Ivan Shopov, aka Cooh, is a drum & bass producer from Bulgaria. He got into producing nearly ten years ago after playing bass guitar in a hardcore-metal band and one of his band mates showed him some music software on his PC.

 

His sound is really flexible and full of different elements from all the music he's loved through the years, like metal, industrial, hardcore, IDM, techno, dub and lots of jazz and funk. He also makes IDM / downtempo / ambient under the alias Balkansky and is part of a deep electronica, dubstep and trip hop project called Underhill with Dean Rodell and Current Value.

 

We got the chance to have a discussion about all the things he's been up to recently, just in time for his feature on the new Barcode Filthcast.

You've got a very impressive discography spanning multiple genres, but are there any works in particular that stand out to you?
My Balkansky album Kuker as it really took me a while to make - I was very happy with the final result covering Bulgarian traditional music with a modern electronic sound. Then my drum & bass Moth Machine album for Position Chrome and also my new Naglfar EP that's coming soon on the same label. My project Underhill is another stand-out work, I'm really happy with as it covers another side of what I wanted to do with sound and ideas in the sphere of trip hop, dubstep and IDM crossover.
 
Writing a lot of your music on trains and buses is kind of unusual, but you’ve turned out some of your best material while travelling, so what is it about movement that stirs your creativity so well? 
It's the limitation that's my inspiration. I love to have less and do more than having everything in the studio and getting blocked with all the possibilities there. It's also a lovely way to kill some time and be creative. Another thing is the nature and the landscapes you can see from your window. Being in a dark studio room is a totally different experience to having the sun going around your screen, the dark and cold winter days on the road or two hours flying over the clouds.

You're a pretty positive and happy guy, so what about the darker side of DnB drew you in?
It's the dark drum & bass that eats all my negative energy and transfers it into positive. Kinda the same when I am drawing dark art, it's just to relieve the negative side of me and leave more space for the good. I produce a lot of "softer" music with my Balkansky and Drum Kid aliases, that goes from dubstep, downtempo and IDM to deep house and minimal techno, so I guess that's where the positive energy takes place in my work.

Your performances are very intense to match the DnB you make and play, where do you get all the energy?
It's the music I make and play in my sets. I can't just stay still and watch how it goes with the crowd. Also, being into metal music for ages makes me feel like I am actualy playing with a band when DJing my tunes. I'm exhausted after every show but the public enjoy me feeling my music so well. I guess the energy also comes from the fact I am not a smoker and I avoid hard alcohol, hehe!

Locking down a spot with the Barcode crew on their latest Filthcast, what kind of vibe can we expect from the set? How much of your new album will we get a taste of?
I have half of my new Position Chrome album exposed in the mix and also features my latest productions and favourite tunes covering a wide range of the hard drum & bass sound I'm playing at the moment. It was a while before I got a new mix up and I am really happy to do the Filthcast as I love the music and the artists from the label.

You got into drum & bass production at a fairly young age, will you be doing this (producing, DJing, touring, etc) for the rest of your life?
Yes, I guess so, as I am constantly getting into new music genres and inproving my sound design, so I can't get stuck with just one style of music. But I am also looking to spend more time drawing and exploring that sphere of creativity. I am sure that I will stay creative for the rest of my life, showing more of my world to the people that follow me.

What is your local DnB scene like? Do you get love at home for the work you're doing all over the world?
The scene in Bulgaria is pretty big and the people love the hard sound. That's becouse of all the effort from my H.M.S.U. crew pushing the drum & bass sound without any limits for the last 11 years. It's great fun playing for the crowd at home too and I get a lot of respect for my work around the world, bringing my country to people that never heard of it before.

Cooh & Balkansky are really interesting names, what do they mean and where do they come from?  
Cooh comes from chemistry and it means carboxil group. I took that name when I was 16 having really boring classes of chemistry in school and I wanted to give a name to my first demo tapes with electronic music. Then after a while I released my first 12'' with it and decided to keep it for my drum & bass productions. Balkansky is from the name for one of the mountains in Bulgaria - "Balkan" is where my home town Troyan is situated and Balkansky spoken in Bulgarian stands for a guy that comes from the Balkan mountain. It's a play of words and association with the blue Balkan Sky too.

What's next for Cooh? What other projects should we be watching for?
My next alias to be exposed is Drum Kid. It's for my deep house and techno tunes and I have my first releases signed on Italo Business and Standart Audio. The Underhill debut album is finished and I've also started working on new Balkansky album with more interesting Bulgarian folk and jazz artists. Another project I am part of is the new Blubalu double album, where I did four remixes for the remixed version of it. I am also working with a pop/rock musician from Bulgaria making some electro/acoustic tracks with vocals and guitars.

 

Download Filthcast 024 featuring Cooh

Tracklist:

1. Cooh - 300
2. Current Value - Alpha State (Subsistenz)
3. Cooh & Silent Killer & Breaker - The Galaxian (Guerilla Recordings)
4. Cooh - Grad (Fall Out)
5. Cooh - Predata (Fall Out)
6. Cooh & The Sect - Danger Nation (PRSPCT Recordings)
7. Broken Note - Pyrotek (Cooh remix) (PRSPCT Recordings)
8. Current Value - G2 Hunt (Subsistenz)
9. Receptor vs Fugees - Rhino or Not (Cooh mashup)
10. DVB & Gr VS Machine Code - Dog Bite
11. Broken Note - Channel Zero (PRSPCT Recordings)
12. Current Value - Warship (Barcode Recordings)
13. Cooh - Helmet (Habit)
14. Ogonek - Tumpani (unsigned)
15. Cooh & Forbiden Society - The Gord (Freak Recordings)
16. Cooh & Dean Rodell - Cat Scratch (Position Chrome)
17. Cooh - Gerdan (Union)
18. Cooh - Duuure VIP
19. Limewax & The Panacea VS Current Value - Operation Therapist (Cooh mashup)
20. Cooh & The Outside Agency - Soul Keepers (Genosha One Seven Five)
21. Cooh & The Panacea - The Large Hadron Collider (PRSPCT Recordings)
22. Current Value & Donny - Discovered (Barcode Recordings)
23. Cooh - Darho
24. Current Value - The Power (Cooh mashup)
25. Cooh & Current Value - Naglfar (Position Chrome)
26. Cooh - Are You There (Mentaly Disturbed)
27. Dune - Hardcore Vibes (Cooh bootleg Remix) (The Panacea mashup)
28. Katharsys - Walkin Device (Barcode Recordings)
29. Cooh - Down Into The Dawn (Tantrum)
30. Current Value - Bruja (Barcode Recordings)

 

COOH - HARD KNOCKS PROMO MIX 2008 by COOH

• Cooh
,
• Barcode Recordings

Related Links:

• Machine Code Interview
• Counterstrike Update
• Balkansky Releases The Temple
• Temper D Relaunches TDP
• Current Value & Donny Interview

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