Sometimes sneezes catch you by surprise, but so will the quirkiness and charm of corook. From the get-go, the singer has naturally stood out in the pop landscape by simply having fun throughout their music making process. Today, the excitement doubles as we welcome their debut album “achoo!” into the world, and hey – this would be a pretty good opportunity to learn how exactly did corook get to this point, right?
Yeah. Let’s do that… like, right now.
When you were much younger, was music something you could truly see yourself pursuing long-term, or were there other interests kinda fighting for your attention?
My earliest memory of wanting to be a musician was in second grade. For some reason, whenever we had this art project, they’d be like, “draw what you want to be when you grow up!” For some reason, I drew myself on stage singing and playing guitar with all of my friends. It was kinda weird, because I truly had no musical experience at all. There was nobody in my family who was musically talented… it was just what I chose to draw. I played a LOT of sports growing up, specifically a lot of soccer, and a lot of competitive soccer. I thought I was going to be a soccer player growing up.
But then I started playing guitar in middle school. That totally took over my attention, and I fell in love with music.
Could you see yourself doing this as a soloist, or as part of a band?
I started writing songs in middle school, and I was just writing by myself and my guitar. It was usually about friends, my friendships, or stupid little relationships that I was having at the time… and then I auditioned for the performing arts high school. I was kinda already doing the solo thing, and I don’t think I realizedI could be in a band until I got to college. In college I was in a band, but I did want to be a solo artist.
How did the name corook come about?
My name (my real name) is Corrine Savage. My girlfriend and I were on a Mega Bus at like 2am driving from New York to Boston. We were both really slap happy and just giggly about absolutely nothing. Like I said, my name is Corrine Savage, but she looked up at me and called me Corook Scoobage. I just thought it was so cute and funny, and it felt like this alter-ego name… which ultimately I feel like this project has been. An elevation of my silliest and most genuine thoughts. So then I decided, I wanted to be corook!
I know the real world is *terrifying* and growing up is just as terrifying…
Bet.
Like every day it just seems to get worse and worse, and then you just throw a pandemic on top and it’s like woah… can I get through this? But your music tackles many of the things going on in a young adult’s life, and doesn’t exactly sugar coat it, but just puts a fun little twist on it.
That’s kinda what this project is about. Whenever things were really sad and scary and hard, I kinda just try to process it through fun. corook became me injecting that view onto really hard things.
(Especially) with a pandemic, did you feel like it was more important than ever to have that perspective, do this, and bring joy into people’s lives?
I don’t think I thought about it consciously. I was a babysitter for most of the pandemic. I would go home and spend my weekends writing as much music as I possibly could. I think it was just a really natural way of dealing with it… writing a fun and silly song to get all of the heaviness of the week and the pandemic off of my chest.
Sometimes that’s all we need.
Totally!
So let’s talk about your new EP, . Walk me through the process of the EP
I was recording the vocals for “degree.” I was just in my studio… I have this little room in my apartment (I live in a duplex with my girlfriend) and I have a spare room where all my studio stuff is set up. It was really late one night, and I knew I had to get these vocals done. It was just me, and I started to record these vocals and the first verses, which is me against these big males like my dad or this interviewer. I was playing with whether I wanted it to be more of an effect, or me acting like a guy. I remember laughing at myself, because I knew that if anyone could see or hear me, they’d think I’m the craziest person.
I just do it all in my little house, in my room, and I just get as weird as I can.
It’s gotta be liberating.
It is! It is therapeutic.
Is there anything you think this project will teach listeners about who you are? Do you have any little fun facts hidden throughout the songs?
I think all of my songs are pretty literal, and very much my brain process. Just exactly what I’m thinking is the next line that I write. It’s an introduction to me, but every single line is very specific. I can’t really generalize when it comes to lyric writing, and I found my voice is just very matter-of-fact and literal. I think there’s a lot of information about me in every song.
What was your favorite song to write on the EP?
I think bad friend was my favorite song to write. Me and my girlfriend just moved into our first place together, and we were sitting in the room that was my studio… before it was my studio. It was just a bunch of boxes. I borrowed a friend’s banjo, and my girlfriend came in. She was like, what are you doing? I was like I’m writing a song, will you write it with me? We’ve never written before, and she’s also an incredible songwriter and artist. It was a really magical moment of beginnings. Our first time writing together, our first time moving into an apartment, and honestly I think our first time being really really vulnerable and writing a song that was vulnerable.
Here’s the part where I want you to use your imagination. Let’s say, one day you get to team up with a juice company, and you get to create a delicious bottled juice called corook. How would it taste?
It would be REALLY really sour in the beginning, and after that it would be fizzy. So fizzy, your nose starts to kinda do that tickle thing where you’re about to sneeze. You get a little annoyed about it, then it sweetens slowly and your eyes start to water a bit from how sweet it is… and how worth this entire trip was. That’s how it would taste.
I can imagine a Sour Patch Kid and a Warhead in one drink.
There it is. That’s exactly what I would want.
corook would also want you to enjoy “achoo!” to the fullest extent. After all, it’s a very cordial invite into her world. It’s a world she describes as “weird,” and includes speaking simlish, roleplaying my father, my phobia of snakessssssss, and a song written by ADHD itself. in every case though, the humor is simply the white bread slices to the gooey condiments of vulnerability we call peanut butter and jelly. so grab your butter knife, add banana if you’re feeling spicy, and dig into my trauma. achoo! bless me.”
