Spotlight On... Cowboy Hunters
With their latest single Mating Calls out now, we catch up with Scottish punks Cowboy Hunters
Megan Pollock and Desmond Johnston, otherwise known as Cowboy Hunters, are furious. To give you an idea, their latest single Mating Calls opens with the line: ‘You’re not a peacock, you just have a tiny wee cock / You’re not a baboon, put your arse away’, Pollock snarling and seething with fury over a guttural bassline and rumbling drums.
If you haven’t heard them before, it might just be the perfect introduction to a band brimming with raw punk energy; big riffs, rage, snarky take downs and furious lyricism pretty much a part of everything they’ve done to date. Needless to say, but we’re fans. With Mating Calls out today, we catch up with the pair via email to find out more, the results suitably bonkers. Enjoy.
We’d love to know a bit more about you – how did you meet and what inspired you to start making music together?
We met on the job actually. We were both hunting a cowboy who was going by the name of Slim Jim at the time. He got away unfortunately and is still out there, but we figured we’d stick together as there aren’t many cowboy hunters left after the great disaster back in '04. Somewhere along the line we ended up chasing a lead at the music course at Edinburgh Napier University and thought damn, tunes are pretty cool, so we started making tunes. It’s a good escape from the horror of cowboys.
I feel like there’s a fun story hiding behind the name… Where did the name Cowboy Hunters come from?
We hunt cowboys.
When it comes to your musical style, who/what would you say inspires you?
Spite, Pitbull, dubstep, Luigi’s Mansion, getting $$$, that video of Avril Lavigne saying it’s not punk to say you’re punk. Desmond likes hip-hop and ABBA. Megan likes doom and 10hr-white noise compilations. From all that we get Cowboy Hunters.
You seem absolutely furious on your new single Mating Calls – what inspired the rage of the song’s lyrics?
Dubbed (by us) “a diss track to creeps in smoking areas everywhere”. It’s about when someone is being a stupid gross idiot (pardon our French) to you so you hit them with a 'why I oughta'. Raging is fun and our favourite songs to play are probably the angriest ones. Everyone should shout more. More specifically it’s about the aforementioned Slim Jim. He’s a bad guy, man. We hope you’re listening.
Image: Cowboy Hunters by Block 414
You’re about to head off on tour across the UK – what can people expect if they come to a live Cowboy Hunters show?
Cowboys will be turned away and if they somehow still get in they will be booed and jeered and it will be very humiliating for them. We will play 30-60 minutes of Cowboy Hunters tunes then immediately try to flog you our merch. You will be left with a feeling that some pyrotechnics really would have added to the vibe.
Apart from the single and tour, what does the rest of the year look like for the band?
We will continue to stay on the grind, hustling, locked in, there’s still so many cowboys out there. Some more releases and another tour and maybe even some shows oversees…? We’re also planning on putting on an all-dayer thing later in the year. Details are *redacted* but it will be a bunch of sick bands including *redactedrldwide* and a very sick time and everyone should come.
Mating Calls is out now
Cowboy Hunters play various UK dates starting on 14 Mar, with shows in Dundee (The Lowdown, 4 Apr), Glasgow (House Guest Festival, 12 Apr) and Edinburgh (Leith Depot, 1 May)
Follow Cowboy Hunters on Instagram @cowboy_hunters