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Composed and performed by the Copus family on a wide variety of instruments including synth keys, flutes, guitars, harps and light percussion, The Wishing Well also features guest violinist Keyreel Raskolenko. Completely instrumental, this album in a way echoes some of the great film composers, the vibe of Enya, albeit in a completely instrumental realm, as well as classic artists from trendsetting labels like Private Music and Windham Hill and other positive energy New Age artists. Following the group’s 2023 album Clouds Below and, from 2024, Time Traveler, the 2026 release of The Wishing Well signifies a new high in the music of 2002. Much more involved on an emotional level than much electronic ambient music and more relaxed in scope compared to instrumental progressive rock, The Wishing Well is the place where modern-era classical music meets electronic-based New Age music and in the mid 2020’s, The Wishing Well represents the best of both musical worlds. Maybe too emotive for electronic music heads, this 10-track, 38 minute album is nevertheless quite noble in both style and content. Interesting that in the CD liner notes, this 2002 album forms a historical trajectory delineating key facts about the band’s long time history. Going back to their early albums in the mid 1990s, the team of Pamela and Randy and their daughter Sarah, have always produced inventive New Age music and The Wishing Well represents another high point in their decades long creative journey.
mwe3.com presents the 2026 interview with 2002
2002: We, Pamela and Randy, met in high school in the theater department in 1979. Our musical paths diverged throughout college as we both explored a wide variety of musical styles, instruments, and bands—everything from jazz to industrial rock. Coming back together after college, we ultimately left our respective bands to form the progressive New Age band “2002”. The zeros in the middle were originally an infinity sign and the “twos” on either side represented us on either side of infinity. However, since it was not the easiest name to type on a computer keyboard, or to pronounce, we became known as “Two Thousand Two.” mwe3: The Wishing Well is your best album yet. How would you compare The Wishing Well with other recent 2002 albums including Time Traveler and Clouds Below? Is there a link between the three albums? 2002: It's pretty hard to compare one album to another, especially over a 34-year career. Each album has a unique personality to us, and comparing them to each other would be like choosing which of your children was your favorite. As far as the most recent three albums go, we have certainly been revisiting our earlier days as 2002 while hopefully still pushing the envelope of passionate, instrumental music. mwe3: Is The Wishing Well actually album number 23? Are most of the CDs of the early 2002 albums still in print and can you draw a musical line, something about how the 2002 sound and vision has grown since the early 1990s? Can you point to some key events along the way that changed any aspects of the 2002 sound and vision? 2002: Yes, The Wishing Well is our 23rd album. As far as availability goes, our first nine albums were released while under contract with the Real Music label from 1997 - 2006. We also recently composed two additional albums for Real Music, Hummingbird and Celtic Fairy Dream. All of those titles are available for streaming and downloading. However, Real Music no longer manufactures CDs, so whatever is out there is all that there is. Between 2007 and the present, we also self-released twelve albums and those all have physical CDs available. Our sound does evolve, but we often circle back around and revisit various aspects of our style. It's like stopping by unannounced to visit an old friend! Along the way, it's not unusual to encounter anything from subtle, ambient soundscapes, all the way up to anthems and uplifting lyrics. 2002: In 1992, the public internet was very much in its infancy, as were personal computers. Wings was recorded in a garage converted into a recording studio onto reel-to-reel tape and edited on a splicing block with a razor blade. Those were the tools we had at the time. Computers and music recording software were not available to us. Once those tools became available and evolved, we certainly made full use of the sudden freedom to add infinite numbers of tracks and to arrange and rearrange to our hearts' content. The earliest nine Real Music releases were available on cassette and CD. Cassettes were a bit of a challenge because you had to worry about side A and side B and how the length of each balanced. One advantage of the CD is that it gave a lot of freedom as far as being able to create an uninterrupted listening experience. mwe3: That first 2002 album Wings, was released in 1992. Reflecting back on the early years, can you tell us how you began working with Real Music? 2002: We began composing music together in the mid 1980's. Without an Internet to create a fan base, we had to rely on old-school methods. We only manufactured cassettes at the time, the CD hadn't quite taken hold. We mailed the cassettes to radio stations and went door-to-door to stores, hoping to convince them to sell the cassettes and to play them in-store. One of our earliest customers was the first Whole Foods Market in Dallas around 1986. We also rented booths at fairs and festivals of any kind in Texas—everything from arts & crafts, to farmer's markets and large music and fine art festivals. We'd set up a small PA and air the music to the crowds. This type of music was fairly unknown in Texas at that time. Favored music was mostly country, gospel, rock, bluegrass... you get the picture. Really, it was like bringing water to the desert. It sold really well. Then in 1996, we received a letter from a record label in Sausalito called Real Music. Terence Yallop had heard our second album, Savitri, and wanted to discuss a record deal. We didn't take it seriously at the time and didn't respond. Not long thereafter, a FedEx envelope came with 2 plane tickets to visit Sausalito! We decided to check it out. It was a magical and inspiring trip and we gratefully joined the Real Music family. The high point was their sales team, Bridget and Margaret. Those ladies fiercely and passionately promoted the music in every possible way. We were sent out on a small tour and had other performances at large events. We spent months on the Billboard charts. We were saddened when the label sold to a large investment company. The family we'd known broke apart and the chemistry and soul were forever changed.
2002: Cutting Edge Group bought Real Music. Then evolved it into Myndstream. Then spun it back off into Real Music again. There were tons of staff changes throughout those years. They did release CDs of our two newer titles Hummingbird and Celtic Fairy Dream. But only a limited number. We truly don't know what the future holds for our Real Music catalog, both for the nine legacy albums from 1997 - 2006 nor for the two newer titles. mwe3: Are you happy with the mechanics of the internet? On some levels it seems that the bigger internet companies like YouTube down to Spotify and other music sources control so much of what goes on these days in the music world. Did we trade the dominance of multi-national record companies for multi-national internet companies and is keeping up with the 21st century technology a difficult challenge not only for the artists and labels but also for the fans? 2002: Those are complicated questions. And the evolution of the Internet and its role in the music industry has been a rollercoaster. For example, the Internet has empowered musicians to reach audiences all around the world—something not easily possible in prior years. Plus, it's become not particularly necessary to seek out signing a record contract with a big label. However, the Internet also made it easy for musicians to not get paid for their music, once music was no longer on a fixed medium like vinyl or CDs. Nowadays, investment companies with little knowledge about the music industry buy up labels and music software/hardware companies and almost always put an end to their good products and services through mismanagement and lack of understanding of our industry and needs. But the biggest threat now to real musicians is AI-generated music that is replacing organic music with plagiarized versions. Big companies are flooding the playlists with content that doesn't involve real musicians, so there's no need to pay out any royalties. mwe3: Can you tell us about some of the instruments you perform and record with and would you consider yourself “gear heads”? For example, what guitars and keyboards are featured on The Wishing Well and do you have any endorsements with gear companies? 2002: Randy plays a lot of instruments—mostly guitar, bass, Theremin, piano, percussion, and keyboards. Pamela plays harp and flutes primarily. We don't have any endorsements with gear companies. Many of these instruments seem to multiply over the years. There are quite a few flutes, harps and guitars, for example. But every single one offers a unique sound from the others. You may think, for example, "why does Pamela need five harps?" And if you really wanted to know, I could go into great detail about why each one is unique! mwe3: Can you mention a few of your musical influences from your childhood? Did you grow up in the Beatles era or after? Sounds like 2002 might have been more influenced by classical composers. Is 2002 the connection between New Age, progressive and classical?
Randy: When I was very young, I heard a lot of mid-1960's pop music, mostly American acts like The Beach boys and The Mamas and the Papas, with some Beatles here and there. But I already had developed a deep love of classical music, which I have to this day. I remember being in third grade, and wishing so badly to be a composer when I grew up, like Beethoven or Mozart. But as a teen, I discovered rock and roll and electric guitars. By my 20’s, I was a jazz singer, with my own band. After some time in New York City, I returned to Texas and became the front man for a progressive rock band. When Pamela’s and my respective bands were dissolved, we formed a duo that would later evolve into 2002, where we would bring all of our musical influences to bear. mwe3: You spoke about live concerts. When 2002 started out was playing live shows easier? What were some of your favorite shows? The media is really changed too, between reading New Age Retailer every month in the 1990s to having a million artists every day on a million websites and a million new videos a day on YouTube? Do you remember Tower Records or any record stores? I miss live concerts. I guess it’s all done on podcasts now? 2002: Pamela: In college, one of the ways I paid the bills was gigging with various bands, many nights a week. I had a large keyboard rig and experienced a wide range of musical genres. When Randy and I started 2002 and signed with Real Music in 1996, they sent us out for quite a few performances—many were inside Borders Books and Music stores, but we also played at large conventions in Las Vegas and Dallas. I guess one of my favorite shows was performing at ZMR in New Orleans. I miss seeing my peers once a year and catching up in person. And YES, I do remember brick-and-mortar music stores. I very much miss spending hours combing the stacks of vinyl and later CDs for treasure and for new releases. Those are very fond memories. I actually still have all of my vinyl albums and 45's—hundreds, actually. As far as podcasts go, we have a bi-weekly radio show called "A Dream Creation" that's in its eighth year on One World Music Radio. It's a great way to discover new music and also to air a few of our own tracks. mwe3: Do you consider The Wishing Well your best album yet? It seems very well composed with many memorable melodies. The first two tracks on the album, the “Overture: The Restless Heart” and “Three Wishes” are very unique sounding. Did you set out to write and record your best album? What tracks stand out in your mind on The Wishing Well as being personal favorites of yours? I imagine “Dream Chasers” is another personal favorite. Can you say something about those standout tracks and what tracks seems to be getting the most acclaim? 2002: We start every album project with the intent to do the very best that we can. I guess that's why it takes us a year or more to complete a project. Each song on The Wishing Well has a story, the inspiration, and a unique personality. I don't really have a "favorite" since each one to me is like a child. There's no way to pick a favorite child! As far as which track is getting the most acclaim, it depends upon the platform. For example, on Pandora the popular tracks are "The Spiral of Heaven" and "Moon Lore". On Spotify the most popular tracks are "Dream Chasers" and "Twilight".
2002: Absolutely—it has been a long strange trip. It's hard to believe that Randy and I have known each other for 47 years. Everything has evolved so much. I guess we'd be showing our age to mention that when we met, there were no cell phones, personal computers or the internet. I actually have a stack of real paper letters from the 1980's when Randy and I stayed in touch via the U.S. mail. I try not to think of "losing" friends along the way. I think that they are still nearby, just in a different place than me. The love in my heart, and the good memories keep old friends immortal… until we meet again. mwe3: Even with so many acclaimed albums in your repertoire what are you looking forward to musically this year and into the next? I know you don’t perform live shows very often so in some ways, is that the upside to the internet? Everything seems live and for free. What is the future of live performances and what kind of album would 2002 like to do next? 2002: We pretty much stay excited about starting any new project. A blank slate is inspiring! We just can't wait to start adding in the colors. We have quite a few ideas and have started on several of them. As far as live performances go, it's pretty complicated for us to pull that off. For example, I play flute and harp on a lot of songs, but doing that live wouldn't be possible.
Many of our songs have stacks of vocals... something easy for 3 people to do via multi-tracking in a recording studio. But to reproduce that live would require hiring a choir and tons of rehearsals. As far as what kind of album is next… that's a surprise!
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On the 2026 release of The Wishing Well, by the gifted trio of musicians known as 2002, there’s an aura of Deja-Vu that looks back on their history with a collection of freshly composed tracks. After three decades of music making, 2002 still draws upon the many classic nuances in their music, yet there’s also something new and fresh in play. On this, the 23rd 2002 album, Randy, Pamela and Sarah Copus take their music to new heights and the results are among their best.
