Connan Mockasin

Born in New Zealand's capital of Wellington, Connan Hosford was first introduced to music at a very early age by his father, who played the guitar. Hosford went on to record his first song aged just five; a fact that doesn't seem too far-fetched when you consider the playful, imaginative, and experimental style of his work in later years. In 2004, he formed his first group, Connan & the Mockasins, releasing a couple of EPs independently and playing shows in New Zealand before moving to England. Hosford, however, felt the band setup didn't allow him to express his individuality and so broke the band up and moved back to New Zealand to focus on solo material under the name Connan Mockasin. Prompted by his mother to self-produce his own album, Hosford went about using his parents' house while they were at work to create what would become his debut solo album, Please Turn Me into the Snat, a brilliantly realized record brimming with inventively oddball psychedelic pop. Having played shows with the likes of Crowded House and Micachu & the Shapes in 2010, his music was introduced to label owner, producer, and DJ Erol Alkan through friend and collaborator Sam Eastgate of Late of the Pier. Having initially planned to put on a handful of songs as an EP, Alkan fell in love with the entire recording and decided to make it the first full-length release on Phantasy Sound. In 2011, the album was re-released as Forever Dolphin Love on Phantasy Sound, and on Because Music with a bonus disc of live content. In 2012, Connan Mockasin composed and appeared on the Charlotte Gainsbourg song "Out of Touch" before touring New Zealand in support of Radiohead. Mockasin's second album, Caramel, picked up where the story of Forever Dolphin Love left off and arrived in November 2013.