Rising star takes a break from Bonnaroo to chat with us
Joshua Keith Ostrander, who performs as the artist Mondo Cozmo, is a Philadelphia based musician that is currently on a rocket ship to success. He has already performed at most of the major music festivals across the United States this year, and he is set to play at nearly all of the rest of them.
Having come from a hardworking background as a landscaper in Philadelphia, Mondo has really paved his own way to success with passion, drive, and love of music. And while his mainstream success is recent, his involvement with the music industry is not. He was a part of Laguardia, who was signed to Universal and Republic Records, between 200-2005, and was a member of Eastern Conference Champions from 2005-2015.
Being a performing artist at Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival this year, his bio was listed as "a disciple of Eddie Vedder, Bruce Springsteen, and Jack White. A tattooed, mohawk rocking troubadour with the attitude of a Manchester nineties band. Working class, honest, inspirational, cautiously hopeful, and socially observational. He is a future festival headliner who will have the crowd singing every word while the sun is setting, and will challenge everything people thing that they know about music in the process."
Mondo Cozmo's hit song "Shine" is the current number one Adult Alternative song on Billboard, and is a strong message of hope in todays troubled times. His iconic music videos "Hold On To Me", "Higher", and " Sixes and Sevens" are amazing. Mondo Cozmo has been featured on Jimmy Kimmell, is currently on tour as the opener for Bastille.
Watch the highlight on YouTube form when Dan Reynolds from Imagine Dragons joined him on stage to cover "Bittersweet Symphony". It is a fabulous rendition. This standout artist packed the stage at Bonnaroo, and The Pulse was fortunate enough to catch up with him before the show.
Chattanooga Pulse: Coming from a hardworking background in Philly, where you had a balance working and singing a way to express yourself artistically, do you have any words for your fans out there that might be discouraged by similar situations that you were able to flourish in?
Mondo Cozmo: I do man; I would tell them to never give up. Don't stop. I have been doing this for a very long time, and where I had moderate success in the past, it took me a while to break through. I was working two landscaping jobs when I wrote “Shine”. Anybody can do it, if they want to do it, they just have to never give up. People have to fight for their dreams.
TP: What was the turning point in your career that you realized that you made it? When did you say to yourself, “I need to keep my foot on the petal, I am on my way?”
MC: When I got my buddy Anna Ferris to do my music video before I got my record deal, and I saw the final draft of it and was blown away. I had a few other songs that I really believed in and it made me step back and tell myself that I really needed to focus, that I was really onto something, and that was a really big moment for me.
TP: I heard that you used to wake up at five in the morning every day to write music. Do you still do that?
MC: It's tough now. I'm usually still up at five, I am trying to get in the bed by five. It is really tough on the road. I prefer to write music in the morning, that’s normally when I write my best stuff, so when I am not on the road, I probably am going to keep those same hours. My mind just seems to be really sharp first thing in the morning. I certainly plan to continue doing so when I am not on tour.
TP: In what ways has your success changed the music creation aspect of your life?
MC: Well, being on the road so much, it has made it pretty difficult to be able to create new music like I want to. I am on the road a lot, like a lot, lot. I am still looking for that balance to be able to be on the road, and still find time to make some new music, I will find it, it will come.
TP: What would you like your fans to know about you that they might not already know?
MC: That I am really nice. I want them to come say hi. I would like for them to know that I am very approachable, and that I love talking to my fans.
There have been so many times where people will meet me and talk to me briefly, and introduce their self, and then a couple weeks later I will get an email from them saying that they met me at a various location, and that they wanted to tell me that my song “Shine” totally changed my life, and gave them so much hope and inspiration. I sit back and think to myself, why didn't they tell me when they were in front of me.
I love it when my fans talk to me in depth, I want them to tell me that my music is making a difference if it is, I want them to really engage in conversation with me. I am a very open person, and I really enjoy what I am doing. So I want my fans to know that they are more than welcome to come talk to me anytime. I love connecting with people, and talking about music, it is my favorite thing.
TP: What is your favorite music experience throughout your rise to success?
MC: I was on the way to church on Christmas Eve, and I had my mom and whole family in the car. “Shine” came on the radio and my mom started crying. It was such a big moment in my life because my parents and I didn't always see eye-to-eye about my music aspirations. For them to finally see that I was doing something substantial was just a heartwarming moment in my life. That was probably my favorite experience on my rise to success.