Feature: Coma Cinema

After arriving in New York City on an evening Greyhound bus by myself, I’m greeted by a familiar feeling of anxiety that seems to follow me around and permeate everything I do for at least a little while every time I get into the city. As if committing myself to a 10 + hour session of discomfort isn’t enough, having my neuroses thrown into a wild fury by the insane kinetic energy and intricate transportation systems of New York City is something that only gets a little better with each visit. My hopes are that by the time I get settled at my publicists apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and touch base with some familiar faces I’ll start to feel a little more at ease. Thankfully, I’m right. In a little over 24 hours I’ll be seeing one of my favourite bands, Coma Cinema, perform live and also finally meet one of my best friends of the internet age.

Anyone within my direct sphere of contact knows about my relationship with the music of Coma Cinema. One of the first people to make regular contact with me since I began putting my own music online, Mat Cothran is not only someone who I can relate to and discuss all things with, but also a massive inspiration when it comes to the way I approach songwriting, the creative process and the ‘industry’ aspect of music.

A native of Spartanburg, South Carolina, 23 year-old Mat Cothran has been operating under the name Coma Cinema since the age of 14. The project itself came into being while Mat was deprived of his collection of music and unable to legally leave his home:

“I found myself in a situation where I was basically on house arrest when I was 14 or so and I started sneaking around when my dad was asleep and playing his guitar cause they took all my fucking CDs away except for a Syd Barrett compilation I managed to hide. So I just began learning his songs by ear and by making weird ass chord shapes.

The name comes from Joy Division [a 1980 flexi-disc 7” single entitled Komakino which translates from Russian to Coma Cinema], who I actually don’t even like very much. Ian Curtis sounds like the world’s saddest frog.”

In his home studio he crafts what may most appropriately be self-described as ontological pop; poignant and mostly brief pop songs that reflect on darker sides of the human condition. In a time where the majority of home-produced pop music is synonymous with idealized images of summer days of years past, Coma Cinema’s music focuses more on themes like lost love, isolation, abuse and mental illness. Soft instrumentation (with influences spanning from folk to rock to experimental electronic) combined with hauntingly hard-hitting lyrics calls to mind an increasingly morbid take on the songwriting styles of Elliott Smith or Jeff Mangum, sitting on the verge of losing grip on reality. Coma Cinema’s latest and greatest record Blue Suicide released earlier this year on Fork & Spoon Records shows a huge maturation in his songwriting abilities, bringing in all these elements tighter than they’ve ever been on record.

Spending an evening and a day to myself in Greenpoint only wandering out to buy some groceries, the hour finally comes to meet up with the eight-person touring troupe consisting of members of Coma Cinema and Modern Man – the equally talented supporting band with whom Coma Cinema shares touring members. Both groups are from the same corner of South Carolina that has a steadily-growing reputation for producing some highly noteworthy musicians and bands as of late. On fitting in with South Carolina scenes:

“I’ve always managed to be part of an artistic community for better or for worse. There are many very close-knit scenes here, but often they don’t venture outside themselves much. I’m definitely attached to South Carolina, it’s pretty here and you can be poor without starving to death usually.”

After an enthusiastic first meeting with Mat, his band, the members of Modern Man and Mat’s (now ex-) girlfriend, we collectively walk down the street and get pizza together like a bunch of wholesome teenagers on a group date before seeing a movie. Sitting down to eat, I quickly realize that I share a similar sense of humour and feeling of belonging with more than just Mat. All members of both bands radiate nothing but friendliness and warmth that comes across instantly and completely dismantles any big city anxiety that I’ve been feeling.

Once we’ve gotten full on pizza and root beer, we all head back to the venue just a few blocks back; a place called Coco66 with a darkened front-room bar and a venue / performance space in the back equipped with an elabourate lighting system situated all around the stage. After a few drinks and some conversation around the venue, it’s not long before they’re put to use.

Following several opening acts (which unfortunately doesn’t include Modern Man due to confused booking logistics) Coma Cinema take to the stage. When it comes to their live performance, Coma Cinema are a sonic tour de force. Only just recently upgraded from a three-piece to a five-piece band (with a saxophonist, no less) they were sure that no ears were spared in Greenpoint that night.

“We’re a lot more ferocious now when we want to be, having a saxophonist has been a dream of mine since jamming out to Morphine in my mom’s apartment as a kid. I like the idea of recreating all our synthetic sounds with real instruments in the live setting, especially on things that aren’t so typical in rock ‘n’ roll music.”

The song’s arrangements stand in hard contrast to the LP versions of each song, with volume and distortion picking up the energy and driving Mat’s songs into menacing new territories. There are only a few moments in Coma Cinema’s records that allow a peak at the insane energy that lies dormant in his songs. It’s certainly all there in the narrative of his music, but seeing them really picked up in this way gave them all a new layer of context. There’s also no denying the effectiveness of Cothan’s pseudo-psychopathic stage presence, convulsing maniacally during the heavier breaks in songs like Eva Angelina, Whatevering, Business as Usual, Her Vore and Blissed and the yet-unreleased Partners In Crime.

This past year has seen two new and extremely contrasting releases from the Coma Cinema camp; the album Blue Suicide and the digitally-released EP Abandonned Lands. The 15-track Blue Suicide (Coma Cinema’s 3rd album) was released earlier this year to overwhelmingly warm reception from fans and music critics alike. The album follows in the stylistic path of its’ two predecessors but showcases his songwriting, composition and production skills at their strongest. It is also, by Mat’s own admission, his most fully-realized work:

“Well I feel like I finally made a real “record” that’s a totally realized work. It made me run out of songs, so I had to write new ones for the first time in a long time. It’s been our most popular album so it’s definitely given me the chance to hang out in cool places with people who have become close friends.”

Then last May, without any promotion or advanced notice, Mat released a free, five song EP on Bandcamp account called Abandoned Lands. Its five eclectic tracks contained some of the most far-out production and interesting use of instrumentation in the Coma Cinema catalog. The lyrics also painted a more morose picture than anything released up until that point, with verses bluntly referencing self-loathing, sexual abuse, suicidal fantasy and dead girlfriends. Despite it’s grim themes, most Abandoned Lands appears to be at least slightly tongue-in-cheek.

“Well I made that Shy Water song and this horrible record label fucker was really into it and was talking about how ‘this is SO much better than your folk stuff’ and I was pretty mad at him at first, but then I thought it’d be funny to make a bunch of songs that phonies like him would be really hyped on, but make them about really real horrible disgusting things since most trendy music is about hanging out and eating pizza. I thought I’d make something trendy about sex abuse. Each track regards sex abuse in some way.”

Considering the direction, difference between and warm the reception of these two latest accomplishments, it feels like Coma Cinema’s music could go anywhere at this point. When talking about his next release, he ends on an ominous note.

“I’m going to start tracking out a final album soon which was under the title of Empty Palace, but it’s now officially going to be called Posthumous Release. Everyone in the band is playing on it it’s going to be very ornate.”

With several broken strings and an audience left mesmerized, the lights come on and Coma Cinema leaves the stage and begins to pack up their instruments amidst a thunderous applause. Even in a place like New York City that sees so much music and culture pass through it, you can sense that an electric impression has been left behind on those in attendance. To someone who discovers a band like Coma Cinema through the internet amongst a huge and vibrant scene of other bands and music fans, getting the chance to see them perform in that kind of live setting becomes something of a modern communal event; where friends, musicians and writers who only know each other through online communications are brought together (usually for the first time), and it really highlights the kind of social power that music can have in this day and age. In hindsight:

“New York makes me tired as fuck just looking at it, but there are some really beautiful, perfect hidden parts that are the happiest places I’ve ever been. Our response there compared to last year was incredible. I definitely went into it hating NYC and came out with a schoolgirl crush on it.”

Regarding the best moments of their tour:

“Most of the good times came from just hanging out on porches and in alleyways, just talking to all the weird fuckers in the world; I was lucky to be surrounded by hilarious and kind people.”

Catch Coma Cinema on tour with Toro y Moi in the next couple of days:

July 14th @ New Brookland – Columbia, SC
July 15th @ The Emerald Lounge – Asheville, NC
July 16th @ The End – Nashville, TN

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Coma Cinema’s webite
BandCamp
Purchase Blue Suicide at Fork & Spoon Records

Photography by Warren Hildebrand