We recently connected with Anthony Cotoia and have shared our conversation below.

Anthony, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

Success ultimately becomes very simply put, achieving what you’ve set out to do. So what it takes is perspective, patience, and permission.

Perspective allowing yourself to recognize the context of your work. What period of your process are you in? What are your abilities currently truly looking like? What backing do you currently have? What are you willing to give? I think if we can answer these honestly with ourselves, we can gain the perspective that highlights where we are now and the next steps that need to be taken.

Patience is exactly as it sounds. Nearly no great thing is completed in singular moment. Be patient knowing that the time will come for success, and it comes through the path you’re on currently.

Permission to succeed. Most of us think we are ready for success, and we also get in our own way with questions and fears and doubts etc. Breathe. Give yourself permission to be the most successful person that has ever done this work. And give yourself permission to fail along the way.

The road to success is one of endurance and love.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Anthony Cotoia, and I am a musician and actor. I hope to offer art that, in new ways, aids in reconnecting people to themselves, to others, and to God. The biggest hurdle in our society occurs to me as an issue of connection in at least one of three places (self, God, others). Music and film are tools that allow us to consider new perspectives, empathize with our experiences, and/or hopefully deepen compassion. I believe light and sound change everyday something is experienced. So may the EP be an experience of light and love.

My debut EP “Your Equal” will be released December 6, 2023 on all platforms. It is a series of love songs written out of my own heart and experiences, and I hope that it inspires a sense of fun and enjoyment while maybe igniting hearts along the way. “Your Equal” will be the first of lots of music to come existing in the genres of Singer/Songwriter, and for this particular EP, maybe it’s a little Alternative as well.

I am proud of myself for having written, recorded, and mixed so much of the music myself. A wonderful film composer, Andres Soto, did help with some producing. I also had some assistance from my friend, Andy Luiten, with mixing.

The music was beautifully mastered entirely by Jonathan Berlin from the Loft Studio LA

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

There is so much free stuff in the music world that can help with full production. Student/Teacher discounts for software. Etc. I think piano book.co.uk was incredibly helpful in finding instrument plugins since I was working with a very limited budget. Orchestral tools, Waves, Kontakt, and many more plug in companies offer free downloads from time to time if you sign up for the emails. Many YouTube channels and websites dedicated to really supporting musicians who are trying to figure it all out, and so often for low or no cost. It’s amazing!!!!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I first had to unlearn that as an artist, I can do whatever I want. The truth is that there are clear ways that people resonate with art and that’s why people feel the need to have any kind of rule around it. The second thing I had to unlearn was that I needed to do any part of the art a specific way! Which sounds like a contradiction to what I just said. In a way, it is, but more than that it’s an addition to it. We have to learn what is effective. When we are doing an “ineffective” artistic move, we ought to be intentional about its effect. To my surprise, as I learn more about how music works, I find that I am more in line with “how things are done” than an earlier version of myself would have liked; as negative and restrictive as that sounds, it actually has offered me even more experimental freedoms than I would have ever thought.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/anthonycotoia/your-equal
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anthonycotoia/
• Other: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/anthonycotoia/your-equal

Image Credits
James Rosales