Photography by Nina Semple
21/06/2018
Nina Semple got the chance to interview The Cosmics for Brum Radio before their first gig at the Birmingham O2 Academy supporting Starcrawler this month. They chatted about the importance of hard-work, how their influences have changed, what cool things they have coming up, and most importantly their embarrassing stories.
EB: Erin Grace, CB: Conor Boyle, DB: Danny Boyle
A lot of descriptions that you see of The Cosmics online compare you to The White Stripes and The Undertones. Is that still your branding, or has that changed since those initial descriptions came out?
CB: We’re still massive fans of those bands, but I think it’s like anything; you listen to other stuff and it inspires you. That was on our press releases I think for a while. I still love those bands and they still do inspire us, but it’s a bit different now.
How would you describe yourselves, then, for people that are only just starting to hear about you?
EG: Garage punk rock. If you’re a fan of Oh Sees or Ty Segall, they are our current influences.
What is it about Ty Segall that inspires you?
EG: He’s just a God. We love Ty. His music is insanely catchy and new, but so kind of retro at the same time.
DB: We went to see him last week.
CB: He’s such a genius.
You played Glastonbury last year at the BBC Music Introducing stage.
A lot of bands would say that Glastonbury is a dream to play. Would you guys say that that was your dream, or are there more things you really want to do?
CB: I think there are definitely more things we want to do, but I think we peaked at Glastonbury! That’s where I peaked at life, to be honest!
EG: I think it’s almost every musician’s dream, so it was a dream come true. We are so grateful for that.
Do you guys keep up with the festival scene much?
CB: Last year I think we performed at every festival I went to. We love going to festivals anyway, but it’s a different experience when you play them. It’s weird. You see the back-end of the festival which no one else sees. It’s a cool way of seeing a festival.
EG: It’s so much fun because when you get asked then you’ve got the whole weekend to just hang out. It’s such a whirlwind!
You’re playing the Isle of Wight Festival this weekend. Who are you looking to seeing there?
EG: Actually I’m really looking forward to seeing some of the Birmingham bands who are playing, like Sugar Thief, Ivory Waves, and The Surrenders. We’re fans of them and we know them as well.
Do you keep on top of the Birmingham scene, then? Is it like all the Birmingham bands are interconnected?
CB: (laughing) It is a bit, yeah. It’s a really good and connected community. We’re always at each other’s gigs. We have a few of the bands coming tonight which is nice.
EG: We always support each other, so I guess we are like a community.
As you guys are all related, you must have some embarrassing stories about each other which you’d never tell anyone… will you tell me one now, during this interview?
EG: (to CB and DB) Why you looking at me! I’m the butt of the joke every time!
CB: Erin we love you, but it’s two against one. Something happened quite recently, actually. We were playing in Manchester and there were monitor wedges on the floor. Erin wanted to be ‘really cool’ and step on the monitor to play over to the audience, but she was in her high heels and missed it and got her heel stuck in a gap between the wedge and the stage.
EG: It was when I was on stage actually playing as well. I was trying really hard, but it backfired…
You’re actually playing Manchester again soon at Psych Fest. Along with that, what else is coming up for you guys?
EG: We do have a few more festivals, not all of them have been confirmed yet though. We have Sonic Gun Weekender coming up which is with all local bands so that should be really good. And then we’re just working on music videos as well.
Not all of your songs are on Spotify, but you can find them elsewhere online. Have you got any new song releases coming out soon?
EG: We’ve got music recorded already. We worked with an incredible producer called Rory Atwell. We’re just finalising release dates at the moment.
CB: We’re hoping it’s soon. We’re just doing the final touches.
You’re all so busy with your own personal things at the moment, but do you have any ‘far in the future’ hopes for The Cosmics?
CB: We’re just going with the flow really. I think everyone would love to do it as a living, but we’re not making a lot of money. We love it whatever way, regardless.
EG: We’re just taking every opportunity as it comes. I think it’s important to not expect anything but to work hard, so you’ll never be disappointed but you’ll always be grateful.
How do you try to get yourselves out there? You’re big on social media, but how else do you get your name out?
EG: Stickers! You will find stickers at almost every venue that we play across the UK.
CB: Maybe we should put a sticker behind the fridge here…
Do you guys have any rituals that you do before you go onstage? How do you prep?
CB: We listen to a lot of Irish music.
The ‘Johnny’ music video was set in Ireland too. Do you get to go back there a lot?
EG: We’re from there and have family there, so we try and go back a few times a year if we can.
DB: It’s a second home really.
My last big question is how old are all of you? You can’t find it out online anywhere!
CB: I know! We saw ‘The Cosmics band age’ is a common search for us online.
EG: It’s funny because we all look so much younger than we are! I’m 22!
DB: Me and Connor are both 20!
Do you guys have anything else coming up that you want to put out there?
EG: Stay tuned.
You can catch the The Cosmics again at Manchester Psych Fest on 1st September 2018.
Keep up with The Cosmics on social media:
ig: thecosmicsuk
twitter: @thecosmicsband
facebook: The Cosmics
