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n the “indie” music circles in Chicago, news is spreading quickly at the passing of musician Charles “Charlie” Cooper of the band Telefon Tel Aviv. The situation was first reported on January 25, 2009 in the STNG newswires. They reported that Cooper went missing Wednesday after a domestic dispute with his girlfriend. The missing persons case was taken up by Chicago Police Department Grand Central Area detectives of the Special Victims Unit, who at the time believed that Cooper may have returned to his home state of Louisiana, where he co-founded his band during the late nineties in New Orleans. According to the police investigation, Cooper had visited Louisiana for a month in October, 2008. Cooper was staying with a friend near the 1400 block of North Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago when the altercation with his girlfriend occurred. Cooper then left the residence before midnight on January 21, 2009. After leaving, he had no contact with friends or family, and had not been to work since he went missing. He left the residence dressed in a black nylon parka with fur trim on its hood, black jeans, a t-shirt and a navy blue v-neck sweater, his vehicle was also missing (a 1998 gray or silver Toyota Camry 4-door with a license plate number of 5091378). Charles Charlie Cooper Police were uncertain as to his status due to reports that he had threatened suicide in the past. ”Back in October, he took off for Louisiana, where he is from, for a month,” a Grand Central Area detective said Sunday. “It could go either way, but we are still looking for him.” Up until the time of his disappearance, friends and family said he was in a good mood. Chicago Reader music critic Miles Raymer had just interviewed Cooper, along with his bandmate Joshua Eustis, in an article published on January 15, 2009 for his column, Sharp Darts. Raymer states “When I intereviewed Cooper and Eustis a few weeks ago he seemed positive and optimistic and excited to start work on their next album in the same way little kids are excited for their birthday.” Cooper was found dead at 2306 N. Lawndale in Chicago on January 26, 2009. The property was sold to Sana J. Kinaya by Deutsche Bank National Trust Company in August or September of 2007. The current property owner is not reported, nor is Kiyana mentioned in any news articles and may merely be the landlord or a previous owner of the property. Telefon Tel Aviv, the band founded by Cooper and Eustis, have reached a certain level of acclaim by news critics and music fans alike. On the band’s MySpace blog, Eustis wrote, “We have been friends since high school, and began making records together a decade ago. We have been so fortunate to tour the world together, while at the same time having a massive amount of laughs at one another’s expense. Aside from Charlie’s singular genius and musical gifts, I can tell you that he was a total sweetheart of a guy, and a loving friend and confidant to people everywhere. His musicianship was surpassed only by his greater gift to the world — his warmth, his generosity, his unquenchable humor and his undying loyalty to those whom he loved.” According to Gaper’s Block, “They released their debut album,Fahrenheit Fair Enough, via Chicago’s Hefty Records in 2001 — an album of lush, jazz-tinged downtempo electronica that caught the attention of listeners and fit perfectly alongside the work of such contemporaries as Prefuse 73 and DJ Shadow. ” They band recently signed to Ellen Allien’s Berlin-based BPitch Control, releasing their third LP a week before Cooper’s passing. Cooper and Eustis also worked on side projects other than Telefon Tel Aviv. According to the STNG newswires, “The duo has contributed to several other projects, including remixes for a Nine Inch Nails EP. In 2001, they composed the score for the feature film ‘New Port South,’ and they had planned a tour of the United States and Europe in support of a new album.” Charles Cooper was born April 12, 1977, and was 31 at the time of his passing. While bandmate Eustis has asked for privacy in the matter concerning Cooper’s death, I personally feel now is a time for fans and others who deal with suicidal tendencies to be more open about their troubles. When we lose someone we care about, a priority seems to be to respect the dead. I disagree fully. Respecting the dead, while important, is not as important as respecting the living. People deal with depression, angst, and self-hatred. While we don’t know the situation behind Cooper’s death, we do know that he’s dealt with negative feelings towards himself in the past. Leaving behind the canned obituary-style mention of being loved by friends and family is not what will motivate others in similar positions to seek help, or to open up to a friend or loved on. By putting up a front of respect, others may walk the same path that Cooper had — feeling alone, not having someone to turn to, and possibly taking their own life because of it. If anything can be made of such as sad passing, it is that others who are dealing with hard feelings should not turn inward but outward. I’ve detested the modern funeral process where memories of a late friend are changed to always positive, always unrealistic. In the Ender’s Game series by Orson Scott Card, later books covered a character who had a job as an iterant “Speaker of the Dead.” Instead of giving a eulogy of positivity and love, the Speaker told the true story of the late character in the story. What those who listened heard made them gasp, many were revolted when the truth was told. Why shouldn’t the death of someone riddled with self-angst and maybe self-hate not be open and declared by others? It is not disrespectful to him who is gone, because it may help make change in the life of even one person who feels the same way, but is too ashamed to talk about it. In the memory of Charlie Cooper, I hope anyone reading this that has feelings of self-denial and self-hatred will take the time to open up to a friend or loved on, or even a random stranger. If you feel this way, please feel free to even contact me via e-mail.

http://arts.unanimocracy.com/music/...lefon-tel-aviv/