Diandra Interviews Coucheron: Embracing Pop Music
While Coucheron was SHOOK that I called him an “international star,” the truth is that he has gone global. in working with artists topping charts and defining music for the world such as, Kehlani or Taylor Swift, the Norwegian native has crossed borders in sound. In our interview, the DJ discusses pop music as a cultural power he learned to embrace and be inspired by.
Diandra; Being an International star, how would you define what makes a sound “global”?
Coucheron: Wooooow, never been referred to as an international star. Thanks! Hmm, I think starting out as a producer in the SoundCloud-era makes you, automatically, pick up on a lot of different influences from all over the world. As the world has become more interconnected, so has music, and as a result everyone’s kind of borrowing from each other and now it’s all just one big soup of soundse. If a song is really fun to make, that will usually translate to the listener as well. A lot of my favorite songs have something «stupid» in them; something super-simple, either in lyrics or a melody orr something plain ugly in the production, as well. A Norwegian producer called Axident is really good at that (as heard in Jason Derulo’s «Wiggle» and Travis Mills’ «Young & Stupid»)
Diandra: What is your favorite family memory that involves music?
Coucheron: Buying Iron Maiden CD-s with my brother and playing along the drums on kitchen utilities.
Diandra: You mentioned how, as a kid, you fought the “Hot 100” sound, but now you embrace it. What changed and made you appreciate the idea of a “Hot 100, radio hit”?
Coucheron: I touched on earlier, but I think people, for the most part, make the type of music they’re really passionate about and/or have fun with making. For some people that means making a banjo- opera, for others it means writing a love song for Meghan Trainor. There’s nothing wrong with loving doing both, either! Idk what I’m getting at, but I respect everyone’s hustle as long as they’re having a good time with it.
Diandra: You have also said you do not mind compromising to make a good, pop song. What do you feel are the compromises?
Coucheron: It’s not really compromising, but I enjoy making sure that you can easily catch onto most of my music, be it pop or whatever. Most of the music I listen to has ordinary pop music structure to it (verses, chorus, etc), so that’s what I usually end up making as a result.
Coucheron – Warrior (feat. TILLA) [Official Audio]
Diandra: From Kygo to Cashmere Cat, Norway is producing some of the biggest DJs/producers of our time. What are the most exciting and promising aspects/ acts in its current music scene? Any new, Norwegian artists you think will go global?
Coucheron: The scene seems way more collaborative now than it did when I moved to LA a few years back, and there are so many awesome producers and artists here. I really like Jerry Folk and FAKETHIAS. Safario’s an awesome up-and-coming rapper/producer that I really enjoy as well.
Diandra: You have mentioned streaming as playing a big part in your career. How do you think streaming has redefined how artists’ create and define success?
Coucheron: I care less about it now than I did just a year back. A lot of artists stream so much but, it doesn’t necessarily help with building your brand as an artist. On the flipside, a lot of the bands with the most loyal audience have next-to-no streams. Still, the streaming economy has helped a lot more people live off of music I think, which is nice
Diandra: What inspired the song Cold? As an artist that works according to how he vibes with a song, how would you describe its vibe?
Unge Ferrari ft. Coucheron – Ung & Dum (Official Music video w/ lyrics)
Coucheron: There’s a patch on my Prophet-6 synthesizer that I love playing around with and the chord progression just came when Sval and I were joking about in my studio. The sounds are really childish, I think. We made that song really fast, and I never got bored with it.
For More Information On Coucheron Click Here.
