Cold Court’s ‘Frankensteined’ EP Is Finally Leaving the LAN Basement

By Gabby McIlhinney

Photos by Seven Finckel
Photos by Seven Finckel
Photos by Seven Finckel
Photos by Seven Finckel
Photos by Seven Finckel
Photos by Seven Finckel
Photos by Seven Finckel
Photos by Seven Finckel
Photos by Seven Finckel
Photos by Seven Finckel
Photos by Seven Finckel
Photos by Seven Finckel
Photos by Seven Finckel
Photos by Seven Finckel
Photos by Seven Finckel
Photos by Seven Finckel
Photos by Seven Finckel

DJ Gabby Mack, host of Fish Food, sat down with Cold Court after their live studio session at WKDU Philadelphia to talk about their debut EP, \ (^_^) / (aka: HANDS UP), their constantly evolving writing process, Minecraft nostalgia, and their first tour kickoff.

After the set, I had asked the band to explain how songs typically come together for them, especially because their music feels so layered and production-heavy. Jojo described the process as pretty unstructured, saying, “We’re not super organized, but we figure everything out… It’s not very organized at all.”

Mini expands on that idea, describing the band’s process as “constantly chasing like a high or like a feeling” and being willing to “do whatever it takes in that very moment” to capture inspiration before it disappears.

A huge part of that process now happens digitally. When I asked whether recording itself has become part of the songwriting process, Minnie explained that many of the songs evolve directly inside Ableton. Mini explains that one unreleased track, “Cola,” was “pretty much completely just us recording us improvising over a beat JoJo made and then… piecing those pieces together.”

Jojo also mentioned that he learned Ableton specifically for Cold Court after previously working in FL Studio.

“We miss FL, for sure,” he says. “But Ableton is… the key to the future.”

That blend of live instrumentation and heavy production experimentation has become central to the band’s sound. Songs rarely seem to stay in one form for very long.

“We take the song, and then we remix it, and then we record it, and we just do it completely electronically,” Mini explains. “And then we take it and then we do it completely live… and then we take the electronic demo and put it right on top of the live version.”

The result, according to the band, is something that feels like “five songs at once.”

The EP itself has been in the works for well over a year, with multiple versions scrapped and rebuilt along the way.

“There’s the original EP that got scrapped,” Charlie reveals.

Jojo adds that the current version has been in progress “at least a year,” while Sasha points out that some early versions of songs like “Burn” existed nearly two years ago.

When talking about influences, the band bounced between emo, electronic music, shoegaze, and hyper-produced pop without really separating any of it into categories. Mini lists artists like Justice, Daft Punk, Skrillex, My Bloody Valentine, My Chemical Romance, and Smashing Pumpkins as major inspirations for the project.

“I feel like the EP is very… it kind of shows our inability to restrain ourselves,” Mini says. “Everything we listened to, everything we liked, everything we enjoyed, would have to be there.”

Naturally, the conversation also drifted toward the band’s obsession with nostalgia and internet culture. While talking about the “Burn” music video, I brought up how the orchestral hit on the synth, which was, according to a fun fact from Jojo, “a piece from Igor Stravinsky that was micro sampled and turned into a one-shot,” reminded me of Wii Party. This, of course, immediately spiraled into a discussion about Minecraft YouTubers and LAN parties.

The “Burn” video itself was filmed at Dead Birds, Paul’s DIY venue in Philadelphia, and centered around the idea of a basement Minecraft LAN party.

“I liked the humor of it being an underground basement punk show, but they’re just playing Minecraft with each other,” Paul says.

The band also shouted out creators like DanTDM, Stampy, and Jacksepticeye, while Jojo pointed out that a lot of his early exposure to EDM came from Minecraft YouTube intros.

Even while experimenting heavily with production, the band still sees Cold Court as something deeply collaborative and rooted in friendship. Several members talked about how being involved in other projects has influenced the band’s chemistry and sound.

“It’s very emo now,” Mini jokes after mentioning Paul’s move to guitar.

“We’ve always been emo,” she continues. “Just like cyberpunk emo.”

Toward the end of the interview, the conversation shifted toward the band’s upcoming tour, which kicked off on April 30 at Philly Style Pizza and is routed to continue this June.

The band hinted that the live show has become much heavier and louder than previous iterations of Cold Court.

“There are three guitars now,” Mini says. “There’s hella 808, hella bass.”

Jojo also confirmed that fans can expect “new songs” during the tour run, which immediately led me to beg them not to scrap the EP again…

“You genuinely have to prevent us from doing that,” Jojo laughs.

The band also teased the possible return of the infamous Cold Court milkshake at Philly Style, an ube cookies-and-cream creation that sold like “hot cakes” during the recent release show for EP single, “Nina”.

As the interview wrapped up, I asked the band if they had any final message for Philadelphia ahead of the tour.

“I love you, Philadelphia,” Mini says.

“No words. Please come to Philly Style. Y’all come get some milkshakes.”