“Instead of beating myself up for being sad, I can fulfil something that my dad didn’t get to do. I can do this as a way to honour his life.” Self-assured, open-hearted and healing, Skyler is not only on the right track, but she’s also got wings and she’s flying.
With over a decade’s worth of experience writing/producing music and an endorsement from MUNA’s Naomi McPherson, New York Native Skyler Cocco commands huge, bonafide talent with refinement and an astute ear for what will get people hooked.
“So how do we keep it casual?
When it feels it’s natural
We can hit the gas but we can’t fall
Driving in the fast lane, it’s your call”
Skyler was writing and producing her own songs as early as the age of 11, only back then she was using her dad’s Digital 8 track instead of a full setup. over time, Skyler began teaching herself various instruments to round up her abilities, and while at first, she was shy and insecure -as many artists are- it was only a matter of time before she found the confidence to share some of her music through Myspace and Bandcamp; later, when she began attending Purchase College, she was nudged toward the songwriting program by her friends, where her abilities would be polished to the point where she began writing and producing music for other artists up until the pandemic hit.
During the quarantine downtime, Indie rockers MUNA launched a Splice competition. The band, being one of Skyler’s favourites, inspired her to sign up and submit a Demo of her song “The Drive”, which unsurprisingly was announced as the winner. With some encouragement from Naomi McPherson (Producer and guitarist of MUNA), Skyler would go on to release the single in September 2020 gaining over 400,000 streams across platforms.
It was the Splice competition that set Skyler on her current path.
“There’s so much imposter syndrome when you’re doing things DIY because there’s no one there to validate the investment,” says Skyler. “It took my favourite band to be like ‘you should be doing this, you’re on the right path, keep going’ for me to feel ready to put my full effort behind my artist project.”
“Passenger Side” is an unapologetically sexy ode to summer flings and the brief but intense romantic feelings that flare up in the maelstrom of lustful desires and risky adventures. The steamy Music video stars Skyler herself alongside Singer/songwriter and Queer Icon Libby Larkin. It was Directed, Edited and Colorized by Alexa San Roman in the style of an Indie Queer romance flick with a nice slow pace building the tension (and romance) up in a slight contrast to the luxurious electro-pop sound and dynamism of its musical backing. The song and the music video celebrate Skyler’s sexual identity.
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Photos by @mccall_olsen
