Thomas Benjamin Cooper

PRODUCER • COMPOSER • SONGWRITER • MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST

APPROACH

I’m a UK-based music maker and producer first and foremost. I write songs, produce records, play on sessions, and build projects from the inside out. Alongside that, I also compose music for film, television and other visual work, usually from the same place I write everything else - melody, feel, structure, texture and instinct.

For more than twenty years I’ve released my own music, worked with other artists as a producer and co-writer, and gradually moved further into writing for picture. Some of my work has appeared on BBC Studios and Channel 4 programming, as well as on projects available through Apple TV, alongside a long run of independent releases.

I don’t separate “artist”, “producer” and “composer” in the way a lot of people do. It’s all the same creative practice to me, just applied in different directions.

That tends to work well for projects that need both musical identity and long-form thinking, whether that’s a record, a film, or something in between.

BACKGROUND

I came up through indie, folk, rock and more atmospheric, electronic-leaning worlds - writing songs, playing in bands, building arrangements, and learning how records actually get made from the ground up. That background has shaped everything I’ve done since.

Even when I’m writing instrumental music or working to picture, the thinking still comes from songwriting, production and performance rather than from traditional orchestral technique. That doesn’t limit what I write - it defines how I approach it. I’m comfortable moving between small, intimate ideas and more expansive, layered work, but it always comes back to musical decisions rather than academic ones.

THE WORK

Some projects start as songs. Some start as sound design. Some begin with an instrument, a loop, a texture, a line of harmony or a rhythmic idea. Others only really take shape once there’s a piece of film to respond to.

In practice, that’s meant moving fluidly between vocal-led writing, contemporary production, instrumental pieces, piano-led work, and more atmospheric, textural and cinematic music. I’ve never been particularly interested in drawing hard stylistic borders between those things. Most of what I make lives in the spaces where they overlap.

That overlap is usually where collaborations become most interesting as well.

PRODUCTION

When I produce, I’m less interested in polishing a demo and more interested in helping a piece of music become what it’s actually trying to be. That usually means spending as much time on writing, structure, performance and intention as on sonics.

I’ve been producing and co-writing with artists in a formal capacity since 2005, alongside my own releases, and I tend to work best with people who care about the feel and meaning of what they’re making as much as they care about how it sounds when it’s finished.

That might be a single song, a full record, or something that’s still finding its shape.

VISUAL MEDIA

When I’m writing for visual work, I’m approaching it as a musician rather than a traditional orchestrator. I respond to rhythm, edit, silence and movement in much the same way I’d respond to a song.

Sometimes that leads to very sparse, restrained work. Sometimes it leads to layered, hybrid pieces built from instruments, processing and production. Either way, the aim is always the same - to support what’s on screen without pulling focus away from it.

I’m used to working to brief, to picture, or sometimes to very little more than a mood and a deadline.

LIVE

Alongside studio work, I’ve performed as a singer and musician thousands of times over the years in different projects, including regular shows in front of large audiences. That experience still shapes how I think about arrangement, energy, restraint and connection, even when I’m working purely in a studio or writing for picture.

THIS SITE

You’ll find selections of music here, along with information about my production work, instrumental and score projects, and other creative output as it becomes ready to share. Some areas of the site are still being built - including scores and longer-form content - but everything here comes from the same ongoing body of work.

If you’re here because you’re working on something and wondering whether I might be a fit, the best place to start is simply to listen.

For licensing, there is a separate catalogue under the Impossible Music name. This is currently under construction.For all creative, production or scoring enquiries, contact details are available via the Contact page.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse