Watching CocoRosie onstage is a reminder of a more fanciful time; the experience often transporting people back to days of childhood innocence. Sisters Bianca and Casady frolic like woodland nymphs, brightly festooned in an array of fluorescent makeup and layers of fantastical costumes. Their voices derive their trademark warble from children’s play microphones, and they create their unique melodies with the help of toy instruments. Perhaps their most important act is that they help the audience remember that they, too, used to be capable of creativity. People from all walks of life have, at one time, had their hands covered in finger-paints or constructed a necklace out of elbow macaroni, before shedding such “childish” pursuits for more adult ventures. CocoRosie not only provides a unique, enjoyable musical experience for their fans, but they also encourage people to be themselves, and maybe even to find some time in their lives to indulge in their own creative endeavors. “Hopefully [our music] could inspire people to ‘come out of the closet’ in different ways that we are not so supported in doing,” says Bianca, the younger of the CocoRosie sisters. “Not everyone takes music as a way of doing that, but I think that it does serve that function. That’s the beautiful thing about music.”

“We indulge in any weird musical idea we have, including making music that we would never listen to. And styles of music that we don’t like,” Bianca continues.

“There are not a lot of rights and wrongs.” Sierra adds, “It’s about experimenting and pushing your own personal boundaries.” The girls definitely do a good job staying true to their mantra. Lately, they have been really into all-night acappella sessions, which are heavily influenced by the Beach Boys and surf inspired sounds.

“We were asked to do a Madonna cover for a charity album,” notes Bianca.

“It didn’t go over so well,” chimes Sierra.

“Yeah,” continues Bianca. “We tried to do it in our surf-style, acappella group, and it seemed great at the time, but we couldn’t release it.” But sometimes, that’s how it goes. The very fact that they were creating something beautiful entirely for themselves all but guaranteed that it wouldn’t be easy to swallow for the mainstream. For CocoRosie, music is all about trying new things, exploring, and getting a little bit outside of one’s comfort zone.

The sisters have embraced their surplus of creative energy by undertaking several ambitious projects that do not fall directly under the CocoRosie mantle. Bianca started a record label, Voodoo Eros Records and held an art exhibition at the Wall House #2 in Groningen, Netherlands. This is not her first foray into the realm of physical art. She introduced a collection last year named, "Lil' Girl Slim 'Cosmic Willingness' Pipe Dreamz A Revelation," as well as the exhibition, “Red Bone Slim VS. Itself: an Exhibition of Drawings,” which debuted at the girls’ Voodoo Eros Museum Of Nice Items, an art gallery and performance space in New York City.

Sierra collaborated with musician Gael Rakotondrabe and French artist Loris Gréaud this summer at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. Held in conjunction with Gréaud’s ICA exhibition, the trio created a unique take on the French opera, “Little Door.” She also has a side project, Metallic Falcons, a band that plays darker, heavier music. However, the sisters don’t view their various undertakings as separate entities, entirely removed from CocoRosie. “Everything feeds into the other things. It’s not really as segregated as people make it so they can understand it better,” says Bianca.

Sierra and Bianca are currently working on a new studio album due out in 2009, and as far as future projects, they seem to be headed towards film. “There’s a strong kind of gravity moving in that direction,” says Bianca. You can be sure that they will follow that gravitational pull, as they have done so many times before into new realms of creativity and experimentation. And maybe you can do the same.