In an era where viral moments can often lead to a temporary muse, it’s artists like JP Cooper that rein it in for those who crave passion and quality. Reputable for his heart-felt lyricism, rich vocal tone, and all-round artistry, his ability to create timeless music hasn’t gone unnoticed.
From handing out flyers and performing at small venues at open mic nights in and around Manchester, to becoming a global success, JP Cooper is a breath of fresh air amongst the chaos. Often underpinned with an acoustic backdrop – or more recently with a gospel choir – there is very little room to distract from his voice. Carrying a selection of reputable singles from ‘September Song’, ‘Perfect Strangers’, ‘Need You Tonight’, and ‘Sing It With Me’ not to mention his critically acclaimed project ‘Raised Under Grey Skies’, he’s currently gearing up for the release of his highly anticipated album, ‘SHE’.
Often inspired by the women in his life – given the album title – this thirteen-track record explores faith, family, and relationships. Delivering a project that’s soaked in substance, hope, and love, from thought-provoking tracks like ‘If The World Should Ever Stop’, and ‘She’, to the pre-released singles ‘We Cry’, and ‘Holy Water’ his appreciation for curation and the finer details have helped to form another class album. Intertwining live instrumentation to create, in some places, a cinematic effect that compliments his vocal perfectly, ‘SHE’ has been well worth the wait!
Clash got the chance to catch up with JP Cooper ahead of the album launch over the phone for a quick chat about all things ‘SHE’, balancing home life and being a creative, to brewing his own beer! Tap in below to see what JP Cooper had to say!
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Looking back on the pandemic, how did you find that period of time as an artist?
I feel really bad saying that it was really beneficial for me. It’s been terrible for so many people and I feel so lucky that I was in a position to hunker down at home and focus on where I’ve been, where I’m at, and where I am going.
I have a habit of thinking what’s next rather than celebrating anything in the moment. I’ve not really celebrated any of my success’s, it’s always been a case of… ok, what’s next? At the same time, I’ve not really stopped to think am I happy? Is this making me a better person? Big questions in life that often fall back when you’ve got deadlines or ambition! I hadn’t been enjoying my work for quite a while, so it was really a good opportunity for me address that and get my ducks in a row.
Would you say that time shaped your music in anyway going forward?
It’s shaped my relationship with music! This album that I’m about to release, that was pretty much finished, so it meant that the work I needed to do on it was getting on Zoom sessions and talking about mixes or actually mixing over zoom. I was lucky. If it was my first album and I was in the process of making it, I would be really worried! Creatively, it did affect the album because I made some last-minute changes and decisions in the way I wanted things produced, as well as the choice of songs. The big impact is going to be moving forward from now.
Let’s talk about this album then! It’s very personal and explores a lot of themes from family, faith, and relationships. Talk me through how you wanted to approach this album? How long did it take to pull it all together?
As soon as I finished touring my first album, I got straight back into writing this one. I didn’t have a vision; it was very much a case of let’s go and write a bunch of songs and see what happens. I was looking back on my first album and a lot of things changed when I released ‘Perfect Strangers’ and ‘September Song’, I went from somebody who all the people around me expected me to be; an album artist who builds a loyal fan base over time, to having two huge commercial successes. I didn’t plan to be that type of artist, but it changed the expectation.
Looking back on that record it’s a mishmash, there are DIY and intimate moments on tracks like ‘Lost Boy Dreaming’, and on the other end of the spectrum you’ve got ‘September Song’. With this album, I wanted to make sure the songs were a body of work that exist together. Sonically that was important. That was my focus! In terms of subject matter, it’s always going to be based on my reality and the people in my life. I still have a very romantic outlook on things, and I play into that with the way that I write.
Most of the big moments or opportunities to learn in my life have been bought around by women. From my mum dying when I was young, to having four sisters who took that place, nurtured me and challenged me, to getting into relationships, one of which with the mother of my eldest son and that falling apart, and trying to navigate co-parenting. To now of course meeting my wife, getting married, and having kids with her – I do genuinely believe that my greatest teachers have been women. Even though that’s not what this album is about completely, that felt like the overarching theme, hence the name ‘She’.
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Were there any songs on the album that you felt particularly challenging to create? May be from a place of vulnerability or?
There definitely was on the first album, but with this one I’ve been in a much better place in my personal life, so I have been able to look at things without tearing myself apart! (laughs) I recently had a chat with my eldest son about my first album because when I released it, we weren’t really on great terms. There was a song on there that I wrote called ‘Beneath The Streetlights And The Moon’, I thought I was over the breakup but it blew me wide open again. I wouldn’t say there are any songs on this album that cut me as deep emotionally, it’s been an overall appreciation.
One of songs called ‘We Cry’, it’s one of the most important songs to me on the album. I wrote that when my wife was pregnant at the time and that’s where it came from. It’s funny because my wife went through this horrible pregnancy, it’s all great now, and we’ve got this beautiful little boy, but the process for her was horrible. It was interesting writing that song with somebody who was in that position at the time. She would say she cried in the daytime and tried to hide it from me because she didn’t want me to be worried about her, because it was just the process. The struggle with that song was the vocal delivery. The song was so close and intimate, it’s quiet because I wanted it to feel like I was speaking quietly into someone’s ear, but the production is quite big especially in the earlier choruses. It was very hard to keep the big sound with the tiny vocal. We finally got there in the end!
Doing gospel versions of the songs have been amazing, it’s enabled me to explore them even further which has given me another relationship with the album. Moving forward that’s going to shape the sound of how I make the records!
Has being a father changed the way you look at or create music at all?
Obviously, it’s influenced subject matter and as far as influence goes. In terms of how I make music, it changes my time management. A lot of people who are creative or in a profession where there isn’t really a structure to your day, I really crave that now. I work sociable hours instead of doing crazy evening studio sessions that go on forever.
Also, the beauty of it is, is that it reminds me that music isn’t the most important thing. In fact, music is just one thing that I do as a human. It’s just a part of my life that I’m really passionate about. Internally it demands a lot from me but having babies also demand’s so much of your time as well.
It’s good to take your foot off the gas as far as pressure goes. My number one role in my life is to love my wife and to love my kids. But also, to love my son’s mum and be able to support them.
What was your recording process like for this album? I read that you wanted to make it more real in a sense that you were essentially arranging it and called in a lot of people you wanted to work with.
Yeah! When I first started working on it, I was back on this “speed dating” type thing, a lot of musicians get sent around to millions of sessions and I concluded that because I’ve met so many people over the years doing my first album that I now know who my team are. Rather than looking at myself as the artist and the person that wants to do everything, I looked at myself as more of a curator, and I am so lucky to be surrounded by so many talented people.
There are certain people who I know will add some great wealth to a part of a song, or the overall project – whether it’s mixers, engineers, musicians, or writers. Allowing the people, the space to bring themselves into the project as opposed to me being the governor of everything, it was amazing. In tracks like ‘Holy Water’ there are guitar solos in there that I would never play, but it’s played by people who I have been working with for a long time and I think that’s it now. I have found my team. For some people the “speed dating” works because they like fresh energy but for me it’s about growing together and building each other up.
Putting the music aside, you also make your own beer! What made you want to start that venture?
Yes! Beer and music go hand in hand! *laughs* When we go on tour, on the rider we always ask for local beers, so we’re constantly going to different countries and trying different ones. My tour manager – we go back as far as doing open mics together – has been brewing beers on a very small scale as a bit of a hobby for a while. We were talking backstage one night and said why don’t we give it a go? We’ve been doing a lot of market research for a lot of years! (laughs)
We thought why don’t we send him and another one of our friends from Manchester on a course called Brewlab. So, they did that, and again I’ve been more of a curator as opposed to the person who’s making the recipes. We sit down and talk about what kind of things would be exciting to brew, they get at it, we try them, critique them, and talk about how we can change them. Ultimately, we wanted to make a beer that we would enjoy and go back for another pint. We’re not trying to make any weird flavours or anything! *laughs* It’s a cool side project and a way to be creative!
The dream is to open a taproom in Manchester at some point. Playing open-mics and small venues was a big part of my journey at the beginning. With the pandemic these types have places have died off so we want to open up a space where we can create an environment like that. We’ll bring down some industry folk and provide a good sound system for artists who are starting out! It’s a slow start, but we’re getting there!
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'SHE' is out now.
Words: Elle Evans // @ellevans98
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