Dream Harder as we dive deeper....
Hello Cosmos are a Manchester-based band and collective of creatives. A four piece at their core, the band are led by songwriter and bass player Ben Robinson, the co-founder of the celebrated bluedot & Kendal Calling festivals. Also featuring the talents of mainstay members Angela Chan on viola/synths/vocals (notably a member of the Mercury-shortlisted Lanterns on the Lake and a touring member of Placebo), powerhouse drummer Simon Robinson (brother of Ben) and the uniquely styled guitarist Adrian Ingham (assisted by a stack FX pedals); together as Hello Cosmos they are a meeting of minds of telepathic harmony with immense capability.
With each new studio session, Hello Cosmos expands its sphere of collaborators, inviting a growing cast of guest musicians to add their own fuel to the creative mayhem. The band’s laissez faire approach has seen them work with over 50 artists worldwide to date, with members of The Pleasure Temple Ritual Band, Post War Glamour Girls, Galaxians, Lost Colours and more, lending their expertise.
Unfurling a string of stimulating singles, EPs and a debut album since their formation in 2017, Hello Cosmos found their breakthrough with the obliterating electro-punk of the ‘Run for President’ EP; winning over supporters at BBC Radio 1, BBC 6 Music and Radio X, to Under The Radar and Louder Than War in the process.
Translating the passionate intensity and vivid ideas evident in their studio recordings to the live stage, Hello Cosmos have performed at major festivals including Kendal Calling, bluedot, Live at Leeds and Liverpool Sound City and earned a formidable reputation. Drawing on Ben’s experiences of working on shows featuring flaming Lips, Bjork, Super Furry Animals to name a few; Hello Cosmos shows match the band’s own intrinsic energy with eye-popping visuals, Apollo mission boiler suits, and cyber-kinetic masks to create an AV spectacle.
The bands debut album ‘Dream Harder’ released in 2021 stands as the essence of everything they have striven for. Created in the spirit of creative collaboration and offering an adrenaline-rushing melting pot of influences, ‘Dream Harder’ was designed to uplift and entertain at every turn and is as audibly emphatic as it is visually immersive.
It’s a record that urges its listeners to dream beyond the dystopian dereliction of today and push forward to a new, brighter future with a destiny that is entirely in their hands.
‘Dream Harder’ received support from BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 1, Radio X, Maximum Volume, God is In the TV, Louder Than War and many more, with Louder Than War labelling the bands debut as one of their albums of the year.
“People need to get on board with this.” - Jack Saunders, The Next Wave - BBC Radio 1
“Propelled by self-belief, hope and a heavy groove. Guaranteed to knock your socks off.” 9/10 - Louder than War
“Epic stuff, will be rising up the bills in years to come.” - Gordon Smart – Radio X Drivetime
“A terrific album. Intense and thought-provoking throughout… its lyrics pack an almighty punch.” 8/10 - God is in the TV
“Blowing the dust off the speakers of life.” - Chris Hawkins – BBC Radio 6 Music
The Dream Harder LP was closely followed by The ‘Golden Dirt’ mixtape, a new collaboration with San Francisco-based producer The Olchemist which sees the band pulling something of a handbrake turn on the full-throttle psych/punk sound established on their debut.
Written as a means of expressing the frustration and boredom Robinson experienced as a musician and concert promoter during lockdown, the record saw a looser creative process, its loop based drum foundations (in the absence of the totemic live drum sound usually provided by Robinson’s brother Simon) and the variety of guest vocalists who feature throughout; the music that emerged from the late-night ‘Golden Dirt’ sessions quickly adopted the feel of a mixtape.
Adding spoken-word laced with his typically irreverent humour and archly warped social commentary, the off-the-cuff lyrics offer a visceral snapshot of Robinson’s mindset day-by-day.
Reaching out to other fellow musicians across the world in their own stations of isolation, Robinson soon rounded up collaborators from Cumbria, Leeds, Manchester, and London, as well as more far-flung locations as Seattle, Kampala-Uganda, and Republic of Congo. Sending the tracks to San Francisco for a West Coast touch, the recordings were then woven into their final mixtape form by The Olchemist (aka Oliver Linton Brown) who also worked on ‘Dream Harder’.
"The album revels in its eclecticism like a well-constructed mixtape should. Collaboration, connection and the universal power of music fill every second of Golden Dirt with joi de vive." - Louder Than War
"Mark E. Smith meets The Streets...” - Chris Hawkins, BBC Radio 6 Music
