CocoRosie (NOTRE SOIREE COUP DE COEUR)
July 23, 2009 - 8:00 pm

Founded in New York by the Casady sisters, CocoRosie mixes folk ballads with electronic rhythms, creating a truly innovative and sensual sound.

BIOGRAPHY

CocoRosie is an American 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.

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.In early 2008 they performed together with the Royal Concert Orchestra in Amsterdam.

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. 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.

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 ParisOver 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.

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 « Frankie » and in 2007 for the German movie « Haus der Wünsche » in english: “Paperbird”.

In 2007, their song “Candyland” was used in the film Anna M. by Michel Spinosa.

CocoRosie was named the 16th most influential artist of the decade by betterPropaganda 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 would not be releasing any new records after Spring 2009.