Frankie Cosmos

12:15am, Sidewinder Outside

Greta Kline’s shy. That’s why she came up with the pseudonym Frankie Cosmos.

“It’s not Greta Kline performing,” she says. “[Frankie Cosmos] fictionalizes it in a way where it makes it less scary to be vulnerable.”

There’s a charming amateurism to Frankie Cosmos. Growing up in the artistic household of actors Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates, Greta chose the musical route by way of an unlikely pairing: classical piano and underground rock shows.

“My dad played classical piano and listened to a lot of Hall & Oates, while my mom and I would listen to CDs of Liz Phair,” recalls the singer.

Shortly after, under the influence of Frank O’Hara’s writing, Greta formed Frankie Cosmos.

“[O’Hara] finds beauty in everything. He’ll take a stupid little thing and make it into a beautiful poem.”

That skill has served Kline since her early DIY days when she uploaded some 45 lo-fi bedroom albums to her Bandcamp. Full-length studio debut Zentropy will be joined in April by Next Thing, which still clings to her sad aesthetic.

“My Bandcamp had a lot of bad and good music, but I relied on that to sort my feelings,” she says. “My sadness will always be there, even in the happiness.”

This article appears in March 18 • 2016.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

SUPPORT US