On Wednesday, November 19, I attended a sweet little pop-up in Chicago. My old pen pal, Azzecca, was celebrating amongst a community of close friends and supporters. She’s been putting in the work to accelerate her rise as a performer, and along the route, a vision for what her present and future projects demands unfurled. Expansion and evolution. I’m Bear Swiftly, the Electro Scribe, and I’m going to share a tale of the kind of Wednesday excitement I at times endeavor through a passion for exploration and a willingness to entertain new experiences and ideas.
It was a normal Wednesday by all accounts. Except, maybe it wasn’t. What is normal, anyhow? Do any of us actually feel normal? Sometimes I feel kind of paranormal. Supernatural. Mindset. Breathing exercises. I woke up around 5AM this day to chat with Berlin based multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and producer, Felix Raphael, about a passion project he’s getting ready to debut on November 28. That’s a separate entry in coverage I’ll be releasing later on, I’m merely giving you some insight into how my days sometimes proceed. Chatting with people about the things they’re fervid about gets me up in the morning. After this conversation, I got myself ready for work and headed to the warehouse. Put in my eight hours, and then I had a decision to make. To Cosimea, or not to Cosimea, that was the question. My answer? I would dance, I would Cosimea.
I hopped on the 5:45PM Metra rail inbound to Chicago that delivered me to Ogilvie Transportation Center around 7:15. After an already long day, I didn’t want to fight through traffic and drive to the city. Upon my arrival, I thought about grabbing an Uber to hit my destination, but instead, I thought it would be fun to scoot the 3.5 miles from Olgilvie to Kingsbury street. Thinking back, I should have gotten off at Clyborn and walked a mile, but I really just wanted to ride a scooter. So I did, putting in my ear buds, throwing on some dirty house and techno beats, and rolling off like a Bear on wheels. Hella fast, and I hooked up with North Halsted and took that until construction obstructed my forward progress. Then I zipped on over to Milwaukee, converged with Eletson, Magnolia, 64, and arrived at my destination around 745. The closest Lyft charging station was off Willow and Sheffield, so I delivered the scooter to a docking platform, then doubled back and made my way inside the covert party after checking in with Zach and Katie, all before 8PM.
Last year, Azzecca rebranded her Dirty Disco party series to Cosimea, and by the time this short story of mine reaches your eyes and ears, she’ll have launched the next phase of her mission. Cosimea Sounds record label with its first single, Azzecca’s very own, AL’S HOT SOUP. This track feels a bit ethereal, or maybe a better way to describe it is futuristic. How about I say it’s got a spacey quality to it. Punctuated by brisk, energetic bass and percussive rhythms supported by strident synths and dazed doppler swoops. There are some vocals, too, but they’re wordless. Almost like words aren’t necessary for communicating this type of message. Thankfully, now we have Cosimea Sounds.
I’ve actually wanted to hit one of Azzecca’s Cosimea parties for over a year now, ever since I discovered her brand thanks to the interview piece we delivered to Poze Magazine in September 2024 (check my publications tab). I call her my pen pal, because we weren’t able to lock down a time to speak by phone or Zoom meeting. She was en route to perform at the Audioriver Festival in Lodz, Poland at the time, if my memory serves correct. So I typed up a Word document with some questions I was curious to have answers to, which she scanned over during her flight, and got back to me within a couple of weeks. I’m pretty flexible with the means by which someone wants to converse. Written and spoken words are both trusted tools for my lexical artform.
Anyway, I was extended an invitation to attend this pop-up event to which I graciously accepted. I’m happy I did. It was a cool scene and vibe, man, and it felt like a gathering of some of Azzecca’s close cohorts and followers. There was a healthy and wholesome energy in the air and that’s in addition to the hoppin’ house tunage. Fellow attendees were polite and considerate, said please and thank you, and shared some wisecracks and belly laughs with each other and me. Azzecca provided complimentary beverages like water, beer, and seltzers for the homies and invited us to join her for vodka and tequila shots. There were also some adorable little merch bags for attendees to take home. Keychains, bucket hats, stickers, all harbored in glitzy little sacks. Plus, a couple of tattoo artists imprinted versions of her Cosimea Sounds label image to ready and willing flesh tapestries. Mad Labs Creative (@madlabscreative) was also rolling through the scene snapping photos of the action and party participants.
Here’s what Azzecca has to say about her Cosimea brand and label.
“Cosimea began as an event project aimed at building community and recentering the focus on the dancefloor. Building this cosmic ‘world’ and having the freedom to play outside-of-the-box music led to an obvious shift in my production process and finished projects. I knew I needed to create a platform to release the sounds that I feel really proud of, without the pressure of needing to fit into the current label landscape. I look forward to eventually using the label to platform other artists and sounds that break the formula and move me.”
Wednesdays aren’t always this exciting, but if you know anything about Bear Swiftly, The Electro Scribe, it should be this. I’m an ardent supporter of people blazing their own pathway and trails in this world. Whatever you want to do, find your timing and do it with your own inflection of flare. The best thing about being yourself is no one can do it any better than you. Whatever passion you have, whether it be making music, writing stories, or even just arts and crafts and drawing pictures of feet, do whatever it is that makes your heart feel full and encourages your soul’s scintillation. That’s some encouragement from me to you. Get absolutely blessed out there, bud. Heck, you might even be the type of blessing someone is waiting for.
This is Bear Swiftly, the Electro Scribe, signing off. Sayonara all you samurai.
Be well, be successful. Bear Swiftly.
–Electro Scribe–
