BETHANY COSENTINO
On the surface it looks like Bethany Cosentino is solely disappointed with her debut reception, but dig a little deeper and it’s clear she’s justifiably bemoaning a “broken system” that doesn’t prioritize artists.
For 15 years she’s been grinding in the music industry — specifically as one half of the rock duo Best Coast. When she debuted with former bandmate Bobb Bruno in 2010 (the band was formed in 2009), Crazy for You catapulted them to the kind of indie fame most only dream of. The duo would go on to release three more albums, a total of four, with the final release in 2020. So, naturally, it was time for the vocalist-guitarist-songwriter to blaze a new trail.
“My identity as a human and an artist has been so wrapped up in being “Bethany from Best Coast” for almost 15 years (!!!),” the singer wrote on Instagram in a post announcing her July 2023 solo debut. “The decision to pause the project indefinitely to allow myself the chance to explore who I am as just … Bethany Cosentino … did not come easy, but I knew it was necessary.”
The Los Angeles native left her beloved hometown for Nashville to embark on the new journey of being a solo act. She immediately knew she wanted to work with Butch Walker, the album’s primary producer. Although she shared the struggles, self-doubt, vulnerability, and hard work it took to make Natural Disaster, the 37-year-old singer was excited and optimistic to release her record to the world in July. But by December, she was singing a new tune.
“I put so much of myself into this record — into the writing of this record, into the recording of this record,” she said in a nearly five-minute TikTok video. “I left fucking California for the first time ever to make a record. Like, I walked away from my identity. I walked away from Best Coast, and I said, ‘I’m gonna go be Bethany. I’m gonna go make this thing.’ And I have to be really fucking honest with you. I am so disappointed with the way things have gone.”
When fans started asking questions in the comments, she was all too happy to respond in separate videos.
“And that, my friends, is why algorithms and streaming sucks,” she replied. “Not only does it not compensate us, it just buries us.” She goes on to say she understands the entertainment industry is oversaturated, but that doesn’t make the state of affairs suck any less.
It’d be one thing if she didn’t think the 12-track album was good (she loves it and it’s her favorite album of 2023), or if she lacked talent (she doesn’t). Cosentino is one of many artists who are concerned that their success seems to be contingent upon them being content creators, and that their music is here today/gone tomorrow because of streaming.
One thing for sure is that Cosentino isn’t going anywhere. The talent speaks for itself. She sings, she writes, and she plays the guitar. She’s also quite personable.
During her set at The Sun Rose in West Hollywood last October, she was conversational and funny. The vocal chops and quality of the songs are undeniable. And, too, she shines with a live band. Collectively, they blew the crowd away.
While she carves out her identity as a solo artist, Cosentino will no doubt keep telling the truth. SoundExchange caught up with singer to find out more about what she’s thinking and how she’s feeling.
My little cousins kept telling me that I should join TikTok. So, it was like, let me just do it because they’re telling me to do it. And it happened very genuinely. Then after that, things just started blowing up by me being consistent.”
Where it all started
“I’ve been singing and writing and playing music since I was really, really, really little, like a little kid. My dad’s a musician and my mom’s a designer. I grew up in a very creative household where the arts were super supported. I took a stab at the singer-songwriter thing when I was in my early teens, and I actually got offered a record deal, but I didn’t want it. I was like, no, I feel like they’re going to try to turn me into something I don’t want to be. I sort of turned my back against music and decided that I wanted to be a writer and I went to college. I transferred to a university in New York, and I got an internship at The Fader, and it was really cool to be so young and to get to meet all of these musicians that I looked up to.
Then I just sort of had a realization that I was like, I’m a musician. This is what I do. I want to go home. I dropped out of college literally in one weekend, moved home, started Best Coast, and then it all just kind of went like that. And now I’m here 15 years later.
No matter how hard I try, or my imposter syndrome tries to tell me I’m not a musician, it’s always going to be something that I’m trying to do forever. Probably like 90 years old, God willing. Still trying to sing in places.”
How she classifies her music
“I do qualify my music as mom-rock. What I mean by that is the record was heavily inspired by a lot of the music that my mom got me in to — Linda Ronstadt, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, Sheryl Crow, a lot of artists that were playing when I was a kid, whether it was in my house or songs that I heard on the radio when I was growing up.”
How she classifies her music
“I do qualify my music as mom-rock. What I mean by that is the record was heavily inspired by a lot of the music that my mom got me in to — Linda Ronstadt, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, Sheryl Crow, a lot of artists that were playing when I was a kid, whether it was in my house or songs that I heard on the radio when I was growing up.”
Vulnerability on Natural Disaster
“Part of this record was allowing myself to be softer and more vulnerable when it came to the hope in which I walk through the world with or at least attempt to. And I think now more than ever, it’s really important to try to find light in a really dark time, because if you just stare down the tunnel of darkness 24 hours a day, it’s just — it’s hard out here to be a human on planet Earth in this day and age, you know? So, I think that sort of shedding a lot of my teenage angst and allowing myself to be a vulnerable woman, a grown up, I think has done my being as a human, it’s done great things for me.”
Sharing on social media
“I find [social media] to be kind of a blessing and a curse. I think it’s cool that you can connect with an audience and that you can sort of market yourself, be your own salesperson, be your own personality, figure out who you are, figure out how to connect with your fans. But at the same time, that in and of itself is a full-time job.
I find [social media] to be kind of a blessing and a curse. Over time I’ve learned what I’m willing to share and sort of what I want to hold close to my heart.”
Who she’s listening to
“I honestly listen mostly to classic rock and older music, and I don’t try to say that to be like, I’m so cool. I don’t listen to anything modern. I genuinely find out about things very late.”
Advice for artists
I think that being your true, authentic self is the whole point of being alive. It’s to figure out who you are and to share that with the world in whatever way you do.”
If you’re a creative person, great – share it in what you create. But…
I just think that telling people to tone it down or not be themselves, I don’t agree with that. I think that everybody should be as flamboyant and extravagant and annoying as they want. I am cringe, but I’m free.”