I was initially magnetized to her because there was someone playing great music that looked like me. When I was little, I thought I would turn 20 and look like Beyoncé. I’m still little and will never look like Beyoncé. It’s comforting and encouraging looking up to someone I can relate to.
Frankie Cosmos vocalizes a lot of the Ping-Pong thoughts bouncing in our heads. Zentropy is delivered to us in a trinket box. Each bauble inside is something different to the listener. It’s like listening to the diary you wish you wrote.
I knew that Greta and her band would have a distinctive style with plenty of personal narrative. So I Facebook messaged Frankie Cosmos (as professionals do) and Greta charmingly accepted.
I met Greta and her band outside of the Mug on the backdoor steps. We sat down outside and after introducing ourselves we got serious about Frankie Cosmos’ passion for fashion.
Click below to see photos from the show.
...
Me
“Ryan Holguin”
I feel like there is a certain point when you’re little and
you realize you want to look a certain way. What point was that? When did you
start dressing yourself?
Greta Kline
”Frankie Cosmos”
I actually was not little when that happened. I honestly
just wanted to wear my brother’s clothes throughout high school and past that
and then I made this friend. These two friends. Leonie and Joanna who are just
really fashionable and they’re from Germany and they came to America with just
like suitcases overflowing with amazing clothes. And my friend Joanna was like,
“You could just wear a costume and be like a different person everyday. And I
always think about that. That inspires my uh, my passion for fashion. Ron?
Aaron Maine
”Ronnie Mystery” or
“Ron”
I guess I’ve always been picky. My mom said I used to just
do this little finger test when I was younger for the material and say like
“no” or “yes.” I mean, I don’t know when I started dressing myself. I don’t
know. Maybe I was, I was in fourth grade or third grade or fourth grade or
something.
Gabrielle Smith
”Gabby Teardrop”
I think I started dressing myself when I was in third grade.
Because I got this like velour—no—ya, a crushed velvet like blue leopard print
suit [laughs] that I wore like every
day for the second half of third grade. So that’s when I started dressing
myself.
Greta: That’s
awesome.
David Maine
”David Mystery”
Um, I’d say like early college. I started buying my own
clothes. Before my mom would just like take us to Kohl’s and I didn’t really
care but then I had some cool new friends in college [Half-sarcastically] And I
had to get skinny jeans to fit in with them. So…
Greta: Where’d
you go to get the cloooothes, David?
David: Oh, was
that the question?
Me: Ya, sure!
Greta: I wanna
know
David: Dude, Levi’s
all the way and then Uniqlo. And then Starbucks.
Greta: We’re
sponsored by Starbucks by the way. If you could just add that.
Ron: Ya we have
to plug
Greta: Ya we have
to plug stuff in about how we’re sponsored
Me: Wait, are you
guys serious?
Greta; No no
Ron: No
Ryan: Okay, I was
just like “I don’t believe that. I can’t believe that”
Greta: We like to
lie about sponsorship. If you could just put that we’re sponsored by [laughs] Starbucks.
Aaron: David gets
his jeans from Starbucks.
Greta: David is
inspired by the fashion scene surrounding Starbucks.
Me: Barista
scene.
Greta: Ya
totally.
Greta: I would say the movie Clueless
Aaron: Ya, I
would just say looking around in New York. Like all sorts of fashion.
Gabby: Uh,
Starbucks… [laughs]
Greta: [laughs]
Gabby: I think…
Actually, Greta is a big one
Greta: Shut. Up.
Gabby.
Gabby: It’s, it’s
true!
Greta: Come on!
You’re my idol.
Gabby: And also,
Susanna.
Greta: Yeah,
Susanna honestly since I was like in eighth grade is my fashion icon probably
Gabby: Susanna is
our friend who looks amazing even on days when she isn’t going to leave the
house. She just looks so good.
Greta: When I
laid eyes on her I was like, “I’d like to wear a dress sometime.” I saw her and
I was like, “Maybe I could wear a dress one day!”
Gabby: Me too!
That’s exactly what I thought.
Greta: And be
cool. Yeah, she’s definitely an icon. I had a couple of friends like that.
David: I’d say my
bro… Aaron.
Aaron: Oh, no.
Don’t! Stop!
David: I dunno.
My friends in college. Leon Fraun. Very fashionable guy. Starbucks. That’s it.
Me: Just
Starbucks.
Greta: The
Starbucks logo
Aaron: Such nice
colors.
Gabby: On our
last tour I brought so much clothing and I only wore like one shirt and one
pair of pants like every single day.
Greta: I changed
every day. Oh no I didn’t
Aaron: You wore
tights every day.
Gabby: Ya you
wore the same outfit.
Greta: No but I
changed my shirt every—no actually what I did do I would wear an outfit two
days in a row and then change.
Aaron: You wore
the Scooby-Doo pants every single day.
Gabby: They were
Joe-cool.
Greta: They were Joe-cool.
Aaron: I’m just
sayin’
Greta: But I only
own like one pair of pants. I just changed like my shirt. Cause it’s stinky to
wear the same shirt.
Gabby: I always
get shirts from the bands we play with and that replaces what I thought I would
wear.
Greta: Yeah and
you end up with a really heavy suitcase.
Gabby: Yeah!
Aaron: We go to
like Salvation Army if we have hours to kill.
Greta: My go-to
tour packing thing is just like definitely more underwear than days that we’re
gonna be away and also I—I always wanna wear—I always bring three pajama shirts
that I know I can also use as a face towel. Like that’s actually how I think of
it like, “Oh I’ll bring this soft shirt so I can wipe my face with it every
night.” It’s really weird but that’s how I pack. Ya it’s sort of a fashion
influence. Ron? Ronnie picked up these glasses on tour.
Aaron: Yeah I
like going to try to find a thrift store if there’s time to kill.
[. . .]
I just feel like on tour you have more of an excuse to be
adventurous with what you’re wearing cause you are going to a new place every
day and maybe finding new clothes and people expect to—you know, you already
look kind of crazy cause you’re driving around and stuff. But it’s funny going
back to New York. It’s like every piece of clothing has a different meaning in
that context. There’s like such a weird unspoken code of what to wear whereas
if you’re in Ohio you can like you know, wear absolutely anything and look
totally crazy.
Greta: Also, you
have no friends with expectations of what you’re gonna look like whereas when
you’re in somewhere like Ohio. You’re not going to run into someone and them be
like, “Whoa! Weird shirt,” which happened the day we got back to New York.
Gabby: But it
also changes depending on whether it’s cold on tour. On the first tour we did,
I only wore like those fleece leggings with those socks and this really huge
t-shirt. That was like my whole outfit the entire time.
Greta: Cause you
thought it was going to be warmer I feel like.
Gabby: Well
because that’s like the best thing to put things on top of. So I just kept
like—but then this tour I got to be a little bit—well I guess I did just say I
wore one outfit for this tour too so maybe I should just own it.
Greta: Ya, I feel
like I was trying to be like versatile, I was trying to bring versatile
clothing. Because it was April I was like, “Well it could be freezing or it
could be warm like burning hot so I’ll just bring shorts and like this long
johnny type pants and wear them under the shorts on days when it’s not hot.”
And then it was cold every day so I was very Joe-cool pants every day under
shorts. That is true, okay I forgot. Anyway. Alright next question. Uh “my
client will take the next question.”
Me: What is
something you would never wear?
David: Uuhh, so many things. Colors, that aren’t grey or blue. Blue is pushing it. Shoes. I can’t wear most shoes. I’ve been trying to find a new pair of shoes, that I do not hate, for the past three months.
Me: What shoes
are you wearing now?
David: These
are—I borrowed these from Aaron cause I had my work sneakers on that I was too
embarrassed to wear out. Cause I’m a freak! And I can’t pick out shoes so…
Greta: They’re a
little too colorful for you David.
David: They’re
black. Black on black. Too much color. So ya, just shoes. And colors.
Greta: Gabby?
What would you never wear?
Gabby: Um, I
would never wear a tube top. I like… That’s so freaky to me. [Laughs] I can’t deal with that. I think
that’s it. I think I would wear most other things.
Aaron: I never
wear yellow.
Gabby: Well, I
wouldn’t wear fur either.
Aaron: Hmm.
Gabby: Cause
that’s like… That’s gross.
Greta: I feel
like for me it’s just like anything itchy. I would just never wear anything
itchy. Ever. But especially not a feather boa. [Laughs] When you say “What would you not wear” like feather boa
cause it’s not comfortable! And cause it’s creepy.
Me: I love when
you can’t tell if a skirt is a tube top or a tube top is a skirt.
Greta: Oh I know.
Oh my god.
Gabby: But then
you put it on and then it’s obviously a tube top.
David: Also, a
fedora.
Gabby: Ya, I
would never.
Greta: None of
us.
Me: Ya, all
around.
Greta: The one
thing none of us would ever wear: A yellow fedora.
Me: Fashion faux pas.
Greta: With fur.
Gabby: With
feathers on the brim.
Me: Does anyone
have any family heirlooms that are very dear to you that you wear or that
you’re so scared to wear because they’re so important to you.
Greta: Honestly, I just found out today that my dad’s mom left me a gold bracelet and my mom’s friend borrowed it and has it still. And you know cause I never met her, “I want some day for Greta to have this chunky gold bracelet. Like from her grandma.” And I just never got it. My mom’s friend has it so we’re gonna try to get it back. That’s the only heirloom I can think of.
Gabby: My grandma
tried to give me her wedding dress. And she was like, “You will never believe
it but I used to be your size!”
Greta: That’s so
cute.
Gabby: But then I
tried to put it on when I was like fifteen and it was like, it was actually too
small, which is so crazy! I feel like
she must have been wearing the craziest corset ever to fit into that.
Greta: Do you
still have it?
Gabby: No.
David: My mom
gave me one of her wrist supports once. [laughs]
I use that sometimes.
Me: What about
like favorite pieces? Or good luck charm clothing? Or things that you find
yourself wearing over and over.
Greta: I have a necklace that Aaron gave me for my 18th birthday that I wear almost every day but which I put on Gabby at a show a couple weeks ago and I keep forgetting to ask her to give it back.
Gabby: I look at
it every day. And I’m like “Oh man, I have to give that back.”
Greta: It’s like
a really good luck charm. Like my life is pretty much in shambles since I gave
it to her since it’s like my Zen good luck charm.
Me: What does it
look like?
Greta: It’s like
a piece of quartz like a Zen quartz.
Gabby: It also
has an opal or moonstone.
Greta: Yeah, it’s
kind of is funny that whole thing.
Gabby: No, it’s
really pretty.
Greta: It’s cool.
Basically Ronnie made me this necklace when we were first dating that was just
like an actual piece of quartz that he found in a wood pile that he glued to a
chain and it was really beautiful but it broke a bunch of times and finally we
lost it for good and then he got me a weird fancy version of it for my birthday
and that’s the one that we share. It’s a good luck thing.
Aaron: I like
your (Greta) dad’s green sweater a lot. It’s probably the thing that I wear the
most. It’s a nice Scottish sweater company.
Gabby: I think
that—Well I mean I wear this vest every day.
Greta: It’s true
Gabby: And it has
all the pins from tours on it but it’s not really a good luck thing, it’s just
a utility belt. It has my wallet in it.
David: I had a
little packet of Frankincense that my teachers at massage school gave me that I
kept in my pocket forever and then my pants went through the dryer. So it’s
gone now. So my life has been spiraling out of control ever since.
Me: Alright last
thing. What is something, anything, that’s got you really happy or excited
lately?
Greta: I met my teacher’s baby today who is five months old and it made me so excited and I can’t stop thinking about him ever since I left their house.
Aaron: Emmmm, I
need to think about it for a second.
Gabby: My puppy
Frankie. Who is not named after Frankie Cosmos. [Laughs]
David: I was at
work today and saw a baby and thought it was hysterical and locked eyes with it
and I laughed cause I was like, “hah that’s a cute baby,” and it had the same
thought as me and was like, “Hah!” and it started laughing back at me. It was
so amazing.
Greta: So pretty
much puppies and babies.
David: Puppies
and babies.
Greta: Ron, what
do you say? [sarcastically] Drugs?
Cigarettes? It would be funny if Aaron was like
[drops voice] “I’m so excited
to smoke weed later.”
David: We don’t
do that!
Aaron: I’m just happy to be like making music constantly with Frankie Cosmos and Porches.
Aaron: I’m just happy to be like making music constantly with Frankie Cosmos and Porches.
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