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SXSW Pop: What inspired you to start making music, and what kind of music did you grow up listening to?
Wesley Adams Cook: I became interested in doing music growing up watching my brother in his band. I actively got into music in High School when life dropped me into a Men’s Choir as an elective. I ended up excelling very quickly and a friend taught me to play guitar. Since I was little, I had a knack for writing lyrics and poetry. The rest came rather naturally to me. My music interests have been wide and far reaching, and I wouldn’t say that music played a major role (at least consciously) in my life until later, though Classical, Oldies, Doo-Wop and Musicals/Soundtracks did have their sway. I was always creative and this happened to be an outlet I was good at.
SXSW Pop: How do you think your personal experiences and emotions have shaped your music?
Wesley Adams Cook: I’m exceptionally intuitive and for me, song writing is like a collaborative dance. Inspirations for me drop when they drop, and they cover such a wide gamut of themes. For myself, it’s more about how you explore and dance with the inspirations that come through. Some rely heavily on certain emotions and themes for their song writing. I am much more akin to Sting (my favorite artist). Michael Jackson I believe had said he always considered himself a dancer before a singer. I am more of a writer and storyteller than musician. Sometimes I draw on my own experience, and many times I draw on others for my songs. Everyone needs to find their own way of injecting their ideas into the world, and at this time, music happens to be mine.
SXSW Pop: How would you describe your music style to someone who's never heard it before?
Wesley Adams Cook: Yes, how would I? I have asked this question to so many people, and every time what I get back is that they don’t know how to describe my music, only that it has a feel and style that is very much my own that can be heard through every song. As mentioned with Sting, I don’t care for being limited to any genre. I simply like making songs that I like.
SXSW Pop: Can you walk us through your songwriting process? Do you have a typical approach or do you experiment with different methods?
Wesley Adams Cook: No process for me. It’s more like intuitive channeling. I know it when a song “drops in”. I just know it, no differently than someone touching your arm. There’s a feeling that happens, and though it may come with different flavors, there’s some sort of knowing that a song is coming. My process is really exploring life and just being open for when those inspirations come in. The more I explore and learn about life the more those inspirations have a way to come through in a unique way. Sometimes they come through and I feel like I’m just writing it down already written. Most of the time, it comes with a specific idea. It’s like the bread crumb that leads me down a trail and then I get to play with how the path looks. It’s like a dance or a collaboration. I don’t feel I’m the only one participating. I’ve had too many experiences to feel like song writing is a solo adventure. There’s something in the unseen and unknown that is participating (for me at least). It’s part inspiration, part play and part exploration.
SXSW Pop: What are your short-term and long-term goals for your music career?
Wesley Adams Cook: My short term goals are to continue to promote my current EP, Chasing Dragons and certain individual singles within it. My next single I’ll be putting up in the next few weeks. The other goal would be to find new producers to work with. This is my highest focus presently. I have a tremendous amount of material written, it’s just about finding the right producers to work and collaborate with who can help me achieve my vision. Long term goals are to get all of my songs recorded. I was living in my car in Sedona a few years ago and one day it just dropped in: “it’s time to start recording your music.” A few months later I was in the studio making my first EP, Caught In The Middle. Now it just feels like this need to get my stuff out, and out into the world. It’s like a heartbeat that keeps pulsing me forward. With production, I have high standards and I play in a lot of styles, so finding people to work with who enjoy this and can do that well is the search. Of course, a gimme is to find those who can help me get my music out into the world. As Spielberg says, “if you’re a nightclub entertainer, do you want to perform for three drunks or a packed house? Any artist wants the largest possible audience.” Finding and aligning with those who can assist in that is crucial.
SXSW Pop: How do you plan to reach new audiences and build your fanbase?
Wesley Adams Cook: Make excellent music. That’s first, last and foremost. Everything to that is secondary. Then it’s hiring other people to advertise for me. I’ve always been one to know my own strengths and utilize my skills while outsourcing/delegating to people who are better and more interested in other things than me. My Mom used to say I was like Tom Sawyer in this regard.
SXSW Pop: Have you had any notable achievements or milestones so far in your career? What was the most exciting part of that experience?
Wesley Adams Cook: The fact that I’m doing it is the biggest one yet, despite little success over 20 years. There are so many things that are beyond my control, but I simply take each step as I feel is best. Actively doing music, continuing to write and get it produced and out to the world is perhaps one of the things I am most proud of, outside of not giving up. It’s easy to sit on one’s creation and never step out. The fact that I’m getting my music recorded in a manner that I feel happy with is something I’m proud of as well as how I adjust and develop new approaches each time I record, while utilizing setbacks to my advantage. An example would be when one of my guitar fingers was injured three days before recording the Chasing Dragons EP, making guitar playing next to impossible for three months. I could have canned the entire thing, but I simply saw it as what I call, “The Jaws Shark Phenomenon.” One of the reasons the movie Jaws was so successful was because the mechanical shark was always broken, and Spielberg had to find a different way to show that a shark was there. It ended up making the movie exponentially more frightening. I had an inspiration for a new direction to take this album drop in a week before recording. Because of my injury, I had to move in that direction, which was vastly different from my first EP or cancel the whole thing. Turns out the new way I wanted to go was right in the wheelhouse of my next producer and opened up an entire new landscape of possibilities for me.
SXSW Pop: Have you collaborated with other artists or producers on your music? Who were some of the most memorable collaborations, and what did you learn from them?
Wesley Adams Cook: Yes, I’ve collaborated with two different producers, but not in terms of us writing out songs together. It’s them helping me realize the vision I have for my songs and them adding their own input. My favorite has been with Kael Alden. He’s one of my closest friends from High School (the one who helped me get into guitar). A very talented musician and producer, who's been doing music production for a living since he graduated college. I love being able to bring my songs to people I trust, tell them the style and feel I’m aiming for, and then allowing the magic to unfold. Recording is one of my favorite parts of music. You book your time, you go in with ideas and then you let the magic unfold. You never know what’s going to come out of it.
SXSW Pop: How do you prioritize collaborations versus solo work?
Wesley Adams Cook: As above, my music is all my own. I’m a songwriter. Once I have a song, I bring it to someone who can help me realize the vision. I’m always open to ideas and am very receptive. I don’t typically collaborate in song writing, but I’m always open to new approaches and working with others. Even if it felt best to have someone else sing one of my songs. If it’s right, it’s right.
SXSW Pop: How do you approach marketing and promoting your music online, such as through social media and email lists?
Wesley Adams Cook: Again, I delegate that. Social media is very helpful and marketing is essential. I just hire it out to those who are more specialized in it so I can put my focus on other things that are important to me.
SXSW Pop: Can you share some of your favorite promotional strategies that have worked for you?
Wesley Adams Cook: Oh I just prefer to be witty, creative and humorous. This is perhaps the most serious interview you will get from me. I’m doing it this way because it felt like the way to approach this one. Most of the time, I just write humorous interviews and video/show promotions. My approach is to be myself because if I’m miserable or feel inauthentic, what’s the point?
SXSW Pop: What do you think is the biggest misconception about the music industry that new artists should know about?
Wesley Adams Cook: Honestly, I don’t pay the music industry much mind. It’s not my focus. I’m more focused on writing and producing songs.
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