Alt-pop duo Cognoscenti (CONE-yuh-SHEN-tee) present their debut single, “Idea”.

Childhood friends Pratik Bhosale (STORM) and Sebastian Garza met in a Dallas suburb fifteen years ago and have been making music together for ten—beginning with this very song. Originally a simple loop with a default midi instrument and sampled percussion from Garza’s MIT dormitory bathroom, the song has shifted and grown over the last decade almost as much as its creators have. The uncertainties of the first many drafts of lyrics have resolved into its powerful political message, and the song’s initial skeleton has given rise to a rich concoction of indie pop, industrial, hip-hop, and even math rock influence.

A revolutionary call to action told through a personal lens, “Idea” is an emblematic first release for the duo. Over a poppy and richly textured soundscape, vocalist STORM gives an impassioned call for the workers of the world to unite and build a new society, maintaining radical optimism through the grief and disappointments of the capitalist system.

The duo’s tongue-in-cheek name is an Italian loanword meaning “the knowing ones”, but Cognoscenti is not claiming to be experts on anything. “When we chose the name ten years ago, I think we wanted to mean it,” says Garza, the duo’s producer. “But now it’s just self-deprecating. We’re both people who know a little bit about a lot of things, but have had too many interests to really specialize in anything.”

Cognoscenti plans to release a second single within the next few months. The song’s release marks Garza’s first musical output, but STORM has been releasing music since 2019. Garza’s first solo EP is slated to be released by the end of the year.

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Written, performed and mixed by Cognoscenti
Produced by Sebastian Garza
Recorded 2014-2024 on Beast, East Campus; Axis 3700; Adi's; and Theeban's
Additional mixing and production assistance by Sai Boddupalli

Mastered by Jeff Lipton and Maria Rice at Peerless Mastering, Boston, MA
Assistant Mastering Engineer: Costanza Tinti

Cover image taken by Isis CB
Artwork design by Cognoscenti

In loving memory of our sister Emma Sophia Garza.

Idea

Cognoscenti

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