Toms Graffiti: ESPVisuals Interview with Ivan Shopov / Cooh

Thursday, March 25, 2010

ESPVisuals Interview with Ivan Shopov / Cooh

Today we have an interview with the extremely creative Ivan Shopov aka. Cooh

Tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Ivan Shopov and I am freelance artist and music producer from Bulgaria. Born in a small town called Troyan, that's situated in the middle of the Balkan Mountain in Bulgaria.

How long have you been illustrating and what are your influences?

I started with drawing when I was 6 as my mother is an artist too and I grew up in her studio. Later on I studied in the school of applied arts in my home town, taking ceramic and sculpture classes. Then after another 5 years I graduated at the National Academy of Arts in Bulgaria with speciality of graphic fine arts. So now I have been doing graphic prints and drawings for 13 years. My influences come mostly from the shapes of the nature twisted through the modern and classical art.

You are also a musician, producing electronic music. Tell us more.

I have been doing electronic music for the last 11 years and I have over 40 drum and bass and dubstep vinyl releases with my aliases Cooh and Balkansky.

Currently working on a few new projects in different styles. One of them is with my new alias for techno music - Drum Kid and another for hard and trippy dubstep - Underhill together with Dean Rodell and Current Value.

How does your music relate to your art or vice versa?

Its all connected, as I am a really creative person and cant stay a minute without doing something with my eyes and ears.

For me the art is in both directions and both help each other in the creative process.

When i do music its the same sence of composition, contrast and balance you have to apply for drawing a picture, so most of the time I spend half of my day drawing, the other half doing beats in the studio.

3 words to describe your art?

Organic, Abstract, Freedom.

3 words to describe your music?

Energy, Emotions, Future.

What are you currently working on?

Preparing new try point prints for my future exhibition in Belgium and setting up a portfolio with my current works to get some more attention over my art from galleries and art collectors.

Musicwise I am finishing some collabs for big labels, working on my solo stuff as Cooh, Balkansky and Drum Kid and sorting my tours all around the globe.