By Phil Lacombe
From gritty LA punk stages to the wide-open creative energy of the Hi-Desert, Cooper Gillespie has carved out a career that refuses to stay in one lane. A singer, bassist, writer, venue owner, and desert tastemaker, Gillespie is best known for her work with bands like Bang Sugar Bang, Ultra Violent Rays, and the dreamy, cinematic project Landroid. Beyond the stage, she’s also a published writer with an MFA in Creative Writing. Whether she’s building soundscapes, stories, or spaces, Cooper Gillespie embodies the restless, creative spirit of the desert.
CVW: You’ve gone from LA punk clubs to building something deeply rooted in the desert, what did the desert give you creatively that the city never could?
Gillespie: The desert gave me space in every sense of the word. In LA, you’re basically living in little people boxes stacked on top of each other, and a lot of your creative energy gets burned up just sitting in traffic trying to get from point A to point B. Out here, we have acres of land and silence.
I can spend hours just watching the mountains… the way they go from pink in the morning, to dusty brown in the afternoon, to a deep purple at dusk. It never gets old. There’s room to breathe, and that translates directly into mental space to actually think and create.
And honestly? Being so close to nature changes you. The stars at night are incredible… like, why did no one tell me the sky looked like that? There are bunnies and road runners and coyotes doing their thing… and we all live together out here. City life just doesn’t have that.
CVW: Landroid feels cinematic, dreamy, and expansive. What headspace or life chapter were you in when that project really took shape?
Gillespie: Greg and I have been making music together for close to 20 years now, so at this point it’s basically a lifelong creative experiment. When we moved to Landers, the desert kind of rewired our brains in the best way. It’s so vast and surreal out here that you start feeling like you’re inside a movie half the time.
One night after we first moved here, we were at Pappy & Harriet’s talking to Linda, and she said, “Oh, you guys live in Landers? You’re Landroids.” And I immediately thought, That’s it. That’s the band name. Greg and I had been looking for a good name for like 20 years, which is kind of ridiculous when you think about it. But apparently we just needed to move to the desert and meet Linda. It felt like the name had been waiting here for us all along.
CVW: You’ve played in some seriously raw, aggressive bands and some very atmospheric ones. How do you decide which version of Cooper shows up in a new project?
Gillespie: Some of it is just where I’m at in my life. When I was younger, I had a lot more energy, and honestly a lot more anger, to burn off, so I was in punk bands. These days I’m a little more mellow and just want to make beautiful songs that speak to life and what it all means, which probably explains why the music has gotten more atmospheric.
My dad keeps asking when I’m finally going to start playing his favorite genre, which is country. I keep telling him I’m probably about a decade away from being ready for that.
CVW: As a writer with an MFA, how does storytelling show up in your songwriting, do lyrics start as poems, scenes, or pure emotion?
Gillespie: Songs start in all different ways. Every once in a while, if you’re lucky, one just shows up fully formed. That doesn’t happen often, but when it does it feels a little magical.
Sometimes the music comes first and the feeling of the chords guides where the lyrics go. Other times it starts with an idea, an image, or an emotion, and the music grows around that.
But, however they arrive, the lyrics are really important to me. I’m always searching for the most honest way to say what the song seems to be asking me to say. I think that’s probably where the MFA shows up… I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about language and how a few carefully chosen words can create a whole emotional world.
CVW: You’ve shared stages with punk legends and underground icons. Is there a moment onstage that permanently changed how you see yourself as an artist?
Gillespie: X is probably my favorite band of all time. I’ve seen them play more than any other band. I’d seen them at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood not long before my old punk band, Bang Sugar Bang, played there for a big Kiss or Kill night, and when they played the room was completely packed.
A month or so later when we played the same room, it was just as full. People were moshing, the whole place was alive with energy, and the floor was literally bowing from everyone jumping around. The crowd was going even crazier than the night I’d seen X. I remember looking out at everyone and thinking, wow… this is real, and it suddenly hit me that we were actually living our dreams.
CVW: GXRL Magazine and your broader creative work often center women’s voices. Why was it important for you to create space rather than just occupy it?
Gillespie: I went to Smith College, which is a women’s college, so I spent a formative part of my life in an environment where women were encouraged to lead, create, and support each other.
When I later co-created Kiss or Kill Club in LA, one of our core ideas was making sure female-fronted bands had real opportunities to play and be heard because there are so many incredible women artists who don’t always get the same platform. We’re chronically underrepresented in the music industry.
Women’s art and stories deserve to be brought to the forefront because they offer perspectives that have often been overlooked or marginalized, and our culture is richer when those voices are part of the conversation.
For me it’s always been about widening the door so more voices can come through.
CVW: The Hi-Desert scene feels like it’s having a cultural moment. What do you think people on the outside still misunderstand about desert music and art?
Gillespie: I think people from the outside imagine the desert as this quiet, sleepy place, but creatively it’s actually incredibly active. Honestly, sometimes I’m busier supporting friends’ shows out here than I ever was in LA. On any given night you can find a band playing, an art opening, a cabaret, something happening somewhere.
And it’s also way more diverse than people expect. It’s not all alt-country or desert rock. We have metal bands, surf rock, synth pop, indie, jazz, experimental stuff, and pretty much everything in between. There’s a real spirit of experimentation out here that I think surprises people.
CVW: What’s pulling at you right now, new music, new writing, or building something that doesn’t exist yet?
Gillespie: Right now, it’s a mix. Greg and I are already working on songs for our third record, even though our sophomore album, Constellation, doesn’t even come out until June 12. That’s just kind of how our brains work. We’re always a little bit ahead of ourselves creatively.
At the same time, I’m trying to finally finish a book I’ve been writing for years. I’ve rewritten it three times already, and this is the fourth version. At this point I’ve made a deal with myself: I’m finishing this one and moving on. No more rewrites!
CVW: Where can fans find you?
Gillespie: You can find me at instagram.com/landroidmusic or at landroidmusic.com. Come say ‘hi!’ I always love making new friends.
Whether she’s crafting ethereal soundscapes, amplifying underrepresented voices, or building a real-world gathering place for artists in the desert, Cooper Gillespie continues to shape culture from the inside out. Rooted in experience but always evolving, her work reflects the raw beauty, freedom, and creative risk that define the Hi-Desert. One thing’s clear: wherever Cooper Gillespie plants herself, something meaningful is bound to grow.
That’s a wrap on this week’s Local Music Spotlight, but the party doesn’t stop here. Hit the shows, feel the beats, and keep the valley’s music scene thriving. Because around here, the next song that changes your life might be playing tonight.
