Almost every night in Bend, at any taproom, bar, open mic or even street corner, there's a guarantee you'll run into aspiring musicians. Among this fresh wave of artists, Bella Cooper, singer/songwriter and founder of band Chiggi Momo, has emerged as a captivating and promising indie recording artist making waves in the music scene.
Cooper recalls how she went face-first into the world of music, performing songs covers of Angel Olsen, Stevie Wonder and Billy Ocean before working on original tunes at local markets and moving to Eugene. "I moved to Eugene and immediately joined a rock band playing the university college house show scene. We'd be playing two or three shows a week; it was kind of funny because I didn't even go to college there!" Cooper said.
Cooper says at times, the realities of the misogynistic atmosphere inside of rock culture was too much to ignore. "When I was in Eugene, most of the bands were all men, and if there was a girl, there would be one, and she was the bassist and that was me. It was a couple years ago, it was dangerous for women at these house shows, it felt very over-saturated with that toxic energy. I've been so in love with the Bend music scene because it doesn't feel like that at all. I'm really grateful for how much our band has gotten to grow in the last year and the amount of support we've felt," Cooper said.
Before getting carried away chatting about the skill it takes to create latte foam art, Cooper pulled out her phone to talk me through songs from American art-pop act Rubblebucket. "I feel like I deep-dive into albums every week. Their (Rubblebucket's) music to me is very dancey, funky, groovy; it is a light-hearted sound that I aspire to. A lot of the time, I write songs that come from a sad place — a song about heartbreak here or discontentedness there," Cooper offered. "I would like to be able to intentionally write from a happy place, and I think that's why I like this kind of music right now," she continued.
A strong familial foundation has instilled a deep connection in the musician's heart. "What I feel sets me apart is my relationship with my sister specifically. She illustrates a lot of my show posters and album covers. I remind myself a lot of the time that if I'm just making music for her, that's enough. I don't have to think about thousands of listeners," she continued, "I make music for my sister and my dog. My dog is actually the meaning behind the name of my band." (Cooper tells me Chiggi Momo loosely translates to "My dog's butt.")
The journey to forming indie-pop outfit Chiggi Momo began with grainy audio recordings and simple chords on Cooper's Casio. "I started writing some of my first songs about eight years ago because I was feeling very isolated and lonely. My songs, when I collected them together, that music was a raft during that dark time. That doesn't really exist anymore," she said.
Some of these early recordings Cooper admits now serve as reminders of a time in her life, marred with self-doubt and uncertainty, that she thinks has ultimately served its purpose. "I think it is a little bit more of an effort for me to try to meditate more on happiness. I've been in a very good place lately, and a lot of great things have been happening for me. So, it's the sort of twisted art thing where you expect to need pain to make art. But I would love to write a song about baking bread, I love to listen to songs about baking bread," Cooper said with a laugh.
One of the most distinctive features of Cooper's music is her hauntingly soulful voice. Her vocal timbre provides a fusion of melancholy and hope. The dreamy sway of newer singles like "Three Days in a Row" and "High" capture the heartbreakingly hopeful spirit of the early adult on the precipice of life's achievements, disappointments and pleasures.
"Oval Teen," the band's 2020 EP is soaked in driving bass lines, steady guitar leads and chunky power chords, all with Cooper's silky open-vowel vocals poured over it. The EP's title track rings like a children's lullaby.
"I love the album, but it just feels like a time capsule and I'm definitely a different person now," said Cooper. "I have a much wider range of things influencing me and I think because of it I have a wider grasp of what's possible with my music. I'm starting to feel less like I need to fit in one box. On this newer self-produced album that I'm working on I'm definitely utilizing a lot more electronic influence," she said.
There is a palpable sense of anticipation in her voice as Cooper spoke on the prospect of future work. "I feel like what I'm working on right now is a lot closer to the reality of what I want to sound like. I'd love to keep improving my production skills so that I can have my fingerprints all over my sound," said Cooper.
