His father, an employee of Virgin Records, gave him a copy of the early Cure album Seventeen Seconds; Cooper became a fan of the band and first saw them live in 1990.

He studied drums at London's Drumtech institute, where he later became a patron and visiting artist.

[1] Cooper's first professional drumming work was as an early member of My Life Story, and he also performed as a session drummer for acts including Jean-Jacques Burnel and Billy Ray Martin.

[4] He has made guest appearances with David Bowie, Bat for Lashes, Marina and the Diamonds,[1] and Steven Wilson.

[5] Cooper also composes music for film, most notably the score for the horror movie From Within, for which he and co-composer Oliver Kraus won the award for best original score at the 2008 Solstice Film Festival.