ABOUT
Cooperman’s music is a witch's brew of acoustic fingerstyle guitar in altered tunings à la Laurel Canyon, the adventuresome spirit of psychedelic London and San Francisco, and rhythm driven blues-based rock, with a sprinkling of shoe gaze and a dash of trip hop thrown in.
COOPERMAN HODGE
Cooperman Hodge is a collaboration project with my friend Ian “Hodge” Hodgson.
COOPERMAN - SECOND TAKES
My earliest compositions were made on cassette tapes with poor audio quality. Over the years, I amassed a rag tag collection of low-fi songs on poorly labeled and stored cassette tapes and computer discs. My first taste of a professional recording came in 2005, when The Friday All Stars were invited to record in a newly built studio of our band friend Jaryn Marston. Assisting was recording engineer Steve Heithecker. We came out with a much better sounding recording than we had been getting with our self-recorded tracks. And we learned some valuable tips about songwriting and recording. My next experience with state-of-the-art recording came in 2012, when The Bar Chords recorded our second album at Light Rail Studios. Studio owner and engineer Eric Haas recorded us on tape using high end analog equipment and tube amplifiers, then mixed everything down in Pro Tools for a clean yet classic sounding recording.
The Second Take Series is a project for me to revisit songs from my past, but to better capture the sound with modern technology. Not all of my past collaborators were able to join me on this journey. My first songwriting partner, Bruce Williamson, has moved on from music to focus on Buddhist meditation. My dear friend Jason Mitchell was tragically taken from us at much too early an age. Life’s demands have made it impossible for others to participate in this project of historical revisionism.
SECOND TAKES VOLUME 1: DANG TURKEY
Songs from 1991 to 1999 that I re-recorded with a lot of help from my friends.
THE FRIDAY ALL STARS
Between 2005 and 2008, I had the good fortune to play in a band called The Friday All Stars. The band featured Marina Smerling on vocals, Janeen Jackson on vocals and flute, and Rethi Gopalakrishna on vocals. We were often joined by our friend Steve Girsback on Afro-Cuban percussion. We would get together after work (often on Fridays) and pass around wine, chocolate, and occasionally single malt Scotch whiskey. I would pull out whatever guitar figures that I had been working on in the last week, and one of the singers would start composing lyrics and a melody inspired by current events. We recorded many of our songs on our friend Farhat Quli's computer, and several songs at a professional studio. Some of our funnest moments were wordless melodies that we referred to as “ooh aah” songs. Rather than try to recreate these songs, our original recordings (blemishes and all) are presented here after being mastered.
THE BAR CHORDS
This band began as a weekly hangout with my friends Terry Klink (drums, lyrics), Jared Selvin (guitar), Chris Wagner (guitar), and myself on guitar. We took turns passing around a bass on every song. Nobody as particularly excited to play bass so I decided to take it on for the majority of the songs. Chris moved back to the East Coast, and the band really took off with the addition of Bree Desmond on lead vocals and Kara Desmond on backup vocals.Our second album, Daydream, is available on streaming services. Our debut album, Bridges, is available for free download here. It was a self-recorded effort, which is apparent on the earlier songs where we were learning how to record vocals and amplifiers, as well as how to mix.
ROXIE AND THE CURSED
Roxie and the Cursed is an ongoing project featuring Roxie Baggott on vocals and trumpet, George Baggott on guitar and bass, Farhat Quli on guitar and drums, with me contributing guitar. It is a free form bi-coastal collaboration.