I wanted to share this with you here first, before tomorrow’s public release.
Sofar Global Communities will be releasing a live performance of my song “The Weird Ones” — a song from my forthcoming Elodie songcycle — recorded in 2024.
For those unfamiliar, Sofar Sounds (Songs From A Room) is a global community built around intimate live performances in unusual spaces — living rooms, rooftops, breweries, hidden venues — where audiences gather not knowing who they’ll see until they arrive. There’s something deeply compelling to me about that format. People come to experience the unknown. Something moving, unexpected…my people. So, naturally, I offered them a rendition of our family theme song.
“The Weird Ones” (ca’ 2015) came out of a period where I felt deeply disillusioned with the world, and profoundly alone in that.
I was exhausted by the cruelty that people normalize in order to survive. The idea that exploitation is just “how the world works.” That to succeed, you must harden yourself against others. There’s anger in this, but underneath that there’s grief — and beneath that, a desperate hope that maybe we do not have to become what hurt us.
“I learned that crying was weakness,
My biggest teacher was shame
You’ve gotta lie and cheat and steal
Just to be in the game”
The strange thing about professing profound loneliness is that, every time you do, someone lets you know that you have company in the feeling.
People tell me they’ve always felt too sensitive, too intense, too emotional, too different, too much. It’s as though few of us ever quite learned how to comfortably fit into systems that often reward disconnection over humanity.
So over time, the song has changed meaning for me. Because I’m no longer alone in feeling alone. I’m not alone in wanting more for myself, and more for the world.
There is a vast community of people trying to stay soft in a world that trains hardness into us. People trying to remain ethical without becoming cynical. People trying to create meaning instead of domination.
And that gives me hope.
F# Major represents Triumph over difficulty… surmounting obstacles and finally finding rest in victory.” – German music theorist and composer John Mattheson (1681-1764)
Looks like our favorite vintage musical horiscope is on point.
Thank you for supporting this work. Truly. Projects like mine are only possible because of communities like this one.
The weird ones have been finding each other all along.
Musically yours,
Maggie
🎤 Upcoming Events
🎻Talute wsg Maggie Cocco
📍 The Taproom Mangawhai
📅 Tuesday May 19th
💲 $10
Known for “Pacific reggae meets early Flying Nun” sounds, Talute will perform a set of original music for guitar, violin, percussion, and vocals.
🍷 NZ Music Night
📍 The Packhouse Kerikeri
📅 Friday May 22nd
🕔 5:00 – 8:00 PM
The Old Packhouse Market is excited to showcase original music talent during NZ Music Month. Popular street food vendors will be offering a wide range of foods, cafe & bar will also be open from 5 – 8pm
🎼 Bay of Islands Singers & Northland Ensemble Orchestra
I’ve dusted off my viola to join the regional orchestras for a couple choice events this month.
📍 The Turner Centre
📅 Sunday May 24th
💲 $40
📍 ONEONESIX
📅 May 30th & 31st
💲 $35
🌈 Beagle Fundraiser
📍 The Woodshed Whangarei
📅 Saturday May 30th
💲 $30
Full disclosure, I’m not plahing this particular event, but I did help organize it because indeoendent community radio has always been important, but it’s expecially important these days ✊
🍷 Katikati Folk Club
📍 The Arts Junction, 36 Main Road, Katikati
📅 Friday, June 19th
🕔 7:00 – 10:00PM
The Old Packhouse Market is excited to showcase original music talent during NZ Music Month. Popular street food vendors will be offering a wide range of foods, cafe & bar will also be open from 5 – 8pm
📀 Project Updates
A jam packed, two week tour across the north island of New Zealand is coming together for July! More on that soon.
Like A Moth remains released on CD and vinyl only, available for immediate listening and purchase at Diggers Factory. With the current war-mongering nature of leadership behind many streaming platforms, I am reticent to release digitally until I am satisfied that I can do so in a way that doesn’t risk supporting the war machine. My subconscious is chewing the fat until an answer bursts into my consciousness.
Meanwhile, discussions for the recording of Elodie have begun with co-producer Alex Selman and Harvest Studios.
🎶 Student Sponsorship | Maggie Cocco Music Studio
Maggie Cocco Music Studio currently has four low-income students.
No earnest student is ever turned away due to lack of sponsorship — if sponsorship isn’t secured, I donate my time to ensure they still receive their lessons.
If you would like to help sustain this work and directly support students who are passionate about music but navigating financial constraints, you can:
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Become a paid Patreon supporter
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Make a one-off contribution OR reach out to sponsor a specific student’s weekly lessons
💳 USA Zelle/PayPal: maggiecocco@hotmail.com NZ Bank Transfer: Maggie Cocco Music | 38-9022-0416841-0
Music changes lives. I see it every week.
Thank you for being part of a community that believes access matters. 🤍
Thank You!
If you’re here, you are part of the reason I get to build art and community at the edge of capitalism. Your support has and will always mean the world to me.
More soon.