We’ve been keeping a close eye on Luxembourg-based post-rock duo The Cookie Jar Complot for quite some time now. Comprised of Sven Schmeler and Gilles Glesener, the act is making a name for itself in the instrumental math-rock world, and they recently unleashed their eight-track sophomore EP that completely blew me away!
Having found myself drawn more and more to instrumental music, I reached out to the band and was stoked when they agreed to an interview! Chatting with us about their latest EP ‘Lobster Knife Fight’, how they take an idea and transform it into a song, and who they would love to collaborate with, please give a big welcome to our friends The Cookie Jar Complot!
Welcome guys, I’m so excited to re-introduce you to our ever-expanding audience! Let’s kick things off with an easy one…Who is The Cookie Jar Complot and when did your respective musical journeys take flight?
The Cookie Jar Complot are Sven Schmeler and Gilles Glesener and, live, we are accompanied by Philipp Colling on bass. It all started back in 2011 but, unfortunately, the whole thing came to nothing back then – until we met again in 2020!
My introduction to your music came in the form of ‘Oh Anna!‘, and it’s a tune that I still put on regularly. I labelled it “a sonic rollercoaster of epic proportions” and I firmly stand by that statement! What does the track mean to you?
We are delighted to hear that. ‘Oh Anna!’ is one of the first songs we wrote. We already had the idea for it back in 2011 but couldn’t realise it the way we had imagined. When we got back together in 2020, it was one of the first songs we worked on and finished. For us, it is a small milestone in our history that connects our first collaboration with today.
‘Lobster Knife Fight’ is an EP that has been on repeat in my flat ever since its October release. It’s undoubtedly one of my favourite records of the year. Is there an overarching theme or is each tune meant to stand on its own?
With ‘Lobster Knife Fight’ we have tried to create an EP that takes you on a journey. The EP is actually meant to be listened to from start to finish. In addition to the singles that we had already released in advance, there are also interludes on the record that make the whole thing a flowing listening experience.
You’ve mentioned acts like And So I Watch You from Afar, Mutiny On The Bounty, and Covet as being inspirational to your sound. Are there any other bands or artists you’d give a shoutout to for having helped shape your music?
We both loved and still love alternative music and bands like Foals, Two Door Cinema Club, etc. This common ground was what drove us to create a band in the first place for a long time. The fact that it has now become instrumental music is thanks to the strong instrumental music scene in Luxembourg that characterised our youth. Our music would probably not be the same without bands like Mutiny On The Bounty, Heartbeat Parade, or No Metal In This Battle.
Could you tell us a bit about your songwriting process? Not specifically for any song but just in general. How do you take an idea and turn it into a piece of music?
It usually works like this; One of us comes up with a basic idea or a riff/groove. We send it back and forth online and keep adding new parts until we have something more definitive. Then we start to grind the song together in a room and get it almost finished. We usually let the song mature a bit or take it into the live programme to see how people react to it. The final changes are sometimes even made in the studio.
What would “being successful” in the music industry look like to you? And is it something that you think about when creating new music?
We try to control what we can control and that’s writing the best songs we can and putting on the best live shows we can. We have to be realistic. Our genre is relatively small and it’s hard to make a living out of it. We would be happy if our name were known internationally in the scene.
If you were allowed to collaborate with one musician or band, who would you choose?
Pie in the sky, it would be a producer or someone like Dan Auerbach or Rick Rubin. Both have made so many records that influenced us.
Thanks again for chatting with us guys! It’s been great getting to know you a bit better. Before we let you go, what comes next for the project?
At the moment we are trying our best to promote and introduce our music across borders. We also have something visual that fans can look forward to in the coming months.
