MNYS

“I just want people to be honest with themselves and who they are as a person. I think that’s kind of what I really want to instill in anyone that comes across me in general.” 

Nick Cozine was always chasing the dream that everyone wanted him to — a college degree, all the right internships, and, eventually, a secure job at a hedge fund. “It’s all a status game,” he recalls about that era in his life. In defiance of “the game,” he tossed all to the side and gave life to what would become his whole world: an artist project called MNYS. 

In this transition of identity, MNYS dove headfirst into music, striving to fill the “empty feeling” that the disconnect in the office left him with. Feelings of instability and uncertainty, though, had to quickly be pushed away if he wanted to succeed. MNYS is entirely self taught and self made. 

From the beginning, MNYS was committed to embracing his own, true self. He was done being someone he wasn’t. This meant lots of DIY — everything from the music and production to the accompanying artwork and visuals. For a decade, MNYS wrote for other artists, helping them to find their sound. Now, though, it’s his turn to prove himself. 

He hasn’t entirely deserted his past. Even after moving to Los Angeles, his upbringing in the Hudson Valley is still a heavy influence on him. He acknowledges the trials he was put through when he was young and growing up: scarcity and financial uncertainty. In reflecting on his life and the values instilled in him growing up he remarks, “family and love and everything, that’s all that matters.” Even the guise of ‘MNYS’ is an homage to an old Myspace project: My New York Summer. Decidedly, MNYS says, “struggles don’t go away.” For him, they simply change. Music is his avenue to cope with whatever life throws at him. He explains: “Music can transcend you into another place” and make you embrace “feelings you didn’t know you had.” 

His music is not just well-crafted, but it’s also a genuine and candid reflection on real life experience. “I don’t think anyone’s saying anything meaningful,” he observes about the state of the emo-esque scene. So, MNYS’s debut “Break” was the beginning of a series of songs that would challenge the status-quo of a filler throw-away song and, instead, give us a raw and real emotion to grab onto. “Night Terrors” would be the song to set him apart, though, with a beautiful comprehension and tale of struggling with mental health, mainly anxiety. He captivated the attention of the industry and on July 8, 2021, he was signed to Pure Noise Records. 

Even so, he stands out on the roster: a genre-defying artist with that charming DIY mindset. You can’t classify music anymore, it seems, and MNYS isn’t afraid to embrace that. He was influenced early on by all the ‘greats’ in pop punk and was inspired by a documentary about The Used that he saw around the age of 14. “I have never heard music like this in my life,” he remembers thinking. So began his pursuit of all things grungy, angsty, and emo — even playing in garage bands and experiencing the life of those house shows. However, his influences can’t only be defined by that. For him, Mac Miller and other hip-hop artists and rappers would leave their mark on his songwriting.

Moving forward, “I’m going in with intention,” MNYS says. He describes the growth in his sound as more cohesive and is aiming for that anthemic sort of feeling. MNYS is already setting the stage for something great, with recent tracks being featured on Spotify’s hyperpop + FORYOU for over 10 weeks and selling out his first show in LA in 2021. 

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