John Puzzo and Jon Cullen both of Hartford, Connecticut teamed up to form the duo CUZZÖ, pronounced (coooo-zo). This duo incorporates bass music, house, grime, garage and many other genres to perfect their sound. CUZZÖ dropped their first bootleg of Roses by The Chainsmokers last week and it gained a lot of attention early. CUZZÖ is releasing their second track “That Feeling”late next week and plans to keep firing track out to the public to really expand their audience. CUZZÖ has been pushing the limits and boundaries of many genres and doesn’t plan to slow down any time soon. Check them out on some of their pages and you will surely be in for a treat.
Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
We are a duo based out of Hartford, CT.
John Puzzo, 26 – I have been a musician for most of my life, using the standard band and choir classes in grade school as a launch-pad for a broad study of musical genres. In middle school, I began playing saxophone, guitar and piano, in addition to auditioning for regional choirs, desiring to take my musical experience further than the walls of the public school I attended. I continued these activities into high school, using saxophone as a medium to get into Elizabethown College as a music education and sax performance major (eventually graduating with a business degree). Outside of my high-school band and choir classes, I took to listening to heavy metal as an outlet for the stresses that go along with being a kid. The chunky guitar and bass riffs coupled with intense drum breakdowns brought me to dubstep’s door, and throughout my college experience (which started in 2008), I was introduced to the blossoming “EDM” scene and was hooked immediately. I started DJing house parties but desired to be able to produce these sounds myself…I tried to make my first tunes in GarageBand. Wanting to take these skills further, I eventually moved to Ableton and have been studying electronic music production off and on in my spare time since 2011. In 2013, I met who would turn out to be a lifelong friend and business partner of mine, Raul a.k.a. “Sogni G”. Sogni was an aspiring hip-hop producer and we decided to start making music. Eventually, we launched our own music, media, and design company which we called “Burnt Leather”. The Burnt Leather Studio is where all of Cuzzo’s production takes place, and since meeting Sogni I have focused intensely on furthering my production skills. Meeting and working with Jon has proven to be a missing piece of that production puzzle, as I have been able to take the hip-hop skills I developed over the past few years and apply them to the genre I started out loving many years ago, electronic dance music.
Jon Cullen, 21- I got into the electric music scene in 2012 when I had first entered college. The new people I met began introducing me to various genres under the broad electric music scene. Using the moniker
“Trapsprite”, I started DJing house parties, bars and clubs in the
Connecticut and New York areas. I’ve had the opportunity to play the main stage at the legendary Toad’s Place in New Haven, CT, first as a supporting act and eventually headlining events. I’ve also played at The Webster Hall in New York City supporting Madeon on his True Colors Tour.
CuzzÖ:
It wasn’t until late 2014 when Jon and John met at a bar they were both working at. Quickly connecting over similar tastes in music, it wasn’t long after until they became friends. When the beginning of 2016 came around, John invited Jon to the Burnt Leather Studio and they started to put ideas together. Drawing main influences from heavy bass, grime and UK garage, ideas turned into loops, which eventually turned into songs. Our first release was a bootleg of The ChainSmoker’s song “Roses”, which quickly drew attention from many supporters. With our collaboration CuzzÖ in full swing, we have a bunch of new music in the works and releases will begin to set like wildfire.
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
With both of us sharing the name John/Jon we thought it was necessary to combine our last names of Cullen and Puzzo to get CuzzÖ. Our inspiration behind this was to conjoin our ideas, styles, and names to further put out the best music possible.
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
We love online music sharing!! With all music sharing in the electric scene, it created a worldwide spark of fire and interest in the large genre. We have put out our first track for free, and will continue to put out free tunes in exchange for love and support! Anyone who believes in our vision and direction as music producers should be able to get their hands on what we create. Many of the producers and DJs we look up to have put out a lot of their music for free. Having access to these free songs has in one way or another influenced our unique sound and we plan to do the same, with the hopes of inspiring one person at a time.
Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?
One thing we can say, however cliché it may be, is to never give up!! Follow your dreams and make them realities. Always stay true to your sound and don’t get strung out on mainstream influences. Work hard, work late, work early, work when you don’t want to, work when you’ve already worked a lot and then work some more. Every minute you don’t spend in the studio is a lost opportunity. Find a way to get what you want and then don’t stop until it’s yours. Find a mentor, someone who can show you how they’ve done it, or at least what they’ve tried, and then give back to someone else who needs help getting going.
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
Whether it be together in the studio or separately going about our daily agendas, we constantly are talking back and forth sharing tracks we both enjoy and sounds that influence our songwriting. Usually our studio sessions consist of sharing discovered music from the week before and hopping right into Ableton or jamming out and seeing where our energy takes us.
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
You can find us on:
Facebook.com/wearecuzzo
Soundcloud.com/wearecuzzo
Twitter.com/wearecuzzo
Instagram: wearecuzzo
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
Ideally we would both relocate to an area that’s more conducive to and supporting of the electronic music scene…Hartford does not have much to offer when it comes to this genre. It goes without saying that a larger studio would be in order to assist with our songwriting and creative process. Being able to focus more on music would be a dream come true! Puzzo has dreamed for many years now of starting an after-school or summer program for under-privileged kids who don’t have the resources to get their hands on the expensive studio equipment that comes with making modern music. Part of that half-million dollars would undoubtedly go to his dream of giving back and helping others learn to make music!
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
We promote our music on all major social networks as well as word of mouth. We thank friends and supporters who shout out our music and mix in our tracks in their own sets, that is a big help with getting our sound out there.
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
What’s next is expanding our sound to reach other genres of our liking, trying new things, and perfecting trial and error. Our next track “That Feeling” will be dropping this week and we are very excited. As for our other projects, you’ll just have to wait and see!
CuzzÖ:
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
Jon- This is a hard question to answer because I don’t see myself not making music. Music and athletics is what I love and don’t plan on quitting either of them anytime soon.
Puzzo- If I’m not making music, I’m listening to it! I enjoy spending time with my girlfriend, family and friends, and absolutely love to cook. Nothing like a home-cooked meal after a long studio session!
CuzzÖ:
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
Jon- I am a full time education student and I juggle my life repsonsibilites put setting goals and lining priorities. I will always stay ahead with music in my life because music is so important to me and I can’t ever quit what I love.
Puzzo- I work 40-50 hours a week as a logistics engineer at Pratt and Whitney…my early morning work hours allow me time in my studio in the afternoon and evening. I find that the monotony of this job only furthers my motivation to be successful as a musician. During my workday, I try to spend down-time watching tutorials on production, finding new music to build into DJ sets, and connecting with fans on social media as we attempt to build our brand and bring recognition to the work Jon and I do.
CuzzÖ:
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?
Fans should look forward to many more releases! We plan on releasing music in all of the different sub-genres of house music, bass music, dubstep, and drum and bass! Approaching summer, fans can look out for our name on festival flyers and clubs in major cities in the North East.