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Written by Dan England
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Thursday, 24 January 2008 |
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Ian Cooke couldn’t hack his studies at the University of Northern Colorado.
He was too much of a rebel.
Well, as much of a rebel as a cellist can be.
“I couldn’t handle the six hours of practice a day,” Cooke said. “I got distracted by my own music instead of my assignments.”
In this case, Cooke’s rebel eye toward the avant garde was a cause that paid off. Cooke’s combination of pop music, his voice and his cello is earning him raves as one of the top performers in Denver and getting him some pretty sweet gigs across the world, including a recent wedding of the founder of Google.
Cooke started on the cello after tiring of piano lessons and wanting a music credit from Maplewood Middle School. He could sing or play an instrument for the credit, and he chose the cello because of the potential for a long, meaningful relationship.
“It’s the closest sound to a human voice of all the instruments,” said Cooke, 27, a 1998 graduate of Greeley Central, “and you’re, like, cradling it when you play. It’s another being almost.”
Cooke thought about expanding the relationship with his cello into a career when he was 20, when he began composing his own music (and ignoring his studies). He always had ideas but wasn’t able to complete them on paper until then. He loved classical music but also enjoyed pop and struggled with mixing them. It’s always a challenge, he admits.
Recently, he has been listening to Holst, Joanna Newsom (a harpist who sings, much like Cooke) and his main influence, Bach, whose six cello suites continue to guide Cooke’s technique. But he also listens to Bjork, Radiohead, the jazz great Dave Brubeck and Danny Elfman, who is a classical composer but is known for his crazy film scores and the theme song to “The Simpsons.”
When you combine classical music and pop, you can either get John Tesh or a sound that is unique. Cooke favors the latter, of course.
“My goal is to turn the obscure into something catchy,” Cooke said.
Cooke wasn’t sure what he was going to do after he dropped out of UNC. The world didn’t seem to be crying out for a singing cello player, after all, and when he searched the want ads, he found a lot of interest for fiddle players from bands wanting to play bluegrass. That’s not what Cooke wanted to do. Yet the last ad did ask for a cello player, and when he met the bandleader to Uphollow, Ian O’Dougherty, he was amazed at how they clicked. He played in the band for four years with Ian, who goes by the stage name Ian O.
The gigs were a great experience, and Cooke did pretty well, though he always had to work at least part time at a movie theater to help pay the bills.
He recently decided to go solo, and it’s his work as essentially a one-man band that has garnered him the most attention, from Denver publications naming him as one of the top acts in the area or from the growing number of fans who show up at his shows. He was named in the top 25 of the Denver Post’s top underground bands in 2006, and in 2007, he made the top five. Last year he released his first solo album (with Ian O’s help), “The Fall I Fell,” and it sold enough at the release party to cover the costs of releasing it. He just ran out of his 1,000 copies and plans have another 1,000 made.
Perfecting his style was difficult. Cooke taught himself to sing and play at the same time several years ago. It was harder than he thought it would be.
“You’re moving your hand somewhere and yet you are trying to sing as well,” he said, “and the cello is a fretless instrument, so you have to be precise as to where you put your fingers or you may not get the right tone.”
As he moved to a solo career, he began to use a looping pedal to record himself playing. He’ll start a show by laying down a bass track and then add layers to it until he plays the melody over his own music. The rich, unusual sound gets the attention of anyone who happens to be in the club that night.
“Even if you’re not really into music or don’t appreciate what I’m doing,” Cooke said and laughed, “you have to pay attention out of curiosity.”
Given all that, he’s happy with the mark he has made in Colorado, and he would like to take the next step, as he calls it. He recently played a gig with a band called Bright Eyes at the $15 million wedding of Google mogul Larry Pierce — in the British Virgin Islands, no less. He got the gig on the recommendation of a friend, but he doesn’t expect opportunities like that to come along all the time.
So what he hopes to do is travel across the country in a van he recently purchased. He used to live out of a van until a tree crushed it last year, forcing him to crash with friend and live with his parents occasionally, who are still in Greeley. Fortunately, his cello was spared.
The new van is large and white, something the CIA would use to kidnap you if you, say, knew too much about Area 51.
Lately, he’s been able to ask venues for more money for his shows because of the crowds they bring. He feels fortunate that he’s starting to make a living just playing music.
He has a plan. He’ll travel the country with a 24-Hour Fitness gym membership, so he can work out and shower, and maybe use the bathroom, and he’ll take his cello and his taste for the avant garde to clubs. And maybe he’ll make enough money to survive so he can continue to make more music.
“If I can do that,” Cooke said, “I’ll be happy.”
For more information visit Cooke's website at www.myspace.com/iancooke.
Click on the links below to hear some on Ian Cooke's music
Ian Cooke song 1
Ian Cooke song 2
Ian Cooke song 3
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