At only 21 years of age, you would expect Richard Cooper to be full of himself, especially since those in the recording industry have a less than saintly reputation. On the contrary, Rich (as he is known to all) has kick started a career that most people his age can only dream of, but you wouldn’t know it from talking to him.
Cooper has now worked at British Grove Studios in Chiswick for nearly two and a half years, as a recording engineer. He modestly counts Mark Knopfler (of Dire Straits fame) as his boss, and countless chart toppers as clients. But how did he achieve so much, so young?
“After my GCSEs, I moved to
Richard, originally from
“Ok, but not particularly inspiring. I did what I had to do, then left to persue recording.”
He was almost immediately offered a job at British Grove, after achieving a “degree type-thing” from engineering college. When I again bring up his age, and his thoughts on where he is, he states matter-of-factly:
“I think it’s a lot to do with just getting on with people and being relaxed and stuff, and having a good education – actually knowing what I’m doing.”
And, I add, knowing what you want to do and having the drive to do it?
“Yes, definitely. I have been drumming and recording since I can remember. I guess I’m lucky that I left school knowing where I was headed.”
And the highlights?
“I get paid pretty well, depending on who I’m working with. I loved the Razorlight sessions because they were here for six months and it was like working with friends; I got really involved. However, working with The Darkness was horrible because the producer was not the nicest person.”
Other artists who have walked through the doors of British Grove include The Killers, The Libertines, U2 and Kanye West. Cooper is clearly heading for the top of his profession, and when I ask where he wants to be in ten years time, he has a think before deciding he would like to be “in demand as an engineer, working with rock and pop bands, or just playing drums. I’m easy.” Indeed, he is an accomplished drummer, playing in the up and coming signed band Wall Street Riots (formally Death Can Dance) who we are sure to be hearing a lot more of in the future.
“We play loads of shows, have good management and just recorded with the same producer who worked with Supergrass, so it’s going really well.”
1 comment:
you do great interviews
i liked it a lot
and i'm going to check out his band now
(:
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