Who is Samuel Okkosch?

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My name is Samuel, born 1998 in the US of A baby, got out as fast as I could and grew up in Switzerland.

Samuel Okkosch is my solo project. Everything you hear is written, recorded, mixed, mastered bla bla bla by me in my home studio. And for my live shows, I'm lucky and thankful for having incredibly talented friends who help me bring my songs to life on stage.

Before changing my artist name to 'Samuel Okkosch' in 2025, I released music under the alias 'Rainstorm Society'. The main reasons for the change were: 1. I no longer wanted a name tied to a specific language, as my music has become more multilingual - especially not English, as my mother tongue is Swiss German. 2. 'Rainstorm Society' suggested a band, which often caused confusion about the nature of my project. More importantly, since my songs are often personal and tell true stories from my life, it felt wrong not to connect them to my real name. Using my own name makes my music feel more personal and honest.

Samuel is my real first name; however, Okkosch was my aunt's dog’s name. Due to her early passing, I sadly have no memories of her. When listening to older family members reminisce about her kind heart and loving spirit, it is rarely mentioned without a fond story about her sweet and joyful Viszla, Okkosch. When I was searching for a new name to replace 'Rainstorm Society', Okkosch came to mind — and it felt like a perfect match. I loved the sound of it, how it tied to my family history without being too direct, and the fact that, as a nonsense word, it could come from anywhere and mean anything. Yet, once you know its origins, there’s an underlying connection to a particularly sweet Swiss specialty.

I feel like my head is always close to exploding with ideas - I try to follow through with as many as I can. Music is and always has been the easiest way for me to put my ideas into practice. Since forever, I can’t help but touch and try everything that makes a sound :) I want to continue experimenting with many different influences and musical traditions. Though it is frustrating that my releases always lag behind what I’m currently being inspired by (I need to get quicker at recording and releasing!), I’m super thankful I’ve never felt like I’m stagnating in my taste and ideas. So much stuff to come!

I was lucky enough to grow up with a best friend with whom I could experiment with cameras and movie making. I think that hard-wired my brain to connect a lot of feelings and ideas with visual elements. Films like ‚Rushmore‘ and ‚The Royal Tenenbaums‘ (Wes Anderson), ‚Paris, Texas‘ (Wim Wenders) and 'Little Miss Sunshine' (Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris) inspired me, my music and my unerstanding of life deeply.

Spring to fall I live at the beautiful lake Zurich and during winter, I live in the magical Engadin Valley, where I work as a ski instructor. Both places and settings have influenced my being and style a lot. I also love the scene changes, though they can be tiring and can make it hard to maintain close friendships. The latter doesn’t get easier with my tendency to overwhelm myself with my urge to create, which I usually end up doing alone, very isolated and slow.

In that state, I also can’t bring myself to think about other stuff unrelated to my artistic projects, so I tend to struggle a lot with other important aspects of life, like organizing myself, thinking about a financially secure future, and so on.

A trademark of mine is that I can’t keep it short (you probably figured). I talk a lot and usually overshare. But the older I get, the less I mind that about myself. What a gift everything is, that there’s so much to talk about and be inspired by, I want to cherish the weirdness of it all, fully!

I hope you enjoyed meeting me. If you’re ever at one of my gigs or close to me for whatever reason, please come say hi - hug or handshake, your choice :)

Samuel