A furry beast cavorts on the shoreline as Hawaii becomes a psychotropic paradise after being given the CocoRosie treatment in the band's newest video release. Filmed by Mike Basich in the island state, “After the Afterlife” is taken from the forthcoming album Tales of a Grasswidow. “It was exciting to be given so much creative space when working with CocoRosie,” he says. “It was a special project filming it in a place where the girls grew up in their younger years; adventuring through nature, dreaming of other lives in the land of Hawaii.” Since their debut release La maison de mon rêve in 2004, sisters Bianca (“Coco”) and Sierra (“Rosie”) Casady have forged their own freaky following, using rare instruments and far-out vocals to pioneer a free-spirited brand of folk that has led to collaborations with such artists as Antony Hegarty and Devendra Banhart. The pair have also provided soundtracks for Escada and Prada campaigns, lending the track “Trembled Blossoms” for the latter’s spring/summer 2008 animated short, and are currently preparing a project with acclaimed American theatre director Robert Wilson on a production of Peter Pan by the Berliner Ensemble. Through their music and various projects, the siblings are also committed to the global feminist fight, as Bianca relayed to NOWNESS.

Why is it important to attack patriarchy through your music?

Bianca Casady: Patriarchy is over. This is my slogan of hope. We must project optimistic images. I don’t want to see popes and presidents and warlords any more. Most of all, I am tired of the male image of God. We are from the earth, she is our mother; we must protect her. 

Can you tell us more about your Future Feminism project? 

BC: Burning dialogues about a desperate need for a revitalization of feminism and concern for the planet quickly turned into planned meetings between us, Antony Hegarty, Kembra Pfahler and Johanna Constantine. We are working on a book as well as an art exhibition for next fall. 

Are you hopeful for the future?

BC: We are bursting with optimism. I feel there is currently a global awakening to the realization that we have been comfortable in a social prison for thousands of years. Women and men are oppressed by patriarchal views, systems and religions that despise women, who have hijacked her power of creation and called her a whore. Wherever we can we must resist and reinvent. There will not be an invitation for women to take the seat of power—we must just take it.