Radical Face
Jacksonville Beach, Florida, United States | INDIE
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On Friday night, Ben Cooper (Radical Face/Electric President), played a house show in Washington DC.
It’s the start of a new “project” where instead of playing clubs, he just connects with his loyal fanbase and plays in cool places. While donations are accepted, he doesn’t charge a cover.
I probably get more mushy over this stuff than most people do, but things like this make me really, really happy. I’m not anti-capitalism, but I think it’s telling that most of my fondest memories are things that I didn’t have to pay a luxury price for. Whether it’s just talking with a friend, taking a stroll through a park, or making an elaborate dinner (I don’t cook), these are the experiences that I really remember the next day. And I think most people feel the same way. Sure, I’ve been to great shows before where I’ve paid a lot to get in, but I just think it’s awesome when the artist plays music for no other reason than for the love of sharing his/her music.
Of course, it’s not very sustainable for a musician to play free shows (Cooper told me that the van he had to rent just to get from Florida to DC ended up costing a ton of money… there is no way he broke even). But over the upcoming years, I really hope that with the expansion of technology, the independent community can organize and make things like this happen more frequently. In the meantime, keep up to date with Cooper’s site, as he’ll be adding more tour dates soon. - indie Muse
Every day, Daily Downloads offers 10 free and legal mp3 downloads, plus free and legal live sets from around the internet.
Radical Face: "Doorways" [mp3] from Touch the Sky EP (out November 16th)
other Radical Face posts at Largehearted Boy - Large Hearted Boy
Radical Face is the solo project of Ben Cooper, musician, illustrator, and artist based in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. On November 16, 2010, Radical Face will release the EP Touch The Sky via Morr Music. - Indie Music Filter
Finally, a video for Radical Face‘s excellent “Doorways”. This song has been in heavy rotation and it’s great to have another excuse to post it up. Don’t sleep. On November 16, 2010, Radical Face will release the EP Touch The Sky via Morr Music.
The entire video was made for under $150. All the kids in it are his relatives. The kids worked for Pizza. - Pigeons and Planes
Radical Face
Premiere: “Doorways” Video
Oct 04, 2010
Watch on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE2Urfcrfbw
Radical Face is the solo venture of Ben Cooper, a Jacksonville Beach, Fla.-based illustrator, Electric President bandmember, and indie-folk musician. On November 16, he will issue the Touch the Sky EP via Morr Music. Over the next year, Radical Face plans to release three LPs. The first of this Family Tree trilogy is titled Roots, followed by Branches, and then, Relatives. His track, "Welcome Home," was featured in a Nikon Coolpix commercial that was aired during the FIFA World Cup.
Today, we are debuting the Peter Pan-esque video for symphonic pop tune, "Doorways." The lush clip follows a pack of kids (Cooper's nieces and nephews) in Jacksonville's Hannah Park. The touching coda is dripping with audio-visual nostalgia. Cooper lensed and edited it with longtime friend Mark Hubbard. It was filmed by Cooper's pals, Hubbard, Marc Boese, and Michael Walter.
Trivia: The budget for the entire video was $150. A press release says, "All the money went to making the clothes, which Cooper did with his sister and his mom over the course of about three weeks, and feeding the kids (they worked for pizza.)" - Under the Radar
Discography
2011- "The Family Tree: The Roots" due out Oct.4, 2011
2010- "Touch The Sky" released via Morr Music
2008- "Ghost" Full length debut Record released via Morr Music
Photos
Bio
“Don’t you Fear for Me, I am where I’m supposed to be” – Radical Face
After four years milling over the concept and fifteen months recording alone in the tool shed behind his mother's house in Jacksonville Florida, Ben Cooper, AKA Radical Face, is finally ready to release his sophomore album “The Family Tree: The Roots”. It's the follow-up to his 2007 debut indie triumph, Ghost, and the first installment of what will eventually be three stand alone records all tied to the theme of a Family Tree – once again separating himself from all things traditional.
Hauntingly beautiful, “The Family Tree: The Roots” has all the makings of an indie classic. Don’t be fooled by Ben’s understated voice and the simple beginnings. Each song builds in layers much like the depth of its characters. From soaring tracks like “A Pound of Flesh” and “Severus and Stone”, eerily dark pieces like “Black Eyes” and “Kin” to warm enlightening gems like “Always Gold” and “Mountains”, the songs flow together with mindful artistic clarity, allowing you to fully escape into the album as the stories unravel.
Based on a fictitious, sometimes otherworldly family in the 1800’s, Ben limited the songwriting to instruments that would have been accessible in that era – piano, acoustic guitar, a floor tom, and voices – only bringing in additional instruments during tracking when needed. “I really like storytelling, and wanted that to be the focus. I looked up genealogy charts and studied some American history for a frame of reference, then pulled from personal experiences and put it all together.” Such concepts and stories come naturally to Ben, whom before turning to music wrote fiction. He switched to music after a hard drive crash where he lost his two nearly completed novels. Three albums dissecting a family and its descendants from the 19th and 20th centuries might seem outlandish to most, but for an artist whose history involves giving away compete records exclusively in exchange for mailing him “anything but money”, we can expect no less.
One half of the band Electric President and with side projects like Clone, Mothers Basement and Patients, chances are you're already familiar with Ben’s music. The Radical Face track “Welcome Home” has garnered over 5 million youtube views. It appeared as the soundtrack for the I AM NIKON campaign and in such movies as Humboldt County, The Vicious Kind and the Reel Rock Documentary. Further Radical Face television support has come from shows like Private Practice, Skins, Eddie Izzard and Weeds, as well as support from Current TV who nationally aired a documentary piece on Radical Face in 2008. Most recently Ben has also lent his music to support the “It Gets Better” Google Chrome Campaign and the “Ride 4 Water” charity raising funds for clean drinking water in Africa.
Typically shying from traditional live performances, Radical Face is teaming up with choirs and charities around the US for a series of interesting shows surrounding the release of “The Family Tree: The Roots”, due out Oct.4, 2011.
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