Under the Volcano (2021)

Ray Cooper: Self

Quotes 

• Ray Cooper : When the volcano went off, that was a pinnacle point of change. A point where nothing was ever gonna be quite the same again - in the way we recorded, in the way that music was dealt with. Those magical moments are gonna be no longer.

• Ray Cooper : He knew how to get from you, the best that you could give - which was extraordinary - in the most wonderful way. Elegant, gentlemanly, loving, nurturing way. He would make any musician a much better musician by spending five minutes with him.

• Ray Cooper : George's idea was to take people out of an environment, to put them into harmony with nature; but, also have time together to talk, to have dialogue. And what he knew would happen was for a lot of bands that had never been in that situation, that would evoke new ways of thinking and, therefore, new music of ideas.

• Ray Cooper : Music is the liquid architecture of our emotions and George was a wonderful architect. He had a way of putting things in place, in the right place, in a place that was comfortable and a place that grew. It was fruitful.

• Ray Cooper : In London, I was often overdubbing in the studios on work that had come from Montserrat. I would say sometimes, "Is this from Montserrat?" And they'd say, "Yeah, how'd you know?" I said, "Well, I can hear it, believe it or not. There's something in the air that's surrounding these notes." There's a sympathy between the notes. There's an understanding. And that can only come when you're working with George or in one of these environments.

• [last lines] 

  Ray Cooper : George knew the space between the notes was as exciting as the notes you played. That rhythm that keeps us alive. The heartbeat. It's in all of us. It's the heartbeat you hear in your mother's womb that entices you out to dance. And we need that. We need to touch base with what we do as human beings. And what better example than making music. And it's about collaboration. It's about the dream that George had - at that wonderful space in Montserrat where you had the sun, the sea, nature, each other's company, and music.