[Creative Roots🌎 ] Facing the Music: Cory Koehler’s Journey to Forming a Band 🎸🎶
Meet Cory, a musician whose love for music began with a passion for storytelling, poetry, and fantasy worlds. He is now a singer and songwriter for the band Rainy Days.
To Cory, passion is definitely not a foreign concept. A few minutes into our conversation and we were already speaking about exactly why music was his medium of choice.
Cory Koehler (‘21) is a multidisciplinary artist who hopes to convey a sense of hope through the music he creates. After going through cycles of trying different art forms, including story writing, poetry, and filmmaking, he found that music is the best way to convey the stories he wants to tell.
📽️ Filmmaking as Creative Roots
For Cory and some of his friends, a low stake film class assignment turned out to be the turning point in his creative journey. He produced hours of content as his first venture into film, all posted on YouTube.
It's funny how creativity works: a somewhat random student-made comedy detective series became the gateway for Cory to start writing scripts.
But even before this student project, Cory always had a knack for films, and particularly fictional worlds. Growing up in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, his family exposed him to lots of fictional universes and he quickly fell in love with movies like Lord of the Rings and Star Wars.
One particular aspect that stood out to him was songs used for film score in each movie. For Cory, the music is what stood out; it helped convey emotion and mood in the story.
Slowly, Cory began incorporating more music into his life. One defining band for him was Arctic Monkeys, a British Indie rock band known for their angsty lyrics and intense guitar riffs. He described to me a moment in study hall when he was just in 10th grade; he had his earbuds in, his mind clearly elsewhere. He realized that music was going to be a part of his life.
“It was literally like a switch flip in my brain, where I just started to care about music more than I ever had before in my life.”
✍️ From Writing Poetry to Writing Songs
Cory’s love for the music in films was complemented by his love for writing - particularly, poetry.
In search of poetic inspiration, Cory ventured online and met Wesley Simmons, a poet who opened his eyes to the rhythm and emotion that poetry had to offer.
Wesley would record himself reading his poems, allowing Cory to realize that his love for prose and particularly poetry had something to do with rhythm.
“It was just so powerful and punchy- it had so much gut to it. And I think a lot of that was the emotion that he put into it, the anger, the reflection, of himself and his inner being... but it also had a lot of rhythm to it.”
Inspired by his online confidant, Cory began to incorporate his voice into his own poetry. Having always been commended for his intonation and tone, Cory found this came to him naturally.
🎸 The Formation of Rainy Days
When Corey was 17, he decided to pursue more of his music and lyric writing. In an adventurous and spontaneous act, he joined the “Game of Bands” competition where lyricists, vocalists, and instrumentalists are put into random groups.
Cory was paired with David Zevenbergen, a singer/songwriter, and Pedro Lourenco, an audio engineer. Unbeknownst to Cory, this pairing was going to be a pivotal moment in his music career.
Each of the band members were spread across the globe, with Cory in Kutztown, Pedro in Portugal, and Dougie in Seattle. Across each city, there was one common denominator: rainy weather. Naturally, this led to the name of the band Rainy Days.
The name offers the duality of a somber reflective mood as well as a momentous energetic feeling that comes with rain. They began making songs in 2017, and then reconnected during the pandemic.
The year 2020 was an opportunity for Cory to really focus on his passion for music and song-writing. With renewed purpose, the band spent 3 months polishing old songs and recording the music.
“I feel like the synergy is there more than it's ever been for me with any other group. I feel like it because it's just so easy, I can literally hop on something and have it written at least within the hour, easily every time.”
By May 2021 their first album Rainy days: Be necessary was released.
☔ 🎼 Rainy days : Facing the Music
“I've always been a very hopeful and romantic person. I have this very grandiose idea of what it means to be in love, or happy and satisfied.”
Rainy days: Be Necessary is an emotive album that offers ideas of what it means to experience love, loss, and nostalgia.
“Ultimately, I write about love and loss a lot because at the end of the day, I think that relationships - romantic or otherwise - are going to be what carries the most weight. And those are going to be the most meaningful experiences that we have.”
Cory writes about both the triumphs and trials in life as well as writing about a more idealistic future. He is inspired by his constant expectations for the future and his lived experiences.
This is a clear theme throughout the album:
The song Burn touches on the theme of aspiring to be more alive. In contrast, My Graves Keeper is more pensive. Although the title sounds ominous, it focuses on reminiscing on happy memories. Loved Once portrays the expectations and idealisation of love.
Ultimately, the album was an opportunity for Cory to embrace his songwriting and express his ideals. His words are rooted in a boy who loved writing poetry - and anyone can see how this authenticity elevates his performance.
✨ Conclusion
Rainy Days: Be necessary is only the beginning for Cory and the band. There are songs that Cory has been refining and is eager to release - songs that will offer listeners comforting and dreamy escapes. There are even plans for music videos.
After an enriching interview with Cory, I was inspired to never give up on something that I am passionate about but instead to continue pursuing it with all your being.
Here’s some parting words from Cory:
“Don't quit on the rainy days. And never give up. Never give up hope. There are a lot of times where I would question...if I'm cut out to be a musician. I finally realized that no matter what I do, who I become, or what I do for a living, I’ll always be a musician and always see the world through music…There's no prospect of me getting rid of this sense of rhythm that I incorporate into my daily life. So I think it's really about sticking with what makes you happiest and doing that no matter what.”
By Diane Okong’o
CC Content Writer
Diane is a Kenyan with interests that spread far and wide. She has an interest in Chemistry, allowing her to explore the fields of environment and materials. She is also fascinated by all creative forms; she loves photography, critically analyzing movies, or curating songs for every mood. She can be reached at djo67@cornell.edu.
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