Five Questions With… Steve Kopandy
Editor Note: Hamish has another in his series of Five Questions With…
Hamish came up with this idea because he was accumulating too much material for his Famous News Sushi column and asked if he could do these mini-interviews. Why would we say no?
Thank you Hamish for being such a trooper for us. We really appreciate all fo your hard work.
Let us know what you think of these interviews in the comments below.
TGG: Now, of course, I’ve known Steve for a while now, since we went to school together for a few years, but to our readers… could you please introduce yourself?
SK: Steve Kopandy. Songwriter for life. Living and creating in London.
Here’s the lead single from Steve’s previous EP:
TGG: As we can see from the above song, you can really write a great track. Can you please tell us about your new collection of music?
SK: I’m very interested in creativity and the human psyche. I personally have found so much joy through being creative. I think it’s the greatest source of joy, yet also pain because art and creativity should also be a struggle and a pushing of boundaries. I decided to push boundaries with my latest set of songs and take them in a more commercial ‘pop’ direction than ever before. It was both easy in the sense it bought me joy to push my limits and see what I was capable of, but also well out of my comfort zone.
Here’s a song from his new EP, “Graded”:
TGG: But, you’ve done more than just pop songs… Can you tell us about the musical you wrote?
SK: I connected with a producer in the USA in the late 2000’s who needed songs for his new book ‘The House of Finnegan’. After hearing some samples of my work he flew me out to Arizona [TGG: Hey, that’s where our fearless leaders are based!] for a few days writing and workshopping. This was the start of a four year project of writing and scoring the whole show, with multiple trips between LA and London. The show was staged in October 2012 in Hollywood on a 2 week run. It was probably the funnest job I’ve ever had and the best paid job as a songwriter. It’s hard to break a new show in LA but we gave it a great shot.
TGG: And that’s not the end of your talents… Can you tell us what it’s like to be a member of the Take That Experience? (For the Americans, do you remember that great song from the 90s, “Back for Good”? It was by Take That, who are kind of like Backstreet Boys for the European/Australian market)
SK: Sometimes it’s glamorous (cruise ship flyin-flyouts), sometimes not (traffic, late nights, away from home). We do about 100 shows a year and I’ve been doing it for 10 years. We take it seriously and try and do the best show we can every night.
TGG: Where can we go to support you? (Follow you on social media, buy your stuff websites, upcoming live shows etc
Likes, follows, comments.. they all help. Thank you! Links below
https://www.facebook.com/kopandy/
https://www.instagram.com/stevekopandy/
https://open.spotify.com/album/4bxDUsdL7p5Cpujg3nPoux
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/steve-kopandy/188844121
originalsongwriter.com
TGG: Thanks Steve!
