We recently connected with Sam and Jake Cooke and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Sam and Jake 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.

When you’re raised by a pair of athletes, it doesn’t leave much of a question for your career goals growing up. That’s exactly what we experienced. Along with our 5 other siblings we all found ourselves heavily invested in different sports and I think that’s what gave us our competitive and relentless attitudes from a young age. As time went on, Jake had followed a career in snowboarding while Sam pursued baseball, both chasing success at the highest level. Unfortunately, as time went on to tell, sports wasn’t in the books for us. There was a point in both our athletic careers where we felt like we had no stop in site, and this was right around the time we both suffered injuries that would go on to end our pursuits. After all those years of following a passion, getting injured left us both a little empty, and in need of something to do that wasn’t sports. That was where music came in to our lives. We had always been influenced by music and since a young age had a passion for singing (Sam) and guitar (Jake), and this change of pace gave us time and new perspective to fall into those roots. During recovery from a knee surgery jake found himself spending hours a day practicing guitar while sam was still in highschool writing lyrics instead of doing his assignments. Once back on his feet, Jake immediately enrolled in Audio Engineering, with Sam to follow right after graduating highschool. This was just the beginning of what will hopefully be the rest of our lives. Music started as an outlet and quickly became a passion Now, we couldn’t see things any other way. When sports went out of the picture, music became a clear path to a fulfilled future for us both.

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?

We are 538st! We’re a musicians duo made up of two brothers, backed on stage by an electric band. From energetic live performances to emotion-provoking lyrics, our work aims to encourage positivity and freedom to be yourself. This along with our original sound and exciting/fun personalities are just a couple of the factors that separate us from your average band. With that said, we like to think of 538st as more than just a band; we’re a movement, and we aim to be a voice for our community. We’re most proud of our project “538st Live @ Kuipers Peak” because it does just that! We brought together over 20 of the most talented people we know to shine a light on the creative scene in our Hometown Kelowna BC, and the final results exceeded our expectations. Like this project and others we have completed, we want to show that we are not just musicians but creatives as a whole and we intend to bring positivity and inspiration through our continued works. Our #1 goal is to make you smile, and that’s not gonna change anytime soon!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

To create something that not only gives us so much joy in the creation of it but also brings joy to others is the most rewarding aspect. To recieve genuine feedback about how much fun someone had at our show or how our music and journey has inspired someone fuels us to keep pushing.

– Jake Cooke

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

“All you need to know about the music business” By: Donald S. Passman

This book is a must if aiming to succeed in the music industry. It doesnt just provide helpful informatin but also shares first hand insight on trails and tribulations from a career in the music industry. Its the only full book I have ever finished front to back.

– Sam Cooke

Contact Info:

• Website: https://538stmusic.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/538st/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/538street538/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@538stmusic

Image Credits
Justin Hill, Liam Sweeney, Mitchell Fowler, Jaden Reid