Lauren Edwards sat down with London based singer-songwriter George Cosby, and talked about his latest E.P, touring, and plans for the upcoming year.
Cosby released his second E.P, the rich and haunting, A Savage Kiss back on October 14th with Yucatan Records. He then joined Travis is a Tourist on Benjamin Francis Leftwich’s European Tour, before heading back to London for a few headline shows of his own. “Playing and touring with both those guys was a pleasure. I’m so happy I got to meet Travis on that tour, he’s a wonderful songwriter and a fantastic person. I can’t wait to see what he does next.” When I caught sight of them just under a month ago in Munich, the three shared a bond that even as an audience member was clearly visible, but speaking about Ben in particular, Cosby continues: “I’ve been lucky enough to get to know Ben in London and to be there watching him, night in, night out was an inspiring experience. When he’s on stage he has a magical quality to create a truly personal connection with the audience.” Carrying on to talk about the individual qualities each of them brought to the tour Cosby expresses “We’re all different in style, providing different shades across the evening” however, he continues to add their shared similarities in the way they create music: “I think we all approach writing from the same place and our outlook on music and art generally has a lot in common.”
I tell Cosby his music reminds me of the projective voice you’d usually find on stage singing the solos of a hit musical mixed with an element of 80’s ballads. He laughs, “I do love a good 80’s tune.” It’s this mix of deep vocals and soothing melodies that makes Cosby distinct in comparison to contemporary artists, so when I asked where his musical influences stemmed from he said: ” I try and draw influences from a wide variety of different era’s and genres. What’s so lovely about music and writing is you learn every day. I have discovered so many amazing artists recently who you pick up little bits and pieces from.” In a similar way that he complimented Ben he carries on to explain: “Every tour I do I come back having learned and had my eyes opened, I hope it always continues in the same vain!” Although, he’s inspired by those around him, Cosby gets stuck in picking out just one favourite artist: “Oh wow too many artists I admire. From a lyricism viewpoint Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen are up there. I love just reading through their writing. Recently I’ve been listening to a lot of Scott Walker and Serge Gainsborough. Some of the production on those records was quite fantastic.”
From artistic influences we moved on to talk about the aspirations behind the beautiful, A Savage Kiss and how creating this one differed from Human Touch: “I’ve been using these early E. P’s to experiment and really explore who I could be as an artist and Savage Kiss was an extension of the first E.P in that sense.” At this moment in time Cosby seems to be in no rush to push a debut album, but instead concentrates on grounding himself as an artist: “Through each release I want to push what I am doing and when I feel ready and confortable I hope there will be an album to release.” The majority of the time E.P’s tend to be a short glimpse of what’s to come, and for those who were a fan of Cosby’s first E.P another release with only three tracks comes as a bit of a blow: “I choose to do the 3 tracks for those two E. P’s I think purely just because it felt right at the time. I might change it up for the next….” Let’s hope by this Cosby means a full album.
If you’re lucky enough to catch Cosby in concert, you won’t be surprised that the powerful vocals you get on record are conducted just as good live, the stillness of the gig back in early October shows the degree in which Cosby’s voice draws audiences in. I asked him if he aims to make his listeners feel something in a similar way he takes some thing from listening to musicians like Leonard Cohen: “Most definitely, my favourite artists, and the ones who I truly form a long lasting connection with, are the ones who have really made me feel something, whether that’s happy or sad.” It was almost as if this statement trigged his own nostalgia, as he adds: “I’ll never forget Bon Iver’s first record. I can even remember exactly where I was when I first listened from start to finish. It’s quite special when that happens.”
Through the interview it’s obvious that Cosby is perfectly happy in taking his time in developing as a musician, and finding his own individual sound through those who inspire him. He mentions: “Finding a sound and your voice is by no means an easy thing to achieve, and yes I think its very important to take the time to feel comfortable with your direction as an artist, especially if you are more independently led.” Cosby points out the importance of taking it slow, even if this does mean gradually gaining a fan base “Just like any other career it takes a lot of hard work to develop and grow your abilities.” Through touring with other musicians with a similar sound, and progressively working on his own Cosby says: “What is fantastic and exciting is that during this time you’re able to play live and start to pick up a fan base. Hopefully this early bunch will be excited to follow you as your career progresses.” It’s this humble approach to his music that makes Cosby so likeable and his music so enticing. As a listener you feel a sense of understanding of the creation process and the hard work that has gone into creating each piece.
To round off our chat, influenced mostly by legendary musicians who’s lyrics are basically poetry, I was eager to find out who Cosby if he could choose from anybody would co-write a song with. To this he answered almost immediately: “Paul Simon. Just an unbelievable writer who has penned classics which are as relevant now as they were when released and I’m sure they’ll remain so for all of time. To me that is true artistry.”
With 2017 soon around the corner I was hoping for a preview of what Cosby’s New Year was going to look like, but instead he leaves fans with the vague statement: “I’m very excited about next year and releasing new music. I don’t have too much to tell you just yet but it should be busy!”
You can listen to George Cosby’s new E.P A Savage Kiss over on iTunes, Spotify and Soundcloud.
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