Interview: Mark Cooley Joins Sonder Music Management, Talks Shuj Roswell Past, Present, and Future, and Shares His Love of the Colorado Music Scene

The past year has been a wild ride - that’s for sure. Along the way, I’ve gotten to meet, interact with, and work with so many wonderful musicians and artists who are committed to honing their craft and bringing their creativity to the people. In a year like the last one, that has been such a saving grace. One of the incredible musicians that I got to meet over the last year through a variety of avenues is Shuj Roswell AKA Mark Cooley. Now, I have the extreme honor of announcing that Mark will be joining us here at Sonder Music Management.

I’ve been spending a lot of time lately getting to know Mark and his passion for his music and the local scene. I’m so excited that I got to interview him to introduce him as Sonder’s newest artist! Please enjoy learning all about Shuj in this article - and don’t forget to pre-save his newest single, “Jus Because,” which is dropping THIS FRIDAY! It’s one for the fans and you won’t want to miss it. Please also check out Shuj Roswell on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Soundcloud, Spotify, YouTube, Bandcamp, and Super Best Records, and keep up with his shows and tours on his website! Without further ado, please meet Mark Cooley:

Tell me a little bit about yourself - How long have you been playing music as a musician? How did you first get into playing music?

I've always been into music. As a child, I used to set up my family's pots and pans and imagine I was playing a drum kit or pretend to conduct an orchestra if my folks were listening to classical music. I discovered my love for Hip-Hop in 6th grade and played saxophone through junior high. I got my first guitar in high school and played in a few jam bands through my college years which allowed me to hone in on my improvisation and listening skills. It wasn't until my first STS9 show at Red Rocks when I realized you could combine Hip-Hop, jam, and electronic music and create it on a laptop from your bedroom. It was then I decided to create Shuj. The name was taken from one of my best friend’s black cats. Roswell was added a year or so later after watching an episode of Ancient Aliens about Roswell, NM and Area 51. I've been producing and performing music professionally as Shuj Roswell since 2015. I released my debut album, Flying High Above The World, on Michal Menert’s label, Super Best Records, that same year. I work in a sub genre of EDM called Electro Hip-Hop Soul or Electro Soul. I specifically refer to my sound as Funktronadelic. Shuj Roswell has always been accompanied by a drummer, but I wanted to bring something more to the live show - something that wasn't your typical live band configuration. I incorporate horns in just about every song, so I thought it would be fun to bring in a 3-piece horn section. I then rounded out the live band with emcee Jarrett Allen, AKA J.Shook, who I met at one of the shows I was a part of. He was sitting in with Michal Menert that night. After the show he mentioned how much he enjoyed our set. At the same time, I was complimenting him on his flow, delivery and lyrical content during his performance with Michal so we decided to get together. He's been a permanent part of Shuj Roswell Live ever since.

The live band has remained the same with the exception of two former drummers. I first performed with drummer, Tynan Olsen, from a previous jamtronica band then played alongside A.C. Lao. A.C. relocated to Nashville in 2017, but not before introducing me to my current drummer and good friend, Eric Imbrociano. The current line up consists of J.Shook, emcee, Sarah Mount on saxophone, Matt Wilkolak on trumpet, his brother Mark Wilkolak on trombone, and Eric on drums.

What inspires you to make the music that you do?

I think it's the sampling. You can take an old piece of music or something more contemporary and rework it into something completely different. It's really the heart of the song. Even after you've added all the additional layers of music it's still that initial sample you chopped up that provided the inspiration to begin with. It's like this puzzle of sounds you get to put together.

What have you accomplished as a musician in the last year that you’re most proud of?

Unlike the members of my live band, Shuj Roswell is the only musical project I'm a part of. That said, I was pretty satisfied with what we were able to accomplish this past year in light of a global pandemic. We performed 3 live streams between the months of April and September 2020. One for ARISE - Rocky Mountain Virtual which featured Michal Menert sitting in with us. This performance received an encore re-stream by River Beats for its production value. I also did a Shuj Roswell solo brunch stream for Shared Views Media, then another live band stream for Kevin Donohue's WaveLair series. All streams are posted to Shujroswell.com and YouTube.

In addition to the live streams, I was still able to get into the studio. I released an electro soul remix of The Commodores’ “Easy Like Sunday Morning” and a three track LoFi Hip-Hop EP titleted “Shuttlecock.” I think the EP would be what I'm most proud of this past year. It's the first sample-free release I've done and features original instrumentation from my live band. We were able to get the horns and my drummer, Eric, into the studio to record their parts while I produced them virtually. It was definitely different having to work the way we did but I'm really happy with the way it came out.

Tell me about your new single, Jus Because. What inspired it? What was the recording process like?

This one started out as this 8 bar break that centered around part of the intro of a Jackson 5 song that I sampled, re-pitched and chopped. Funny because I had originally sent this over to my homie, Matt, AKA Father Figure to see if he wanted to collaborate on it. Something about this break kept calling to me though and before I knew it, I practically had a completed song within a couple days of sending it to Matt. I messaged him and let him know that I was going to have to send him something new because I had finished the track. He was awesome about it and understood how sometimes the creative juices can flow.

During the writing process, the song began to reveal itself to me and started telling me this story that was hitting on a very personal level. I was still cheesing off the vibes I was feeling from our last show and how fam it was and how so many people came out to support us. It just came together as this appreciation song. It's for everyone that's ever supported Shuj Roswell. It's my way of saying thank you. Like the chorus says, "We all squad up then the crew get down."

The recording process was pretty much the same as my past work. I'll create the song in my home studio, which usually starts by sampling an inspiring piece of music and chopping it up in my MPC. Then I'll add original sections of music using analog synthesis. Once I feel like I have an arrangement that resembles a song, I'll create a mix down. I'll then take the mix to Violet Studios in Boulder where I work with audio engineer and wizard, Chris Wright, to further mix then master the song. I choose to work at Violet because they are an all analog studio. In other words, I'm mixing and mastering "outside of the box" using real hardware instead of software VST's. I think this process adds a level of warmth that can't be reproduced from working in the box.

Are you from Colorado? How does living in Colorado influence your music?

I was born in Virginia Beach, VA but have spent the majority of my life in Denver, having gone to high school and college here. Being so close to not just the mountains and nature, but the city too, brings a huge influence to my music.

What’s your favorite thing about the Colorado music scene? 

Denver started out as the epicenter of the electro soul movement. I'm not sure about other genres here but this scene is all about family. You can go to a show by yourself and you're going to find someone you know. It's a tight knit group of audiophiles that know their music.

If there’s one thing you want people to take away from your music, what is it? 

I think I'd like people to see the several layers my music has. Everything is done with intention. Sometimes even the timestamp of a post or the date of a release was done on purpose. There's at least one easter egg in just about everything I do. If you take your time with my music and peel it back, you'll find that there is much more than what you see on the surface. It's all connected and ever evolving.

What is something you have learned or taken away from the last year that you’ll apply to the rest of your life?

Just do you. Don't worry about what everyone else is doing or has going on. You can only control what you can control. Create your own thing and own it. Monitor the amount of time you spend on social media and be sure to continually self-meditate and exercise. Strive to live in the moment. 

What’s your favorite show that you’ve ever played? Why was it so special to you?

Either NYE at the Aggie Theater in Fort Collins supporting Michal Menert or one of my first shows at Knew Conscious. The Aggie because all the homies were on that line up and it was New Years Eve. It was a very memorable night. Knew Conscious because I had produced a song that featured David Murphy (formerly of STS9) on bass guitar and he was down to come out and jam and perform on stage with me that night. STS9 was a huge influence on why I started producing electronic music in the first place so working with David and then having the opportunity to perform with him was definitely a full circle moment for me.

If you could play your dream show, what would it look like? 

Performing at Red Rocks. I don't care if I'm first on the bill playing doors. It's always been a dream of mine to perform at that legendary venue.

What’s your favorite song to play? Original or cover.

That's a tough one. It changes from show to show. Instead of saying favorite song to play, I might say "most excited to play." For example, at our last show we did a flip of a Daily Bread song called “Meditate.” By flip, I mean we took the original song, did our own arrangement and added a section of improvisation. We had never performed it before, and honestly, I had no idea how it would be received, but I was very excited to perform it nonetheless. I guess my favorite song is the one that sticks out as a treat on that night's setlist. There may be a couple of those. It could be a reworked original, a song we haven't played in a while, a segue from one song into another, or a cover song we've never performed.

Who are some of your favorite local Colorado musicians and bands?

Wow, there are so many. Pretty Lights, Michal Menert, Break Science, SunSquabi, Late Night Radio, Lotus, Maddy O'Neal, Mikey Thunder, Brisco Jones, Mux Mool, RECESS. So many homies… Melody Lines, MIDIcinal, Benjamin's Vibe, Mr. Bugatti, The BeatServer, Since JulEYE, FORREST PUMP, Autonomix, Kaptian, Homemade Spaceship, UnderLux, FunkStatik. All those boys over at Potent Productions, Project Aspect and MHSM (Mile High Sound Movement) and Super Best Records, Grim & Darling, Float Like A Buffalo, TNERTLE, Pandasaywhat, Sam and Sarah, The Rushmores, Evanoff, Cycles, Louie Letdown.

What’s a great local Colorado business for people to support this summer?

I don't know if there's one business I can specifically suggest but I will say to try and eat locally. Support your favorite mom & pops restaurants, tip your servers, and shop at your local farmers markets as often as you can.

What do you love most about Shuj Roswell Live?

I think the thing I love most about the live band is having musicians on stage performing. I think people really connect to that. Especially in a genre that's mostly represented as DJ culture where that isn't the norm. It also allows us to take a song and really breathe life into it. Coming from a jam band background, we have the ability to add live instrumentation to the song, whether that means having the horn section play the part that was already in the track or completely rework a previously produced song and remix or flip it live where we can improvise solos over a section of the song. It allows us to put everything on the table and rework it from show to show.