We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chris Copen a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Chris thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
Since I was a kid, my world has been all about creativity. My everyday adventures were drawing, building Lego, painting, and making music. As I grew into my late teens, the pull of music became stronger, and I had the incredible opportunity to learn from skilled musicians who shared their craft and live stories with me.
But the real turning point happened during a trip to New Orleans in 2011. I was just 17, exploring the city’s vibrant streets with my parents, and I discovered a world where people lived and breathed their art daily. I saw musicians and artists on most street corners performing their craft. And I carefully observed from outside the clubs how musicians entertained their audience.
After finishing school, I dove headfirst into my dream of becoming a musician. New Orleans kept calling me back, a place where I learned from the best practitioners of the traditions and music. Balancing my artistic pursuits, I worked various jobs to make ends meet and support my creative projects and adventures.
In 2019, I reinvented myself as “Chris Copen,” crafting a new personal brand. During this time, I organized an ambitious European tour for John Boutté, a well-acclaimed musician from New Orleans. This tour was meant to be my big break into a life of full-time music.
Then 2020 came along, and we all know how that went. Despite the challenges, I kept pushing forward, finding ways to make my artistic journey sustainable. Today, I make a humble living through my art while running another business and expanding my skills beyond music.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I’m Chris Copen (born Christian W. Bundgaard). Born in 1994 and raised in the serene suburb of Virum, just outside Copenhagen, Denmark’s vibrant capital. Growing up, life in Virum was a mix of school, nature, and after-school adventures shared with friends. The neighborhood was a hub where everything was within reach, from kindergarten to high school (Gymnasium).
While my friends and I mostly had similar interests and activities, a unique influence set me apart – my parents. Their music taste, shaped by an era before mine, filled our home with the sounds of B.B. King, Elvis, Muddy Waters, and more. These classics became the backdrop to my childhood, laying the foundation for my musical journey.
At the age of 6, my parents saw my growing fascination with music and asked me if I wanted to try out an instrument. My first choice fell on the piano. From then on, keys became my playground. Throughout my teenage years, I danced between public and private formal lessons and embarked on self-guided explorations guided by some of Denmark’s accomplished blues and boogie pianists.
Blues, Boogie Woogie, Rock & Roll, and Jazz – my music echoed the genres I grew up immersed in. Thanks to amazing parental support, I attended concerts from a young age. The live performances of legends like B.B. King, Buddy Guy, The Shadows, and Danish artists fueled my musical aspirations. Yet, it was Dr. John’s transformative concert in 2008 that ignited my passion for New Orleans piano and history.
In 2017, I ventured alone to New Orleans, armed with a network of local musicians built through Danish connections. I absorbed the city’s essence, honing my skills through countless live shows and lessons from the city’s seasoned musicians. This pilgrimage became an annual tradition, my musical pilgrimage to the heart of creativity.
The year 2020 brought unexpected challenges, halting plans, including an ambitious European tour I had put together for New Orleans legend John Boutté. Undeterred, I adapted to the situation, embracing live-streaming and new modes of musical expression. In 2021, I ventured into the studio to create my debut album under the Chris Copen brand, “I Got Hipped.” An Album that celebrates and a testament to the musical heritage that my creative journey is built on. Its release in 2022 garnered national and international acclaim.
My journey has been enriched by collaborations with exceptional national and international artists. Through the years, I’ve found inspiration in bridging generations, learning from and alongside seasoned and emerging talents.
Through 2023, my focus has been evolving. While my roots remain in music, I’m delving into creating and producing music for release and embarking on multimedia projects that intertwine music, art, and documentary elements. This new chapter encapsulates my unwavering passion for creativity and dedication to sharing it with the world.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
For the longest time, my primary drive was to captivate and garner attention through my music—a somewhat self-centered pursuit, I’ll admit. Yet, my numerous voyages to New Orleans have opened my eyes to a profound truth: the heart of art and entertainment lies in its profound connection to our cultures, their rich legacies, and their future.
It often feels as if the overwhelming reach of mainstream media threatens to overshadow the cultural heritage embedded within art and music and the pursuit of illustrating and reflecting the world. The omnipresence of social media and similar platforms introduces the peril of forsaking intrinsic values and challenging the narrative essence that art and music have traditionally offered.
In our relentless quest for fame, it’s all too easy to overlook that our creative endeavors stand upon the sturdy foundation laid down by preceding generations. Our ability to craft echoes the reflections and inspirations woven by those who came before us—flaws and all.
Through our creations, we become stewards of knowledge, bearers of traditions, and weavers of stories of our families, cultures, and societies. We engage in a dialogue with shifting times, raising queries about the choices of our own and society.
In the words of the incomparable Nina Simone, “It is an artist’s duty to reflect upon the times.” I’ve chosen to heed this duty by channeling my focus into scrutinizing the context and circumstances surrounding me.
With my gaze fixed upon the horizon, I will continue to craft pieces that provide pure entertainment—simultaneously showcasing the world Im currently living in and experiencing. And hopefully, down the road, I get to use my art and creativity to enrich and help others go on their own journey through a creative life.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
Over the last year, I’ve read many books that have helped me understand life and the creative process. But if I had to point one out, it would be the newly released “The Creative Act: A Way of Being” by Rick Rubin.
This book isn’t just for creators but would also help other entrepreneurs and people.
The book just gives a lot of approaches to life based on Rick Rubins’s own.
It keeps a healthy distance between the process of creating a piece of art and the process the artist goes through.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://chriscopen.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriscopen
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChrisCopenMusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@chriscopenmusic
Image Credits
All images owned by Chris Copen.