The release of the single 'The Turning Point' marks the next stage in Eric Cooke's ever-burgeoning musical journey.
The evolution of the artist who started out as a DJ, then emerged as a singer-songwriter, went on to form one-half of the soul singing duo, Myron & E (with Myron Glasper), has now aligned himself with Germany's prestigious funk outfit, The Mighty Mocambos - and with his first 45 through Mocambo Records - has now unveiled 'The Turning Point'.
With the release of Myron & E's 'Broadway' album on Stones Throw Records in 2013, the pairing of the American vocalists with the dynamic Finnish outfit, The Soul Investigators (famed for their collaborations with Nicole Willis on Timmion Records), proved a winning combination. And while E's time since 'Broadway' has been more than productive, including tracks with The Gene Dudley Group, The Soul Surfers, and releasing music as Lucid Paradise and as part of The Pendletons, E's pairing with The Mighty Mocambos brings increasing excitement for the next step in that already-mentioned ever-burgeoning musical journey.
The Blue-in-Green Blog was thrilled to have secured time with E to discuss his new single, The Mighty Mocambos, Myron & E and what the future holds going forward...
IMRAN MIRZA: You initially started out as a DJ: was the intention always to transition to singing or did that happen on its own?
ERIC "E" COOKE: I kinda just started singing. I really got started singing while doing back up vocals with Lateef The TruthSpeaker while being his DJ. We were a two-man show so I had to do his backing vocals and raps when we were on tour. After doing that I definitely was more comfortable with singing live on stage.
IM: Who were some of your musical heroes growing up?
E: Roy C, Barry White, Isaac Hayes, Marley Marl, DJ Red Alert, Fresh 3 MC's, Divine Sounds, Toro Y Moi, Paul Robeson, Nate Dogg.
IM: Congratulations on 'Broadway': were you happy with the album's success?
E: Yeah, I'm really happy with it. It opened a lot of doors for me! It's also nice to have a release on Stones Throw! Really good vibes from PB Wolf and the whole crew at that label.
IM: Congratulations also on the new single: how did you come to the attention of Mocambo Records?
E: I got to meet Bjorn [Wagner, The Mighty Mocambos] in Hamburg while I was in town for a DJ gig. During my time there I had a in-store DJ gig at Groove City Records and the promoter of my show told me that he was friends with Bjorn from The Mighty Mocambos. I told him it would be great to meet as I was a big fan of his work and record label. After we met I mentioned that I'd like to work on something if he was into it, so that began the process of us sending tracks and vocals over the internet.
IM: How did you hook up with Ishtar for the single?
E: I met Ishtar in San Francisco, she was singing in an opening band at a gig where I was playing. We exchanged numbers and talked about possibly working together some time soon. At that time I was recording some songs with The Gene Dudley Group from London so I asked her if she could sing background vocals on some tracks for me. After that we started writing and recording songs together and 'The Turning Point' happened to be one of the tunes we did together.
IM: Is a full-length album currently in the works?
E: YES! :)
For more info on E and Mocambo Records, check out: http://www.mocamborecords.com/mocamborecords/
No comments:
Post a Comment