Can’t Stop Listening To: Frankie Cosmos

From solo NYC bedroom-pop to their current four-piece incarnation, Frankie Cosmos release their fifth album Inner World Peace — keeping their bedroom-pop roots alive while charting new musical galaxies.

Greta Kline, a singer from New York City, started Frankie Cosmos in 2011 as a DIY bedroom solo project. She immediately won praise from reviewers and other teenagers as she published an almost continual stream of open-hearted songs online. Her band, which was a part of the city's burgeoning DIY scene, progressed from scheduling their own house shows to spending hundreds of days a year on tour and inviting up-and-coming musicians from bands like Snail Mail, Big Thief, and Clairo to open for them.

Since then, Frankie Cosmos have developed into a firmly democratic four-piece band consisting of Kline, Alex Bailey, Lauren Martin, and Luke Pyenson. The band's fifth studio album, Inner World Peace, is their strongest and most textural work to date — fusing Kline's adolescent love of 2000s indie rock with drummer Pyenson and keyboardist Martin's exploration of music best described as "droning, meditation, repetition," as well as the group's shared love of 70s folk and pop.

Inner World Peace is out today via Sub Pop. The band co-produced the album along with Nate Mendelsohn and Katie Von Schleicher at Figure 8 Recording in Brooklyn, New York; it was mixed by Mendelsohn and Von Schleicher and mastered by Josh Bonati at Bonati Mastering.

We caught up with Greta just before the album release for a chat about all things Frankie Cosmos!

Can you tell us who you are, where you’re from, and something about the music you make? 

I’m Greta, the songwriter, singer, and guitarist/sometimes bassist of Frankie Cosmos. I’m from New York. I like to make music that feels good to sing and play. My writing process is very intuitive and a little compulsive.

How did it all start?

It started as a combination of a diary and a place to play pretend. I pretended to have romantic tales to tell. I pretended to have bandmates. Then it grew into an actual band: first a two-piece of guitar and drums, then we added bass, then keys, and then each of those bandmates changed once into the current line-up: Alex Bailey on bass and sometimes guitar, Lauren Martin on keys and sometimes guitar, and Luke Pyenson on drums.

How did you guys meet, and what is the story behind your band name? 

I met Lauren when I was, like, 10? She was starting a band with my brother, which is how we became friends. I met Luke when his old band Krill played a house show with the original 2-piece version of Frankie Cosmos when I was 18 years old. I immediately loved their band and forced them into band-friendship. We all got to know Alex when his old band Warehouse opened for us on tour in 2016, though we had played shows together for years leading up to that. The band name was originally an alter-ego for me, it was made up by my high school sweetheart, who was the original drummer and really my first collaborator. As the band grew, it grew into the band name.

We’re in love with the song, “Aftershook”. Can you tell us a bit more about how this song came about?

My original demo was fingerpicked on guitar, and it had claps in the chorus. It ended after the first chorus (it was a minute and a half). When I brought it to the band, we nixed those elements and added the intro, the middle instrumental section, and the additional chorus at the end. We also added the guitarmonies in the choruses, a classic FC move!

Can you tell us more about how you produce your music?

I start with a demo on guitar, vocals, and usually some 2nd guitar or key parts. I send those to my bandmates, and then we get together and try to play them - everyone makes up their own parts on their instrument, sometimes incorporating parts from the demos. We exchange ideas during that time and sometimes influence each other’s parts. Then when the arranging process is complete, we take the songs to a studio. This time we brought in engineers and co-producers Nate Mendelsohn and Katie Von Schleicher. We talk to them about the sounds we want, and they make it happen! The first half a day is usually just for setting everything up, mic-ing the drums, figuring out the amps and guitars we want to use. When that’s in a place we’re happy with, we start to record - we all play at the same time (and record everything) but we’re really just getting the drums and bass takes. Once we have those, we tend to re-do the guitars (or add more guitars) and then do separate days for focusing on synths and vocals. We recorded Inner World Peace in 10 days total.

What inspires your music?

Interaction, overthinking, silence, noise, being uncool, love, heartbreak, feeling strange.

How has living in NYC influenced your music?

I think growing up in NYC had a huge impact on my ability to see myself as someone who could write or perform music. As a teenager, I got to witness art and live music pretty regularly, especially on a small DIY scale, and feel like a part of that community. In high school, Lauren and I helped out with a publication called Showpaper that contained listings for every affordable all-ages music event in the tri-state area. That scene made art-making seem like a normal thing to do, and it was encouraging to see so many people dedicate themselves to supporting it.

What advice would you give anyone trying to achieve a similar sound to you?

I would say, you really don’t need much training or equipment. Make whatever you can with whatever you can! Making music is a long and slow learning process, and you add skills to your repertoire as you go. But you have to start somewhere! Just write something you care about.

Name an album you’re still listening to from when you were younger and why it is important to you.

Is This It by The Strokes. It’s important to me to keep in touch with my inner child, and it helps me commune with her.

What do you hate right now?

The pandemic.

What do you love right now?

The way dogs walk, studying their gaits. And just generally ogling dogs.

What’s the best gig you’ve ever played?

Playing any show is special to me. I really don’t have a favorite. A perfect show to me is one where the audience is kind and enthusiastic, the sound is good quality, and the other artists are inspiring.

What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?

A really memorable and special show I went to a few years ago was Joanna Newsom at El Museo Del Barrio.

Is there a particular place in the world you would love to play a gig one day?

I’m so grateful to have played in amazing places all over the world. I hope we can play in South America eventually.

What comes next in the Greta Kline and Frankie Cosmos story?

Always working on music, never stopping that. There's always something brewing. I’d like to start working on producing for other artists too.

What upcoming 2022 music releases are you most excited about?

The new Dear Nora album!

Is there any new music from 2022 you have been enjoying?

Barbara by Barrie, Stress Is Free by Felicia Douglass, Say It Now by Hannah Jadagu.

Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?

You’re cool for reading this magazine and being an active music listener/seeker, thank you! We love you!