Bethany Cosentino
Bethany Sharayah Cosentino (born November 3, 1986, in Los Angeles) is an American singer and songwriter. She is best known as one half of the indie rock duo Best Coast alongside Bobb Bruno. Cosentino also cofounded the hypnagogic pop band Pocahaunted in 2006, before leaving in 2010. She released her solo debut album, Natural Disaster, in 2023.
Bethany Cosentino
Biography[edit]
Early life and Pocahaunted[edit]
Bethany Sharayah Cosentino[1] was born on November 3, 1986,[2][3] in Los Angeles, California.[4] Her middle name was taken from the song of the same name by Amy Grant.[1] She is of half-Italian descent.[5] Her father was a musician who toured with bands including War and Ambrosia, and her mother was an actor in commercials and a fashion designer.[6][7] Her father was also the worship leader at their church, and Cosentino started singing with the church's choir.[6] Seeing her mother's commercial work inspired her to do the same as a child actor.[6]
When asked about what music spoke to her in her youth, Cosentino mentioned Linda Ronstadt, Rilo Kiley, Sheryl Crow, Stevie Nicks, Joni Mitchell, Gwen Stefani, and No Doubt.[5] At seventeen, she started posting original noise music to MySpace under the name Bethany Sharayah.[2][8][9] That music got significant attention online, with major record labels trying to sign her which she rejected.[6][9] She left high school early after passing the California High School Proficiency Exam[6][10] and attended a community college.[6]
In 2006, Cosentino and Amanda Brown cofounded Pocahaunted, a hypnagogic pop duo, in Los Angeles.[11] The two issued over 25 releases in three years,[11] and supported Sonic Youth for a concert in Berkeley, California, in 2007.[8] In 2010, Cosentino left Pocahaunted and moved to New York to study creative writing at The New School.[11][6] While in New York, she worked an internship for the music publication The Fader, writing about fashion.[6][7] Her fashion writing led to her sitting front row at Helmut Lang's Spring 2012 New York Fashion Week show.[12]