Max Cooper
Max Cooper (born 1980) is a London-based electronic musician, composer, multi-disciplinary artist, and former computational biologist renowned for blending scientific concepts with immersive audio-visual experiences in electronic music.[1][2] Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to Australian parents and raised during The Troubles, Cooper pursued dual interests in science and music from a young age, inspired early on by Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time.[3][1] He earned a PhD in computational biology from the University of Nottingham in 2008, focusing on gene evolution, regulation, and transcription, followed by a postdoctoral position as a geneticist at University College London.[3][2][4] Transitioning to music full-time around 2010 after leaving research, Cooper began his production career in the late 2000s with early releases on labels like Traum Schallplatten, including his debut EP Harmonisch Serie in 2009.[3][5] He gained prominence in the electronic scene through DJ residencies, such as a decade-long stint at Firefly in Nottingham, and collaborations with artists like Architecture Social Club.[5][4] In 2016, he founded the Mesh record label to explore intersections of art, science, and technology, releasing works that often incorporate spatial audio like Dolby Atmos and custom visuals.[1][2] His influences draw from club culture, philosophy, classical music, and artists such as Pink Floyd, Radiohead, and 1980s film scores, emphasizing emotive connections between complex ideas and forms.[1][5] Cooper's discography features conceptually driven albums that probe themes of human identity, natural systems, and existence, including his debut full-length Human (2014) with vocal contributions from artists like Kathrin deBoer, Emergence (2016) modeling life's origins through collaborations with scientists and mathematicians, and One Hundred Billion Sparks (2018) examining neuronal networks and selfhood.[3][2] More recent releases include Unspoken Words (2022) and On Being (2025), the latter crowdsourced from thousands of anonymous quotes to reflect collective human experiences.[1][5] His live performances and installations, often featuring custom projections by collaborators like Quayola and Zaha Hadid Architects, have headlined major events such as Glastonbury Festival, Fuji Rock, ADE, and the Barbican Centre's "Yearning for the Infinite" (2019), earning him accolades like Beatport Artist of the Year and top rankings in Resident Advisor's live acts polls in 2011 and 2012.[1][2][3] Cooper continues to innovate in spatial audio and bioart, with projects like "The Observatory" exhibitions pushing boundaries in electronic composition and visual storytelling.[5][2]Early life and education
Upbringing in Belfast
Max Cooper was born on 19 May 1980 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to Australian parents who had relocated to the city.[3][6] His mother worked as a music teacher, while his father was an avid enthusiast of classical music, fostering an environment where such compositions were a constant presence in the household from an early age.[1][7] This familial immersion in classical music provided Cooper's initial exposure to the arts, shaping his appreciation for structured and emotive soundscapes long before his formal engagements with electronic genres. Growing up in Belfast during the height of The Troubles, Cooper experienced the pervasive tensions and occasional violence between Catholic and Protestant communities, which marked his childhood with a sense of societal division.[1] Despite this backdrop, his home life emphasized creativity through music, with his mother's profession and his father's collections introducing him to orchestral works that sparked an enduring interest in auditory expression.[7] By his early teens, around age 13, Cooper developed a fascination with science and technology after reading Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time, which profoundly influenced his intellectual curiosity and foreshadowed his later scientific pursuits.[3] In the 1990s, as Belfast's local music scene began to thrive amid emerging club culture, Cooper ventured into the world of trance and rave, attending venues where electronic beats offered an escape from sectarian barriers and a space for uninhibited social interaction.[1][7] These experiences in mid-1990s clubs, encountering anthems like Josh Wink's "Higher State of Consciousness," ignited his passion for electronic music and hinted at the interdisciplinary blend of technology and sound that would define his future work.[7] This period of exploration in Belfast's evolving nightlife transitioned naturally into his relocation to England in the late 1990s for further studies, marking a shift from the insular cultural dynamics of his hometown to broader opportunities.[4]Scientific training and research
Max Cooper began his higher education at the University of Nottingham in the late 1990s, where he developed an interest in modeling complex biological processes. He completed his PhD in computational biology at the same institution in 2008, with a thesis titled Evolution of Small Gene Regulatory Networks under the supervision of Professor John Brookfield.[8] His doctoral research focused on simulating the evolution of genes, their regulation, and transcription mechanisms using computational models to understand emergent properties in genetic systems.[3] Following his PhD, Cooper undertook a brief postdoctoral position at University College London (UCL), where he continued working as a geneticist, applying computational techniques to bioinformatics problems in gene regulation and evolutionary biology.[9][10] His research outputs during this period contributed to computational modeling of biological systems, emphasizing algorithmic approaches to simulate dynamic processes like gene network evolution.[3] Throughout his scientific training, Cooper's engagement with algorithms, data simulation, and visualization techniques began to intersect with his artistic pursuits, as he explored how mathematical models of emergence and complexity could inform creative expression. During his PhD, he experimented with electronic music production as a hobby, drawing parallels between bioinformatics simulations and generative sound design.[4][3]Entry into music
Transition from science
After completing his PhD in computational biology at the University of Nottingham in 2008, Max Cooper undertook a brief postdoctoral position as a geneticist at University College London, which he concluded around 2010.[3][4] This marked the end of his formal scientific career, as he decided to transition to music production full-time, viewing the shift as a natural extension of his computational expertise rather than an abrupt departure.[5][11] Cooper's motivations for the pivot were deeply tied to his desire to apply the algorithmic and data-driven approaches from his scientific training to creative sound design, allowing him to explore artistic expression without the rigid constraints of academic research.[12] He found academia limiting in its emphasis on empirical validation over emotional or aesthetic outcomes, whereas music offered a liberating space to blend scientific concepts with personal creativity, much like the "freedom from the limits of living systems" he perceived in both fields.[5] His background in computational biology provided a foundational toolkit for this exploration, enabling him to repurpose methods from gene evolution modeling into generative music processes.[13] In his early self-taught production phase, Cooper experimented in makeshift setups, adapting tools like genetic algorithms—originally developed for simulating biological evolution—to generate evolving soundscapes and rhythms, reflecting a seamless integration of his prior research skills.[5][12] His decade-long DJ residency at Firefly in Nottingham had already immersed him in the electronic scene, where he formed key connections and initial collaborations; relocating to London for his postdoc further expanded these ties in the city's vibrant environment.[4][12]Debut releases and early influences
Max Cooper began releasing music in the late 2000s, with initial EPs including One Is None (2007) on Evolved Records, FRANK (2008) on Firefly Recordings, and Crushbox (2008) on Autist Records, marking his entry into the electronic scene.[14] These were followed by a series of EPs that showcased a meticulous blend of tech-house and minimal techno elements. An early notable release, the Harmonisch Serie EP in 2009 on Traum Schallplatten, featured tracks like the title piece, which combined forward-driving rhythms with subtle melodic wanderings, earning praise for its balance of home-listening accessibility and dancefloor potential.[15] This EP established Cooper's early style, characterized by glitchy textures and a sense of perpetual motion, drawing from his computational biology background to experiment with structured sound design.[16] By 2011, Cooper had solidified his presence on Traum with releases such as the Empirisch EP, which incorporated cinematic soundscapes, ambient reworkings reminiscent of Tim Hecker, and tracks featuring unconventional elements like animal growls and expansive chords in a 4/4 framework.[17] Critics noted the EP's innovative fusion of glitchy, trembling electronics with melodic tech-house, positioning it as a standout in progressive and ambient techno circles.[17] Other 2011 outputs, including the Metaphysical and Amalgamations EPs on Traum and Last Night on Earth respectively, further explored these themes, building a reputation for intricate, emotionally resonant productions that appealed to underground listeners seeking depth beyond standard club fare.[18] In 2012 and 2013, Cooper's output continued to evolve with the Egomodal EP on Traum Schallplatten and the collaborative Fragmented Self EPs with Tom Hodge, alongside the single "Adrift" featuring Kathrin de Boer, released independently ahead of his debut album.[19] These works highlighted his growing emphasis on blending IDM's complexity with ambient drifts and techno propulsion, often employing algorithmic processes to generate evolving patterns and avoid repetitive structures.[20] His scientific training provided the technical foundation for such methods, enabling precise manipulation of sound through computational tools.[5] Cooper's early influences spanned electronic pioneers like Aphex Twin and Autechre, whose experimental glitch and abstract rhythms informed his textural explorations, alongside the audiovisual synergy of Philip Glass's score for Koyaanisqatsi and Chris Cunningham's video works.[21] Scientific concepts, particularly chaos theory, played a pivotal role, inspiring rhythmic irregularities and emergent patterns that mirrored natural unpredictability, as seen in his use of semi-generative systems to create dynamic, non-linear compositions.[22] This approach yielded a distinctive sound that garnered positive underground reception, fostering a dedicated following in techno and IDM scenes through labels like Traum and performances in niche venues.[17]Studio albums
Human and Emergence
Max Cooper's debut album, Human, was released on March 10, 2014, by Fields Records, marking his first full-length exploration of the human condition through electronic music.[23] The concept delves into aspects of human biology and consciousness, with track titles drawing from biological processes and mental states, such as cellular structures, emotional responses, and perceptual experiences.[24] Cooper, leveraging his background in computational biology, crafted soundscapes that blend ambient electronica with techno elements, creating a cinematic narrative of human existence.[25] The album features 11 tracks, including vocal contributions from Kathrin deBoer on "Adrift" and "Empyrean," and from the band Braids on "Automaton." The full track listing is as follows:- Woven Ancestry
- Adrift (feat. Kathrin deBoer)
- Automaton (feat. Braids)
- Supine
- Seething
- Numb (feat. Kathrin deBoer)
- Impacts
- Empyrean (feat. Kathrin deBoer)
- Potency
- Awakening
- Perihelion[26]
- Symmetry (feat. Tom Hodge)
- Seed (feat. Kathrin deBoer)
- Waves
- Distant Light
- Myth (feat. Tom Hodge)
- Resynthesis
- Xylem A
- Xylem B
- Living Geometry
- Empyrean (I)
- Empyrean (II)[34]