connan mockasin

Ever since Mickey Moonlight turned me on to kiwi Connan Hosford (aka. Connan Mockasin) I have been a fan. He was originally in a band called Connan and the Mockasin's - a band formed around him and his 60's blues/rock sound in 2003 or 2004. They released 3 EP's in NZ, but then broke up at some point in or just after 2007 due to Connan's boredom with the sound they had cemented themselves into. He wanted to be free to pursue which ever sound style he was attracted to and collaborate with whomever he chose. This worked out well for Connan, as his psychedelic pop demo's were enough to catch the attention of Parlophone, Fatboy Slim and other artists and labels who quickly wanted to produce his debut album. Connan was in no rush to sign and more importantly, wanted creative control over the final product. So he turned down many offers and waited for the label who saw eye to eye with him. Eventually, (and perhaps through Late of the Pier) he met up with Erol Alkan's eclectic, yet mostly electro label Phantasy Sound. Besides being an electro kingpin, Erol Alkan is also one half of the psychedelic rock re-animators Beyond the Wizards Sleeve, so its not so strange that he signed Connan to his label.

Connan's debut solo album 'Please Turn Me Into The Snat' {FS} was released this summer and it is outstanding in the best possible sense. His sound is reminiscent of a lost Beatles album from 1969 or a freakishly confident oompa-loompa on acid. His songs are mostly about nothing (gibberish) or imaginary worlds and people - his song titles are a good indicator of lyrical content; Unicorn in Uniform, Megumi the Milkyway Above, Forever Dolphin Love, Sneaky Sneaky Dogfriend.


Megumi the Milkyway Above is the awesome first single from the album. I have had it on repeat in my head for 4 days now. It didn't get a video however, so you get it to a NZ longboard video instead.

Hello Connan from Sam Kristofski on Vimeo.

Its Choade My Dear got a proper video.

Connan Mockasin - It's Choade My Dear from Connan Mockasin on Vimeo.

Forever Dolphin Love, a song about making love to dolphins, will be the next single with remixes from Mickey Moonlight and judging by his twitter page, Erol Alkan himself.



Acoustic versions of Megumi and Its Choade My Dear with Amsterdam Acoustics.

connan mockasin : Megumi The Milkyway Above & It's choade My Dear from AMSTERDAMACOUSTICS on Vimeo.

Here's a few pretty great interviews with Connan:

Connan Mockasin on The Gravy from Nathan Hickey on Vimeo.

#1 Amsterdam Acoustics ''in depth'' - Connan Mockasin from AMSTERDAMACOUSTICS on Vimeo.

Car Club Interview - Connan Mockasin from brett skinner on Vimeo.

I cant embed the video but you have to check out Sneaky Sneaky Dogfriend by Connan and the Mockasin's. Priceless!!


Some fun facts from an interview with Connan.
Connan: “I can’t remember where I first heard snat [half snake/half rat] but I remember being fascinated with it. The same with choade; I just kept saying it. Then the snat thing morphed into a small guy thing. I’m really small, I reckon another couple of inches and I’d be snat material but I’m talking about guys even smaller than me. I’ve found a few now and I’ve been taking them on tour to wear snat suits on stage. I found one in London so hopefully he can come on my album tour.”

Also quoted from the same interview:
'There’s an album with Liam Finn and Lawrence Arabia under the name BARB coming out at the end of the summer. Plus a new project with Late Of The Pier’s Sam Eastgate that’s yet to be unveiled. Somewhere along the way he hopes his music takes him to Japan, as it turns out the madcap world he’s created is to woo his future love. “I’ve got a thing for the Japanese gene pool and I thought I’d make the album to hopefully become popular in Japan.” So it’s to find you a Japanese wife? “Yeah, yeah, absolutely. That’s the main thing,” he says with shining eyes.'


Well, let's all hope he becomes big in Japan.