INTERVIEW: Spider Rockets are ‘Dirty and Bad’ on new album – Hollywood Soapbox
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INTERVIEW: Spider Rockets are ‘Dirty and Bad’ on new album
May 18, 2025
John Soltes
22 Views Helena Cos, Spider Rockets
5 min read
Photo: Spider Rockets, fronted by vocalist Helena Cos, will release their new album on May 23. Photo courtesy of the artist / Provided by Raquel Figlo PR with permission.
Spider Rockets, the rock ‘n’ roll group fronted by vocalist Helena Cos, has been hard at work these past few years on a new album, and their growing fan base will have access to all of the songs in a few short days. Dirty and Bad will be released Friday, May 23, via FireRock Music Group. Cos is joined in the band by Johnny Nap on guitar, Dan Prestup on drums and AJ on grooves.
“It’s like getting ready for Christmas right now,” Cos said in a recent phone interview about the anticipation for the new album. “It’s been a while. We put out the last one before the pandemic, and we put out a couple of singles. We put out two singles, ‘Casual Violence’ and ‘Monster of Your Dreams,’ the last two years, and we’re just kind of continually writing and recording.”
For Dirty and Bad, the band actually laid down the tracks in two different time periods. First came four tracks that they recorded in Pennsylvania at Soundmine Recording Studio, and then the final six came a while later at Frightbox Recording in New Jersey.
“We actually recorded in two blocks,” Cos said. “And we started talking to our record label about a year ago and just letting them know what we were looking for, and they were letting us know what they were looking for. It just kind of came together. But we took our time, and we just really were concentrating on the songs and production and everything and making sure that everything was the way we wanted it to sound.”
The new album starts off with the title track, followed by that previously mentioned single, “Monster of Your Dreams.” Then it’s “The Storm,” “Rock Your Ass Off” and that other single, “Casual Violence.” The sound is definitely on the hard rock side of the scale, but it doesn’t venture into heavy metal territory. “Dirty and Bad,” which is the opening anthem and gives the album its name, came in the second batch of recorded songs.
“Believe it or not that came in the second batch and actually toward the end,” Cos said. “Everything else was kind of coming together, and then for that one, the chorus idea came up. I came up with the lyrics, and Johnny came up with the riff to go along with it. We were just messing around, but I think that came later in the process. That always happens with us. Usually the ones that people like more don’t come early in the process; they come later on as we work through things.”
Cos called that song edgy and atypical for the band. Typically Spider Rockets will begin constructing a tune by starting with a guitar groove — some riffs that are rocking and catchy. This one didn’t begin in that way. Instead, Cos said the tune came together because of the right “feel” and “vibe” in the recording studio. One of their producers was attracted to the song and thought it was one of the best that the album offered to listeners.
“So he was like, ‘This one is the one. We just have to massage the parts to give the impact that we need,’” Cos remembers about the conversation.
The overall sound of the album was not exactly planned, Cos said. Instead they offered up their artistic expression, figured out if they liked the songs and then moved on. If it was something that fit what Spider Rockets had done in the past, great. If not, that was OK, too. They are rock ‘n’ rollers at heart, and they work off inspiration more than anything else.
“I don’t think we consciously think of that,” Cos said about the sound. “I think we’re just trying to create really good music and something that we like, and we hope that other people like it, too. You listen to all different kinds of stuff, and it’s like, you get attracted to different music from all different genres. And sometimes it’s just a feel that you’re looking for or just a vibe. Sometimes it’s an awesome riff. Let’s see what we can come up with with this riff. It’s not trying to push the edges consciously or anything, but it’s just trying to find something that really works. Sometimes through the unconscious process of listening to whatever you’re listening to and hearing whatever you’re hearing, different things come together. It’s not like we’re trying to take a left turn here.”
Releasing a new album is an all-consuming affair. Right now the band is working on their music videos, whether they are lyric videos or performance pieces. Cos also said work has started on the next album, with some writing sessions already accomplished. Ultimately, they want to make themselves happy, the fans happy and the record company happy.
“That’s where we are right now, which is why it feels like Christmas,” she said.
By John Soltes / Publisher / [email protected]
Spider Rockets will release their new album, Dirty and Bad, on Friday, May 23. Click here for more information.
Image courtesy of the artist / Provided by Raquel Figlo PR with permission.
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John Soltes
John Soltes is an award-winning journalist. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Earth Island Journal, The Hollywood Reporter, New Jersey Monthly and at Time.com, among other publications.
E-mail him at [email protected]
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