We were lucky to catch up with Connor Cook recently and have shared our conversation below.
Connor, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?
I started out as a folk musician, playing bluegrass, old time, and Irish music. I play a lot of instruments (button accordion, piano accordion, banjo, guitar, mandolin, mandolin, ukulele, I sing too), and I love recording these instruments on my projects. One of the greatest goals of my life is bringing more accordion into film music, and into contexts where it isn’t expected. I do run into situations where directors/producers expect that I can only do one thing- folk-leaning scores. Once you do something, and you do it well, people sometimes forget you can do other things. I’m a big additive synthesis experimenter, and I get very into building custom patches on my Moog Matriarch paraphonic synthesizer. When I do use this instrument on a film, I like to build a specific patch (sound) exclusive to the film, that I won’t ever use again. It exists only in this film. I love giving the client a fingerprint sound, something that is just for them. I also enjoy writing for orchestra whenever I get the chance, and I thoroughly enjoy mixing folk, orchestra, and synth scores together in a weird and unique soup. I think there is a major misconception around accordion- that it is tacky, or loud, or inelegant. This couldn’t be more wrong, and please listen to my music if you are open to having your mind changed. Accordion is a stunning instrument- it is the most human of all instruments! It breathes like us, and you have to hold it close, in a hug, to play it. It can be haunting, it can be fun, it can be silly. Much like us humans, it has a great many facets. I’m hoping to bring more awareness to the versatility of this instrument and its use in film music!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’m Connor Cook, an artist, but more specifically a composer for film, tv, and more. I’m a multi-instrumentalist with a focus on bluegrass and Irish folk instruments. I’ve wanted to be a film composer since I was quite young, 9 years old, having just watched “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”, and having become enamored with film music. I then geared the rest of my life (so far) towards this dream. And boy, is it a dream. I got a BM in music theory and composition from Appalachian State University in my home state of North Carolina, then moved to Chicago to pursue an MFA in music composition for the screen (where I met my brilliant frequent co-composer Alexa L. Borden).. From Chicago, I moved to my beloved LA! It was love at first move for me, with LA. I always wanted to live here, and now I can see the Hollywood sign from my window. Cheesy? Maybe. Works out though, because I love cheese. When Alexa and I work together, we are LexaCon- and our different musical backgrounds combine into a special amalgamation. I love working with Alexa, and I think everything we put out is truly special. When working on projects alone, my main goal is to create music that draws something out of the picture that wasn’t there before. A new and unexpected element. I can guarantee that if we work together, I will do everything in my power to deliver something unique and special- because your work is unique and special and it deserves to be paralleled. My work is steeped in memories, nostalgia, and holding things. I am inspired by the things we hold onto, and there is a big element of this in all of my work.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The reward is that I’m doing exactly the thing I want to do in this life, making things that didn’t exist before. Crafting things with my own fingerprint to them. To be pulled to something in your heart, and to not let that string break, despite all the hard parts of navigating this world… that is the feeling of following a dream. And without a dream, I wonder who I’d be. Fundamentally the same, maybe, but I think my dream of scoring films has given me a fire and resilience that only keeps growing with time. MY dream has given me an identity, and a compass point- always guiding me through the tough decisions that life brings on. I love working with other artists- it is the most gratifying experience I can fathom. When I click with a collaborator, be it a music, film, or other artist, the feeling is thrilling. It makes me think of the noise a pen cap makes when it finds the catch of the pen. So satisfying. Is being an artist easy? I wouldn’t say anything is really easy. It is easy to pick art every day, because it is an ongoing love story, and I love to be in love. There are many difficulties- sacrifices to make and never enough money (I work several jobs outside of composing- teaching accordion lessons, consulting other composers on how to write for accordion, tracking accordion for other artists, producing other music artists, and more). Is it worth it? Always. I get to go to bed at night knowing I have tried my hardest to make something great.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
Society can start valuing art for the amazing thing that it is, that we all consume, and all enjoy. What if there was no music, film, tv, books, etc.? How sad this world would be. We’d be bored! The general malaise would take over the world like a weighted blanket. What if streaming services paid artists what they are worth, instead of paying their executives exorbitant numbers? What if people were not expected to work as interns (for free) just to get their food in the door? What if artists didn’t have to work 4 side gigs to pay the bills because their art form doesn’t pay enough to support the insane cost of living? I truly think people need to always hire artists no matter how small the gig. Don’t expect OR ask for things for free. Not only is it insulting, it is nurturing a toxic system where artists can never get ahead on their finances, but have to prove themselves before they are even in an industry. Celebrate artists, share their work (this is a big one), lift up your fellow artists if you are one (it only makes things better for ALL of us), don’t think of the art world as competition- think of it as a coral reef. If I’m a mollusk, you’re fish. There is room for us all, and we can all bring something incredibly meaningful to this planet. And meaning has value, beyond money and beyond material things (though we need these too to survive).
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.connorgcookmusic.com
- Instagram: @connorgcookmusic
Image Credits
Marielle V. Chua