Brothers Randy and Barry Cotton formed Violenteer in 2021 alongside drummer Eric Ebers. Randy has played in bands from Omaha to Portland, including Ravine, Ritual Device, and Ocean Black.
The first two would likely be name-checked by most old-school Omaha music fans when discussing influential bands from the past. Another notable band is Members of the Press, which featured Barry Cotton. The current lineup is rounded out by Nathan Wolf (Pagan Athletes, Titus Groaners) on drums and vocals from Steve Tulipana of Kansas City noise band Season to Risk, which was signed to Columbia Records in the 1990s and is still active today.
Violenteer has released a self-titled EP and will have a song on the upcoming “V.V. Volume I” compilation, out on June 6. The band is set to play the Caterwaul Music Festival in Minneapolis on May 23 at Mortimer’s. Leading up to that, they’ll do a short tour and perform at O’Leaver’s on May 21 as Violin/Tier, an instrumental set featuring guest vocalists.
The band recently discussed how they came together and how they navigate being spread across two cities.
“We kind of put together a good instrumental set of music—it flowed into a froggy sort of vibe, and we just went with it. We didn’t restrict ourselves; it felt fresh enough that we didn’t have to,” Randy said, reflecting on the band’s early formation during the COVID era.
“I looked forward to just letting things roll,” Barry added. “We’ve been in bands before where we tried to stay on a certain path, but it’s exciting to just go with whatever comes to us.”
The instrumental band was about to get a vocalist.
“We played with Season to Risk, and as we were loading out, Steve was like, ‘I should sing on one of those songs,’” Randy recalled. “He asked if we had recorded, and I said, ‘No, but we have some studio time booked.’ He said, ‘Let me know—maybe I’ll do vocals on a song.’”
Eventually, Violenteer opened up again for Season to Risk, and Randy decided to ask Steve outright.
“I was terrified to even ask you this, considering you’re in Kansas City and it might not work out,” Randy said. “But do it anyway if you want to.”
Steve jumped in.
“‘Pick the ones that should have vocals,’ Randy finally said. And then I got nervous—how would we make this work?,” Steve said. “I wouldn’t be able to rehearse, so we had to figure out how to make it happen. Are you cool with letting it grow, change, and be improvisational to a certain degree?”
Tulipana, who plays in multiple projects and is also an owner of live music venue Record Bar in Kansas City, spoke about why he took on another musical endeavor.
“I don’t say no very often if I’m interested,” he said. “A few years ago, I told myself I wanted to make more music. I was booking bands, running a club, and running a business—but I’m getting older. I want to do this now while I still can, and while it’s still fun. I don’t like just one kind of music; I need to be inspired by different things all the time. That’s how you stay creative. If you get pigeonholed—if you say, ‘This is the kind of music I make’—then you just become that. Especially when you’re not doing it for money, but for creativity, you might as well keep learning, growing, and changing.”
In conversation before a recent show at Reverb Lounge, it was revealed that Steve would be performing a couple of songs he had never played with them before.
The band regularly adds new songs into their sets.
“We were pretty ambitious at first. We were playing roughly once a month, we’d add a new song every time,” Randy explained. “Sometimes it turns out great, sometimes it’s not too great.”
Nathan Wolf weighed in on drumming for Violenteer.
“It’s pretty different from what I normally do, but that’s why I wanted to do this—something that would challenge me and push me out of my comfort zone,” he said. “I have to be a little more restrained; I can’t just start playing whatever I want at any given moment. I sneak a little of that in sometimes, though.”
Violenteer’ssound can be heavy, dark, and chaotic. As they put it, their music serves as “a commentary on this often dark, violent, confusing, and sometimes beautiful world.”
One standout track is “Just Another Day,” which carries a more emotional, melancholy feel. Randy explained the title.
“I mean, it’s a little silly,” he said. “We had to call it something. There’s some melancholy in it, but also some yearning, so ‘Just Another Day’ felt right.”
Steve elaborated on the lyrics.
“Sometimes, having a title or phrase sets the wheels rolling,” he said. “I’ve got stacks of books and notes, and since we do this improvisationally, I find sections and keep a running list of quotes—film quotes, book passages—then cut them together to form something new. But a big chunk of this song’s lyrics came from one of the most vivid dreams I’ve ever had. My high school English teacher was in the dream, swimming in a lake while wearing a long dress. I said, ‘What are you doing? You’re going to drown.’ And she said, ‘This is what we do when someone in our family dies—it’s our tradition.’ I took that idea and built onto it. That melancholy really spoke to me.”
As for what’s next, the band is considering another release.
“We scheduled a studio session in mid-June in Kansas City,” Randy said. “The guitarist from Season to Risk has a recording studio, so we’re going to do it there. We originally planned to release a full-length album, but that didn’t work out. Still, we’re super happy with how things turned out—the EP is very strong.”
“We want to stay active and keep playing shows,” Steve said. “As we get more cohesive, we’ve had to change drummers a few times. We recorded with the last drummer, but with everyone’s schedules and personal lives, we may or may not use some of it. That’s the hard part—balancing creativity, livelihood, and family while still making music.”