INTERVIEW/SHOW REVIEW: Cousin Simple @ Milkboy

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Interview By: Caitlin McGeehan 

Photos By: Leah Shifrel 

Cousin Simple played a sweet set with tracks from their latest album Sugarcoat on January 31st at a sold-out Milkboy Philly. The Columbus band just finished their tour supporting Wild Party. 

Cousin Simple created the bouncing energy that’s exactly what you look for at an alternative rock show. While guitar riffs and drum beats bounced off the venue walls, lead singer Will Hoag jumped both onstage and off the stage. The band built rapport with the crowd, promising a fun and upbeat night, and definitely delivering on it. Even if you didn’t know the lyrics, you were going to be singing and dancing along by the end of each song. 

The setlist weaved the band’s older songs like “Honeybee” and “Candlelight” in with the songs from Sugarcoat which got their first chance to shine in front of crowds. Check out the video of “Poison Ivy” from the Philly show to get a feel of the electric energy for yourself!

A few hours before their set, at a table downstairs in the bustling Milkboy restaurant, Cousin Simple lead vocalist Will Hoag and guitarist Ryan Ulibarri delved into Sugarcoat.   

The title came later on in the process, partially because of the turning point track “Doorstep” that “encapsulated what we wanted the album to be,” Hoag explained. It’s “sugary and sweet, a little bit moody” and has a “sugary-sweet part and the stuff that you’re sugarcoating.” “Doorstep” opens with the lyrics “I read your note/it’s on the hook next to your sugar coat,” and the album title transpired from there. 

“Doorstep” started as an upbeat and energetic track, but it wasn’t feeling exactly right. It took a “solid turn when we recorded it,” Hoag said. With the described sad lyrics, the group decided to really lean into that emotion and create the slower-paced, jazzy ballad.

The album cover art drawing of the band (created by Eva Stammen) as felt figures helps express the duality of the album, Ulibarri shared, alongside the somber color scheme and worn and distressed look. The band wanted it to resemble an obscure record you’d find digging in the $1 crates at a record store. 

Speaking of discovery, the pair thought the album could fit as the soundtrack to a coming-of-age film, or a movie like Lost In Translation. In both these movies and Sugarcoat, there are parallel themes of meeting someone new, or new parts of yourself in a new place, and facing uncertainty and sadness. 

After playing sets of their older songs for a while, Cousin Simple had a blast bringing their new stuff to stages across the US. It was a “fun way to get to know this album even more and fall in love with it over again,” Hoag said. The band felt the different parts of songs come to life and really settled into them as they introduced the Wild Party crowds to their latest release.

The question “If you could ask one person one question, who would it be and what would you ask them?” (prefaced by sharing the range of answers I’ve gotten for it from Amy Winehouse to a Power Ranger) is always an interesting one. The guitarist and singer both chose artists.

For Ulibarri, the artist of choice was Vincent Van Gogh, and he’d ask what kind of TikTok content he’d make, alongside other artists of the pre-social media promotion era.

For Hoag, a conversation with Wes Anderson is a wish. He would want to know about who and what first inspired the filmmaker’s signature art style and aesthetic that so many people now draw from, even Cousin Simple in their music videos and visuals. The Wes Anderson-inspired montages on TikTok a few months ago were perfect for the band to take part in, too.

Cousin Simple wrapped up this tour on a high note with a hometown show back in Columbus over the weekend. They’ll be working on more music after this tour, which is exciting to hear! And maybe there will be another interview with WHIP dedicated to diving into the backstory of the Power Ranger answer. 

In the meantime, make sure to keep up with what’s coming up for Cousin Simple on Instagram and TikTok!