"I'm gonna hug you later!"
Josh Ostrander,former member of rock band Eastern Conference Champions and current mastermind behind Mondzo Cozmo, is yelling to a buddy across the media tent at Lollapalooza as we sit down for an interview.
The friendly, mellow Ostrander called it quits with the Champs when he began to work two unglamorous jobs. Ostrander thought he wasn't going to make it in the music industry, but today Ostrander's solo project is playing Lollapalooza on the release day of Mondo Cozmo's debut LP, Plastic Soul.
We had a chance to talk with him in Chicago. Read our chat, and listen to some of Plastic Soul, below.
So, you've had a big year. Like a really big year.
It's been a blur. I have to keep going on my Instagram to remind myself of the stuff that we've done. We've been blessed.
I saw your set from Bonnaroo on YouTube and you cover "Bitter Sweet Symphony". All of the comments on Youtube were super supportive and some people said it was their favorite set at Bonnaroo.
It's so special. I feel like that was just a really special night for my band. We like, arrived that night. Something happened that night. We just showed up and were like 'this is our moment' and we just killed it. We've been blessed to play a lot of festivals. We just played one in Quebec and it was like 100,000 people and it was nuts and we were opening up for Muse up there. But honestly, that moment at Bonnaroo was a really powerful moment for us and that's really when we knew we might make it.
What is different this time around with Mondo Cozmo than with your last band Eastern Conference Champions?
I'm very much able to be myself. Like when I was with ECC doing interviews I can say whatever I want, make decisions by myself, do whatever I want and don't have to worry about what three other guys collectively want to say as well. It's really liberating and very much makes up for the fact that I let go of that camaraderie of brotherhood. Now I have that with my band for Mondo Cozmo to get back to that and it's been so rewarding.
I mainly have to ask because I’m not very familiar with the process but how does it all work with a solo project? Like do you record/tour, etc. with the same guys?
The auditioning process is horrible. It took me several weeks to find the guys. I record all of the music myself then give it to the boys and we learn it. The live show we have right now is so awesome I was super lucky to find the guys I have. The scariest parts have been the most rewarding.
You've mentioned illegally sampling the Erma Franklin song "Piece of my Heart" on "Plastic Soul" and expecting to be sued, did any legal action occur prior to the song once it began to pick up momentum, before eventually acquiring the rights?
It was scary because I released it for free. I didn't put it on YouTube or anything because I knew I would get sued. So I set it up if you emailed this link you would get a Dropbox link. It was really just like 'here it is'. And then they started playing it on the radio, like a lot on the radio. I was just like "Wow I could get in so much trouble for this." No joke. So we went to Erma Franklin's guys, the guys that wrote the song and they were so helpful with getting it done. That's the power of music. They were psyched to be a part of it and it's such a beautiful story. That's why I named my record Plastic Soul, because the whole experience was amazing. I took a risk and it paid off. It's a reminder to myself to keep doing it.
So where does the name Plastic Soul come from exactly? What does it mean to you?
Well I wrote the song "Plastic Soul" the weekend that David Bowie died. He would always refer to his music as plastic soul. So I just pulled it from that. I guess I'm kind of a fragile person but there is also a little bit of arrogance to the name because it's kind of like Rubber Soul which is the Beatles. Arrogant enough where I was just like "This is perfect.".
You talk about arrogance... there is definitely a recurring theme of risk taking.
Yeah. I've got nothing left to lose!
“Hold On To Me” features Anna Faris dancing in a seniors home because you’ve mentioned it’s where you and the director of the video grew up. Did your dad, the retirement facility administrator, force you to go to work with him?
I was pretty young when we lived at the retirement facility before we did landscaping. I remember going to eat dinner with him every night and stuff like that. I guess it just stuck with me. It was so weird to do that video. There was no script, no budget. We just said 'let's go shoot Anna and interact with these older people and see what happens.' So everything that happened was super natural, they all had dementia there, they had no idea who Anna was, they just thought she was a worker. I think it really cracked her up though too because she can't leave the house without someone knowing who she is and here she was with all of these people who had no idea who she was.
How do you know Anna Faris on such a personal level so that you can ask her to do something like that?
She's a friend of a friend. We had a New Year's Eve thing where we all went out of town and that was the first time we met [Anna] and Chris [Pratt]. Anna and I would just hit it off right away we were instant buddies. They're the pride of America. Whatever your dreams and hopes of what they would be is exactly what they are. [Editor's note: Faris and Pratt announced their separation after this interview was conducted — America is still proud of them.]
Was it hard as a kid being around mostly elderly people? Do you think it impacted your overall demeanor or appreciation for being young?
I like soup more than most people I know. Everyone makes fun of me and says I'm like a 90 year old man. But otherwise, I don't think so. I let the song do the work. I just ride it like a wave.
You’ve mentioned that you grew up super religious but don’t hold onto it in your adult years. As well as people asking you about religious connotations behind your lyrics. What religion did you grow up with and does it affect your music making process at all?
It's tough 'cause people ask about the song meanings a lot and the relation to religion. Personally, I'm just not super religious. I believe in God and stuff like that but I don't want to let people down when they hear that though. I just try to treat everyone really good and be nice and try to do the best that I can. That's what I try to live by and I can only just hope that's enough. Some of the lyrics that I pull from are stuff I remember from growing up. I grew up Baptist and my mom is pretty hard on me about it. She gives me grief all of the time like 'why did you say this?'
Ever considered collaborating with your wife, Aria Pullman on a song or project?
Yeah, we write a lot. She sings on all of my stuff. But I think to stay married we don't do that [laughs]. It's tough, we're both Aries so we're pretty stubborn people so we let each other do our own thing. I think that's the best thing you can do.
So do you have a secret love for astrology we don't know about?
No, she says we're both Aries so I just say that [laughs].
What do you think, or hope, is in store for Mondo Cozmo after the release of this album? Do you have any set goals or benchmarks for the end of the year?
I just hope that people listen to the whole record from front to back. The album is a complete thought and I'm really proud of it. I think there's something in it for everybody and I'd love to be the record you pick to play on a Friday night before you go out. I know those records in my life and to be that for somebody would really mean a lot. Not a bad goal, not looking for world domination, just for people to listen to the album.
Why did you pick Joshua Tree National Park in California to rent out a house to write this first album?
"Shine" was doing really well so they asked me to put out an album and get it out in two weeks. I write and record all of my music at home so if I stayed at home it'd be an 18 hour day and my wife would've definitely left me If I was making a bunch of noise at home. So I just grabbed my dog and rented a house in the desert where there's no one and got it out there.
Recently mentioned you said that while working two landscaping jobs you recorded some of your most popular songs at the moment like “Shine,” “Hold On to Me” and “Plastic Soul.” Besides wanting to give these awesome works of art to the right people, what encouraged you to make music at this hard time? What else kept you going during this difficult time?
It wasn't a good time for me. I was working two jobs, making songs at home and it was really scary. I started to think that I couldn't try to succeed in music anymore and that really just broke my heart. There's a lot of desperation in there too, the music and the lyrics came from the place of me not knowing what was next for me. To be able to be sitting here next to you at Lollapalooza is just a buzz, it's so cool.
I just turned 21 and you're a veteran in the music industry and proud to talk about your past successes and failures specifically. What do you recommend to young people starting off in this business?
Don't give up. I did something for a decade and then I was like 'I can't do this anymore'. When there is time for a change just really don't be afraid to take that risk.
