(Emmanuel Catanzariti playing during one of Cozy’s past performances in New Orleans.)

Emmanuel Catanzariti, a 2010 Duxbury High School graduate, is doing big things these days. The Duxbury native and his band Cozy are gaining some major recognition across the country. While video chatting from Los Angeles, Catanzariti discussed his latest musical endeavors including one exciting and rather humbling experience.

“We got to perform at the Roxy Theatre here in L.A.,” said Catanzariti. “While we were there, an older gentleman who worked there came up to me and asked, ‘do you know who has performed on this stage?’ I knew of a few but hearing all the talent that had played there was incredibly humbling, especially as a small college band.”

Catanzariti and Cozy, the band he plays and writes songs for, played on the same stage that night that Guns ‘N’ Roses and Eric Clapton had played on before them. The band got its start when Catanzariti met Jack Gallagher at Loyola College where the two majored in music industry. The pair started playing together, sharing music, and decided they wanted to start a band. The other members of the band soon followed. The five current members of Cozy come from across the nation and spent a lot of time getting to know each other and playing together before venturing into the music scene.

“Playing with these guys has taught me a lot about myself,” Catanzariti said. “Jack and I have become the best of friends. It transcends into the way we play, there is a real feeling of camaraderie in terms of playing together as a band.”

The other members of the band are Dominic Rivera who plays the drums, Chaz Sexton on bass guitar and Alex Crane who plays lead guitar. Catanzariti and Gallagher both play guitar and vocals, while Catanzariti also plays piano.  The pair composed all of the songs for the band thus far, and all of the songs they perform are originals.

“Music is such an outlet for me,” said Catanzariti. “I have so many emotions and thoughts running through my head, and music is a way to explore that. I have no choice but to write it all.”

Catanzariti got his start in music locally, performing in the DHS Jazz Band, and singing in chorus and other groups.

“Duxbury definitely helped shape me as a musician,” Catanzariti said. “The  really fundamental lessons lay with the other students and being conscious of the talent around you and being able to work with it. I learned a lot through working with others and being open to ideas and criticism. I went through a lot of music programs in Duxbury.”

Not only did Catanzariti go through a lot of music programs but he also worked with a lot of teachers in Duxbury. Joseph Pondaco, a music teacher at DHS,  worked with him in the music department.

“He was always a very good piano player.  That was his passion,” said Pondaco. “He had already come to our music classes knowing to play piano as he did.  I remember that he was the kind of student that was hungry to play.  He was one of the students that would be playing piano in the morning when you came into school, or you would pass by a practice room sometime during they day to hear someone playing the piano and when you stopped to see who it was, it was Emmanuel.”

As far as being a member of Cozy goes, recording music for the group has been very successful. The band has lucked out, recording at Dockside Studios in Louisiana where famous musicians like Dr. John and B.B. King have all made magic before them. While in L.A. Cozy also got a chance to record at The Village, where The Allman Brothers, The Band, and Aerosmith have recorded.

“These days it’s a lot easier to record music and then post it on sites like YouTube,” Catanzariti said. “It’s more about garnering an audience with the music you already have out there.”

Cozy is certainly not lacking for strong talent to surround itself with, so its no surprise that people in the music business are reaching out to help.

“It’s all a matter of time and money,” said Catanzariti. “We have been lucky enough to do what we’ve done so far through the goodness of people’s hearts.”

The band looks forward to getting a full album out as well as making some music video’s and continuing to record and write songs.

“Everyone wants to be successful,” Catanzariti said. “But everyone wants to be happy. I want to be able to still enjoy what we’re doing.”

As for the near future, the band has a week or so left in L.A. before they head back east. Once school starts, the band has a gig at Loyola to kick off the year.

Catanzariti and the other four members of Cozy are sure to be busy as the summer continues. Making great music is most certainly the main agenda.