The following is an extended version of the article that appears in our September 2023 issue.
Richmond synth-pop trio Heartracer
Chris Cosby says being in Richmond’s premier synth-pop band has its ups and downs.
“In many ways, it’s helped us,” says the keyboardist and lead vocalist of Heartracer, a Richmond trio that specializes in melodic, cinematic retro pop of a bygone era. “We’ve played some shows opening up for some awesome bands, like Third Eye Blind and Future Islands, because if bookers need a synth-pop band as an opener, there are no other options.”
Otherwise, it can be a bit lonely, like the time a local club owner — no names — told him that his place didn’t book ’80s music. “We don’t feel like we fit into the Richmond scene at all,” says guitarist Chip Cosby, who started Heartracer with his younger brother a decade ago. ”We don’t feel like there are any other bands in our hometown that we can play with that are representative of our style of music.”
Heartracer specializes in the kind of moody, ’80s-derived pop rock that wouldn’t sound out of place in a John Hughes film: big choruses, synth bass, echoey vocals and chiming guitars. Ask the Cosbys about their influences, and you’ll hear names like Icehouse, Tears for Fears, The Outfield and Simple Minds (also emo bands and Pink Floyd). Bassist Wes Tatum adds a more modern pop aesthetic. “I’m a big Weezer fan,” he says. “If it’s melodic, and it’s got a good beat, I’m a fan.”
There’s also a shared love for soundtracks and ambient music. The group’s most recent work, a song and subsequent video titled “Living Like a Ghost,” is an airy, chillwave collaboration with Los Angeles-based composer David Helpling. “I’ve been a major fan of his work for 15 years,” Chip says of Helpling, who delves into ambient music and is slated to co-produce a future release by the group. “He and I ended up corresponding, and I sent him our music, and he really loved it. Although it’s different from what he does, the core songs resonated with him.”
“Living Like a Ghost,” which features co-lead vocals by Kylee Swenson Gordon, has an anthemic, melodic feel that defies the listener not to sing along. Heartracer’s music is filled with hooks that are hard to shake. Chris says, “I think I would forget the song or something if I didn’t have a hook. I have a rule that if I forget it, it probably wasn’t good enough.”
The group’s new album, “The Feel,” slated for release in late September on Midnight Mannequin Records, was recorded during the pandemic shutdown. Chris admits, “It’s our COVID record.” Chip adds, “As soon as we went into lockdown, I told my brother we need to start writing music again.”
“The Feel” — their second full-length after two EPs — was produced by Andreas Magnusson at Richmond’s Planet Red Studios (previous outings saw them recording in L.A.’s vaunted Sunset Sound, and in R.E.M. producer Mitch Easter’s rural studio in North Carolina). “A lot of these themes about isolation just came out naturally, like ‘World on Fire,’ with all of the George Floyd protests going on,” Chris says. “‘Through the Motions’ talks about how every day in quarantine, it felt like the same day and how we were living like ‘Groundhog Day.’”
The group wants to tour behind “The Feel,” but it’s tough to find the right venues, Chip says. “Our music isn’t made for small bars. We need a good sound system, and we bring our own light show, so playing live is not the easiest thing.” They recently signed a contract with APM, the music publisher, in the hopes of getting placed in movies and on TV shows. “That’s what we’re concentrating on,” Chris says. “For now, our biggest audiences, based on Spotify, are in Germany, Switzerland, Austria ... we’d love to play in the U.K.”
Heartracer started a decade ago as a demo tradeoff project between the siblings when Chip was in San Francisco earning his Ph.D. They originally called themselves Cosby, but soon found that wasn’t a good choice. “You’d type Cosby into Google, and you’d get all of the stories about sex abuse,” says Chip, who works in the software field but once taught religious studies at Virginia Commonwealth University.
In the early days, the group would often use backing tracks for the bass in live performance. Enter Tatum. “My old band, Against Grace, played with these guys several times, and we became friends,” Tatum says. “When I saw them at The National with Walk the Moon in 2018, they didn’t have a bassist, and I’ve been playing with them ever since.” In his other life, Tatum manages several Leete Tire & Auto Center locations. “That’s me in the commercials,” he says with a laugh.
Also during the early days of the band, Chris, a tennis instructor by day, wrote a catchy song about his tachycardia disorder, a condition that can cause the heart rate to suddenly increase. “My heart will just start beating fast. The song was called ‘Heartracer,’ so we decided we liked that name more than the one we had.”
It fits Heartracer’s music perfectly, he says — that surging singalong quality tempered by a reflective lyrical melancholy. “There’s a kinetic aspect to it. You want to dance, but there’s some feeling to it, too.”
