“Art is cheap… people make millions and trillions of pounds out of a brain cell firing successfully. It’s crazy. I’ll write you a song for £10… send me a song title and your email address and I’ll be in touch… a song title or anything, guitar part, drum beat… whatever. I’m feeling inspired”.
Thus blogged Jack Cooper (singer with Dalston-based DIY champions Mazes) earlier this year by way of an introduction to his ‘Art Is Cheap’ project, as part of which he spent a week writing songs especially for anyone who asked. Fifteen of the 35 pieces penned during that week are now available to download, either individually or as a digital album, on his Bandcamp page.
From rosy birthday sonnet (and every girlfriend’s all-too distant dream) ‘Lotti’, to ‘Johnny Says I’m A Witch’, which cleverly pairs a Broadcast drum sample with Jack’s sleepy homage to The Byrds, most of the tracks are coloured by a scrap of accompanying context, rendering each a self-contained souvenir with its own story attached.
You can read about Jack’s thoughts on spontaneous songwriting and illegal music downloads, and about his ‘Art Is Cheap’ ethos as a whole, in this interview conducted by Crack In The Road. Meanwhile, stream the songs here:
Sections: by Aly Barchi - CMU Approved | Tags: Jack Cooper, Mazes
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