Featured Artist: Cyndi Cook We sat down with singer/songwriter Cyndi Cook to talk about her writing style, inspirations, and Would You Tune my Air Guitar? her newest music video. Check out her latest song and video! KTES: How do you use life experiences to shape your songs? CC: I’ve always been open to new ideas. When writing, I try to get out my true feelings: I do stream of conscience writing, dreams, and meditation to help accomplish this. KTES: What inspired you to get into music? How long have you been writing and performing? CC: I’ve always loved to sing and have performed off and on with a couple of small bands. I’m mostly a writer, though. I used to be a stand-up comedienne under the stage name Cyndi Stiles (2000-2005) and have been published as a contributing author in a couple of the Judy Brown joke books series. It was writing jokes that helped hone my writing skills. I got interested in writing songs because of the level that music can elevate words. Also, with songs, meanings of words become malleable. I like being able to stretch and bend them. KTES: What was the first song you ever wrote? CC: The first song I ever wrote was called Chance of Rain in 2008. I still love the song and plan to make a video of it in the future. KTES: You have had a great response online to your videos, how does this make you feel and what are your future plans for your music? Do you have any advice for artists trying to grow a fan base? CC: Getting a good response to my videos energizes me to create more. It’s been exciting! I plan to keep writing songs and videos for the foreseeable future. My advise for growing a fan base is to get your songs out there by posting them on sharing sites, Twitter, and Facebook. For every fan that likes your song or video, go and watch theirs and give them an encouraging comment as well. The same if someone subscribes or follows you. Also, when I’m out in the real world, I tell people about my work. If they seem interested, then I give them my website. You’ll be surprised how casual acquaintances have become super fans. KTES: You have worked with Keep The Edge Studios on a few projects, how has your experience been and do you feel that your music is represented in the way that you would like? CC: Keep the Edge studios takes my songs and makes them into videos with a storyboard. It’s not easy to find someone who does all this and I’m elated I found them. They come up with great idea after great idea. They don’t just make a video that pleases me, the customer, they go all out and make it their own and it shows. I thought the first video they made was fabulous, and now the new one is even more amazing. Also, while they are very professional to work with, they are also lots of hilarious fun. KTES: I hear you have a new video coming out. What inspired you to write this song and what do you hope your fans take away from it? CC: My new video, Would You Tune my Air Guitar? was inspired by all the extras and especially my husband who help out in my videos. It’s a thank-you to everyone who goes along with my crazy ideas. This same thing has been going on since I was about six years old, only then it was with the neighborhood kids and my mother. Even if people don’t understand the words, I hope they get the emotion of crazy love and gratitude. KTES: What other artists inspire you? CC: Lots of artists inspire me; I like something about just about everyone. I like to study new songs for their rhyme schemes. KTES: When you aren't writing or signing what is a typical day in the life of Cyndi Cook? CC: I start every morning having coffee with my husband. Then he’s off to work and I work from home. I’m part owner/manager of an apartment complex that’s located in a country setting with lots of flowering trees. Then I play the piano and bake gluten-free bread. All day I think about the concept of the figure eight and how it fits into music, painting, and dance.