Interview: Scooter Ward of Cold Talks Australian Tour with Orgy

For almost four decades, Cold has enthralled music fans with timeless hits like “Stupid Girl” and “Suffocate.” Now, for the first time, Cold is set to embark on an Australian tour alongside the industrial rock powerhouse Orgy.

The tour is set to take Down Under by storm, and to find out more about what fans can expect from their highly anticipated Australian debut, we had the chance to chat with Cold ‘s frontman, Scooter Ward.

SR: You are currently on your North American tour. How has that been going?

SW: The tour is going great! There are a lot of sold-out shows, and the crowds are really energetic right now. There seems to be a resurgence of our genre over here in the States. So, everything has been going really well.

SR: I hear it is your first time touring Australia. How is the band getting ready to hit Down Under with Orgy?

SW: We are just finishing the ‘Year of the Spider’ anniversary tour here in the States, so we are fully ready. We are doing the album in its entirety. We are on tour right now with the Orgy guys, and they are doing the ‘Candyass’ anniversary, so they’re getting all their chops up for that. So, yeah, it’s going to be really cool, and we’re excited to go over there. We have never been able to be in Australia, although we have wanted to for our entire career, so we’re really excited about it.

SR: Can you remember a funny or memorable tour story during your career that you would like to share?

SW: We were playing in Texas, and a family came there whose daughter had passed away. She was a huge Cold fan. This family of about fourteen people gathered to come to the show as a mark of respect for her. We were playing at this venue that was half inside and half outside. It was like a hall with big garage doors opened to accommodate the crowd outside. Her favorite song was ‘The Ballad of the Nameless’, so I decided to dedicate that song to her. It was a really pretty rendition, played on piano with a big crescendo. It had been a beautiful day with no clouds, but about a song before that, thunderclouds started rolling in. As I dedicated the song to her, the thunder and lightning started. When I sat down to play the piano, the rain poured down. It was such a beautiful moment; everyone felt like she was there.

Also, the other day our tour bus stopped at a truck stop, which had a very loud stereo system in the bathroom playing the Creed song ‘Arms Wide Open’. When the song came on, we were all in the stalls and started snickering. When the chorus came on, I decided to belt it out, and a trucker in there was like “Hell yeah, man!” We all laughed so hard and started sharing Creed memes with each other.

SR: As you look ahead, what kind of songs are you hoping to write in the near future, and what messages or feelings do you aim to inspire in your listeners with your upcoming music?

SW: My songwriting process involves writing about real things that have happened to me, stories I hear from fans, or experiences the band goes through. It all comes from an honest place, and that’s what I’ve always done. The ‘Year of the Spider’ tour here in the States has inspired me to return to our grunge-era roots, making the music a little heavier. The last two records were more melancholy, but I think this next album will be heavier, going back to our beginnings. I’m going to spend time in Florida to get acclimated to the feeling of being back at the beach where I grew up, which will help with the creative process for this record.

SR: What is a weird item that you have signed for a fan?

SW: I once signed an urn with someone’s ashes. That was a little dark, but the person who had it really wanted it done. Signing shoes always feels weird to me too.

SR: Is there anything you would like to tell the Aussie Cold Army?

SW: We are really excited to finally meet them. It’s funny, over the years they just expected that we wouldn’t come to Australia, so every tour, a few people fly in from Australia to the States to watch the show. At the beginning of this tour, before we announced we were coming to Australia, a guy showed up and we were going to announce it two days later, and he said, “I came all this way as I thought I’d never see you.” We were like, “Dude, we are literally coming to Sydney later this year.” He was happy anyway. We get people flying in from Australia all the time, so we are really happy to go over there so they can see us play.

SR: Did you get to play golf on this tour?

SW: I did not get to play golf. I was going to play with our bus driver, I didn’t know he was a golfer until I saw him walking to the Uber with his clubs. I was like, “What the hell, dude? I play golf!” I haven’t been able to play, but the weather’s nice here, so when I go home, I’m going to get into that a bit to relax. We have a lot of radio shows and little gigs coming up, and we’re writing a record, so I’m going to be really busy. But I do like going on the golf course to clear my mind.

ORGY AND COLD AUSTRALIAN TOUR 2024

MAX WATTS, MELBOURNE

Friday October 25

METRO THEATRE, SYDNEY

Saturday October 26

THE TRIFFID, BRISBANE

Sunday October 27