Ever been played by a guy? Just remember that he has definitely “done this before.”
Cozi Zuehlsdorff‘s hot new track, “Done This Before,” hits all music streaming platforms TOMORROW (June 2nd), and it “takes all too relatable feminine rage and wraps it in breezy, cinematic pop production.”
With Cozi describing the song as “a funeral on the sunniest day of the year,” the soon-to-be hit single captures the essence of some of todays biggest stars, from Phoebe Bridgers to Lizzy McAlpine to Gracie Abrams.
Celeb Secrets reporter Melanie Rooten sat down with the talented singer-songwriter to discuss all things “Done This Before,” as well as her musical beginnings and some other exciting projects she has in the works.
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Cozi’s musical beginnings were much different than a majority of today’s artists, starting out as both an actress AND a songwriter prior to transitioning into music of her own.
“I grew up in the industry as a child actor, mostly working for Disney Channel and then doing the Dolphin Tale movies, and my introduction into songwriting professionally really started when I wrote the end credit song for Dolphin Tale 2,” Cozi shared with Celeb Secrets.
“That was kind of the confidence boost I needed that songwriting could be more than a hobby. That it could actually be part of my career, and so from then I just kept cultivating my writing on my own and finding opportunities to incorporate it into my acting work,” she continued with a smile.
One of Cozi’s most notable songwriting gigs is with the popular Disney+ show, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, and we are SO excited to see what season four has in store.
When asked about how she got her start writing for the hit series, Cozi spilled, “I started as just a fan. I loved the show, and it didn’t hurt that I knew a lot of the cast going into it.”
She elaborated on this statement, ultimately revealing, “I knew Joshua [Bassett]. I knew Olivia [Rodrigo]. Sofia Wylie is one of my best friends to this day… Dara Renee and I were in Freaky Friday together, so I started just watching the show to support my friends, fell in love with the show and then it just became my singular mission: How do I get involved? How do I write for the show?”
“I released a song called ‘The Old Me & You‘ a couple years ago with my duet partner, Andrew Barth Feldman, and the showrunner [Tim Federle] posted about it and really enjoyed it. We just started a friendship, and so then I got to dip my toe and say ‘Hey, I would love to try my hand at writing for this,’ and that has become a relationship that I treasure so much in my life,” she continued.
Cozi then proceeded to elaborate on her experience writing for High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, expressing both her gratitude AND her excitement for everything that is in the works for season four.
“It is so fun to inhabit a different character’s mindset and write for them, and also write for these voices that are just exploding in the industry right now, like Tony nominee Julia Lester. I’ve now had the opportunity to work with her multiple times, and like what a gift that is. She’s just incredible. I’m a very proud friend these days, especially with Julia. She’s just popping off,” she gushed.
While her experience writing for the show has been nothing short of spectacular, “It didn’t end in season three.”
“I will just say that season four has a lot of surprises in store. Maybe not just songwriting… who knows,” Cozi teased, leaving fans everywhere on the edge of their seats.
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Until season four of HSMTMTS rolls around, Cozi will be focusing on music of her own, with “Done This Before” serving as the first glimpse into TONS of new tunes she has on the way.
The 24-year-old explained to us the meaning behind the hot new track, ultimately revealing that “the song is about basically getting ‘rizzed’ by somebody and then trying to process the fact that you’re not crazy and that there was something magical there, and that if this person did this to you, then they’ve probably done it before.”
When asked how the song came to be, Cozi gave us a rundown of how exactly she created “Done This Before,” and the process was relatively unconventional.
“I almost can’t even process my own emotions until I’ve written a song about them, which sounds kind of corny, but I just have a hard time processing, and so writing it and rhyming it and putting melody behind it really helps me,” she prefaced.
“The day that this happened to me, I got home that night and just turned on my twinkle lights and my keyboard, and I wrote the song… A lot of songs take hours and hours to write, or even I write them over the course of weeks. This song took like an hour of me just pouring out my heart and figuring out what had just happened and that it had probably happened before, and I remember finishing it feeling a hundred times lighter,” she explained.
Given that “Done This Before” is based on something Cozi has experienced first-hand, the budding songstress coined this track as “one of the more personal songs that [she has] ever released.”
“This is one of the first times I’ve released something this personal, and I think part of the secret sauce for me, you know, I’m a person of faith. I’m a Christian. Being kind to others is really important to me, so how do you do that and release a song about something that really hurt you?” she shared.
“I kind of follow JP Saxe‘s model. He’s talked about this publicly, about when he writes a song about a breakup or something that’s happened, he writes from the perspective of rather than, ‘You did this to me,’ it’s the perspective of ‘This is how I felt when this happened,’ so that’s really what this song is,” she concluded.
Cozi’s vulnerability really shines through within “Done This Before,” and we are so proud of her for having the courage to release something so personal.
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Aside from the song itself being absolutely phenomenal, the music video that coincides with the track is equally as incredible, featuring choreography from the one and only Sofia Wylie.
Sofia better known as Gina from High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, “moved so many things around in her life to make this happen, and her choreography is so unbelievable.”
“I can’t wait for everyone to see the magic that she intrinsically brought to the video… I feel like it tells the story of the song, but it also goes even further beyond the story of the song,” Cozi continued with a grin.
While we sit and count down the hours until “Done This Before” hits all music streaming platforms, be sure to check out our full interview with the rising superstar below.
Afterwards, be sure to leave a reaction at the bottom of the post or send us a tweet at @celebsecrets to let us know how excited you are to hear “Done This Before,” then connect with Cozi Zuehlsdorff on Instagram @cozizuehlsdorff and TikTok @cozizuehlsdorff so you don’t miss any of the new tunes she has in the works.
