The founder of Cool Ass wasn’t at all surprised when he found out his songs make people’s jaws drop to the floor. “I was really pissed off when I wrote that,” he says. “I wanted a hard hitting rock sound that would be as in your face as the lyrics. The reward is watching people’s reactions, how they go from being completely shocked and offended to laughing hysterically. The lyrics are pretty funny.”
Cool Ass was created in 2014 by Marc Marut when a long time friend suddenly unfriended him on Facebook. “I just couldn’t believe it,” he gasps. “She had been treating me like shit for the past few months so I stood up for myself, and that led to an argument. The next day she unfriended me. I was pissed!” Three months later this same friend sent Marc a LinkedIn request to join his “professional network”… and he burst out laughing! That’s when the music started to flow. “This tune just popped into my head,” he explains. “I was really angry and it was full of really bad words, which made me laugh. It was also extremely catchy, I was bopping my head around and listening to it in my brain.” Within ten minutes he had the whole song written in his mind, including the guitar solos. Marc knew it wasn’t suitable for radio play though, so he didn’t do anything with it. “It was a really funny song but I was like, ‘Those lyrics are too offensive, this can never be recorded.’ When it was still stuck in my head a month later though, that’s when I thought, ‘Ah fuck it. Why not?’ ”
So Marc set about recording the song, aptly titled “S.O.B. (Song Of a Bitch)”, and low and behold Cool Ass was born. “I wanted to have an in your face, hard hitting alternative rock sound, but also with a bit of an electronic influence in there,” he says. “When I was younger I was inspired by bands like Veruca Salt, Nirvana and Weezer, but I also love dance music. I wanted a bit of that flavour mixed in to lighten up the impact of the explicit lyrics… still though, it’s 100% rock’n’roll!”
Marc has a good amount of experience with music, ever since he fell into his acting career at the age of nine. “I’m probably best known for movies and TV shows like The Paperboy (1994) and Road To Avonlea, but I got my start in musical theatre. I’ve been doing music for a long time,” he chuckles. His big start was as an original cast member of Les Misérables in Toronto, where he sang several solos playing the role of Gavroche. Along with his extensive experience in musical theatre, Marc also cut his teeth laying down tracks for TV shows and commercials. “I had a band in highschool, and we would always get the crowd going,” he recalls. “People would be crowd surfing and having such an awesome time, it’s so different from being in the studio! That’s what it’s all about, just rockin’ out and having fun. That’s why I love making music.”
In December of 2019 Cool Ass released the shocking and hilarious music video for “S.O.B. (Song Of a Bitch)”, also starring Nataliee G. (Playboy’s Miss Social Dec, 2013). “I shot it entirely using green screen, and it’s packed with CGI and VFX,” Marc explains. “The video’s just as extreme and hilarious as the song itself! I had girls walk out of the audition because they didn’t read the script, and when I explained it to them they were like, ‘I’m not doing that!’ ” he laughs. “That’s why I cast Nataliee G. in the lead female role. Natalie didn’t care, she’s a pro. She was able to envision the final product, but these other girls just didn’t get it. I mean, it’s not that extreme… it’s just hilarious!”
Marc’s new single “Fuck You COVID-19” was released June 19, 2020. “Oh my God, I was all set to record material I had written a while ago, and then this COVID-19 shit hit us,” he shrugs. “The whole world is affected. I was so frustrated… schools and businesses were closed, and even going grocery shopping became nerve wracking. Every time I turned on the news more and more people were suffering, and we all had to self-isolate to protect each other which was really hard. So as I’m stuck at home, wallowing in my own misery, of course a song pops into my head,” he laughs. “It was such a catchy tune and was so relevant to how so many people were feeling, that I had to put all my other plans on pause and record this song instead,” he explains. “Everybody loves it, it’s a really rockin’ tune! It has high energy, a great beat, fuzzy rock guitars and even features a brass section. People from all over the world rock out to it in the music video. And of course, the lyrics are pretty funny too.”
So why the name Cool Ass? “I knew I was going to be making some cool ass music, so I needed a cool ass name,” Marc chuckles. “Cool Ass is more than just a name though, it’s also an attitude. It’s about being good to others, but especially about respecting and believing in yourself. Sure, leather jackets, classic cars and graffiti are cool, but having self respect and standing up for your beliefs is truly what Cool Ass is about. It’s not cool to be mean to others, but sometimes people try to put you down. In that case it’s okay to tell them to fuck off. You kind of have to actually, for your own sake.”
