Yesterday, Drew Cooper released part one of his latest album This Life. We sat down with him to discuss the making of the record, as well as the story behind the title track.
Making the Album
Cooper began writing songs for the album at the beginning of COVID and realized his initial collection seemed dark and sad. He explained that the sullen songs flowed more naturally during that time, since he felt disconnected from his fans without in person shows.
After deciding to add some happier songs to his list, he ended up writing an extra 15 songs and turned it into a double album. He wrote some of the songs on the day of recording or the day before. Cooper finds it easiest when the song idea flows freely and he typically gets the bones of a song out in the first 20 minutes and then thinks it over for about a week.
His dream recording process would be to arrive at the studio with a clean slate and complete all the writing and recording while he’s there.
Recorded at Los Angeles’ Studio 606, John “Lou” Lousteau (Head Engineer for The Foo Fighters, Taylor Hawkins & the Coattail Riders) produced the album and Cooper raved about their partnership. He said Lou can hear what he’s thinking musically and understand the concepts he’s trying to convey. Cooper referred to Lou as “One of the best musical minds I’ve ever worked with.”
Cooper praised the overall experience at the legendary Foo Fighters’ studio. “It surpassed my expectations,” he said and admitted that the first time he arrived at the studio, he felt a bit intimidated, given the quality music that excellent bands recorded there. “You can’t afford to suck,” he added.
He described everyone at the studio as being supportive and they treated him like family. Cooper expressed excitement about using his own band for recording this time and adding more input with the recording process, which he largely attributed to his positive working relationship with Lou..
The Story Behind “This Life”
Cooper’s typical rapid songwriting cadence didn’t apply to the title track of the album. “This Life” became one of the few songs where he found himself stuck after working on it for several months. The song finally started to take shape after he pivoted to pouring out his feelings about becoming a musician and what he dealt with in life.
His musical journey contains many ups and downs and it’s different from others’ paths. Cooper began under the guise of going back to college where he took out loans and registered for classes that he didn’t attend. He used the time to formulate his plan to move forward with his music career and even left a solid day job to pursue music.
The choices he made potentially caused the breakdown of his first marriage because everything changed at that point. The song’s lyrics reflect his true feelings about his situation. He said the lines “I’ve been a winner and I’ve been a loser “ and “I’ve been a letdown” are thoughts that continue to weigh on him. “I consistently still think that I’ve let people down,” he admitted.
Overall, things turned out for the best. He stuck with it and his circumstances began to improve. Aside from growing his music career, his kids turned out well, he got remarried, and had another child.
“If this isn’t livin’ the dream, I don’t know what is,” he said. Upon reflection, he stated that if you’re constantly putting in effort and improving. the bad days you’re in now, at one point would have been a good day. Perspectives change and successes or downfalls are relative to our current situations.
Cooper makes sure to appreciate his life today and what he accomplished thus far. “The one thing you’ll never get back is time,” he said.
Listen to This Life
Connect with Drew Cooper
Be sure to check out This Life and catch Drew Cooper on tour this summer. For more information, visit https://www.drewcoopermusic.com/.
