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| Photo by Holy Smoke Photography |
So, let's see what happens when Lina Cooper visits Section 36 Music!
I really enjoyed your latest single, “If You Ever Leave Me”. What can you tell me about it?
Thank you so much! "If You Ever Leave Me" was a song I wrote driving in the car next to a guy I was seeing at the time. We were having a great day, we were on our way to brunch with his lovely young niece. Keep in mind, that very week I rewatched the whole Kill Bill saga twice and was extremely inspired by it and Tarantino in general. As we were driving, I had a very quick thought - what if I was Uma Thurman and my boyfriend cheated on me? What would I do? The same second I took out my phone and started typing. I could see the exact scenario of this situation. I played out a whole movie in my notes. I saw blood, heard revengeful laughs, I smelled passion and pain. I saw me breaking into this guy's house, yelling and crying, asking him why he did what he did, then murdering him and getting away with it, because heartbreak is just as much of crime as a murder (obviously, not, but the character would think that it is). The next day after I wrote these lyrics, I knew what energy the song needed to have and I just started randomly going through Logic Loops and found that guitar hook. The melody came to be minutes after the I made the beat. And that was it!
Thank you so much! "If You Ever Leave Me" was a song I wrote driving in the car next to a guy I was seeing at the time. We were having a great day, we were on our way to brunch with his lovely young niece. Keep in mind, that very week I rewatched the whole Kill Bill saga twice and was extremely inspired by it and Tarantino in general. As we were driving, I had a very quick thought - what if I was Uma Thurman and my boyfriend cheated on me? What would I do? The same second I took out my phone and started typing. I could see the exact scenario of this situation. I played out a whole movie in my notes. I saw blood, heard revengeful laughs, I smelled passion and pain. I saw me breaking into this guy's house, yelling and crying, asking him why he did what he did, then murdering him and getting away with it, because heartbreak is just as much of crime as a murder (obviously, not, but the character would think that it is). The next day after I wrote these lyrics, I knew what energy the song needed to have and I just started randomly going through Logic Loops and found that guitar hook. The melody came to be minutes after the I made the beat. And that was it!
The video for “If You Ever Leave Me” is outstanding. What was it like to put that together?
Oh, it was so much fun! The director and the actors are all my
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| Photo by Holy Smoke Photography |
very close friends and it was pure pleasure working with them. Misha Bogomolov (the director) is my roommate, I just brought him the idea about the video, where I get cheated on and then murder the guy and he had a vision right away. We filmed it in 2 days in Boston. As we were putting together the plot, we started pulling references from "The Shining" (where I axe the door and then say "Here's Lina"), "Carrie" (where I am all covered in blood in a little silk dress), "Mr & Mrs Smith" (the fighting scenes with the knives) and of course, "Kill Bill" (the whole image and aesthetic of this song). I gotta say, acting was so much fun. I haven't filmed a music video where I get to be sexy and CRAZY at the same time! I have to admit, it was definitely difficult to let go of the "real me" from time to time, but I enjoyed challenging myself. I am very happy with our result.
What about your upcoming projects? I saw that you are dropping a song on Valentine's Day. Could you tell us a bit more about that?
So first of all, Valentine's Day is my Birthday, which probably explains why I am such a hopeless romantic constantly falling in love and getting heartbroken and then writing songs about it. And this song, that's called "Ethereal", is one of a few happy songs I've ever written.
Firstly, I wrote a song after literally watching videos on how to write a smash pop song, and then googling "the most beautiful words in English". And the word "ethereal" was one of them. The moment I read it, I knew this was my title. I wrote the song in 30 minutes, when I snuck out of the office where I worked at the time and then produced the demo in literally one evening. My goal with writing it was to capture this fragile, addictive, incredible feeling of affection, of falling in love and living in the moment. I am describing the guy the song is about (and whose voice memo I used as well...), almost worshiping every single little detail I could think of. From his brown curls enswathing his shoulders to his arms being covered in tattoos that looked like a piece of art from the Louvre itself. And at the same time, while I was feeling so high on love, I wanted to include this uncertainty, this fear of losing the person you're clinging so much to, this tender and shy anxiety about feeling like this will not last forever. With that said, this song was meant for all the lovers, all the romantics, the dreamers or just fans of pop music. I hope you enjoy it :)
You are a recent graduate of Berklee College of Music. What’s the biggest thing you feel that did for your career?
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| Photo by Holy Smoke Photography |
Who/what would you consider your biggest musical influences?
A lot of people judge me for my answer, but I finally stopped being ashamed of saying it. My biggest influence is Taylor Swift. I consider her an unbelievable and truly magically talented songwriter. She writes or co-writes every single song of hers and that is my goal. Tell my own self-written stories through music and inspire people the way she inspires me. She is such a prolific storyteller and a magnificent melody composer. She has a feel for hooks and you can't deny that at least at some point in your life you couldn't get one of her songs out of your head. My dream is to get in the room with her.
Other than COVID, what would you say is your biggest career challenge?
At this very moment, as sad as it sounds, it is money. I work a regular music job while I am trying to make my artist thing happen. But unfortunately, a lot of music services cost a lot of money. Production, mixing, mastering, photoshoots, music videos, social media promotion, management, etc. You either have to have a label or invest into your music yourself. And I am definitely working very hard towards my goal, I am trying to do everything that I can. And I truly believe that hard work pays off. So even though it's a big challenge, it won't stop me.
What are your immediate career goals?
My immediate and final goal, to be quite honest, is very simple.
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| Photo by Holy Smoke Photography |
I want to make a living by doing what I truly love. And I love making music, I love writing, I love telling stories, I love seeing people smile, sing along and dance, I love spreading love, making people feel like they are not alone in this world. It is the highest of the highs when you see someone enjoying your music and my goal is to put my music in front of as many people as I can. And of course, just be happy.
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Those sound like a solid goal. I'm sure she'll get there!
As always, I want to thank Lina for visiting, and for sending along the pictures to accompany the interview.
I know you’ll all want to follow along with Lina to see what she's up to. The best way is to follow her online on Instagram, and visit her website. They’re great ways to make sure you don't miss a thing!
You can also visit her Section 36 Music page. There you'll find more links, music samples, and pictures. It's a great way to enjoy everything Lina has to offer all in one place.
Thanks again Lina, and good luck reaching your goals!
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