The day I speak with Bethany Cosentino, guitarist and singer-songwriter for Best Coast, the lineup for Splendour In The Grass has just been announced and the internet is going batshit crazy with excitement. The festival will go on to sell out in under an hour, and with such a cavalcade of acts it’s no wonder. One of the most anticipated bands returning to our shores is Cosentino’s Californian rock duo, riding the launch momentum of a third album, California Nights. While Cosentino is hugely excited to be returning to one of her favourite haunts, festivals themselves are not really her go-to events; she’d much rather get home at a reasonable hour and enjoy a nice warm cuppa.
“We’ve played a tonne of festivals all over the world,” she says, “but honestly we all really love Australia. I would say that outside of home here in America, it’s one of our favourite places to tour. It’s funny, because you’re essentially on tour with all of these totally different bands thrown together for a festival, and no-one really talks with each other at first but you’ll all end up hanging out at some weird afterparty eventually. It’s definitely fun to play your set and then drift off and see another band play. I enjoy playing festivals, but personally I would never go to a festival unless I was playing it.”
This is a slightly surprising revelation for a singer at both the peak of her creativity and, well, youth. Most of the performers I chat with can’t wait to launch into the next festival, hurling themselves at that transient lifestyle like an ambitious pancake to a low ceiling. But the 28-year-old Cosentino has other ambitions.
“I’m just not much of a festival person. Coachella is on now, and everyone I know is saying, ‘Oh, are you going to come too?’ and I’m flat out, ‘Nooooo,’” she laughs. “Those days are behind me for sure. I do enjoy playing them, but it’s not something I seek out myself anymore. If I’m going to go and see a band, I’m going to see them at a venue. I like to see more intimate shows. It’s not so much that I don’t enjoy the atmosphere you get at a festival – it’s more being out in the sun all day. I always find myself getting really tired. I’m too old for that stuff now! I’d rather just go see a band and then go home to bed.”
The intimacy that Cosentino craves when watching other bands, however, remains a double-edged sword when it comes to her own performances. She presents an interesting dichotomy; someone committed to engaging an audience, but at the same time uneasy at the proximity and focus of so many strangers.
“I enjoy playing at big venues, but at the same time I feel there’s not much difference between them. It’s not like I prefer [small venues]; they’re just so different. It’s nice to play a small venue and see your fans right there in front of you, but it also gives me this weird anxiety. When there are people directly in front of me like that, I feel like I can’t make eye contact, so I have to kind of look over the top of everyone,” she laughs, sounding slightly embarrassed. “When you play the bigger venues you’re a bit further away from everyone, and that way I feel like there’s no-one there able to see the sweat bead off my face. But we just did these three shows after not playing much lately, and they sold out in just a few minutes. To remember that you have dedicated fans who are so excited to see you play, it’s a very humbling feeling. Really, no matter where you are, it’s just fun to play.
“You can definitely feel there’s a disconnect between you and your fans on those big stages,” she elaborates. “I feel like that kind of happens more at festivals, when there’s space between you and them and people are coming and going to catch different bands. I feel that it’s my job as a performer to connect with fans, whether they’re an inch away and catching the sweat pouring off me, or if they’re far away. I still feel I need to draw them in. When you go to a show, you’re there to be entertained, you’re there to be part of something. So you just have to draw people in.”
With a background in non-fiction (thanks in no small part to the influence of Joan Gideon), Cosentino’s engagement with an audience is arguably much more personal than other forms of songwriting. Her lyrics are founded in real-world observations and experiences, creating a reciprocity between performer and listener; it is a kind of mutual therapy.
“Every project I do that involves writing has been different, but for Best Coast, I’ve always just wanted to write about relatable things. I’ve wanted to be able to take my experiences with life and my feelings and be honest with them, so that my listeners can take those songs and relate them to their own lives. I get things off my chest, and in doing so I feel less alone with those problems, and I’m also making the listener feel less alone. It’s a weird group friendship via the music. It’s pretty cool.”
Best Coastperform at Splendour In The Grass 2015 at NorthByron Parklands, Friday July 24 – Sunday July 26. They also play Oxford Art Factory on Tuesday July 28.California Nights is out Friday May 1 through EMI/Universal.
