Check Out Casey Cope’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Casey Cope.

Hi Casey, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’ve been an artist, producer, & engineer for 15 years. I was initially planning on being the frontman of a pop-punk band (cuz what else would I decide to be at 13?), but eventually became an individual artist once I started listening to more genres. My style is very eclectic these days because of the wide range of music I grew up on outside of hip hop, which I’m primarily known for now. So when I DO rap, it’ll really be over any kind of random ass genre-bending production.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Being an independent artist for over a decade is no joke. There’s no one to tell you how to do anything, no one to make your cover sets, mix your songs, produce your songs, promote your songs, shoot your videos…you get the idea. You have to find ways to get friends involved or do it yourself. Doing it yourself is always the cheaper option, but god damn does it get tiring after 10+ years haha. I think leaning into your strong suits and dividing the other work amongst friends / volunteers / freelancers is highly beneficial.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My most important work has been an event I co-created with my homie Marquito called Qamp. We invite 20+ artists & producers to our studio in Berkeley to make an album from scratch in 3 days, with a documentary of the process. We have two prior installments (Qamp and Qamp II albums + documentaries are both out) and are currently planning Qamp III in a few weeks.

It’s a huge project that brings camaraderie amongst artists that may not have even known each other existed. We create genre-bending songs that can only be made with multiple great minds.

It takes a lot of time to curate the invitee list: we have to vet the individuals, make sure there aren’t too many overlapping skillsets, and we don’t necessarily want too many people that are in similar circles. We want to create new collaborations that might not have otherwise happened.

You can see how we made Qamp II here: https://youtu.be/B1Brlw0edwg?si=Sk-loLmxm0xH1A3Q

Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I love how creatively free the artist community is. Everybody is very open to different styles of music and different tastes. I’ll often see a very Oakland, hyper-aggressive rapper playing on a show with a smooth R&B singer and then maybe a jazz band. We just like cool shit out here.

I dislike that people don’t work together enough. There could be a lot more camaraderie and uplifting amongst each other. Everyone can win together, but we can sometimes be divided. That’s something we want to alleviate a bit in Qamp.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/caseycopesodope
• Twitter: https://Twitter.com/caseycopesodope
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@caseycope2125?si=pfCtfRjFADWd0mGA
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7HuF51YPKsxrkVB6zsHPZD?si=oKqJHoXqRw6Gp5N7_MV3KQ

Image Credits
First 2 photos (black & white and the one sitting on a bus) shot by: Kayla DeGuzman