Josh Forner’s musical journey began in his early years, growing up in a musically inspired – but not necessarily musically talented – home in Virginia, U.S.A with his Australian mother and American father. The two exposed Josh to a wealth of classic rock and contemporary alternative music from the early 90’s.

Forner began to expand his influences into funk and soul in his teens before making a sharp U-turn towards folk, adult contemporary, soft rock and elements of alternative country.

Over the period of 3 years prior to 2013, work was done on his first release, the 11 track full-length LP, ‘Leading to Nowhere,’ combining stories of love, heartbreak, young adult fantasy, politics and self-proclaimed “tragedy-folk”.

Extensive gigging ensued and Forner began to gain confidence and networks through Melbourne’s open mic scene. Becoming known for his incredibly emotive and strong baritone voice, it was obvious to onlookers that Josh Forner was a songwriter who connected deeply with his material.

Over the following 7 years, Forner’s involvement in the music industry never waned, yet his relationship with performing undertook several up-and-down moments which coincided with drastic life changes.

Josh Forner has had his songs shortlisted in the Australian Songwriter’s Association Songwriting Award as well as the Melbourne Music Bank competition run by Bank of Melbourne.

His behind the scenes work includes hosting Melting Pot’s iconic ‘Songwriters in the Round’ events, creating content for their website, and slowly teaching himself the ropes of live sound engineering and recording.

Having recorded and mixed a substantial portion of his first album, he continued to educate himself in sound production and has mixed at iconic Melbourne band rooms such as the Wesley Anne, Bar 303, Northcote Social Club, The Grace Darling, The Old Bar, Charles Weston and many more.

Josh Forner was awarded membership to the International Association of Professional Writers and Editors in late 2019 for his freelance and opinion piece writing, featured primarily on his website blog. He moved to Adelaide to pursue further music, work and life opportunities.

His multitude of life experiences have become evident in the next phase of his songwriting, in which the content has become far more political and real-world based as he works towards the creation and release of his second full-length album, ‘A Crooked Point of View.’

Cotzys personality shines through in his sets and productions, life is good and you can do it. He is a producer, dj & promoter with a  "can do attitude" which shapes his music. 

A Melbourne based Irish man Cotzy spent some formative time on the dancefloors of Chicago in his early years clubbing.

Expect uplifting groove laden house music.





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