Modern Nature
In conversation with Jack Cooper
✺ ta-da!✺
Today, we feature an upcoming contributor to abracadabra! (that’s right… there’s more magic in the works). Jack Cooper is the uber-talented musical mage behind such acts as Ultimate Painting, Mazes, The Beep Seals, and most recently, Modern Nature. Their new record Heat Warps is out August 29th via Bella Union, and it’s a masterpiece.
In the midst of rolling out the record, Jack was kind enough to discuss his manifestation practices, studio sniffs, and vegan hacks with us. We’ve got the abracadabra! sources of magic, playlist, and classifieds per usual down below. If you aren’t already a subscriber, make sure to subscribe to the print magazine (NOT the substack), and we’ll gift you a year of the substack for FREE.
And now, we graciously introduce…
Name?
My name is Jack Oliver Cooper
Where are you right now? What does it smell like?
I’m in the basement of our house, where I have studio space. I’ve been away and it starts to smell a bit fusty down here when the air hasn’t been moving around. So I’d say it smells of slightly stale air, coffee and palo santo (I know…)
Where are you heading— Spiritually, geographically, or materially?
I’ve just been in Marseille for a few days visiting one of my friends. I’m back in England now with my wife and daughter. I’m very grateful to have a stretch of time ahead that’s split between hanging out with them and work, because the end of the year is beginning to look hectic. So geographically, we live between London and Cambridge in the countryside.
But spiritually… I think living with my own consciousness and making some sense of that is enough for this lifetime. I’m something of a space cadet, without being tuned into any particular ideology ha.
What was the last synchronicity you experienced?
I was just in Marseille, visiting my friend. He’s lived there a year and has really thrown himself into it. He speaks decent French and has a gang of friends already… interesting people. I’m not sure whether it’s synchronicity but I really hit it off with someone in one of those rare “I think we may have been siblings in a previous life” kind of ways. We seemed to skip about ten years of friendship and went right in at the deep end. It’s happened to me on a handful of occasions and it always feels special. Perhaps it’s just a series of coincidences, but it feels nicer to let yourself believe in a more cosmic explanation.
What are you manifesting these days?
I have a list of songs on the go and a handful of ongoing projects but I feel like I’m coasting a little bit since I finished the Modern Nature album in December. All the signs of life are there but I feel unanchored at the moment… unanchored to any vision. It’s happened before and it seems to be different to what people call ‘writer’s block’. The work continues but the motivation is unclear.
How do you prefer to manifest?
I’m dyslexic and was diagnosed with that quite late in the day. I was 17 and I’d already checked out on school really. Whilst I could’ve benefited from extra help, I think my brain had worked out some ways of coping and I’ve found them really helpful in my work. I think the main thing is to be very clear about my motivation. But I find setting limitations and having consistency allows you to think clearer. I always write with the same pens, I always use the same notebooks. Small things, but it carries through into more elaborate situations. I’ve used the same amplifier on every Modern Nature song.
Jack Cooper’s Sources of Magic:
✍ Low level lighting
I assume it’s an in utero thing. I like daylight but will happily let the light fade until I’m sat in the dark. It feels good to realise the day is over by not being able to see anymore. But very dim, cloudy light sources in the evening. My partner calls me ‘Mood Lighting’... I take it as a compliment.
✍ Petrichor
To ‘enjoy the smell after rain’ doesn’t quite cut it here. Rain water igniting the soil and releasing trillions of invisible oils, compounds, bacteria, magic. Heavy stuff
✍ Sitting in the front of a van
One of my favourite places is being on tour and being sat in the passenger seat keeping the driver company. You’re engaged with the journey, but you’re not dealing with the mental exertion and responsibility of driving. I’ve forged some of my most important relationships in the front of vans, I’ve laughed some of my biggest laughs and I’ve seen some of the craziest things I’ll ever see. James from Ultimate Painting and I were in the front, driving from Washington state to Montana. We were in the middle of laughing about something and at the last second it became apparent there was no way of us avoiding a huge concrete breezeblock on the highway. There wasn’t even time to brake and we just drove straight over it. I have no idea how we came out unscathed.
✍ Marmite
Good god… It’s just so good. Late night toast, butter and just the right amount of Marmite. Total magic on toast every day. It was invented by a German scientist in the 19th Century. He discovered brewer’s yeast could be eaten and unlocked billions of hours of eating pleasure.
✍ The Beatles
Great band… six years between Love Me Do and Abbey Road… it consistently blows my mind.
✍ Daal
My favourite food…I recently found a recipe that’s closest to what I’m after. I probably make it once a week. If you’re a regular at UK festivals, you’ll know these magicians called Taste Of Tibet and they’ve been good enough to publish their recipe on the internet; a very generous act considering the pressures of capitalism. I would say House Of Momos in Dalston has a top tier daal and the Hare Krishna center in Soho has a restaurant called Govindas which is also ahead of the game. Plus it’s always good to chat with the disciples there.
✍ Nutritional yeast
I didn’t mean for this list to be as yeast-centric as this, but I promise you it’s my final example. I’ve been vegan for 12 years now and vegetarian a while longer. Turning vegan really got me into cooking for the first time and changed the way I thought about food. If you want to talk about sources of magic, nothing beats going through each day knowing you’re alive, but not at the expense of anything else! But anyway… I’m not here to convert anyone. Nutritional yeast though…transformative stuff.
✍ Michael Head
It’s always great to hear a new album of songs from Michael Head but there will always be one that feels like the best song ever. I slept whilst his last couple of albums have been around but I’m listening to a song of his called Broken Beauty on repeat at the moment. What a melody writer!
✍ Stir It Up (Jamaican Version) Bob Marley & The Wailers
Maybe the greatest recording of all time, bar the John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band record. Space forever and all that happens in between.
𖦹 Thank you more please 𖦹 Thank you more please 𖦹 Thank you more please 𖦹
Issue four of abracadabra! is out in the world. Subscribe for yourself or a mail-loving wizard you adore to make sure you get a limited edition copy of Dr. J’s High Frequency Tuning Meditation ~ a blissful guided manifestation played over a previously unreleased Don Slepian composition from 1979 pressed on a holographic flexi disc. Come on.
abracadabra! is open to sponsors, partners, business prospects, and pals. Could it be you? Want to place a classified? Consult the magician’s assistant? Romance the void? Drop us a line:: mag.abracadabra@gmail.com. Sources of magic, playlist, and classifieds below.
