Born Clarence Greenwood, his life journey is as singular as his art. He is the radically mashed-up product of Greenville, Mississippi; Memphis, Tennessee; Vernon, Texas; Austin, Texas; Washington, DC; and Brooklyn, New York. These locations are felt everywhere in his stories. His sounds are southern rural, big sky lonely, concrete urban, and painfully romantic. Cope’s musical education was catch-as-catch can. Folk tales—whether through William Faulkner or Big Bill Broonzy—shaped his sensitivity. He took sound classes and found himself fooling with a primitive four-track setup. Turntables intrigued him. He heard hip-hop as inspired invention. He got lost in his self-designed lab, cooking up beats and motifs that only later would be shaped into songs. Vocalist Michel Ivey recruited him as a mad scientist who feverishly created samples for the artsy-edgy group, Basehead, and while Cope played in local venues, the writer/producer found his own voice.