What Everyone Really Wants: Dogs, Frogs, and College Radio
Article By Olivia Friess, University Union Editorial Board Executive Editor | Photo By Hannah Stein
When asked about her hopes for the future, Greta Kline of indie folk band Frankie Cosmos hesitates. “I mean, so far it's been working for me to have no plan and have no idea and just experiment. See what happens. Say yes to opportunities,” she says, reflecting on her now decade-long career. “[The future is] a long time [away]. Maybe [I’ll] get a dog! Who knows? A dog? I would love to reach the kind of level of touring where you can bring a dog.”
Photo By Hannah Stein
On March 29, 2024, Syracuse’s radio station WERW brought the band to the Schine Underground for their Spring Launch Party alongside the dreamy, indie-folk student openers Froggies. The event was nothing short of an indie kid’s paradise, complete with excellent bands, vintage clothing booths, cool merchandise, and a plethora of music-related student organizations present – the turnout only confirmed this. The Schine Underground saw one of its largest attendance rates yet this semester, selling over one hundred tickets in just nine days. WERW truly specializes in ensuring that there’s never a dull moment during their shows, whether you’re checking out the music, purchasing a one-of-a-kind t-shirt from the Awkward Fish booth, or learning about getting in touch with the local community from Crossroads Collective, there’s always something to do.
Photos By Hannah Stein
Froggies kicked off the show with a set composed almost entirely of original songs, which was a new step for the band inspired by their recent activity in the studio recording these unreleased tracks. From each original to their cover of Heart’s “Magic Man,” the five-piece band had the crowd dancing through their entire set thanks to the work of lead guitarist and vocalist María Nido, rhythm guitarist and vocalist Corey Chun, bassist and vocalist Sam Parrish, keyboardist Sam Ronan, and drummer Grady Collingbourne.
Photo By Hannah Stein
Greta Kline of Frankie Cosmos first entered the music scene in 2009 under the name Ingrid Superstar with a series of Bandcamp releases. In 2014, she adopted the now-iconic alias Frankie Cosmos (which is now the name of her band) per the suggestion of Porches frontman Aaron Maine. It was in 2016 when Kline solidified her name in the indie Hall of Fame with the release of Next Thing on Bayonet Records, whose anti-folk-inspired anthem for frustrating crushes, “Fool,” has recently enjoyed a popularity resurgence.
Before Frankie Cosmos took the stage, The Universe sat down with Kline, where we discussed everything from her college days to the uncertainty of the future and even her ideal dog duo names: Temu and Fomo.
The Universe: Something I'd like to hear about is the new “How Do You Feel About Making The Song” [series] that you started doing [on Tumblr] where you interview your bandmates and your creative collaborators and all that. How did that come to be?
Frankie Cosmos: I have a mailing list, and I feel like when we were not touring, I was just really trying to make something. I was just making these zines and stuff. I'm working on another — the next issue right now. I like talking to my friends about music and making crosswords and stuff. Making puzzles is kind of a big hobby of mine, so all my zines have a crossword in [them]. I like playing with collages and stuff, so it's really just an excuse to collage and photocopy stuff. I don't think I'm such a great interviewer necessarily.
I know you're doing a college tour right now, which is really cool. I know you went to NYU for a bit, so [what was it like] engaging in a college music scene? I'm sure NYU is a pretty big one.
Yeah, pretty sizable.
So how did that influence you during your time there?
I had like no friends at NYU. I was pretty much in a whole separate Brooklyn music scene with adults. This [was] kind of my experience of it — I was not doing college socializing in this way. I don't know if you guys have any classmates like this — an 18-year-old with a random, in-their-mid-twenties boyfriend that she lives with off campus. It's just like, you're not going to make any friends in college if you do that.
So I was in this band. No one at school cared at all about the bands I was in. I wasn't being recognized for being an indie-rocker or whatever, but I was going and making records and playing shows on the weekends. I would say I barely made any friends at school.
I never did any radio or anything cool. Later, I came back and I played at the NYU radio station a couple years later. One of the first bands I was in [before Frankie Cosmos], I played drums with my friend who went to NYU, and when I was like 16, we played at the NYU street fair or something. So maybe one of my first shows was randomly a college show. I think I was maybe more involved with the scene at SUNY Purchase because I started playing shows there — a lot of my first shows. I think when you're starting out, [college students] are some of the only people that will give you any money to play a show.
I remember making like thirty dollars for playing a SUNY Purchase show and just being like, “I'm a musician!” Making money for music was so… legitimizing or something. I think just having a community devoted to music is so cool
I've played a lot of college radio stations in my days touring, so I feel like I've been to sixty colleges or something. I have kind of a “fake” college experience.
Photos By Hannah Stein
Given your very creative upbringing, what drew you to music over the world of film more? I know you've done a little bit of work in the world of film — you and your brother — but what drew you more towards the music side?
I have absolutely no skill [for] acting, so that's number one. That'll do it. I was pretty shy as a kid. I feel like my brother was more the outgoing one, and then I was on the lighting crew of my school play. I was [a] very behind-the-scenes kind of person and I had a best friend (who's still my best friend) who was very shy and we would make music alone in my room [and] not show anybody.
We had a band but we never played a show. I think music felt more quiet and private and shy or something. It was something you could do alone, so I think that's probably why. I also just always wanted to play music
I was around a lot of people. I was telling my roommate the other day that I didn't grow up playing any board games. My family doesn't play games. I love games now, but I didn't grow up with any. They were like, “Well, what did you do on the weekends?” I was like, “I don't know! We jammed and stuff.” They would have their weird friend over who played bass and we would be jamming or whatever. It was very creative. It felt like [you were] just in a salon or something.
It was just these rockers playing and suddenly you're jamming. I think that was definitely an influence —just having people around playing music and teaching me instruments and stuff.
Right now, we've been playing this game Password [as a band]. It's a classic. We're pretty into it. I just got it, so I never played it before.
My next question is… the 10-year anniversary of Zentropy [just passed]. Very exciting! This [question] is going to sound very school-guidance-counselor for a minute, but I'm going to need you to stick with me here. Where do you want to be or see yourself with music in the next 10 years? What do you want to experiment with between now and then? It's a lot of time, but where do you want to go with it?
So far it's been working for me to have no plan and have no idea and just experiment — see what happens [and] say yes to opportunities. I kind of think maybe my 30s is [going to be] less pressure. My guess is you get a little less fuzzy, a little less successful, maybe do some opening tours, [and] just be less of a headliner vibe. [I’m just going to] kind of see who's going [and] see what youngsters are going to take me along.
We'll see, but I think I would be completely happy. If I could maintain any level of what I have now, it would be amazing. I mean, just to make music is all I care about, so that's my dream — maybe selling out in my 30s. That's what happens. It's totally switching up.
No, you're really good at it! It's a long time.
It's a long time! I know. Maybe [I’ll] get a dog! Who knows? A dog? I would love to reach the kind of level of touring where you can bring a dog. That is, if I'm dreaming big, we have a bus and we can bring a dog. I mean, that would be insane — if I could achieve that! I don't believe that we would ever be a band that can bring a bus, but people do it.
Like a Shih Tzu? Yeah. Like a little fucked up one. I love a dog with crazy teeth.
But what would the name be? [That’s] the question!
I do have a name! I do have a name. Alex! Alex comes up with amazing names for dogs. The other day he was like, “You gotta get a little Shih Tzu named Temu.” I'm obsessed with that now! I need a little Shih Tzu named Temu.
Oh that's great! That's really good.
It's good, right? And then maybe [I’ll] get a sister named Fomo. Yeah, [Alex] can't stop coming up with good dog name ideas. So, I'm working on it!
That’s the 10-year plan then — to get Temu and then new merch: Frankie Cosmos’ Temu calendar.
Temu and Fomo. Aren't they cute together? Now I have to do it! I'm feeling really compelled. I'm having baby mania!
Yeah, that's actually why we sat down with you today! We really just wanted to push you in the right direction.
Thank you so much.
Photos By Hannah Stein
One question — a personal question — that I've been wondering for like 10 years… Less than 10 years. That's a lie. My favorite song is “Outside with the Cuties” and I want to know what effect you used to make the outro because I love it.
Ooh, on the keys? Or guitar? I think it's on the keys.
You know what I mean? That part, yeah!
I can ask Gabby. I don't remember! No, I don't remember because it was so long ago. I could ask my old keyboard player, or I'm guessing it was like that [because the] record was made to tape.
So I think part of it is probably that we were recording to tape. Everything sounds janky, but also we used a lot of space echo. I want to say that was probably something.
That's just always been my favorite one. That's when you know I need a producer!
That's when you know I need a producer. I don't know how we made that sound.
It's shimmery!
It's shimmery! It's like a Cassio. Everything was pretty janky.
Frankie Cosmos went on to perform a truly career-encompassing set, diving in and out of the five albums they released over the past decade. The band even gave fans a taste of the future, performing an unreleased track for the very first time. The energetic performance was bookended with fan favorites from Next Thing, “On The Lips” and “Fool,” which got the whole crowd moving and singing.
The whole event signified the end of an era and a look to the future with the transition of leadership within WERW from María Nido and Peri Friedman to Polly Hoffman and Evan Frantantuono. Who knows, maybe they’ll get a dog too?
Setlists:
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I Knew From The Beginning
Less than
Another Night
Empty Movements
Magic Man (Heart Cover)
Lullaby
Is That So Bad?
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On The Lips
Aftershook
41st
One Year Stand
Empty Head
So Blue
Sky Magnet
Abigail
Wayne
Leonie
Windows
F.O.O.F.
*unreleased song*
Ballad of R&J
Being Alive
Magnetic Personality
Is it Possible/Sleep Song
Fool
