Cooper is a self-made, self-taught musician who manages to exist effortlessly within two scenes generally considered to be at varying ends of the sonic spectrum. Learning his craft on the Indie Rock scene, but later connecting with the Sing Out Gospel Gospel Choir, Cooper’s exquisite vocal and adroitly played guitar seamlessly encompasses the best of both worlds. It’s Indie with soul, soul with heart. This is meaningful music from the mind of a man who’s lived life, loss and longing. He defines the idea of what it is to be a truly singular artist who both defies convention and resists comparison. “I don’t want to be seen as a singer/ songwriter because people lump you into that sulky troubadour box,” points out JP with a quick laugh. “I want to be a bit more than that. I want to make great music and grow. I’ve always loved and admired artists that evolve; people like Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Björk. Hopefully I can be an artist who will explore and transform in a similar way.”
Though it might seem like music is in his DNA, JP wasn’t bought up in a particularly musical household. However, his Granddad, a commercial artist and dad, also an artist, taught him something that would prove invaluable to his own artistic endeavors in years to come. “My dad went to study at art school and my Granddad told him, ‘Never get a job in art ‘cause it’ll be something that you don’t love anymore. It’ll be a job not a hobby’. That really stuck with me years later when I began to teach myself guitar. You need to know your a,b,c’s, but the main thing is to have fun with it, to play with it like a child would, ignore the rules. The fact I’m completely clueless about what chords I’m playing works in my favour. I’m a complete blagger! But that’s really nice I think; I can stay wide-eyed about it.”
Bought up during the guitar-laden years of Britpop, like many young Manchester teens, JP played in various bands throughout school. Broadening his musical tastes beyond Oasis by regularly visiting eponymous record store, the Vinyl Exchange, it was there the young music enthusiast discovered everything from Björk to Aphex Twin, Donny Hathaway and Rufus Wainwright. Deciding to go solo while at college, JP was finally able to fully draw on his various influences and begin to experiment with the sort of artist he wanted to be. “I realised that I didn’t want to have to rely on anybody – as long as I could play and I could write then I’d be pretty self-sufficient. And I could make the music I wanted to make without having to compromise.” Teaching himself guitar, JP began testing his sound out at Open Mic nights and quickly started getting booked to play all over Manchester. Within a year he rose to selling out 250 capacity venue, the Deaf Institute. However, because he was a white guy with a guitar, he found himself increasingly booked at folk / indie / band nights. Ill at ease in a scene into which he was thrust, slowly his audience began to diversify as the subtleties in his music began to emerge. He joined Manchester’s Sing Out Gospel Choir and released a series of three mixtapes, noticing a growing fanbase within the urban world. Soon he was not only selling out venues like the Gorilla in Manchester, but he was hitting capacity at shows in London too. “As soon I found an outlet into the soul and urban world, everything changed overnight. Since then it’s grown and grown and I’ve found my audience. It’s really nice to be embraced by that world.”
Three years ago, he became a dad for the first time and a year later faced a difficult decision. Supporting himself by working in a bar so he could be with his son every morning and night, when Island Records offered him a development deal, he knew it would mean a lot of travel to London. “I didn’t want to miss any of my son growing up, but I also had to build a future for us both. It got to the point where I’d had this massive dream of doing music and all this amazing stuff was happening, but at the same time I was away from all of the things that are home to me.”
It’s a subject he covers on Closer, found on his 2015 EP, When The Darkness Comes. After signing to Island Records 18 months ago, JP released two EP’s, which combined have had over 5 million plays. The first, Keep The Quiet Out, was produced by the Confectionary [Bonkaz, Jacob Banks]. The most recent (When The Darkness Comes), produced by the duo One-Bit, features six perfectly executed vignettes. The EP is deeply personable yet utterly relatable. “It’s about relationships, people’s struggles, family and the human mind, the weirdness of it, the complexities of it,” explains JP.
He not only has a large online following, but he has a large and loyal live fanbase too. Last year, he sold out four headline shows in London, including the The Scala the Village Underground and Koko. The EP’s, along with his engaging live performances, have won JP a legion of fans as disparate as his sounds; the likes of Boy George, The Cast Of EastEnders, Maverick Sabre, Sean Mendez and Stormzy have all sung his praises, while recent collaborations with the likes of George the Poet have seen Cooper diversify a little into the spoken world arena. “It’s not my world at all but it’s taught me loads,” he muses. “The whole imagination behind it all inspires me to want to be better.”
Next up is JP’s debut album proper which promises to be bigger and bolder affair, while retaining a sense of simplicity and honesty. Featuring elements of Hip Hop, stand-up soul and Country-inflected guitar, there will also be some unexpected twists and turns. JP isn’t an artist that deals in the formulaic, the predictable or the conventional. “It’s going to be bold,” he decides. “I’ve enjoyed some spot plays on Radio and I know I’m lucky to have those because what I do really doesn’t sound like anything else on there. I’d like to carry on down that route. I don’t want my music to sound like everything else that’s being put out at the minute.”
JP Cooper isn’t the sort of artist to list his ambitions as being awards and accolades. That’s not why he makes music. He’s isn’t here to make cookie-cutter sounds that cynically appeal to a mass market. Rather he wants to challenge the idea’s of what music people should – and shouldn’t – be making. “There’s no façade. I’m just somebody who lives life and writes about it. It’s a human experience. I’m not untouchable,” he points out. “I think people trust what I do because of the way that I am; there’s no front. I think that makes people want to find out more. Hopefully when they do find out more, they’ll like what they hear. I know nothing’s promised, and I know I’ve been doing this for a few years now, but it feels just like the beginning. And that’s really exciting.”
However, he was hailed as ‘Future Sound of 2015’ by BBC Radio One’s Zane Lowe, supported soul singer Angie Stone, sold out a UK tour of his own, and had a coveted slot at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas.
His EP 'When The Darkness Comes' was reviewed in 2015 as "combining folk, blues, soul and gospel, ... [showcasing] Cooper’s talent for both songwriting and lyricism which releases true emotion – not only for himself but also the listener."
Sources:
This info was taken from when he was featured in The Telegraph and listed for his gig at The Cluny in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Tidal Wave
JP Cooper Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I saw the kindness in you
Oh, I know I made you laugh
And you couldn't hold back the truth
Oh, I know you made me cry
And I didn't turn out to be
The boy you thought you knew
I guess I didn't quite come through
But we had a good love, didn't we?
A real love, didn't we?
The tears we cried won't wash it away
We're running on a tidal wave
But everyone the oceans hates
Is born to break
I'm glad we rolled it so free
I got to see the waves on your skin
As the water rushes over me
Oh, it was a perfect swell
But I guess we got in too deep
Oh, I know it is what it is
But you never got the chance to see
The boy I wish that I could be
The promises I could keep
For you
But we had a good love, didn't we?
A real love, didn't we?
The tears we cried won't wash it away
Yeah, we had a good love, didn't we?
A real love, didn't we?
The tears we cried won't wash it away
We're running on a tidal wave
But everyone the ocean hates
Is born to break
Na-na-na, ooh
Na-na-na, ooh
Na-na-na-na, oohm no
Na-na-na, ooh
We had a good love, didn't we?
A real love, didn't we?
The tears we cried won't wash it away
Yeah, we had a good love, didn't we?
Have a real love, didn't we?
The tears we cried won't wash it away
We're running on an ocean wave
But everyone the ocean hates
Is born to break
Is born to break
Yeah, we had a good love, didn't we?
In JP Cooper's song Tidal Wave, the lyrics suggest a sense of nostalgia and longing for a lost love. The lines "You saw the weakness in me, I saw the kindness in you" imply a mutual recognition and understanding between the two parties involved, despite the eventual breakdown of their relationship. The lyrics also convey a sense of regret from the singer, as he reflects on the promises he could not keep and how he may not have lived up to the expectations of his former lover. Despite this, the song speaks to the complexity of love and how even when things don't work out, the memories and emotions of that love remain inescapable, as evidenced by the line "The tears we cried won't wash it away."
The chorus repeats the phrase "We had a good love, didn't we? A real love, didn't we? The tears we cried won't wash it away" suggesting that even though the relationship is over, the love that existed between them was genuine and not something that can be easily forgotten. The line "running on a tidal wave" can be interpreted as a metaphor for the intense and consuming nature of their relationship, and how it eventually led to its demise. The final line "But everyone the ocean hates is born to break" is an interesting piece of imagery, implying that those who are pushed away by the world are doomed to repeat patterns of heartbreak.
Line by Line Meaning
You saw the weakness in me
You were able to see my vulnerabilities and flaws
I saw the kindness in you
I was able to see the goodness and compassion in you
Oh, I know I made you laugh
I was able to bring joy and laughter to your life
And you couldn't hold back the truth
You were honest with me and couldn't hide your feelings
Oh, I know you made me cry
You were able to make me feel emotional and vulnerable
And I didn't turn out to be
I wasn't able to become
The boy you thought you knew
The person you thought I was
I guess I didn't quite come through
I failed to meet your expectations
But we had a good love, didn't we?
Despite our flaws and imperfections, our love was strong
A real love, didn't we?
Our love was genuine and authentic
The tears we cried won't wash it away
Our struggles and pain won't erase our love
We're running on a tidal wave
Our emotions and feelings are intense and overwhelming
But everyone the oceans hates
Those who are constantly struggling are often misunderstood or rejected
Is born to break
Are destined to struggle and fall apart
I'm glad we rolled it so free
I'm grateful that we were able to experience our love without holding back
I got to see the waves on your skin
I was able to witness the beauty and vulnerability in you
As the water rushes over me
As our emotions and experiences overwhelm me
Oh, it was a perfect swell
Our love and connection was strong and powerful
But I guess we got in too deep
We became too attached and invested in each other, which led to pain
Oh, I know it is what it is
I accept the reality of our situation
But you never got the chance to see
You weren't able to witness
The boy I wish that I could be
The person I aspire to become
The promises I could keep
The commitments I could fulfill
Na-na-na, ooh
Vocalization
Na-na-na-na, ooh, no
Vocalization and expression of denial
Yeah, we had a good love, didn't we?
Confirming that our love was strong and meaningful
Have a real love, didn't we?
Asking a rhetorical question to reaffirm our love was genuine
We're running on an ocean wave
Our love and emotions are unstoppable and powerful
Is born to break
Our love, like many others, is destined to fail
Writer(s): John Paul Cooper, Crispin Hunt
Contributed by Blake J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.