The Cosmic Girls Interview

Real life twin sisters Charlotte and Stephanie began touring with Duffy and are now stepping into the spotlight as 'The Cosmic Girls' with a pop electro sound, fashion forward image ... Check out the interview with the girls below!

1 - Your new single 'The One' is fantastic and has a really strong sound, where does the inspiration for your lyrics and sound come from?

We draw on our own experiences for lyric ideas. Our songs can sometimes start with lyrics, other times we write on piano first and then arrange the music using synths. Or, sometimes it could be a synth hook that we come up with that could be the leading force in a songs development. 

We like experimenting with our voices and using vocal harmonies, as well as trying out new ideas for beats and chord changes. 
 
2 - Growing up, were the two of you always musically inclined and how did you both end up working together?

Yes, our first love has always been music and we knew from a very early age it was what we wanted to do. We learnt recorder at school and went onto learn clarinet and piano (and lots of other instruments in between). We would listen to the radio and sing songs over and over again until we knew the lyrics and we used to experiment with the melodies and make up our own vocal harmonies to the tracks and wonder why they weren’t in there in the first place. It was a natural progression for us to move onto writing our own music. 

3 - How did you girls end up working with Duffy and what was it like touring with her?

We met Duffy in a restaurant in Newcastle. We always carried our demo with us, which we gave to her. We then got a call from her management a few days later and we were soon in London rehearsing. 

Touring was a brilliant experience – meeting amazing musicians, seeing countries we had never been to and performing at amazing venues. The big highlights were Japan, the Australian V Festivals, Sydney Opera House and performing on Jools Holland and Top of The Pops – something we had dreamt of doing every Friday night when it used to be on TV.

4 - Was making your own music always the plan and how did you take the leap from supporting a singer to stepping into the spotlight?

Yes, we always envisaged making our own music and we were writing and recording before touring with Duffy. Backing singing was an amazing experience which opened us up to a whole new world. It proved to us that we can do it! It gave us that extra push if you like.

5 - Your style is brilliant and very quirk, what does the inspiration for your looks come from and do you style yourselves?

We love the quirkiness of Alison Goldfrapp, Roisin Murphy and Sia, as well as the glamour of Kylie. We style ourselves and we have also borrowed outfits from Northumbria University graduates, who are fantastic designers. We have worked with Sally, who is soon to launch her label, Wreakreation. Sally has designed and made amazing garments for our live shows. 

6 - What are your favourite designers / places to shop for looks?

We take ideas and influences from designers such as Alexander McQueen, Yohji Yamamoto, Hussein Chalayan and Craig Lawrence. And high street shops such as All Saints, Reiss and Whistles. 

It’s hard to survive on a tight budget when you love fashion as much as we do! 

7 - Have you girls shot a video for the new single yet and if so what can you tell me about it?

We have! Some of the video was shot in a wood, it was absolutely freezing! We didn’t realise at the time what the wood was best known for, but we do now… let’s just say a few cars were pulled up in the carpark and things were taking place that people could watch if they wanted to! 

The second day of filming was done in a disused photo studio. The whole thing was done on a zero budget and was shot by Bright Eyes Media. We borrowed some gorgeous outfits by Rebecca Taylor and wore jewels on our faces.




8 - Will there be a Cosmic Girls album? And what will the sound and songs be like?


Yes of course, there will be many albums!! It will sound huge and will slap you right in the face (in a good way!).

9 - In today's music world there are more girl acts than ever and more and more pop songs by the day, do you girls have a plan of action to stand out from the rest?

We write our own songs and hope our style will set us apart. We have been told that we have really good chemistry on stage; maybe that’s the twin connection. We definitely do not see us as a girl group and there aren’t many female duo fronted bands. We work with our live band to make the songs sound fantastic live and have changed some of the instruments  arrangements to give it more of a live and edgy feel.

10 - As artists who are used to performing live, how important do you think it is in today's standards to sing live as opposed to using backing tracks like other mainstream artists such as Britney etc?

Britney dances a lot, so we can kind of understand why she needs to mime. But yes, we definitely think it is extremely important to sing live, especially being female as you seem to have to prove yourself more in order to break through onto bigger things. 

 11 - What artists past/present influence you both and is their anyone (acts/producers) you would like to collaborate with?

We would love to work with artists who inspire us, such as Roisin Murphy and Sia. We have recently worked with one of our dream producers which was absolutely brilliant (can't wait for you to hear those tracks!), and we would love to work with Labrinth,  Liam Howe, Nervo and Paul Epworth to name just a few! 

 

12 - What are your plans for the summer and will their be another single to follow up 'The One'?

We will be writing and recording more music. We are gradually building our live band and will be practicing with our new bassist and will be playing at some festivals! 

There will be another single but we can’t give you a definite date as yet, but it has been recorded and it’s ready to go! You can have a listen to clips of potential future singles and find out about live dates on our website: www.thecosmicgirls.co.uk and sign up for our mailing list here: http://bit.ly/j33goj 

A big thank you to the Cosmic Girls for the interview!