Andy Cook grew up not having a thing to do with music, not even listening to the radio in the car. He’s the first to say it’s pretty weird—but then again, what else can you expect from a hockey goalie? As a kid unsure of himself, the game became a place to be someone else. But the truth is that a person can’t hide behind a mask forever.
After finishing college and the dreams of youth were replaced with the reality of unknown adulthood, music started to make its way in. One afternoon a song came on the radio that made Andy Cook want to make songs too. There was certainty—he had to pick up a guitar, learn to play, and begin to write. What started as an intrigued effort grew and grew, until Cook found himself immersed in the Minnesota music scene, learning from everyone he could and looking up to artists who a short time later would become teachers, producers, collaborators and bandmates. Life without music became impossible to imagine.
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Andy Cook’s new EP “In Space” pulls on a combination of melodic guitar riffs, waves of synth and percussion, and longing vocals for a record that is both modern and reminiscent. Produced by Jeremy Ylvisaker (Andrew Bird, Haley Bonar, Alpha Consumer), “In Space” covers territory from sweeping and psychedelic to urgent and pressing, with lyrics that pit a wry cynicism against determined optimism.
“These songs are about feeling like we know ourselves one moment, and like we’re lost the next. About having almost everything, but not the one thing. About all the spaces we find ourselves, inside and out. Because sometimes all we can hang onto are hopes and dreams, and in this space that might be all we need.”
Andy Cook is in many ways still that unsure kid. And while dreams change, they never die—and there is only more to come from this late-comer to the music scene.