“My name is Chad Cocuzza. I am a musician from Arlington, Texas. I was born in Long Island. I was born in Huntington, I lived in Greenlawn until I was 3 years old and moved to Texas in 1984.” I met Chad Cocuzza in Rogers on Saturday evening. We got to talking at the bar, and I told him about Humans of Rockaway, and he was immediately willing to participate (after 11 weeks of writing HOR, I have heard a lot of ‘nos’).
“I’m a musician; I’ve been traveling around the world since I was 18 years old playing music. Pretty much,” Cocuzza said. “This is my tour manager, Greg, and his lady friend over there, who is a good friend of mine as well.” He gestured to a couple behind him at the bar who smiled at me kindly. “My brother just went to the bathroom, but we’re both drummers, and we both play in the same bands together.” Cocuzza has been playing drums for almost a lifetime. “About forty years, since I was about four years old. Yeah…. I just. I love the freedom behind it. I love how you can make–there’s like endless creativity about it. Uh, you can make anything. You can make a rhythm out of anything like, you can be like,” he wrapped his fingers against the side of the bar, forming a beat, “or you know…your heartbeat is a rhythm. Traffic is a rhythm. Everything’s a rhythm. The way you walk is a rhythm. So I love that about drumming. I feel like everyone has that rhythm inside themselves. I think it’s just a matter of whether you wanna stir it up or not.
“I was here doing a show. My tour manager was running production for this thing called ‘Be the People’; yeah, it’s like a movement that they’re doing. It was crazy like Leon Bridges was there who I know from home in Texas, Shaboozy [was there]. Coming up here was a mixture of doing that show and surprising my cousins and my aunt and uncle who live here.,” he said. While Cocuzza is not from Rockaway, I still wanted to tell his story for this week’s Humans of Rockaway.
Though we locals often bemoan tourist booms, DFD beach etiquette, and outrageously long ferry lines, there is something to be said for the hospitality and friendliness of Rockaway that keeps non-locals coming back and keeps alive the legend of Rockaway as an oasis of New York. All of us have non-Rockaway loved ones who remain intrigued with the peninsula’s mystic qualities. Cocuzza is one of these people. I asked what his reaction was to coming back to Rockaway this time around: “Tears. Yeah. Tears and nearly a heart attack. I haven’t been here in four years, actually.
“I’m a touring musician. We play all over the country, all over the world. You know?… I got to go to Red Rocks in Colorado, which is a dream come true. Like you know, Bonnaroo Music Festival. Been over to China, Thailand, Italy. All through the Caribbean, Mexico,” he shared. “But I like playing in New York City. The Knitting Factory, we used to play that back in the day. We’ve played the Paramount Theater.” Cocuzza said if he could do anything, he could do what he does now: “Yeah, I would because it’s a pretty special time.”
His challenges as a musician are partially predictable. “One of them is probably the lack of sleep. I mean, you get done with the gig, and then you go to the hotel, and you gotta like wake up and drive the next day, or you know, a lot of time you gotta get on a flight or whatever, but like you’re always on the go. Which is fine, I love it,” he clarified. “I almost like, when I get to go home, and I’m there for like four or five days, I’m like, ‘what the f**k am I gonna do here?’” Home these days is primarily in Arlington, where his dog lives. “I have this precious dog named Blue; he’s a 125-pound Great Dane. He’s the best. I absolutely love him to death.” He showed me pictures of Blue, along with some others– open mic nights, his friends and bandmates, his cousin’s farm on Long Island and her Highland cows.
After talking for a few minutes, his brother, Matt, came over. I shook his hand and explained why I was “interviewing” his brother. We chatted before Chad offered his closing remarks. “I love Rockaway Beach. We’re gonna be having a party on the beach tomorrow, and we’re gonna throw down. Y’all are welcome to come if you want.” Unfortunately, if you are reading this after Sunday, June 21, you may have missed the party, but look for Cocuzza as he tours with Andy Frasco and the U.N. and continues rocking.
To nominate someone for Humans of Rockaway, reach out to aah.shaun@gmail.com.
