So, the somewhat elusive but completely experimental Cooper is almost a decade deep into his career, with a Ph.D in computational biology in tow. Indeed, writing his first releases for Evolved Records and Traum Schallplatten, Cooper’s music remains timeless. It is complex and fluid but somehow humanistic and emotional – and that reconciles rather nicely with his scientific ethos.
“Everyone loves music right?” he asks – a truism if I’ve ever heard one. “I just decided to try and make a career out of something I loved. My mum was a piano teacher so that was always going on in the background at home, maybe that had some influence.” And he has done it all without any formal training in music production – he is self-educated, which makes his abstract sound all the more appealing.
The album too, as he goes onto explain is ‘mainly digital music with live vocals and Max’s own field samples and synth work’. Which doesn’t give much away, but it does lend itself to a summary of the way he has been working for years. “I’ve decided it’s finally time to go down the analogue synthesis route,” he chimes – and to see where it takes him. “So I’ve been experimenting with a Dave Smith Prophet 08 and Moog Minitaur as a start, it’s been fun, and hopefully worthwhile musically too, we will see.”
Likewise, his prolific output has also seen him work with some exciting partners including Phil Kieran and Nick Warren – with more to come. “I’ve got some exciting collaborations happening yes – my ongoing work with composer and pianist Tom Hodge, which we had our first release of recently, the Fragmented Self EP on Fields. I’ve also been collaborating with some jazz musicians, Quentin Collins, who is an amazing trumpeter and the vocalist Kathrin deBoer, who I’ve been working with for some time.” Needless to say, diversity in his output is key.
“I love a lot of different music, and I don’t want to pigeonhole myself as being too tightly associated with any one genre, as my tastes always change and I want to be free creatively. But there is a common thread in my sets and production, of melody, feeling, details and glitch, and moments of extreme contrasts.”
Otherwise, he adds that he is rather enthused about his pending return to Australia. “I think this will be my fourth time coming out there to play. I did several gigs at each of the previous visits, so I’ve done a fair few events there, which have all been great. It will be my first time at Rainbow Serpent though and I’m looking forward to that a lot. I have no idea what I’ll play, it depends a lot on the vibe there and who is playing before me, what time I’m playing, the weather, how many parsnips I’ve seen that day, things like that. I’ll do my best to make it the best possible party I can though, that’s the only thing I know for sure.”
BY RK
