Cobb Of Thunder
Producer Dave Cobb lifts the lid on Airbourne’s new mantra
What made you want to work with Airbourne?
“It’s not out of my wheelhouse at all. I learned to play guitar by playing ac/dc riffs, so it was exactly my wheelhouse growing up. I’d listen to Sabbath, Zeppelin, ac/dc and the Stones, so this was perfect. We had a blast!”
What were they like to work with?
“What I loved about those guys is that they’re none more rock’n’roll. they live and breathe it. they don’t give a shit about anything except rock’n’roll. If rock’n’roll was on the menu, they’d order it!”
They say they wanted to shake things up… is that how you perceived it?
“Yeah, that was the vibe. a lot of songs were written on the floor in the studio, just making riffs and turning them into songs, just like our heroes did. all great rock’n’roll is about a riff. We pushed ourselves to make sure we had something where you could sing the guitar line.”
It’s barely over half an hour long, too…
“Yeah, I love old rock’n’roll and that comes from chuck Berry and little richard. the songs were two minutes and 30 seconds long. I don’t think there’s anything more scary than little richard on those early records, when his voice just tears your face off and it’s done in two minutes. a lot of it comes from that.”
Did they behave themselves while in Nashville?
“they’d come in and I think they might have just woken up prior to coming into the studio. like I said, they live it. Whatever’s happening on the album is happening in their lives, believe me. they fully immersed themselves in Nashville and took advantage of the music scene, staying out and seeing bands and doing what australians do, you know?”
What impressed you most about Airbourne?
“Probably the brotherhood in the band. they’re a unit and you don’t see that very often anymore. Bands usually have one guy that’s in charge and then some other great players, but with those guys, you could tell they have the same dream, they eat the same food, they listen to the same records. I love that about them.”