Checking In With… Mondo Cozmo

In times of crisis, it’s more important than ever to check in on your friends and loved ones. Here at XPN, we’re Checking In With our extended musical family to see how they’re holding up during the Coronavirus quarantine…and what music has kept them grounded. Today, Dan Reed chats with Mondo Cozmo.

Mondo Cozmo is hunkered down in the mountains outside Los Angeles during the Coronavirus quarantine, and he checked in with us via phone this week. “When our shows got cancelled, I returned home, and when LA went on shutdown, we got out of town,” he says. “I’m with my wife and my dog; my dog loves it, my wife doesn’t. It’s like Christmas week, where you don’t know what day or time it is.” Mondo Cozmo did get a couple east coast tour dates in before the pandemic caused the touring industry to shut down; they plaed Ardmore Music Hall, and a show in Connecticut. Unfortunately their Johnny Brenda’s and Boot & Saddle gigs were cancelled, but the band has plans to return this fall with a new album under their belt.

Below, listen to Mondo Cozmo’s full Checking In chat with Dan Reed, and peruse his music picks.

Favorite Song Of All Time: “Beast of Burden” by The Rolling Stones

“It was a pretty easy answer. Whenever I hear Beast of Burden, it instantly makes me happy.”

Song That Raises Your Spirits: “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space” by Spiritualized

“It’s so patient, and it builds. It’s tough because as a musician now, I’ve got ten seconds to get to the chorus or nobody’s gonna play it. There’s that weird pressure at times. But listening to a record like that where dude’s just doing what he wants and he’s letting it build naturally, it’s so inspiring.”

Song You’re Most Proud of Working On: “Plastic Soul” by Mondo Cozmo

“It’s the one song when it comes on I’m not cringing. Whenever I hear it, I’m like ‘it’s a good tune.'”