Singer, songwriter, and filmmaker Cosmo Jarvis has cultivated a loyal audience through his sharp, frequently satirical songs that examine the absurdities of romance and modern existence, often drawing directly from his own encounters, while his independently crafted videos and short films have carried his material to viewers worldwide. Born Harrison Cosmo Krikoryan Jarvis on September 1, 1989, in Ridgewood, New Jersey, he moved with his family to the United Kingdom during childhood and spent his formative years in Devon in the southwest of England. He started composing songs at age twelve, coinciding with his first experiments in filmmaking on a VHS camera. His initial clips simply recorded practical jokes shared among companions, yet both his visual storytelling and songwriting gradually grew more ambitious, encompassing folk-leaning acoustic guitar compositions, intricate pop arrangements, and playful hip-hop numbers.
At sixteen he left school to devote himself fully to his artistic pursuits, and in 2009 he wrote and produced his first album, the eighteen-track Humasyouhitch/Sonofabitch, issued by the British independent label Wall of Sound. The record paired his observational songs with a sequence addressing the emotional strain of his parents’ turbulent relationship. Although British critics responded warmly, sales remained modest, prompting Jarvis to partner with 25th Frame for his follow-up, Is the World Strange or Am I Strange? A song from that project, “Gay Pirates,” achieved widespread online attention once actor and author Stephen Fry highlighted Jarvis’s low-budget video on Twitter, and the resulting radio exposure turned the album into a commercial success. While maintaining an active schedule of touring, songwriting, and recording, Jarvis has simultaneously been developing and directing a feature film temporarily titled The Naughty Room.
