‘Køpe’ confident he has found what he want to do
Sarah Slevin
Mullingar artist ‘Køpe’ has gained a newfound confidence and is now releasing his third single.
Peter Whelan adopted the stage name ‘Køpe’ which was inspired by home. Each letter of the alias represents a member of Peter’s family, his father Kevin, mother Olive and siblings Philip and Éadoaoin.
The 21-year-old has had an interest in music since his school days and expressed gratitude for those who supported him along the way.
“I did music for Leaving Cert in St Finian’s, and had struggled with performance, a bit of anxiety while in school. Luckily, I was surrounded by friends who were into music, and teachers pushed me toward music,” Peter said.
“If someone had told me a few years ago that I would be releasing my own music, I wouldn’t have believed them,” Peter said.
Peter has released two songs already, but said he is most proud of this third single, ‘Ups and Downs’, which will be out on May 10.
“This track just came to me in the middle of the night. I’m definitely a night owl, I work better through the night when everyone’s asleep,” Peter said.
“A lot of work went into it, and I got a lot of people behind me with this one. I made the first two at home, while this one was in a studio,” Peter said.
Peter recorded the single in ‘The Playground’ studio and produced it with the help of Gregory Kearns and Simon Francis.
Peter moved to Dublin for college and is now in his third year studying music at British and Irish Modern Music (BIMM), which is part of Europe’s largest, music institute with alumni such as Fontaines D.C. and George Ezra.
“Being surrounded by like-minded people and going to loads of gigs in Dublin is inspiring,” Peter said.
He hopes to be performing this summer to showcase his music.
“I want to get out there with gigs. I’m finally coming to terms with this being what I want to do so I want to make the most of it – there’s no point holding back now,” Peter said.
Køpe’s third single ‘Ups and Downs’ will be available at express.adobe.com/page/df4LZDVNmAroW/.