–Introduce yourself: My name is Jake Coco. I am a 22 year old singer/songwriter from Cleveland Ohio. I currently live in Hollywood where I am signed with Alliance records 🙂
-You attended the Make-A-Wish foundation charity event in Michigan with Randy Wayne, Arielle Kebbel and others-were you bummed you weren’t able to perform or was it nice just being able to relax at the function? I love doing things for charity, and this event was no exception. It was an added bonus that a bunch of my friends were there to support the charity as well. It was almost like a vacation, except we were in detroit, which is pretty cold….but still a great city. I was supposed to perform a song with my friend sam sarpong, from the mtv show “yo mama” but I ended up getting sick, so he had to do it alone. But all in all, we ended up having a blast.
-Tell us about your band in High School and the tour you did. I was in a band called Spenser (www.myspace.com/spensermusic) we were a pop/punk band similar to simple plan or good charlotte. I played drums and sang backup. It was a blast. We toured on and off for about 2 years, and were lucky enough to make a record, and play some dates on the warped tour 2 years in a row. All in all we had so much fun, and I learned some much about the bussiness, I wouldnt trade those days for anything, even if we were living out of a van, on 6 dollars a day….gotta love the dollar menu at mcdonalds!
-Was it hard leaving Cleveland for Hollywood? Leaving Cleveland was one of the hardest things that I have had to do, but I knew I needed to do it if I really wanted to try this music thing. Luckily I have very supportive parents and friends, and they understood this as well
-What made you turn down your scholarship to Berklee? I was offerred a scholorship to the summer semester right after high school. I knew that my band was about to go on tour, and I kind of had to choose beetween the two. I never liked school, at all, especially music classes, so the thought of going to school any longer, and having to get reprimanded about music all day, was not very appealing to me. I decided that I didnt want to turn what I love, music, into what I hate, school.
-Who do you look up to musically? Some of my favorite artists are: Butch Walker, Queen, Jason Mraz, Reeve Carney, Jason Reeves, The Fray, Lukewarm Freeda, and a lot of classical/jazz.
–What was it like recording your first cd? It was amazing. Getting to express yourself is an amazing feeling and I am very happy with the product that came out 🙂
-Where do you get your inspiration on writing? I draw most of my inspiration from different relationships. Not neccessarilly boyfriend/girlfriend relationships, but just relationships in general.
-Do you work with anyone while you’re in the writing process or do you do everything solo? I usually write alone, but I do occasionally write with my best friend Doug Moore, and I am looking to write with other people down the road.
-Are you currently planning on doing a nation-wide tour? I hope so. Cross your fingers!
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