Bordeaux-based shoegaze group Cosmopaark dives deep into introspection, modernity, and musical maturity with their latest EP, Backyard. Across its five tracks, the band blends intensity and intimacy, creating a sound they describe as “more self-assured and a little darker, though not outright gloomy”. Composed of Clément Pelofy (vocals, guitar), Wanda Meha (bass, vocals, synth), and Baptiste Sauvion (percussion, drums), Cosmopaark crafts immersive atmospheres that reflect the band’s passion and down-to-earth energy. After receiving their submission, “Olive Tree,” WNYU spoke to Cosmopaark about Backyard, the French shoegaze scene, and self-care amidst the chaos of it all.
[Note: This interview has been translated from French and edited and condensed for clarity. Photo: Mathilde Rey]
To begin, I’ll give y’all a chance to introduce yourselves.
Clément: I’m Clément, and this is Wanda. We’ve been playing in a group called Cosmopaark since 2018. It’s a shoegaze group, or shoegaze-oriented really, because it does mix a good amount of different styles. We got our last EP out in… October, I think? What else to say…
Wanda: Yeah, in October. We come from Bordeaux, from France. I joined the project on the bass in 2022 and I’m the last person to have joined the group. [Cosmopaark]’s had multiple bassists before me. We got together because we knew each other beforehand — I was playing in a group called Collision and we were supposed to play with Cosmopaark when they first started. We ended up getting together a few years later, though. So there you go for the history of the lineup!
Since our audience is mostly American, I was wondering if you would describe shoegaze differently between France and the U.S.. Is there a clear sound difference in French shoegaze?
C: I would say that there isn’t much of a distinct French shoegaze sound, it’s pretty heterogeneous. There are a multitude of groups with different influences, and I don’t think that we have a solid scene where we interact and create something together. At least that’s what I think, but maybe I’m too close to realize. When it comes to Cosmopaark, we’re mostly influenced by the American side of the new shoegaze scene. To give you an idea, when we started the group I was a big fan of Nothing and their album Tired of Tomorrow. We listened to it on loop at the beginning of Cosmopaark.
When you look at the American shoegaze scene, do you really notice a difference in terms of the amount of folks making music, the number of artists focusing on it? Or do you also find people in Bordeaux or in France doing something similar to you, with whom you can collaborate?
C: There are people in France, but it’s clearly not the same density, for sure.
W: The thing is, I feel like people listen to more of this kind of music in the United States. There’s just something about the U.S. where there are so many people that even niche musical genres have much broader audiences. So, there are more people listening to shoegaze and more people creating that style of music. In France, it’s really a niche. We’re a much smaller country, and far fewer people are part of that culture. So yeah, it’s definitely more limited. That’s the gist of it.
B: I just wanted to add something first about people who listen to shoegaze in France. To give you an example: we went to see DIIV in Bordeaux at a 300-seat venue and it was half-full. That shows that even a band like DIIV, who’s quite well-known in the shoegaze scene, doesn’t fill the room when they play in Bordeaux for the first time. It highlights the fact that there isn’t a huge audience for this genre in France.
When you perform, do other influences come into play? Since you often share stages with other bands, like rock bands, do those performances inspire you to collaborate or do they influence your music at all?
C: We haven’t collaborated much, honestly. We did an EP with Seize, another band from Bordeaux. Otherwise, are you asking about the French scene specifically, or rock in general?
I guess I mean more in terms of inspiration. When you share the stage with someone, does it influence your choice of songs or performance style?
W: I think that there’s really this dynamic within the scene where we really try to uplift each other. Since there are so few shoegaze bands in France actively making music and touring, we tend to support one another. We were talking about it with other people before. For instance, there’s a band in Bordeaux called Clarence—they’re friends of ours and they play shoegaze. We’re planning to feature them on a playlist for a party. I don’t know how much I can say, or what’s exclusive, but we really try to highlight other projects that are cool and aligned with ours. It’s definitely allowed me to meet really cool people because we’re few and far between. We’re a small community, and the people who are into this kind of music are very passionate. That creates a strong connection, not just between bands, but also amongst groups of people. There’s something really meaningful about those connections.
There’s something else I noticed while I was listening back to “Backyard” — it feels like a sonic evolution, but it still maintains some of the same energy. To me, it contrasts the immensity of the shoegaze sound with an intimate vocal performance on the other side. How would you describe your sound’s evolution? Do you think it could open new doors for you in this niche scene?
C: I think that we always strive to evolve and not repeat ourselves. With this EP we really wanted to focus on production, which involved purifying the sound a bit. That’s where the more intimate vocals and other elements come in—refining the sources to achieve something more precise and beautiful. For us, that was the way forward.
W: I totally agree with what you’re saying. Bouncing off of you, it also reflects a kind of maturity. You can feel that our approach to creating and producing has become a bit less “teenage” and less DIY — even though we still work with people we know like Pierre Loustaunau (Petit Fantôme) and Johannes Bufff from Shorebreaker, based near Bordeaux. There’s a maturity in the process and in the musicality, it’s less obviously influenced by specific bands. I really feel it because I didn’t participate in the previous album. It feels more self-assured and a little darker, though not outright gloomy — it’s more nuanced.
I’d even say there’s a sense of modernity. Compared to your earlier work where the ‘90s influence was much stronger, it feels less present now. There’s still a shoegaze element though, and it aligns more with newer emerging bands.
W: I totally get what you’re saying, and I feel you there. I don’t love it when people summarize our music as just ‘90s rock or dream pop from that era. While it’s a compliment—there were amazing songs and bands that came out of that time—we’re trying to create something more modern rather than just staying in that box of ‘90s nostalgia. But we draw from more contemporary bands, not just from the ‘90s. We listened to more recent stuff for this EP. We want to break away from that label of being a “90s rock band”, it’s almost limiting to what we want to do and how far we can go.
Speaking of newer bands — if you could do a dream collaboration with an American band, who would it be?
W: Oh, that’s a good question! I’d love to collaborate with the band julie! I really liked the album and singles. We share a similar vibe and I like their raw, rough-around-the-edges approach. It’s not necessarily dream pop, it’s always on edge, with tension built into it. That’s really cool. So yeah, maybe Julie, or even a hardcore band. I’m a huge fan of the hardcore band Vein.fm, they do hardcore stuff and ambient down-tempo stuff too. Collaborating with a band like that would be incredible.
C: I don’t really know… I listen to a lot of Slow Pulp. We were just listening to their latest album earlier today with Baptiste. It’s brilliant.
B: Their arrangements are so smart and well-crafted — there’s so much subtlety. So yeah, collaborating with them would be really interesting. There would be a lot to find and create there.
W: Clément isn’t saying it, but I think he’d dream of working with Big Thief. He’d probably love to make a folk EP with Adrianne Lenker. He’s just not saying it, but in his heart…
I’m also curious about the recording process for the EP. You mentioned working with people you know, but were there any challenges or surprises along the way, things you discovered?
C: The EP came together pretty quickly, both in terms of writing and recording. It took us two or three months to compose it, and we recorded it in a week. Add on another week for mixing. It was all quite fast, which was a new experience for us. It was intense but enjoyable. Since we worked with people like Pierre Loustaunau, who have a lot of experience, it happened spontaneously. We would play, record, and then move on. It was refreshing. His approach was very pragmatic, making quick decisions on what worked best. That efficiency helped us stay on track, even though it might have been frustrating at times because we would’ve wanted to go further.
One week, that’s super intense.
W: That’s true, it was intense. We were kind of always there, sleeping there in the studio… Our heads were deep in it. But since we worked with Pierre Loustono, who leans more alternative pop, there was a lot of pragmatism. He’s somebody who’s able to feel out what will fit with what we want, in terms of production choices. He can say “okay that’s cool/that’s not cool.” So yeah, one week was quick, but we had a very cool working process. Other than one or two times, we never had moments where we felt like we were at an impasse.
C: We also had pre-productions ready before heading to the studio. We had already recorded demo versions of the EP at home, so we really knew what we wanted. That preparation made the process smoother. Baptiste is actually in the room we recorded in right now!
It’s great to have had a process that’s so fluid. I’ll say, nobody’s yet told me it’s taken only one week.
W: Yeah that’s definitely true. Since it was just an EP though, with shorter songs, it felt manageable. Every song is around 3:30 mins. We wanted a quicker process compared to our previous projects. It was important. For example, I think Clément sent me Cosmopaark’s album in September 2021, I joined in 2022, and the album came out in 2023. The last album took much longer because of delays and the pandemic. There was a lot of time between the composition and the release. This time we had a much quicker process and we approached it with a much more decisive attitude. “We like these tracks, so let’s go for it”, that’s the mindset we were in.
That makes total sense. Have you had shows since its release, or a tour?
C: Not many for the time being. We’re planning release parties in Paris and Bordeaux in January, and we’ll likely tour more in 2025.
In general, do you enjoy performing live shows more or do you prefer the studio side of things?
C: Both are equally important for us, I think. We just had a period where we weren’t playing live. When you’re not doing it, you really miss it. Yeah, both are so important. Studio time was definitely super important on the last EP to prepare. That work is great for refining ideas, but live shows bring a different energy—they’re more immediate and freeing.
W: Yeah, and at the same time, we’re not studio rats. I know I definitely have friends that spend all their time in the studio, that are always producing, they’re like a factory. For us though, when we know that we have to release something, we use an economy of methods. We try to compose and go for it, for sure. But even if there’s a lot of work going into it, we’re not the types to lock ourselves in a studio or house for a month. So yeah, both are super important. Even though I’m more of a live show person myself. On a sensation level, those stick with me the most. But both are really important because we have that pop structure in our songs. We love pop, pop formats, but then the studio arrangement is crucial to make sure everything sticks. So we have both.
B: Yeah, I would say that live shows feel like a celebration where we can finally show everything to people in a freeing way, while studio work is more meticulous and permanent. Maybe not more difficult, but more serious because it’s engraved into the internet and onto a CD. Live playing is spontaneous. Both complement each other well.
One last question that I ask all of our artists. The music industry is tough — it’s intense, demanding, and constant. How do you take care of yourselves, balance everything, and manage not to get stuck in it?
W: Great question, it’s a cool one! I go through phases. At times I’d play video games to completely disconnect from music, which is such a big part of my life. Music is what I live from, what I do every day, what I love. So to be able to take my focus and put it on something else helps. Right now I’m learning Japanese and it’s definitely allowing me to focus on something else for an hour a day. I can breathe a bit, it’s really awesome.
Learning Japanese is so cool, that’s great.
C: Well personally, I’ve discovered what a bathtub is. And recently I’ve been taking baths.
W: Dude, you’ve been taking mega baths?
C: Yeah man, I swear I love doing that. I used to hate it, but now I take a bath and I just vibe. You do nothing for an hour, you get out and your fingers get all witch-like.
W: Do you listen to music in the bath?
C: Yeah, but chill stuff ambient.
Please make us a playlist.
W: Bathtub music! Well, Baptiste has kids anyways,so he can’t ever really chill out.
B: Yeah, I have a one-and-a-half year old. For me, separating myself from the music is hard. I go all in with the drums. I’m always watching stuff about it. There’s so much passion that it’s always there and I’m always thinking about it. If we’re specifically talking about cosmopaark: it’s hard sometimes to balance everything when we have phones and notifications, but we have to force ourselves to drop them and relax. Or go to a bar, for example.
Another solution, alcohol. Well, thank you so much y’all!
W: Thank you so much, it was so cool speaking to you! It’s pretty awesome to speak to people who aren’t from France, especially who speak French!