#174 Cooper Phillip
Russian born, Los Angeles based pop soul artist Cooper Phillip succeeds in capturing the undivided attention of listeners across the globe. With her intense drive, soaring vocals and passionate songwriting, Phillip is elevating herself to the top of her genre.
Phillip’s music features an underlying theme of strength, grace and empowerment. "I believe we underestimate ourselves often and our fear takes over. My goal is to show people that they are stronger and can do much more than they think they can”, she admits. Using true life stories, hardships and experiences, the songwriter emits authenticity and courage throughout her music. Cooper Phillip has seen success with her previous single garnering over 10 million listens online. She has also developed an impressive and loyal fanbase, particularly on social media and has performed at some of Los Angeles most prestigious venues.
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Transcript
Rae Leigh: Welcome to a Songwriter Tryst with Cooper Phillip how are you?
Cooper Phillip: I'm great. How are you?
Rae Leigh: I'm good. I'm good. I'm actually excited to have this conversation and get to know you a little bit more and learn about who you are as a person and why you love music so much and why this is become your lifetime career. So let's start by getting you to share a little bit about who you are and where you come from.
Cooper Phillip: So I live in Los Angeles, California, but I was born and raised in Russia. I'm actually south of Russia, a city called Saratoga. It's on a bank of the Volga river. I was born into a family of classical musicians. Basically grew up in opera and ballet theater and music was my. My air from, from the very beginning, I grew up listening to operas and symphony orchestras, and I toured with my mom.
So it was kind of part of me since the very beginning. And then I started playing piano and I started playing harp. And I'm really glad that I kind of started as an instrumentalist first because the impact it had. Very big impact on my singing and my singing development, I think being an instrumentalist first is a great, great foundation in classical music is is a beautiful, you know, start to a you know, a musical career because you understand everything.
Rae Leigh: What do you find was the biggest benefit in being in is tremendous learning piano before singing?
Cooper Phillip: The understanding of music, the understanding of how to build melodies, harmony, and just kind of knowledge of classical pieces helped me a lot to be able to understand how to write, even though from the very beginning. I was really shy to write my own stuff. And I was just a singer. I was just copying some other people's voices and mimicking their sounds.
Around 14 years old, I wrote my. Song. And I was really, you know, shy to even show it to my mom because my mom who's the biggest critic of all times. And she's always been like my go-to with everything when it comes to music. And my mom was my first vocal coach, even though she's a classical violinist, not even a vocal coach, but as a musician, she was able to correct me.
Tell me exactly what I'm doing wrong in terms of my pitch, my placement. She was able to help me and kind of paid my attention to the most important little things that helped me to
build a strong singing foundation. If it makes
Rae Leigh: How did you go with your first song showing your mum? Ha ha.
Cooper Phillip: I actually did not go to her. I always used to playing it and she
came into like, oh, did you write that? Oops. I guess I have to, I guess to show, I guess I have to show it to her. Yeah. She was like, it's pretty good. You should change here and there, but like you should record it. And yeah, but I was still very, very shy because the approach to musical education in Russia is very, very different compared to the U S because in the states people, they do.
They write, they compose, they produce, they record themselves like local produce, like so more, you can do more skills. You have better artists. You, you know, become in Russia. It's very like precise. Like, if you are a singer, be a good singer, that's it. You don't have to ride your own music. You don't have to go.
Three different directions. So my, my whole approach of education was like, I'm a trained singer, so I'm going to be singing songs, but composers will be writing for me. That's kind of my attitude throughout the first years of my career. And then in the states, when I moved, I started.
I started trying to write with other people.
And I got very inspired and I thought I have my own original ideas. Why not? You know, to just share them. And I started writing composing for myself and then
for other artists. And I love right now.
Rae Leigh: So, so what was that transition like? Because that's, it is a sort of bad
theory. It is focus on one thing, but yeah, I think these days, especially we all kind of need to be able to multitask in this industry.
Cooper Phillip: think if you have this in you and you have things to share and you have ideas and you
It's it's like, it just killed, you know, like singing. I didn't think the way I do today
in the past, like I wasn't born with this skill. I built, I worked hard to get to the place I am now same with singing and I, I truly believe that if you have passionate, Certain creative streams, right?
Like writing, producing, composing, you should develop it, you know, and some people just don't want to write. They're not inspired. So they, they shouldn't even try, I guess, but it's, it's such a magical moment when you actually can create some original musical idea and can touch hearts. Not only with.
Singing technique, not only with your voice, but with your like musical philosophies, even bigger impact to the world. I think if you can actually write musical composition, I think it's great to win. Yeah. Even greater, you know, try to do it. I mean, I'm not saying that if you don't have passion for it, you shouldn't try, obviously should try
everything to really understand your personality in music.
But I think writing is the biggest thing, because the voice is a very strong instrument, but music and musical philosophy sometimes
even stronger, you know what I mean?
Rae Leigh: Oh, yeah. And how do you got to know if you, if you're any good at it, if you don't try or even if you like it, if you don't try, it's like trying vegetables when you're a kid, you know,
Cooper Phillip: Yes, yes.
Rae Leigh: You might find passion
in, in things as you give them a go and yeah. But I like how you said, if you're passionate about
it, try it, but even then, like, even if you're just curious, give it a go.
If you know that it's not something you like, then that's fine, but
Cooper Phillip: But how do you know if you haven't tried? So that's the.
Rae Leigh: Yeah, no. And it's, it's a different form of expression, writing a word to a piece of paper, you know, then, then singing it. I mean, and, and singing someone else's words, it's, it's complete. I was petrified to sing my own stuff.
Like I would sing in church and I would sing at the Christmas songs and lots of stuff, but there was no,
there was no way in this world that I was going to sing something that I'd written down
in public. It's so vulnerable.
Cooper Phillip: And I think it's, it's great to allow yourself to be vulnerable. I think because from the very beginning, my whole story
started from like, I'm a strong person. I'm coming to America with like, I'm an American dream because I'm an immigrant and all that, you know, stuff coming at 19 years old to New York by myself with $300.
No connections, no knowledge of mentality or there's no, like,
not a perfect English, very shy, very like very vulnerable, but like trying to really cover that and being very strong and important, you know? But Vulnerability is what I'm learning and teaching myself because we all, we can be vulnerable because we all human.
Right. But on stage I believe that vulnerability is one of the most beautiful things because. Create the real connection with the audience. And I didn't know how to do that in the past. I thought I'm just going to be perfect. Me. I'm going on stage, trying to be perfect. Everything that I do. And if I didn't get to this level of perfection in my mind, I thought, oh, I did make it.
I didn't do it. Right. But then I felt this connection with like such a disconnect with, with my audience. And I started like analyzing. The reactions and the most like unprepared moments, sincere moments, vulnerable moments resonated with the audience the most. And I started learning this in kind of like looking through the history of music and all of the artists.
They really connect the most when they are vulnerable. And I think I'm learning to be just honest. And I think we all have
those vulnerability.
Rae Leigh: real. Yeah, it's so real. And that's for realness is so refreshing because it reminds us that we're all vulnerable and it's okay to be vulnerable. And I think we're all our own harshest critics. So when someone else
is vulnerable without gives us permission to be human, which is refreshing.
Cooper Phillip: Yeah,
Rae Leigh: Yeah,
Cooper Phillip: really important.
Rae Leigh: it is.
Tell me about that journey you know, making it into America and do your ambition and desire behind that. And
like w what was the biggest challenge around that? Such a big move?
Cooper Phillip: Well, I did not understand when I was making that big move, that the move?
is really, really like big.
Rae Leigh: Hm.
Cooper Phillip: So I was just 18, 19 years. Making, you know, performing all over Russia, winning singing competitions participating in like music festivals. But the music I was making and performing was like Western tradition.
Like I grew up listening to Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Christina Aguilera, like I loved R and B and soul and like pop. And I was saying in English, I also was saying like, jazz. There was no audience for this music in Russia because a Russian market. Obviously Russian music. So I never wanted to sing in Russian.
I was not because I disliked the language or the culture. No, because I was just not fascinated. I was not passionate about Russian songs. I was like, yeah, it's great. But I'd rather listen to check off ski or like classical pieces. I think it is genius. But in terms of. Russian pop music. I was never like really inspired.
And I guess I was choosing to sing something different and I didn't have a lot of audience for that. And everywhere I was going, lots of industry people were telling me why you think in English thing in Russian? Yeah. A very big conflict inside of me because I couldn't do what I loved. And then when the opportunity came actually my classmate from my hometown reached out to me and said, Hey, me and my girlfriend, I go into the United States this year.
Do you want to join us? And I was like, I guess it was. Why not right. I want to see that the planet where my idols coming from, and I just want to know what, because we, we only knew, you know, not much about America just through the movies and it seemed like a perfect, perfect world. In every single aspect, so we didn't know much about it.
And then I got my student visa actually exchange visa and I came in summer of 2009 and I fell in love with the country because I finally, for the first time in my life felt like I'm home. It was a really weird feeling because you're in, you're on a different planet where you feel like you the most. Self and I started making connections and I realized quickly that I want to stay. And I was trying to find a way how to stay. Then I submitted for visa extra ordinary ability visa for people in music and creative world. If you can prove to the government that you very special you have to put together. The documents and show the proof that you're talented and stuff like that. So, it took me two years to get like fully legal and get the ability to work. But then I was making connections and meeting people. And for me it wasn't an entire transformation, you know? I call it it's a reincarnation.
Would you still remember
your past life? That's the, what I call.
Rae Leigh: Believe in the, first and second line.
Cooper Phillip: a, it's a, it's a huge.
Like it's a completely different life, completely different mentality. I was so
afraid to speak English for the first two years. I was able to understand almost everything, but I was so caught up in my like, thinking, like, what if I say something wrong and make my grandma?
Or what if I say something with an accent and people will think that I'm afforded, like I was so shy, you know? And then I got stopped for the first two years. I got stopped into Russian community.
Rae Leigh: Yeah.
Cooper Phillip: was not fun, but it was a great, great experience because I actually had to do things I didn't want to do in Russia.
So the universe had the plan for me because in order to make money in America, I had to start performing in Russian clubs in restaurants, in Brooklyn, obviously half of what I was singing was in Russian. So I was basically, I escaped Russia to sing American music.
Rae Leigh: Yeah.
Cooper Phillip: Coming into small Russia in Brooklyn.
And I have to say in a Russian to make money, to actually get to my dream of performing English music, you know, so it was very challenging. It's it's like, I'm really happy that I did it. I, I did not understand how big of an impact I'm going to get from this whole. But it made me a completely different person because I had lots of expectations from life.
Like, because I am talented, people will just do things for me. You know, I had. Psychological, you know, things in my mind, like I had expectations and I worked through so many like psychological things, and I actually think I became a much better person, stronger and more independent. And I'm happy that I.
Actually live anywhere in the world right now having two passports, you know, I can go to Russia anytime I want, I can travel in Europe. I can go to, you know, anywhere. And I feel like I'm a citizen citizen of the world. I'm not like a.
You know, just, just American girl who was born in Russia or just a Russian girl in America.
I don't even feel that. I feel like I'm a very international person in my, in my mentality. And I'm so grateful for this move. It made me, I think it made me a
stronger person.
Rae Leigh: That's beautiful. And what unfair being so resilient and pushing, pushing through, it sounds like you've had a lot of tough lessons in that journey.
Cooper Phillip: Yes. Yes. And then I didn't understand why I have to do certain things and why I have to go through those lessons. But then now I understand. And I also started another big you know, part of my journey is actually teaching three and a half years ago. I started You know, digging into a new professional for me that I actually naturally have talent for is like teaching from the very beginning, like fifth grade in school, I was able to explain certain complicated things in math or in like geography or music to different people.
So I had a natural gift of explaining things. And then three and a half years ago, I started teaching more seriously. And right now it's really, really hard to. Imagine I have over 12,000 people that I taught in the past three and a half years. I traveled to 19 countries. I created my own method of teaching that connects to the body and body awareness and breathing and whiffs and Ron technique, because especially for the culture I'm coming from for Slavic people.
Everyone's looking up to Mariah Carey and Beyonce. They want a sound and sing rifts and Ron's like, like them and because I'm a Slavic generation and the phonetics of like Russian language per se is completely different type of sound. I was able to crack the code of like how, yeah, how to explain the riffs and Ron's to Demographics and make them sound very authentic and very like you like, so you can hear a singer
Rae Leigh: Yeah,
Cooper Phillip: and you can never say, oh, he's she's from Russia. They sound very, very, very like, Americanized, whatever, like Western, you wouldn't say they have an accent or they have, or they mimicking it. They actually very authentic in how they do lifts and rocks, which is not part of Russian culture. You know, it's part of American culture because of the history of blues and jazz and soul music.
Russian people admire African-American culture Western culture, soul music, gospel music, but we sold like far away from the understanding and the knowledge of it. So it was great for me to go through this experience and actually learn the environment and take the best out of it and then share it with my.
So that's what I'm doing, doing a lot right now. Yeah. Teaching masterclasses. We've seen neurons breathing and performing like all over the world. So all of those
lessons and complications were, were right. You know, made me a person I am today and I'm just, just grateful, honestly.
Rae Leigh: Well done. That's beautiful. I think it's an important thing too, when we learn things to be able to share with other people is it's very honorable. So well
Cooper Phillip: Yeah.
Rae Leigh: I want to ask you about your songwriting journey and becoming a songwriter as well. Is there something that you've found in your songwriting when you found your voice that you, you always
love to sort of put into your music, whether it's for you or for other people, what's your main focus with your songwriting?
Cooper Phillip: I think I was, as I said before, I was very like afraid of being a writer because I thought I'm not, I didn't study some writing in school, so I was always this kind of perfect. Excellent student doing only what I do best. So songwriting was not at my comfort level, so I was always like afraid. But then when I started collaborating in the studio with other writers and I, I was discovering how easy they communicating and how great type of ideas they have in the studio and how open they are, how vulnerable they are.
Share, like in sharing their ideas. Kind of, I learned a lot from those people and I started, I became more brave in how I express myself in the studio. And I remember my first deal 2011 with a production company where actually I'm so, so grateful. Nothing came out of it, unfortunately, but
God had a plan for me.
But, but I, I. Ended up being on this deal. I was in the studio with top writers of that time
and actually worked with this incredible. Trio of songwriters, the monster and strangers from Miami, they really well known for the work like the writing for Dua Lipa, Halsey, Justin Bieber, like bunch of like top artists.
And like, at that time they were already like rising stars and I was able to be in the studio with them and was sitting in the studio and basically writing ideas on the, on the track with a producer. And I I'm feeling that their ideas to the melodies. this is not how I feel this music. And I kind of like stepped up and I said, Hey guys, what do you think about for me?
It was a huge like innocence. And like, it was like you know,
coming, you know, fighting my fear inside. I was like, what do you think about this melody? And I started giving my ideas for the first time. I was brave enough to even like step up and say, Hey, what do you think about this? And. showcase my melody and they're like, oh my God, this is so much better than what we have.
Let's go with your melody. And when that got this sort of approval from this, you know, amazing professional, like writing trio, I was like, actually, my melodies are great too. I should, you know, I should brainstorm and be part of it as, as well. And then I gave them like 40 different melodies for the hook, 40 different melodies for the post, for the bridge.
And they were like, wow, girl, your melodies are amazing. But obviously my background is classical symphony orchestra, opera, ballet house. Right. So I've been hearing all those melodies, my entire childhood. So I'm coming from a world of like lots of great melodies. So I, I, I was kind of like carrying them.
Inside of me and I was so afraid to share. So when I got this approval at this, at this moment from, from them, I was like, I should probably write my Molly's. At least I'm not a like native speaker. English is my second language, but melodies, I can, I can write. So I started actively suggesting my melodies, my ideas. And then one day I realized that I should try to write lyrics. Why not? But I was always like, oh, I'm not a native speaker. My, my lyrics would probably be silly and not as good. And then I started writing with amazing songwriters in somehow, sometimes kind of like creating some concepts and some words. That were better than what they were offering, I guess, because I really felt and really understood what I wanted to say. And I was suggesting that and they're like, oh wow, this is amazing. So last few years in the studio with writers, it looks like this. We come, I'm like, okay, I have a title. I start my writing process with the title.
I think everything is doable. And I think when you write a song, it's really important to see the story to visualize what's going on. This is how you can capture all those little important messages in the music. So I started suggesting titles and then we're sitting in the studio and the producers making a track, and I'm already kind of solid on the melody with brainstorming melodies.
And then I'm like, what if we say this in basically I'm suggesting phrasing and wards and the songwriter like, oh yeah, it's great. Oh, and this is great too. So I I'm ending up writing the entire records now which just having somebody else in the studio is always great because you bouncing ideas.
Especially, if you have chemistry, natural chemistry with the writer and the writer understands who you are as an artist, it helps. It helps to create something very Authentic because, you know, I've tried singing other people's songs and it's cool. But when I started opening up and actually writing from my heart, from my experience, I feel like it's, it touches the audience more people really believe that it's my story.
So I'm always trying to tell my stories and I have so many stories from like the day I moved to the United States, all the hardship and everything that I went through and then who I am today. So it's, it's great to have those. And managed to put those into songs and share the stories with the audience, because they can recognize if you really
speaking the truth, you know,
Rae Leigh: Oh yeah, it authenticity. I think
just. It just shines through and we can tell it, you can tell when someone's, you know, lying to buy a car and someone's trying to pull the wool over your eyes, you know, like, you know, and it's the same thing with music. You can tell when someone's singing something, that's maybe not that authentic to themselves.
Yeah. And, and you might not be able to pinpoint exactly what it is about what's going on, you know, but you sense it. I think there's a sixth sense that I think most people. Have in their body that we just get and I'm listening to, it is completely different though.
Cooper Phillip: Right, right.
Rae Leigh: takes, skill to follow that intuition and that, that that gut instinct as well.
So tell me about, you said you started riding with other people. Tell me about your co-writing process. You said you start with a title.
Is there other things that you started to make sure that you do before you go into a co-write what's been your best experience as a.
Cooper Phillip: I think it's, it's an amazing experience to cry with other people because you bouncing different ideas. And especially if the core rider knows exactly what you're trying to say, who you are as an artist, it's also really helps the process. But I think I write down every single thought that I have, if I have a cool catchy title or a phrase that I want to use in a song, I write it down in my. And then I actually come to the studio knowing exactly what I want to talk about in this song. I start, I start with the title
and then I developed the story.
Rae Leigh: Yeah,
Cooper Phillip: And then after the story was developed I want to make sure it's first to start with the melodies obviously, and the structure, I'm a big structure person, you know, cause I think melodic structure is very important and melody should be simple.
But not too simple, but still recognizable. So you can actually, you know how I test the songs when I finished the song, I just show it to, you know, some good friends of mine, not from the music industry and some music industry people. And I just see how they can remember the melody if it's catchy enough, because you always want to make sure that the attention is caught by something by the title, by the phrase, by the.
or the actual structure of the melody. So, this is important for me. And then I'm a big person when it comes to, you know, big fan of vocal production because I am a musician first and I love to arrange voices and come up with some ideas for the, for the vocal pads and some harmonies. That's not very expected because I always want to create something that is not so expected.
Like the third or like, You know, doubling the voices, but like coming up with some, even like musical structures that, that I can do with my voice So basically yeah, and then I kind of like, what I've learned throughout the years when you have a great, great understanding of th the, the concept and the vibe is great in the studio and everybody's on the same page.
You're able to create a song from scratch in three, four hours. Like not just top line or ideas, but like full song, fully produced, arranged vocally arranged and recorded song in three hours, the best songs they came this way. So easy, so spontaneous, so natural, you know, and those kind of like fast, quick ideas, they always the best, you know?
Rae Leigh: I think so.
Cooper Phillip: Yeah. And yeah, and then I live with a song for, for a little bit, and then I kind of like put it outside of
my Music catalog. And then in a day, in a week, I come back to it and trying to analyze, okay, what if it's not my songs that I wrote? And it's not my voice. Who's singing that song. What if it's somebody else's song?
So I'm trying to separate myself from it and hear it from the listener standpoint and kind of like really not judge was kind of like feel what, what do I feel as a listener? And this is the hardest skill. That I think every single artist needs to build, because, you know, from the very beginning, I remember every time I was recording songs, maybe it's familiar for you as well, but a lot of people actually have that I record and I'm like, oh, I don't like the way my voice sounds, oh, I can do it better.
And you're always trying to perfect the performance, always trying to perfect everything, but I think. The perfection is the enemy of good. And I think too raw performance. So all of my best takes our first three,
Rae Leigh: Yep.
Cooper Phillip: I'm not thinking about how to perform. I'm just kind of going into the vibe and this is really magical because it makes other people feel what you were trying to do saying, or say.
So I love studio process. I love. Being in the studio or challenging myself with some new things and, you know, obviously writing with different people.
Also it's a challenge
Rae Leigh: you find that because that is challenging working with different types of people? Like what would you say your biggest advices for when it comes to working with
someone else and narrowing down that creative process?
Cooper Phillip: Yeah. We just talk a lot about what the writing. And I talk a lot in the studio in the past. I was like very shy, trying to make, if I had a hired writer working with me, they were like asking me questions like, oh, who are you as an artist? What do you wanna talk about? And I was like, I don't know, I am, I can sing.
And I was like, very like shy. Observing, I guess, and that came out the outcome. Wasn't that great. Wasn't that personal? And then when I started actually opening up in the studio and kind of like telling my story to people, they're like, oh, this is dope. You came to America from Russia. Wow. Like it's, let's talk about that.
What did you feel like? And when you brainstorm with people and they helping you to tell your story to, to the audience, It's
It's the best chemistry, the best connection. So right
Rae Leigh: like it when you get someone else's perspective from
your story, and then they interpret it, you know?
Cooper Phillip: It's very refreshing because different people
interpret the same story in a different way.
And I think
it's a beauty off collaboration when you actually have other people's impact on your story. I think it's great. Yeah. I'm a thinker. I love to think. I love to talk to people. I love to be very precise when it comes to writing lyrics. I just can't. Say anything in the, in the song, even if it's beautifully sad, if it doesn't speak to my soul, I was like, I'm not going to sing that because this is not who I am.
And I was not like that from the very beginning, from the very beginning, I was very like calm. You know, this kind of girl who's doing great, you know, things that people tell her to do. You know, I was really afraid to step out from this kind of. Of being a good, good artist. I didn't, you know, I didn't know.
I didn't know who I was, but more and more like collaborating with people helps you to understand how people see you in it's. It's great to analyze the reactions and what they say. And this is how you built
your, I guess, character.
Rae Leigh: Yeah, it's beautiful. And it is, it's a challenging process to work with other people sometimes. But I also think that's sometimes where the best work comes from.
Cooper Phillip: Yeah.
Rae Leigh: Getting vulnerable with someone else, especially if it's a complete
stranger, it can be interesting to see what their first impressions of you are and how you as an artist comes out of that.
That's
Cooper Phillip: Exactly. Yeah.
Rae Leigh: you say has been like your, your
highlight favorite experience so far in your musical journey?
Cooper Phillip: Well, I recently did the voiceover. And it was really challenging because I got to open up a new mentality, a new culture because I am Russian, but I, I lived in America for almost 13 years. And for the first time I spent five months in Russia and it was challenging because I was kind of like learning the culture from a different perspective now, because Yeah. It's been too long ago.
Rae Leigh: Something to compare it
Cooper Phillip: I, moved. Yeah. And it was challenging, challenging, because I've been like teaching so much and
working with, so some of the judges of the voice of Russia on my singing students and I coached them and it was really interesting to kind of switch the focus and go on stage as an artist because the pandemic killed a lot of the performances and opportunities.
Rae Leigh: Yeah.
Cooper Phillip: For artists. So for me, it was very refreshing and very challenging to be on stage and kind of like I wasn't competing and fighting with other singers at all. My whole perception was like, I want to fight my fear. I want to fight my limitations. I want to actually get better. Stage performance. And it was the latest kind of big thing that I did.
But overall I've had releases in the states with millions of views on YouTube, millions of streams, and had successes. I call them little successes, even though it's, it's not, it doesn't a little, but I understand the potential that I have and I'm not there yet. I'm not fully there where I want to be.
I have this hunger for. Creation and development because you know, more and more you do it, you get better at it. And every time
yeah. Every time you want to do even better.
Rae Leigh: You just got to do one thing 1% better than what you did last And
Cooper Phillip: yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And we always want to be, you know, more and more popular, more famous, more successful. And I think. I think it's good when you have like this desire to grow consistently.
So, yeah,
Rae Leigh: a vision of like your ultimate goal? What your, like, what your purpose for your
life and journey as an artist?
Cooper Phillip: I think I do, but maybe, maybe I'm wrong, know, sometimes, sometimes see like with teaching I was able to. Open up so much creatively. And I think this experience working with other artists and helping other people to achieve their goals in, in singing helped me to. up and find a better artist in me if I can say that.
So it was very amazing experience and I'm growing in that field as well. I'm learning, I'm studying myself and trying to be the best coach for them. And then applying the knowledge that I have to my career and kind
of self coaching myself, if I can say that. But in terms of media, You know, the world is changing and what I've learned the past two years since the pandemic started that the arts is, is art.
It doesn't really matter if you're a true artist. It doesn't really matter how big of the audience you have. If you're doing a true art and you really enjoying your art. And my focus right now is to, you know, spread this philosophy
and Kind of on stage more, be riding more be
just creative consistently in that mode where like, sometimes I'm in the studio and there's so many like issues here and there.
But the world really stops when I'm in the studio creating I'm the happy, I'm like a little kid, I'm the happiest person. And I have no issues, no problems. And it's just my space. I'm like fish in the water, you know? And every time I'm creating in the studio, I feel like this is the true purpose of like being so happy in this moment and sharing this moment through the music with others.
So I would love to release more music. I would love to I actually started Voice experience in Russia made me feel so connected to Russian culture again, and I started writing in Russian. That was really unexpected, but it has a lot of Western like American flavor. So basically if you can hear a song that is fully like, Pop American, urban, but has Russian lyrics in it. It's something new to me and I'm really enjoying. So I'm trying to push that as well in Russia. It's going to be my next, my next project, because this is also my native language. And I understand what I'm saying, you know, and I was always like trying to say, oh, Russian is not cool, but now creating the music I'm creating in Russian, I'm proud to, to be Russian and to be creating the music. Makes me feel like I'm enjoying myself. And then I have a whole album that I wrote throughout the pandemic in English with my team of writers and producers here in the states in LA. And I'm just waiting for the right moment, the right, the right time to release it because I think
it's really important.
The timing is really
important and I have a duet.
Rae Leigh: thing yet.
Cooper Phillip: And I have a duet. It's a really exciting project. We have this amazing artist here in LA. He sings
with Erica Badu And he's like all over the place. He has huge audience Darren Bernard. We actually, I wrote a song that he really liked. And he's like, oh, let's, let's do it.
Let's sing it together. So we recorded. And actually shot a music video last year. So I'm working on finalizing that and I think it's going to be the next, the next level of my career, because I think, I think the song in this video, the visual and this collaboration will bring lots of success. I
really believe that this song will be very
Rae Leigh: exciting.
Cooper Phillip: Yeah.
Rae Leigh: you. It's I'm a big fan of when a male and female voice just get to come together and dance around each other. It's one of my favorite things that happens. It's magic. Tell me if you could collaborate with anyone in the world living or dead, who would it be
and why?
Cooper Phillip: Well, it's a good question. I think my favorite, my favorite artists of all times is Beyonce.
Rae Leigh: Okay.
Cooper Phillip: love her class in history. She's the first person who came to my mind when you asked that question. So I guess I will just say Beyonce because I think she's a true entertainer. She's a queen and. package, you know, the dancing, the visual, the swag, and the singing.
I'm a big fan of her and I'm actually, I've been and still learning from her. And I think her music is great. Her singing is great. And this is kind of like a dream of mine, dream of mine, to like collaborate with, with an artist like that. Also, my. Childhood icon and still I'm Mariah Carey. I grew up listening to her basically.
I was mimicking her songs and like trying to sing like her the entire like childhood. So she's the biggest inspiration singing inspiration of mine. So it would be also a dream to sing with her, you know, because I think the most powerful, the most powerful energy is when. At our childhood and we dreaming about the future and we trying to impact the world, having this big dream as, as kids.
And I think our mentality is formed by those idols. And it's really magical when you, when you able to like, with me, like, I was listening to Eric Bernay's music throughout my like childhood and I loved His songs in the hardest moments of my life when I had to like survive through the, you know, hard years, like in Russia, when I moved from my native talent to Moscow and I had to go study at the musical university and I had to work at night, sing at the clubs in Russia.
I was going on the last train back to, you know, my home and I was listening to everything. Song come as you are. And then five, six years. When I moved to the United States, I'm going to his concert and he's like, oh, Cooper. I know you. And then he's vocal producing a song and I'm working with him as an artist and he's working, producing, and I'm cutting the song she wrote.
And I'm like, everything is possible. Everything is possible. It's like, it's, it's, it's all about how. Take the dream and how we live with this dream, because some people, they dream within a dream hard enough to actually follow the dream. You know what I mean? So like they just kind of, they have a desire or I want to do this, but it's not strong enough.
There's not strong motivation behind that dream. And I think dream has to be has to be very focused, you know, kind of, you have to have. Not only I thought of your dream, but you have to actually do a lot of things to get to the dream. I think it's a combination of things. Also luck hard work, but also if you do have that strong childhood dream and you really going and doing everything for it, I believe that it will come true one day.
It doesn't matter when, what it's going to come true because we are much stronger. Human beings that we think we are because everything amazing happens spontaneously and everything happens for a reason. And if you do have that dream, there is a big, big reason behind it to actually get to your dream and, and, and become that who you want to become.
And I think everything is possible and we just sometimes afraid or have too much fear of some, you know, some other people's judgment or. You don't think of us, especially the culture I'm coming from. We it's very cautious college rates about being a good girl for everybody being a pre-write in everything that you do, it's about limitations.
So I'm kind of like America allowed me to break those limitations in my mind and kind of like freed me from overthinking. So I think everything is possible. You just gotta be true to yourself. And if you really want it, you will finally get there's no other.
Rae Leigh: I really appreciate that. And I'm inspired and encouraged by that because it is,
it is something that the world can come in to try and crush your dreams. But no one can take your dreams away from you. If you don't let them, you.
know, it's, it's all, it's all a choice. And I, I really appreciate you sharing cause you, you are an inspiration. who is chasing their dreams and doing the hard
work and learning about yourself and pushing outside of your, you know, your cultural barriers, but also belief system of what you were taught and to change that is, is very crazy. And it takes a very strong person to face those sorts of things.
So well done. I'm going to put your links to your music and your socials in the description of the podcast. And I'm going to make it very easy for anyone to find you and find out more about this podcast and what you're doing on the website. somewhere@interest.com. There'll be a whole page just for you.
So people can click on that to, to follow you and listen to your music and get to know you better. But is there anything else that you would like to share with everyone listening right now before we.
Cooper Phillip: I just would love to say that I appreciate the opportunity to be able to speak about like my thoughts and you know, I am always inspired when I, when I am inspired and sharing my story every single time. It kind of puts me in the mode where like, oh, actually I did all of that in the.
Continue pushing because sometimes it's really, really hard when you have no support, when you have not understanding where the next step will be. And I think really, truly understanding your dream and following your dream no matter. No matter who thinks you should do it or not. It's all about you trying to find the strength within.
And I think, as I said before, we are stronger than we think we are. And I think that's my final message. Then, you know, whoever's listening a beginner songwriter or a singer who, who wants to become, you know, a. Big artist and inspire generations. It's it's all possible. It doesn't matter where you're coming from.
If you're a small village girl from anywhere in the world, but you have this big talent and big desire to shine, you will be shining. You just have to keep on going no matter what. And this is, this is the hardest thing. And I, I wish everyone to have a very inspiring. Path of achieving their dreams because we all drawing our own pictures and we can always, you know, think, oh, it's just too hard.
I guess it's never going to happen. Or we can say, oh, it's hard because the universe is preparing me for something even bigger, because my potential was so much bigger than this. And now I will do it,
Rae Leigh: doing is ever easy.
Cooper Phillip: Yeah. Yeah. And if it's easy, it's, it's, it's. It's not, you know, we don't appreciate enough things that come easy.
For some reason we, all human beings are like that. If it's hard to get, then we're like, yes, I got it. You know? So I wish everybody. Inspiration success luck, which is really important and appreciation for every single know they heard on their way, every single yes, every single dream and every single inspiration, I guess it is really important.
The mentality and thinking process behind the musical genius. And I think all of us can achieve anything we want. As long as we stay focused on our. Authentic goals and desires.
Rae Leigh: What a beautiful way to finish it up. Thank you so
Cooper Phillip: Thank You
Rae Leigh: an incredible speaker and artist, and I would
Cooper Phillip: Oh,
Rae Leigh: the best, and I hope that you achieve all of your dreams and I'm
Cooper Phillip: thank you so much.
Rae Leigh: will. But yeah. Thank you
Cooper Phillip: the best of
Rae Leigh: on here and inspiring. So thank you so much. And look, hopefully if I were ever in the same city at the same time, we'll get to have a, have a drink and meet properly.
Cooper Phillip: meet you in person and continue this beautiful conversation.
