a huge life meaning."
Already being touted as 'the Black Beastie Boys', the two have barely been home for three months. Tours with Plastic Little and M.I.A. have taken them from Chi-Town to Europe, Australia and beyond, while friendships with Flosstradamus and Kid Sister have seen the Kids get lumped into the 'cool club music' category, a label they resist. "We just know those people, so we got grouped in with them. Just cos we can turn a show into a party doesn’t mean we’re club; every song we have is at like 80BPM," points out Chucky, the duo's producer. Fair enough, but like, the aforementioned, they do share a taste in dramatic dressing, right? "People hate me for some reason - I don’t understand cos I’m a nice guy," laughs Mikey, who today is sporting skinny-fit snow-wash jeans, an orange New Era fitted, Jordan 8's and a t-shirt with a dolphin on it. "It’s been a while since I dressed like the people I grew up with. I started picking up my own sort of thing, which I got a lot of flak for, and still get flak for, but it’s just clothes at the end of the day. People take it way too seriously. If fashion is your thing then that’s wonderful - but it’s just cloth. It’s not going to make or break you, it’s not who you are as a person, it’s just the clothes you have on."
Image is incredibly important to the Cool Kids though. Their artwork, videos and, of course, clothing is always supa-dupa-fly. "Visually, things have to be representative of your sound and that’s where a lot of people go wrong," insists Chuck. "If you have a bad-ass video, it makes a good song better. Music is much more visual nowadays; sh*t like YouTube eliminates having to see the video on TV so more people are seeing that side."
Integral to the Cool Kids aesthetic is an acute understanding of how much the music game has changed. They shrug off people bootlegging their stuff ("that sh*t's for the label to worry about") and instead concentrate on working out how to get tunes like Black Mags, Action Figures and Gold And A Pager out to the masses. "It’s way too easy to get whatever song you want for free, but that’s not a bad thing that people want your music. It’s no offense to you; they’ll be at all your shows and ask you to sign their tits..." grins Mickey, as Chuck interrupts. "I’ve signed a couple of those… But they don’t got to wait while your label wants to BS and take all day to put out your album. Before, people had to wait for a label to stop BSing and put out your stuff and now they don’t."
Don't get it twisted though; they both want to make money. But not for flashy jewellery and fast cars. What they want from life is as off-key as their music, look and sound. "I want to train some animals to do things they don’t usually do. I want to get a cat and like take it for walks and teach it to roll over. If I had free time, I would do some funny stuff," says Mikey as Chucky chips in: "Personally, I just want to be the coolest dude alive; go fishing, smoke weed, have parties with people moon-walking and throw some darts, have barbecues..." Ok, but how about as a group; what’s the big plan for the Cool Kids? “There’s going to be a record coming soon and it’s going to be the sh*t,” he announces as Mikey chuckles in agreement. “It’s going to be hard for you to say anything about it, you’ll just say it’s the sh*t. Your mum will say it’s the sh*t and she will rap some of the lyrics. That’s what I want,” he decides. “I want your mum to come to the show.”
I can't promise Mumzie Collins will be in the house Chuck, but I can say that I'll definitely be there. Especially if there's dancing cats and darts to be had. Yep, the Cool Kids really are very cool kids. Do yourself a favour and check 'em out...
Let’s talk about sex
What’s hot?
Mikey: Cute girls with no make-up who can wake up and look as cute as they did when they went to sleep. I love that. I love funny girls too. That’s a lot sexier than huge boobs. I want Lauren London. That might be a shot in the dark but she’s super-sexy.
Chuck: If she doesn’t go with him, I’ll take a shot. I got a thing for Rihanna right now. She’s doing it right. I think I’d be a perfect match for her cos I’m such a bad-ass. Hopefully she’ll read this and takes me up on my offer.
What’s not?
Chuck: Crying and talking about anything other than doing it.
Mikey: Or if you don’t got that rhythm, that p*sses me off. If I’m going 1,2,3,4 and you’re going 1,2,3,4,4,4,4 that sh*t sucks. You got to find that rhythm and stick to it.
The Cool Kids EP The Bake Sale is coming soon. MySpace.com/gocoolkids
RWD Magazine
They're kids and they're cool. They're, er, the Cool Kids. Hattie Collins meets them.
"You guys drive on the wrong side of the road," announces Mikey Rocks Cool Kid. "Plus you sit on the wrong side of the car," continues Chuck Inglish Cool Kid. "And I don’t want to be rude, but your food..."
It's safe to say that Chicago duo the Cool Kids aren't too enamoured with all things British. But to write them off as UK haters wouldn't be right either. "Your climate is much warmer than ours," offers Mickey. "In Chicago right now, it's freezing."
Like their home town, the Cool Kids are pretty ice cold themselves. Meeting two years ago via MySpace, the pair have begun to make an awful lot of noise with their '80s inspired beats and songs about BMX's, gold watches and, sometimes, absolutely nothing at all. "Yeah, that’s the point, just like, make some songs," shrugs Chuck, 23. "A lot of really good songs are about nothing, so I always wanted to make music that was just enjoyable to listen to." Mikey, 19, agrees: "Everything doesn’t always have to have a huge life meaning."
Already being touted as 'the Black Beastie Boys', the two have barely been home for three months. Tours with Plastic Little and M.I.A. have taken them from Chi-Town to Europe, Australia and beyond, while friendships with Flosstradamus and Kid Sister have seen the Kids get lumped into the 'cool club music' category, a label they resist. "We just know those people, so we got grouped in with them. Just cos we can turn a show into a party doesn’t mean we’re club; every song we have is at like 80BPM," points out Chucky, the duo's producer. Fair enough, but like, the aforementioned, they do share a taste in dramatic dressing, right? "People hate me for some reason - I don’t understand cos I’m a nice guy," laughs Mikey, who today is sporting skinny-fit snow-wash jeans, an orange New Era fitted, Jordan 8's and a t-shirt with a dolphin on it. "It’s been a while since I dressed like the people I grew up with. I started picking up my own sort of thing, which I got a lot of flak for, and still get flak for, but it’s just clothes at the end of the day. People take it way too seriously. If fashion is your thing then that’s wonderful - but it’s just cloth. It’s not going to make or break you, it’s not who you are as a person, it’s just the clothes you have on."
Image is incredibly important to the Cool Kids though. Their artwork, videos and, of course, clothing is always supa-dupa-fly. "Visually, things have to be representative of your sound and that’s where a lot of people go wrong," insists Chuck. "If you have a bad-ass video, it makes a good song better. Music is much more visual nowadays; sh*t like YouTube eliminates having to see the video on TV so more people are seeing that side."
Integral to the Cool Kids aesthetic is an acute understanding of how much the music game has changed. They shrug off people bootlegging their stuff ("that sh*t's for the label to worry about") and instead concentrate on working out how to get tunes like Black Mags, Action Figures and Gold And A Pager out to the masses. "It’s way too easy to get whatever song you want for free, but that’s not a bad thing that people want your music. It’s no offense to you; they’ll be at all your shows and ask you to sign their tits..." grins Mickey, as Chuck interrupts. "I’ve signed a couple of those… But they don’t got to wait while your label wants to BS and take all day to put out your album. Before, people had to wait for a label to stop BSing and put out your stuff and now they don’t."
Don't get it twisted though; they both want to make money. But not for flashy jewellery and fast cars. What they want from life is as off-key as their music, look and sound. "I want to train some animals to do things they don’t usually do. I want to get a cat and like take it for walks and teach it to roll over. If I had free time, I would do some funny stuff," says Mikey as Chucky chips in: "Personally, I just want to be the coolest dude alive; go fishing, smoke weed, have parties with people moon-walking and throw some darts, have barbecues..." Ok, but how about as a group; what’s the big plan for the Cool Kids? “There’s going to be a record coming soon and it’s going to be the sh*t,” he announces as Mikey chuckles in agreement. “It’s going to be hard for you to say anything about it, you’ll just say it’s the sh*t. Your mum will say it’s the sh*t and she will rap some of the lyrics. That’s what I want,” he decides. “I want your mum to come to the show.”
I can't promise Mumzie Collins will be in the house Chuck, but I can say that I'll definitely be there. Especially if there's dancing cats and darts to be had. Yep, the Cool Kids really are very cool kids. Do yourself a favour and check 'em out...
Let’s talk about sex
What’s hot?
Mikey: Cute girls with no make-up who can wake up and look as cute as they did when they went to sleep. I love that. I love funny girls too. That’s a lot sexier than huge boobs. I want Lauren London. That might be a shot in the dark but she’s super-sexy.
Chuck: If she doesn’t go with him, I’ll take a shot. I got a thing for Rihanna right now. She’s doing it right. I think I’d be a perfect match for her cos I’m such a bad-ass. Hopefully she’ll read this and takes me up on my offer.
What’s not?
Chuck: Crying and talking about anything other than doing it.
Mikey: Or if you don’t got that rhythm, that p*sses me off. If I’m going 1,2,3,4 and you’re going 1,2,3,4,4,4,4 that sh*t sucks. You got to find that rhythm and stick to it.
The Cool Kids EP The Bake Sale is coming soon. MySpace.com/gocoolkids
RWD Magazine
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