Artist Interview: Cherry Ice Coot

By Diego Gonzales

Music Journalist

For anyone that’s a fan of mid-2000s pop hits, Cherry Ice Coot just released the perfect album for you, Maraschino Pop. Cherry Ice Coot is a pop group based in Olympia, Washington that’s comprised of two vocalists, Sugar and Cookie, and former Texas State University student John Appel, who is the group’s producer. While their first album took inspiration from artists such as Cupcakke with its high-energy and ultra-explicit nature, the group has since shifted its focus to be more pop-orientated with influences including more pop artists. The trajectory of the group is similar to that of Tyler, The Creator’s trajectory from his album Cherry Bomb to Flower Boy; explicit and chaotic themes take less of a presence in the work and a more focused and matured effort comes through as a result. I talk to the pop group and discuss their latest album and pop music in general.

How did you guys all meet?

Sugar: The story of Cherry Ice Coot began at the beginning of Covid. In the early months of lockdown, our friend group started hanging together and curating our little circle during the pandemic. One night John whipped out his laptop and mic and asked us girls to hop on a silly beat he made. We had this natural organic chemistry off the bat so it was such a fun and silly time making half-a**** beats and spitting derp bars. Starting almost four years ago and reflecting back on those days just shows how far we’ve come with not only our music but our friendship.

What are some specific influences that go into the music?

John: Darkchild (producer for artists such as Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Spice Girls, and more).

You can go and download different producers’ drum packs from the internet and I did and used his drums on Q&A. Oh and also that “Nesian 101” song! I love that song.

Sugar: That song has been on repeat for us lately and so we were like ‘We need to make a song like this!.’ Though I still feel like we have so many more influences so it’s hard to say but the era of music is definitely from the mid-2000s to the early 2010s. Ciara is somebody we brought up so many times as someone who is a huge great influence on our type of vibe.

How did you guys approach this album differently than the last one?

Cookie: I think the biggest difference was like at first we were making music in a non-serious way and after the first album got released we realized that people actually liked listening to us. So we were like ‘Let’s rock it and make another album.’ It’s crazy to me how there are only two explicit songs on this album and every single song on the last album was explicit.

John: Me too, like the other day I was streaming “Rob Him” (lead single from Maraschino Pop), and then our song  “P***y Moves” started playing and I was driving home from work and I was like “What the f***!?”

Cookie: It’s just funny ‘cause on our last album we were just talking all kinds of nasty stuff and this album is totally different. It’s definitely more of a genuine effort.

What do you think about your local scene, Olympia, Washington?

Cookie: I feel like in Olympia a lot of people are trying to make indie music and nobody is doing pop because they think it’s too mainstream, and I think that’s the big thing that we’re doing differently.

John: And that’s why I wanted ‘pop’ in the title because that shouldn’t be a bad word.

Cookie: It shouldn’t be. And that’s what people gravitate towards, the catchy stuff. I’m not saying indie music isn’t catchy, but I don’t even know another pop group in our area.

Sugar: I think pop music has this ‘entitled’ reputation. I think people get scared to make pop music in a way because they think it’ll all sound the same. And I think that’s what’s unique about us. I truly think that when you listen to our music, yes you can hear the influences, but you can’t really define our music to another pop song out there.

Any last things to say about your album or pop music in general?

Cookie: Honestly…I just think that we ate and we’re constantly eating and we just constantly get better.

Sugar: I think that for us being small local artists and our studio being literally just a laptop and a microphone, we kill it a hundred percent more than a lot of people out here. It feels like you have to be born into money to be something in the scene but none of us come from that background and I think that makes us very unique.

John: I would say that too, it’s cool how low-budget we are. I feel like it would suck the life out of this to do things like pay for studio time on our budget because I’d just be thinking ‘We’re on the clock!’ Also, I’m excited about what we have coming next because I know it’s going to be even better.

Cookie: Stay tuned!