In 2014, a young Cade Hoppe watched Ben Folds perform at the San Francisco Symphony with his father. He immediately fell in love with the artist and the music describing it as “the most magical thing ever”. 3 weeks after that, Hoppe wrote his first song.
Hoppe was told his whole life that he couldn’t sing – that he was juts a great pianist and writer. With a little help from his idol, he gained the confidence to pursue his artist career the way he had always dreamed of. Folds has met with Hoppe twice and even reviewed one of this songs during the pandemic – Folds told him to keep writing.
“I’m a true believer that the greatest people that have ever done it aren’t always the greatest singers – they’re so sure of their songwriting and storytelling. You just need to write for your own voice.”
Before finding his own voice, Hoppe was at New York University, playing basketball and studying finance. After realizing where his heart really lies, he immersed himself in the NYC music scene, embracing that “go-getter energy”.
On May 22, 2022, Cade Hoppe released his sophomore EP Everything That’s Wrong with You – a culmination of meaningful songs, unintentionally revolving around the central theme of “moving forward and becoming you and who you want to be”.
“Right now, I’m trying to be the best version of myself. The one huge caveat is the people closest to you have these expectations for you. You think those people want you to be the happiest you can be. But they also have the most time to decide what they think you being happy would entail. That’s what this EP is essentially about – trying to detach baggage in order to keep going.”
Hoppe wrote all 5 songs on his own and turned to Harper James (Eighty Ninety) for production. The two have created a beautiful partnership; they’ll spend days working together in the studio. Hoppe explained “there’s a lot of breakthrough moments with these newer songs”.
The EP opens with the title track “Everything That’s Wrong with You”. Hoppe explained that James “didn’t get the vision at first, but after explaining it, we’re both really glad with how it turned out”.
“The track is about looking at someone you’re close with and seeing a piece of them within yourself. You see they have a heart and there should be something in there that’s understandable of you. But it doesn’t appear that way so you realize maybe everything you think is wrong with me, is actually what’s wrong with you.”
The second track is “Heart Safe” – a love song. Hoppe explained that he typically strays from love songs due to their corny/ cliche nature, but the song is more so about him (as a third person) if you dig deeper.
“It’s a love song written to the person that hurt the person that you love.”
When a love song is present, a breakup song often follows. “Hurts” is the third track and was written as a sequel to one of his past songs, “Borrowed Time” (seen on his first EP). Hoppe explained that the track “basically produced itself”, starting on piano and later turning into a more rock song.
“Sometimes, in a relationship, we don’t want to leave so we push the other person to do it first. But ‘Hurts’ is about wanting to walk away, so you do. You’d think it’s easier since you’re making the decision to leave, but sometimes that’s a lesson we learn the hard way. Losing someone is never easy, even when you’re the one to do it.”
The next track is “Don’t Watch Me”; it holds some of Hoppe’s favorite lyrics on the whole EP. He explains it’s tough to “write something personal or sad, but sometimes we need to”. This song’s about not being able to leave something you want to leave because others are watching you.
“It’s the begging them to look away, or stay asleep so you can walk out quietly. It’s not necessarily the best way to leave, but it seems the easiest at the moment.”
“Morphine” is the final track which navigates the weight of life and expectations. It adds a whole new layer to the EP, getting deeper and darker. “Morphine” is Hoppe’s favorite song on the EP due to the lessons it has taught him.
“This song was written as an alternative timeline – the things that are heavy on my mind. I really do have these moments… like how do I tell my parents I’m lying about my faith and have them hear that in my song? Or that I sometimes fear I won’t be as good as my favorite songs?”
Hoppe describes his sound as lyric centric and transitioning from folk to pop with this new EP.
“The songs are exactly what they need to be. My sound is just Cade Hoppe – I hope someone can say my name and people will know what that means in their head.”
Making music makes Hoppe the happiest and he loves sharing his truth with listeners so they can feel a little less alone. He is working on new music and looking to tour soon – we can expect a lot of NY shows this summer.
“This is just the beginning. It means the world to me when I get to see things start from zero and grow to bigger numbers. Growth is exponential. If you become a fan of Cade Hoppe, you won’t be disappointed. I will give you every piece of me. The community I want to build is one that will be fun to be a part of. I love doing this so thank you to everyone that’s making this possible.”
The more Hoppe writes, the more he is finding his own voice – and we can’t wait to listen to it some more!
Stream “Everything That’s Wrong with You” now!
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