Creative Chat: Cody Frost. — crowdsurf & turf

At only 22, Cody Frost has already had a very interesting life. At only 17 she was in the limelight on a prime time TV talent show, singing and working with some incredible artists. She has spent the last few years honing her talent as well as focusing on her other passion - tattooing and art. We caught up with Cody to discuss all these things and more.

Hey Cody! How’s things? How are you coping with Lockdown?

Better than I thought I would be! I'm really lucky to be living with my girlfriend, she keeps me on track and we've enjoyed spending time together.

As well as being an amazing singer, you're also an incredibly talented tattooist. How did you get into that?

(Thank you!) I spent years trying to find a tattoo apprenticeship, building up an art portfolio, calling shops and eventually I found Speakeasy, they were looking to take someone on and I guess I was in the right place at the right time (finally).

What designs do you most enjoy doing?

I love doing portraits, surrealism and anything with blood (also creepy crawlies) but I mainly do illustrative type things with dots

Who are some artists and tattooists that inspire you?

There are loads of really cool artists coming out of cities that I really like, a lot of them come from Punk/D.I.Y backgrounds so they just like doing whatever the fuck they like, I appreciate that and even though I do painting and things like that I think there is still an element of "fuck it" in my work.
But yeah, I'm inspired by a lot of psychedelia and weird creepy artists like - @lauvdahl, @frogmagik, @freeorgy, @mirkosata @julianllouve.

How do you concentrate best when creating?

I have a lil' desk that I work at but yeah if I don't have music I can't work, the two are synonymous to me. I choose music to influence my work. I don't concentrate often because I have ADHD but when I do I do this thing called hyper-focusing and it basically means I have to disappear for a bit and turn into a lil' art goblin.

There will be people that remember you bursting onto our screens at only 17 on The Voice in 2016. How do you feel looking back on your time on The Voice and what can you take from your time on there?

I feel better, better than I did when I came off it, it seemed like a bad hangover for a while. It takes a second to get back to a reality that you don't know you want to come back to. I'm grateful for the wonderful people I met and the life lessons it taught me, but I would not be doing that shit again if they paid me! I took a break after that to learn how to write my own music, it was worth it, I think, I also needed to assess my mental health and learn some tools to deal with it (i only got my ADHD diagnosis when I turned 18).

What influences your music both generally and sonically?

Other musicians! Day to day problems, my mood, art. If you know me you might know I'm a huge fan of Enter Shikari, so I'm always in awe of their work. Dan Weller; I started working with Dan soon after The Voice, he is one of my main sources of inspiration and I absolutely love writing with him, he's like a big brother to me and he's got a really good ear for music. I used to like emo music up until the age of about 16 when my music taste went a bit heavy (Parkway Drive, Korn, Slipknot) and then kind of the opposite (I started to get into Reggae/Ska/D'n'B and that’s pretty much where I am today) but yeah I like loads of stuff I'm sure I've surprised people before with my music taste! All of these tastes kind of come together to make this weird mash of music that I guess is my music (It's not out yet though so I don't wanna scare people to quick haha)

Enter Shikari themed tattoo by Cody Frost.

What is your normal songwriting process?

I keep a journal of random songs/ lyrics/ poems but I also have notes on my phone and sometimes I might have written something quick on Garageband, when I get in a room with Dan we show each other things/people that we've been inspired by. We find a beat, play about with instruments and set like a base off on a loop and then while Dan works on parts of the sound I just write out my lyrics while it plays on a loop. I spend a lot of time lying on the floor/ doing stupid things but honestly, it's the most fun.

Can you tell us anything about this upcoming project?

We were actually supposed to be finishing something up over these past two weeks (obviously we didn't go ahead with it) so things are a little up in the air at the moment but I think we're going to be working on it next week and hopefully I can get something out soon. Honestly, he's a genius and he works like no-one I've ever seen before and I'm so excited, I've been so lucky to meet Dan and get to work with him. I can't say too much because we're still working on a plan because of everything changing, but I will say that I don't think people are expecting some of the songs.

Quickfire Questions:

Karaoke song of choice?

I'm really bad at it but fuck it Welcome To The Black Parade by MCR.

Best gig you've been to?

Leeds Festival last year was incredible but also SHIKARI.

Favourite film?

The Lost Boys.

If you were curating a festival, who would your headliners be?

Enter Shikari, MCR, Billie Eilish, The Skints, Slaves.

Lastly, how can people support you?

I'm currently doing art commissions so I can keep progressing with that so if anyone would like one email codyfrostart1@gmail.com or maybe subscribe to my YouTube? There isn't much on there yet but if you keep an eye out there will be soon.

Check out Cody’s incredible art and listen to Cody Frost’s music on her Instagram.