Laurel McLaughlin and Cosette Gobat met while canvassing for an environmental organization.
Gobat didn’t like the job very much, so she quit after two days. But that didn’t stop McLaughlin and Gobat from creating a lasting friendship. Soon, they started “jamming” whenever they got the chance.
The two now regularly perform music in their indie-punk band, Mind Erase Her. They spent a year performing at various house shows around Main Campus before adding John Charlton, a 2018 environmental studies alumnus, to the group as its drummer last summer.
Gobat, a senior media studies and production major, and McLaughlin, a junior anthropology and Spanish major, alternate between singing and playing the guitar.
Since 2017, the band has also performed at bars in Philadelphia like Kung Fu Necktie and Boot and Saddle. The group will return to the Boot and Saddle on Wednesday to perform in a benefit show for Planned Parenthood.
“Philly has a really good music scene,” McLaughlin said. “If there’s a place to be playing music, it’s Philly.”
Mind Erase Her also performed at Brave New Radio, a college radio station at William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey, where the band recorded its live album on March 24. The group released the album on Bandcamp on April 1.
Mind Erase Her considers itself to have an indie-punk sound with influences from Philadelphia artists like Alex Giannascoli, a former Temple University student who goes by the stage name (Sandy) Alex G and has performed across the country.
Gobat also DJs at the online radio station Y-Not Radio, an indie-rock radio station in Philadelphia that has influenced her as a musician, she said.
“It has helped me in all areas of my life,” Gobat added. “As a musician, I have gotten to meet some really famous artists that are well known like Metric, Caroline Rose and Hurry, a big Philly band. It has brought up my confidence a lot.”
Although Mind Erase Her has joined other local bands performing around the city, Gobat still appreciates the house shows it plays near Main Campus.
“For the type of music that we’re in, this young, college, indie scene, Temple is the place for it,” Gobat said. “There’s something about North Philadelphia house shows.”
There is a shortage of women performing in house shows at Temple, with McLaughlin and Gobat often being the only women playing on certain nights, Gobat added.
When the band isn’t performing, McLaughlin, Gobat and Charlton sit down together to write and record songs in each others’ houses. Gobat mainly mixes and edits the band’s songs, applying the skills from her major.
Mind Erase Her members have also collaborated with other Temple artists like Max Klemmer, a junior journalism major who plays guitar in various performances around Temple. Klemmer met McLaughlin during their freshman year when they both lived in 1300 Residence Hall. They have performed at open mics together at the Rad Dish Cafe in Ritter Annex.
“I’ve gotten to see how they have evolved as a band,” Klemmer said. “They have a good sound. Their vocals are really good too. Laurel and Cozy have some really good harmonies.”
The band plan to release an EP early this summer in anticipation of next school year, when Gobat and McLaughlin will study abroad in London and Spain, respectively.
“For about a year, we won’t be able to play much,” McLaughlin said. “After that, we will keep writing together and recording and playing in Philly.”
Nicely done