Daily Inspiration: Meet Dean Cocozza

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I grew up between the UK and Germany since my parents are British and German. Therefore, I’ve always been fascinated by the beauty of language in communication as well as in art, which is communication too at the end. I started writing at about the same time, I started taking music a little more serious, so around the age of 17. French cinema of the 60s and 70s was a huge inspiration and made me want to write for film and collaborate with visual artists, such as photographers. With time the music I composed went more and more into a direction of ambient and classical pieces, which I wanted to combine with images too. My first real collaboration with a photographer was in 2016 when I worked on the project ‘mirror on a mountain face’ with German photographer Yannick Schütte. We also released a couple of stories in printed Vogue issues two years later. Around that time, I also started to share more of my work on social media, receiving an unexpected amount of positive reactions, which lead to making a lot of contacts all over the world, including Los Angeles.

At the beginning of 2020, I released my book ‘zero dark thirty’, which was a collection of poetry. The first run sold out within a few months, which obviously made me extremely happy. Ever since I have been working on a couple of bigger projects. I want to tell stories in different ways than I have before. 2020 is also when I came to LA the first time and decided to make it my second home. This might sound off, but I struggle staying in one place for too long. I crave experiences of strong contrasts, the culture and art in Europe are inseparable from me, at the same time Los Angeles and California are a place that gives me peace, inspiration and opportunities. Living by the ocean has always been a dream of mine. The city leaves a lot of space for different genres and personal styles. I’m thinking of other places that I have lived, such as Berlin, they are extremely diverse and yet have a very distinctive aesthetic that people tend to obey too. The fact that the film industry is still significant in the US and Los Angeles obviously is another factor.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
What’s a smooth road? I am not sure that exists, or even if I would choose to go that way. I definitely don’t come from a financially privileged background to say the least, so of course there was the struggle of finding out how to make a living while doing what I love. And ultimately, combining it. I am really happy today, I don’t think I was before when I spent majority of my days trying to make ends meet in random jobs. I’ve met a lot of challenges in life but I’d never feel sorry for myself, I feel privileged and I wouldn’t want to give back any of the lessons I have learned. Regarding Los Angeles, a struggle that I would happily live without is immigration processes. I don’t hold a VISA, so my stays are always limited. Usually that would probably not be a big concern, but during Covid it’s not that easy to move around, as it was before. I’m just lucky I can do my work from wherever I am most of the time, which was actually one of my goals that I wrote down a couple of years ago.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a writer and composer. I would say I am most known for a dark, emotional style and aesthetic. When it comes to writing, breaking down depth and complex feelings in short sentences and dialogues. The music I compose is inspired by a lot but I assume it is close to 80s synth spheres by such as Brian Eno, as well as the ambient work of Moby. I am currently trying to get my equipment shipped from different places in the world, but am looking to put out an EP under my own name by the end of the year. I do a lot of ghostwriting and composing, I feel much more comfortable and free to work in other directions when my name isn’t attached to it, especially since it’s usually more commercial. The art I release under my name is usually very personal. I’m not sure what I’m most proud of. I think I learned to rather be grateful than proud.

Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
I’ve always liked to read a lot of Carl Jung, essays and philosophy on the human ‘shadow’. Nietzsche’s ‘Thus spoke Zarathustra’ has a chapter called ‘The Way Of The Creator’ which meant a lot to me at the time when I was realizing I want to create for a living, despite coming from a very ‘working class’ family, I had just left the German Air Force at the time. I also think everybody should read Eckhart Tolle’s ‘A New Earth’, I actually think this book should be essential in school education these days. It taught me, books can still massively change your views on your own life, at any age. After all these German names, I also want to throw in anything by Victor Hugo, Baudelaire and Camus. I love Henry Rollin’s honest poetry too.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deancocozza

Image Credits
Images by Shelby Goldstein, Christian Hasselbusch, Yannick Schuette, Jules Dalod Danesi