Interview- Stephen Cooper

Stephen Cooper was born in Maracaibo,Venezuela on January 17,1981, Cooper began to play guitar at the age of 12, after mastering the guitar he moved into singing and songwriting. In early 1999 he was asked to join a local death metal band called "Eterna Oscuridad", he played guitar and wrote a couple of songs while he was in this band but he quit after a few months. Later that year he wanted to form a Goth-industrial band, in the beginning it was very difficult for him to find musicians that share the same vision that he had, months later, tired of looking for bandmates he decided to enter a local studio to record some songs that he had written, for this demo Cooper performed all the instruments and took the role of producer as well, after recording this demo Cooper recruited a band and named it "Infeccion Mental", the band started playing in July of 1999 and built a small following. In 2001 "Infeccion Mental" disbanded and in 2002 Cooper went solo. In 2003 Stephen Cooper released his first EP, this EP has received a great response.

GC: What is the name of your band and who are the current members?

Stephen Cooper, I do everything, from writing to mastering

GC: What are your musical influences?

Marilyn Manson, Nirvana, God lives underwater, White Zombie, Nine Inch Nails, the list goes on.

GC: Tell us about your own unique style of music?

It is hard for me to define my music but I would say Industrial hard Rock with techno elements

GC: How do you go about writing songs?

I start with a main riff, or a main idea, if I like what I hear and it makes me feel something special, I develop the rest

GC: What is your latest news with the band?

I just released an EP.

GC: Where do you hope to be in 5 years with your band?

Where my idols are right now.

GC: What is most important to you in your band?

Everything is important to me.

GC: What do you think of the current gothic/ EBM/ Industrial/ noise/ synthpop etc scence today?

I think it is great, there are great bands out there but I don’t think we should stay underground for the rest of our lives.

GC: What kind of recording environment do you have?

I record all my music in my bedroom; it is just me, my PC and a jar of ice tea.

GC: How long did you spend on your latest effort?

About 5 months

Check me out on myspace: www.myspace.com/stephencooper