A few months ago we profiled the Black and White Jacksons, who may have been our first Three Stars profile with a member from a former (and defunct) Three Stars subject. Now we bring you another DCist first: a band with members from not one, but three former Three Stars veterans. Cobra Collective may have only come into existence in late 2007, but if something about their sound is just a wee bit familiar, it's because they've picked up a few members of The Bonapartes (including the distinctive voice), The Third Programme, and Death By Sexy.

Named for a mid-20th century art collective (not Cobra Commander, sadly), Cobra Collective takes a little bit of the European post-punk angle of the Bonapartes, but with a more straightforward down and dirty rock and roll approach. The lyrics are political, the riffs are strong and the mixture seems to be working very well, as they've already reached the stage of the 9:30 Club. We spoke with guitarist David Barker about the songwriting process, the stylistic shifts the band members made in forming a new unit, and why bands should watch out for their gear when touring in mid-sized cities.

Visit them online at: myspace.com/cobracollective

See them next: Fort Reno on August 4 with Exit Clov and The Console War.

Questions for David Barker:

Did you guys all already know each other from playing different shows around D.C.?

I’ve known the guys in this band for a couple of years and The Third Programme and The Bonapartes used to play shows together. They were my favorite band in D.C. at the time back in 2004-2005. After both of our bands kinda stopped playing we just kinda started talking again, like about a year ago, and we’re like, “Hey we ought to get together and play” and got together last summer and started playing. Kinda went well off the bat and we just kinda started from there and continue to play now so it’s turned out good.

What sort of stylistic changes have been made going from The Bonapartes and The Third Programme to Cobra Collective?

I think it’s definitely a little bit more of a rock, for lack of a better reference, kind of vibe. I think we took where The Bonapartes started and kind of kept the post-punk kind of edge to our sound. But, I think that by coming from The Third Programme it kind of brought a pretty heavy guitar kinda angular sound to what we’re doing now so I definitely think it’s a little more rock than both of those bands.

Since you’ve gotten together last year you’ve definitely gotten your opportunity to play all sorts of different venues in D/C/. Would you deem any of those shows breakout shows? Are there any that you consider to have been your favorite?

I think that definitely the Iota show, the second show that we played, on kind of a last minute notice with friends of ours, Koshari and Metropolitan, was really really good. It was a full crowd and people were really receptive to it. So, it kinda felt like with our second show it was kind of like the unveiling of the band. People were very responsive to that. And then the 9:30 Club show with Olivia Mancini & The Housemates was really cool because it was our first time, for any of use, to play the 9:30 Club and that was really really exciting. It sounded really good and some of the songs that we had on myspace are live recordings from that show. So, I would say those were probably the most memorable so far. We’re really excited about the Fort Reno show we’re playing with our friends Exit Clov who we’ve played with before and known for awhile.

I’m guessing that it’s safe to assume that all of these shows were more fun than the show in Pittsburgh where your van got broken into.

Yeah, that was pretty crazy cause in all of our previous bands it seems like whenever we played out of town, whether it be New York or Baltimore or Richmond, it’s always been Pittsburgh that’s been our favorite. It seems like people are really really into it and very responsive up there. We got to the venue and less than a half hour after we loaded in we walk outside to the van to go get something. I think our drummer Dex, he’s the owner of the van, went out to go check on something and our side window was smashed. Luckily, all the gear was still in the club and they took stupid things like a library book and shoes and stuff like that but none of the gear was stolen. It kind put a damper on the night because we played a really cool club and some cool bands , it was a good show and like 30 minutes into the time we’re there, the van gets broken into. And we’ve played plenty of shows downtown and that stuff has never happened. Apparently, I hear that it happens a lot more in Pittsburgh and Cleveland and those kind of cities. The word is that it always happens in New York. People have gotten stuff stolen there, from New York City but I know a lot of people who have gotten their vans broken into in Pittsburgh, so go figure.

You guys have some very interesting influences listed on your MySpace page. I’ve noticed some characters from classic mythology, ex-urban poverty, etc. Are these things that show up in your songwriting or things that you put up there for fun?

I think some of it is popular references that we’re either into or influenced by. Scott, who writes all the lyrics and the melodies and everything, is extremely intelligent and he tends to write more on the political side so it’s really nice to work with somebody that’s just not saying like “I love you” songs or romantic kind of things, kind of standard more of the middle kind of subjects. I think that when we get together we kind of, we’ll get something we’re into like Fugazi who has a political edge to their lyrics and I think that’s kinda where some of the punk comes from.

Do you think that some of that is bound to happen living in D.C., living under the shadow of Fugazi and other political bands?

Yeah definitely. We like Fugazi a lot but we also recognize early '80s bands like Gang of Four and The Clash. They’re both very political in their subject matter and I think that’s something that we definitely draw from.

Are you guys recording anything right now?

The first three songs on our MySpace page, “Joe Goda,” “Legionnaire” and “Hannibal at the Gates" were recorded in a studio and we’ve been working on some more and just taking our time and hopefully after the Fort Reno show kinda buckle down and just kinda finish, whether it’s going to be an EP or a CD, and hopefully have something to release by the end of the year.

Do you know where you’ll be recording?

We’ve done a lot of recording with Eamonn Aiken who’s a friend of ours and of the Bonapartes, and we plan to record in his studio in Herndon and we’ve done like a good sound there. Both Third Programme and The Bonapartes have recorded with him in the past, so, I think that’s probably where we’re going to end up doing it again. We’ve done stuff with him so far and it’s gone pretty well.

Having been involved the DC music scene for several years do you think of anything that are any strong positives that you've noticed?

I think that a lot more than I think people give it credit for. For one, I think it’s very easy to get established in this area. You can kind of play some pretty good shows, I think we’re a good example of that where we played some pretty good shows early on and were able to get exposure pretty quick as opposed to somewhere like New York or Los Angeles, where there’s so many bands out that you’re competing for the same kind of space. And it seems like it’s not as hard to get a good show on a Friday or a Saturday night, because there’s also a lot of supportive clubs to cater to live bands. And I feel like with such a smaller scene than say like New York, that you can meet a lot of people and network and kind of build up friendships with people and they can come see your band and you can go see theirs.

Any negatives?

You can always point out the negatives in any scene or city. I think I’m actually seeing a kind of community happen again kind of similar to what it was like three or four years ago where everybody was going to see each others bands, and two years ago I wasn’t seeing that as much, but now I see bands befriending each other again, going to each others shows and being supportive of one another.

Do you think there’s anything that may have sparked that or do you just think that’s part of an ebb and flow?

Well, I think people will make an argument in this town that it’s a very transitional town, and people stay here for two years, they move and everyone’s building up new friendships and people are coming and going a lot. I think that probably has a lot to do with it and what we all joke about is that it’s like the D.C. band curse that if you can make it past a year in this town, you’re doing pretty good.

Who are some of the bands that you like to go out and see?

I also play in the band Screen Vinyl Image, that I really dig their stuff obviously because I’m biased and I play with them. Dex, our drummer, is in like two or three other bands, he’s in Death By Sexy and I like to go see them. Actually, I saw them at Fort Reno with True Womanhood and I dig both of those bands quite a bit. There’s definitely a lot of cool bands that we like to go out and see and kind of support.