New York native, Los Angeles based indie pop artist, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Skyler Cocco is a certified pro sporting a degree in song composition and over a decade of writing and production experience - not to mention undeniable magnetism and raw talent. Yet something was holding her back. Learning to produce and write at age eleven on her father’s digital 8 track Skyler says she was shy at first. “I was too scared to sing in front of him,” says Skyler. “I taught myself how to record so that I could do it without an audience.” Gaining confidence, Skyler taught herself to play guitar, bass, and piano, and began uploading music to Myspace and Bandcamp. She then attended Purchase College where friends encouraged her to audition for the songwriting program. There, she further honed her craft and began writing and producing for other artists until the pandemic brought sessions to an abrupt halt.

It was then during quarantine that an unexpected co-sign from her favorite band provided the boost she needed to fully unleash her magic. When the band MUNA announced a Splice competition Skyler submitted a demo of her song “The Drive” and was announced the winner. With the encouragement of Naomi McPherson, producer and guitarist of MUNA, Skyler later released the single in September of 2020 to the palpable buzz of editorial support from Spotify, UPROXX, idobi Radio, Splice, and VEVO gaining over 400,000 streams across platforms. “As an artist, the Splice competition changed the trajectory,” says Skyler. “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 favorite 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.”

Empowered to forge ahead musically, Skyler poured her creative energy into her artist project, fine tuning her deliciously cinematic sound and ethereal aesthetic. As she set out to write her forthcoming debut EP Crossroads, things began to shift in her personal life as well. She and her partner of 9 years decided to open their relationship, and she came out publicly as bisexual. “A huge part of my identity had been suppressed,” says Skyler. “Ive been my truest, happiest self just being out.” Finding belonging in the queer community, her joy came accompanied by sadness as she began to accept her longtime relationship was coming to an end. With the break up looming, Skyler wrote her new single “Stranger” as a sort of premonition. The effervescent 80s inspired synth-pop track explores the surrealism of contemplating ending up as strangers with a person you’ve built a life with. “‘Stranger’ is me thinking the only way I could get over this person would be if we could rewind to the beginning and just not meet,” says Skyler. “Because somehow that feels easier to process than the 9 years we spent together.”

Detailing the ups and downs of Skyler’s experience, the shimmering 5 track EP wields the power to illuminate truth within, revealing the kind of answers that hang in the balance of love and loss. Both nostalgic and novel, Crossroads captures the precise and often elusive feelings found in the pivotal moments and memories of self discovery. An honest account of Skyler’s journey, she gracefully releases the past to make room for a more vivid future. No stranger to grief having lost her father, who was also a musician, Skyler’s courage has uncovered her most authentic path. “It took so many people telling me it was my calling to transition my point of view around it,” says Skyler, “Instead of beating myself up for being sad, I can fulfill something that my dad didn’t get to do. I can do this as a way to honor his life.” Self-assured, open-hearted and healing, Skyler is not only on the right track, she’s got wings and she’s flying.

"The Drive" - a glistening synth pop single was released on September 25th and well received by the likes of UPROXX, idobi Radio, and Splice. Crafted in the midst of quarantine, “The Drive” started out as a demo built on a guitar sample from electro-pop trio MUNA’s Splice “World Saving Sample Pack.” Skyler was notified about a competition held by Splice with this specific sample pack, and decided to submit what she was working on. A few days later, “The Drive” was selected as the winner of the competition.  With the encouragement of Naomi McPherson, producer and guitarist of MUNA, “The Drive” was officially released and has been featured on editorial playlists such as Spotify's Fresh Finds and Fresh Finds: Pop.  The accompanying music video has been featured on VEVO's Incoming Pop playlist and garnered over 100k views.  

“effervescent single”

- UPROXX

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“‘The Drive’ is wind in your hair when you’re holding the hand of someone who’s mad at you but loves you too much to let go.”

- idobi Radio

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“it is the dreamiest synth-pop magic I’ve ever heard.

If you told me this was written in a million dollar writing session 

with Max Martin, Savan Kotecha,

and Sia I’d believe you.”

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- Soft Sound Press

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“‘The Drive’ has a vibe that would

feel so comfortable on

HAIM’s Women in Music Pt. III"

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- The Indiependent

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“an icy, neon synth-pop track fighting its own antitheses and delivering something dynamite, something dynamic, something kinetic in the way it churns and spirals and pops and shimmers.”

- The Music Mermaid

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“’The Drive’ possesses a late summer vibe, with the kind of punchy 80s pop synths and swooning vocals that wouldn’t look out of place on a HAIM or MUNA record”

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- Luna Paper

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