Hailing from Abruzzo, producer, audio engineer and guitarist Leonardo Cococcia is fast emerging as one to watch in 2026. Coccia has steadily built a transatlantic career that bridges meticulous studio craft with fearless musical experimentation, and at the heart of his recent momentum sits one track he holds especially close: ‘a thousand times again‘ by Danny Ritz.
The single, available on Spotify, captures Cococcia at his most complete. On the record, he handled production, guitars, mixing and mastering, while Danny Ritz also shares production credits, a creative partnership forged during their time at BerkleeNYC’s Songwriting and Production MA program.
“We met at BerkleeNYC’s Songwriting and Production MA program, and then we both got hired there after graduation,” Cococcia explains. “We played shows in popular NYC venues like Brooklyn Made and Arlene’s Grocery.”
That shared foundation is audible in the track’s cohesion. There’s an organic interplay between arrangement and sonics – guitars that shimmer with harmonic depth, a mix that breathes, and a master that feels expansive rather than clinical. It’s a sound shaped as much by trust as by technique.
The pair have taken the song beyond the studio, performing it live at venues including Brooklyn Made and Arlene’s Grocery, as well as for a YouTube home sessions series by Bad Press Booking. In each setting, the song has evolved while retaining its emotional core, a testament to the strength of its writing and production.
Danny Ritz’s own ascent has paralleled Cococcia’s. As he notes on LinkedIn: “Most recently, I worked on the music teams of the Golden-globe nominated ‘Song Sung Blue’, season two of ‘Fallout’, and made my off-broadway debut in ‘Dunesical’, a Dune Parody Musical, as well as making my music festival debut at the O+ Festival in Kingston, NY this fall.”
That résumé reflects the same genre-fluid versatility that defines “a thousand times again,” a track that balances intimacy with cinematic ambition.
For Cococcia, versatility has always been central. His credits include projects covered by the New York Times and Billboard, with distribution from Sony Music, and recent collaborations alongside Tatsuya Sato (Michael Jackson, Lauryn Hill, Juice WRLD). Yet despite the high-profile associations, his philosophy remains deeply personal.
“As a guitarist, I developed an original tuning system to deliver a unique approach, with the aim of playing piano and brass section chords on guitar, which is not normally possible.”
That spirit of innovation informs the harmonic richness heard on ‘a thousand times again’, where guitar textures feel orchestral without overwhelming the song’s vulnerability.
Equally defining is his approach behind the desk: “As an audio engineer, I specialise in mastering, a process that I truly see as the creative and emotional expansion of the music, rather than something that is exclusively technical, inspired by my mentors, the team of Dave Kutch. As a recording and mixing engineer, I am forever energised by the raw, honest approach of Steve Albini as well as the engineers at The Bunker Studios, Brooklyn.”
This mindset, mastering as emotional expansion, is perhaps what makes ‘a thousand times again’ resonate so strongly. The record doesn’t simply sound polished; it feels intentional.
In early 2025, Cococcia joined the audio staff at BerkleeNYC, located inside the legendary Power Station, where icons such as Bruce Springsteen, Madonna and Coldplay shaped their sound. By 2026, he had begun an assistant audio engineer collaboration with Grammy-winning producer ‘Commissioner’ Gordon Williams, further cementing his presence among major-label heavyweights.
Yet despite a trajectory that now spans performances at the Italian Embassy in Washington, D.C., NYC City Hall and Teatro Ghione in Rome, it’s the collaborative spark of ‘a thousand times again’ that signals where his creative compass truly points: toward connection, experimentation, and songs that can live equally well on stage and in headphones.
If 2026 marks a breakthrough year for Leonardo Cococcia, it may well be remembered as the year when a quietly powerful track, born from friendship, shared study, and mutual ambition, revealed the full scope of his artistry.
