Introducing #131 - Anastasia Coope
Let us introduce you to Anastasia Coope, who has just released her psychedelic folk track ‘Norma Ray’. She took a moment to talk to us about her music.
Hey there Anastasia - how are you? So your new track ‘Norma Ray’ is out now, can you tell us what it is about?
Hi! I’m doing pretty well. The most joyous type of sun has reappeared, so I’m sitting in a bright field, on the grass, to answer these questions!
Norma Ray was a definitive moment in my songwriting, I believe. It was one of the first times that I felt I was able to capture some glimpse into my intentions as an artist, musically. I paint a lot, and when I wrote Norma, it felt synonymous with the paintings that I was most proud of at the time.
I wrote and recorded the song stream of consciousness style. I very rarely have pre written lyrics. I normally write a song as I am recording it, and go with that initial recording as the base.
When I sat down to record, I had just watched “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie”, which, for those who haven’t seen it, is (put simply) about aristocrats who keep trying to have a gathering, but for increasingly absurd reasons, their plans keep failing. Norma Ray, looking back on it, is about the daughter of a father with a divisive political affiliation. I think the song is a study of how closely related intense surrealism and reality are. Which is also a common thread in the film. I do believe that the lyrics are up to interpretation, however. And I always find that works of art have the potential to be ruined for audiences through demystification. So that’s all I’ll say!
Where was the track recorded? Any behind the scenes stories from the creative process?
The track was recorded in my childhood bedroom. Which I feel like is a really overdone and kitschy story at this point. But it is true, that’s where I was. I wrote it about exactly a year ago, during the beginning of quarantine. A lot of musicians begin their obsessions with music at a very young age, but I fully delved into mine during quarantine. I finally was able to find music that I thought was great. It took a lot of digging, but I was listening to a lot of psychedelic, droning Asian music from the 60’s when I wrote the song. I wasn’t listening to much stuff with super present vocal melodies. Which I think is funny, because the song actually has one of my most simple/ catchy melodies to date.
Where are you from? Where do you go for adventures?
I’m from the Hudson Valley, in upstate New York. I’m often quite home-bound, especially as of late, but I do spend a lot of time outside. And this summer, which was formative for my songwriting, I was spending a lot of time with a close friend, driving to various towns upstate and walking around. Now, my daily adventures mostly consist of taking really long walks multiple times a day. I listen to a lot of music on walks. And they are a good thing to do and not feel guilty about not working on music.
What are your key influences when it comes to your music?
I think this question is probably regarded as one of the hardest things to answer! But it’s such a good one, since it’s so simple but so loaded. I’m often pretty guarded with this question because I feel like everything I listen to influences me just as much. I listen to a lot of music, so it’s pretty hard to keep track of. Of course there’s the psychedelic rock and folk of the 60s and 70s, like The Chocolate Watchband and The Seeds, 13th Floor Elevators, that kind of stuff. It’s not just/mostly those bands for that genre, but they feel like sensible mentions. I’m also really into minimalist classical music, especially Steve Reich. He’s a huge one for me. Totally challenges my ideas of music, as he does for a lot of people.
I often like the “weirdest” sounding bands from certain “scenes” or sub genres. I like a lot of art rock (?) bands from the 70s and early 80s. This Heat, Family Fodder, The Flying Lizards. I’m really into that kind of sound. That stuff wasn’t derivative at all, it feels like really serious art but also really low-stakes music. But I could be wrong. Some bands seem really care free, but the artists behind it feel like everything that could be at stake creatively is at stake in the process of making music. I relate to that a lot.
And then lastly, I’m really influenced by more recent bands like Stereolab. I like bands that have intense, encyclopedic knowledge behind them. And then all of those carefully crafted tastes are channeled into a new sound. Stereolab definitely did that. I relate to them a lot, because they had a ton of really difficult to capture influences, but they captured all of them at the same time, while still trying to sound their own. I feel like that relates to what I’m trying to do. I have such massive respect for people that can make a pop song but have the entire world of music behind them. Maybe that’s the goal for me.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never listened to your music before?
Well, this upcoming EP that Norma is a part of is so different from what I’m doing now, so it’s hard to say. But I’d say I’m trying to make accessible music that’s also layered with the love for all of the really absurd music that I like. I’d call a couple of the tracks on this EP classical music, and a couple folk. Perhaps I’d call it psych folk? That’s a cop out answer though, because it isn’t really that. Maybe my answer is just that it’s songwriting that’s influenced by my tastes. If I could explain it really well it probably wouldn’t be entirely worth listening to. Music, particularly music that I like, is hard to pigeon hole.