CocoRosie
is duo based in France and formed by sisters Bianca Leilani "Coco" and Sierra Rose "Rosie" Casady in 2003.
Sierra mainly plays the guitar, piano and harp, and contributes vocals. Bianca sings and manipulates various children's toys/electronic & percussion instruments as well as other exotic noisemakers. CocoRosie performed strictly as a duo early on but in recent years they have appeared with various backing musicians at live shows, usually a bassist, synth player and beatboxer. They have been a very active touring group, playing a seemingly endless stream of dates across Europe and making several trips across the US and all points beyond.
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COCOROSIE TICKETS
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History
Early years
Sierra and Bianca Casady are part
Native American sisters. Sierra was born in
Iowa, and Bianca was born in
Hawaii. Their mother nicknamed them Rosie and Coco, respectively, from which their musical act takes its name.
Their mother, a teacher and artist, would compulsively move the girls across the country from one state to another. Their
estranged father traveled around the US teaching in
Steiner Waldorf schools, and was involved in
Shamanism and
Peyote religion. Sierra and Bianca spent their summers hiking from
reservation to reservation with their father.
When Sierra was 3 years old and Bianca 5, their parents divorced. Sierra and Bianca did not get along very well growing up.
At age 14, Sierra was kicked out of her mother's house, and sent to boarding school by her father.
At one point both girls attended the Verde Valley School in Sedona, Arizona at the same time.
During this period in her life, Sierra lost contact with her sister. She changed schools almost every year.
In 2000, at age 20, Sierra moved into a tiny apartment in the
Montmartre district in
Paris,
France, to pursue a career as an
opera singer, studying at the
Conservatoire de Paris.
During this period, Bianca studied
linguistics and
sociology, and pursued her passion of visual arts and writing. She also collected a variety of
tattoos, and was known to attend controversially "ironic," white-held "Kill Whitey" parties in
Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
[1]
Beginnings of CocoRosie
In 2003, Bianca was growing restless and decided it was time for a change. She left her apartment in
Brooklyn to travel the world. Unexpectedly, she showed up at Sierra's apartment in Paris.
Over the course of the next two months, the women spent nearly every waking hour in Sierra's bathroom, chosen as the most acoustic and isolated room in the apartment. Soon, they had completed both a hip hop recording (never released) called "word to the crow" and their proper
debut album
La maison de mon rêve
.
Originally,
La maison de mon rêve
was only intended to be distributed among a close circle of friends. However, by
2004 the
lo-fi album was released on independent label
Touch and Go Records, who had obtained a copy of the CD and had uncharacteristically pursued signing the artists. Since the creation of their first album, the Casady sisters have been virtually inseparable.
Commercial Use
CocoRosie's music has been used in various perfume advertisements including Kenzo's Amour which used "Good Friday" as well as Escada's Into the Blue which used "Not for Sale" in recent advertisements. Both use aspects of romance and slow speed motion film.
In 2005, Frederic Sanchez used "Brazilian Sun", "Not for Sale" & "Good Friday" as part of the soundtrack he created for Miuccia Prada's spring 2006 show. The piece was called "Coco Rosie Through the Looking Glass".
In 2008, music by CocoRosie was used in a Swedish rendition of Shakespeare's Hamlet at the Royal Dramatic Theatre (Dramaten), with Jonas Malmsjö playing Prince Hamlet. The song Werewolf is repeatedly sung by Ophelia and Hamlet throughout the play.
By now CocoRosie composed two complete scores, in 2005 for the French movie and in 2007 for the German movie (international: "Paperbird").
In 2007, their song "Candyland" was used in the film
Anna M.
by Michel Spinosa.
The songs "Bear Hides and Buffalo" and "Houses" are featured in the gay zombie film "
Otto; or Up with Dead People" by
Bruce LaBruce,
2008
Currently
Bianca, 27, and Sierra, 25, have moved back to
Paris, after having shared an apartment in
Brooklyn.
Sierra has started a new band,
Metallic Falcons, with friend Matteah Baim; they are signed to Voodoo Eros Records, a new label started by Bianca with business partner Melissa Shimkovitz. Also recently opened is the Voodoo Eros Museum Of Nice Items, an art gallery and performance space in New York City (123 Ludlow St) most recently home to an exhibition of Bianca's art
Red Bone Slim VS. Itself: an Exhibition of Drawings
.
On
May 7,
2007 members of the band were arrested at the US/Canadian border after a show in Vancouver, resulting in the cancellation of the rest of the North American tour.
[2] [3]
On May 13, 2008 CocoRosie released a new single entitled
God Has a Voice, She Speaks Through Me
. The song was released digitally and as a 7" picture disc single (limited to 3000 pieces). The B Side of the 7" features a short and untitled song, which merely consists of noises. Though the picture on the B Side of the vinyl states lyrics from the previously only live performed song
Hairnet Paradise
, the actual song sounds extremely different.
CocoRosie was named the most influential artist of the decade by in 2008.
It is believed that CocoRosie does currently have an album of new material nearly completed. The status of their relationship with Touch and Go records is unknown at this point as Touch and Go recently announced they may not be releasing any new records after Spring 2009. In the meantime, a self released EP entitled
Coconuts, Plenty of Junk Food
, was made available for sale exclusively at CocoRosie shows on June 3rd 2009.
They have just about finished up their European tour with the last performances at Paradiso - Amsterdam, The Netherlands & Dranouter Festival - Dranouter, Belgium. North American tour dates, which are a month long, have been released after a break due to the incident in Canada. Opening city is New York at the Highline Ballroom finishing in Henry Fonda Theater - Los Angeles, California. For a tour list, visit their myspace page
Notable appearances
In late 2006 they appeared as a featured act at the Touch and Go Records 25th anniversary block party at the famed Hideout club in Chicago along with a reunited Big Black, Scratch Acid,
Killdozer, The Ex, Uzeda and many others.
In 2007 they appeared at the annual Coachella art and music festival in California.
On
April 29,
2008 CocoRosie performed together with the
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in the
Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
[4]
They played at Poland's
Open'er Festival in July 2008.
Byblos Festival - Lebanon - July 2009
Openluchttheater Caprera - Bloemendaal, The Netherlands - 16 June 2009
Kulturzentrum Tollhaus eV Karlsruhe - Germany - 31 July 2009
Westfalenpark, JuicyBeats Rave - Dortmund, Germany - 1 Aug 2009
Paradiso - Amsterdam, the Netherlands - 7 Aug 2009
Discography
Studio albums
- La maison de mon rêve
(Touch and Go/Quarterstick Records 2004)
- Noah's Ark
(Touch and Go/Quarterstick Records 2005)
- The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn
(Touch and go Records 2007)
Other Works & EPs
- Word to the Crow
(unreleased 2004)
- Beautiful Boyz
EP (Touch and Go/Quarterstick Records 2004)
- God Has a Voice, She Speaks Through Me
(Touch and go Records 2008)
- Coconuts, Plenty of Junk Food
(Self-released 2009)
References
- Deejay's Appeal: 'Kill The Whiteness Inside': In Brooklyn, a Club Following Feels the Irony
- CocoRosie Arrested, Shows Cancelled | Pitchfork
- http://www.indigoflow.co.uk/2007/05/15/cocorosie-members-arrested-and-deported/
- CocoRosie & Het Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest 29 april 2008 22.30