Creative audio.
Cocotazo Media produces fiction podcasts, music, and educational audio resources.
AUDIO REELS
PODCASTS
SONGS ON SITE
Exploring the music and environmental soundscapes of the Garden State.
A co-production with You Don’t Know Jersey.
TIMESTORM
A fiction podcast about twins who travel in time to witness Puerto Rico’s true history.
COCOTAZO AUDIO THEATRE
An anthology podcast featuring audio drama, music, and spoken word.
AUDIO IN EDUCATION
High-quality, curriculum-aligned audio resources for educators, parents, and community leaders. Our audio-in-education tools address content areas such as language arts, social-emotional learning, STEM, and performing arts for grades K-12.
NJPAC ON THE MIC
Cocotazo Media produces audio resource guides for teachers and students who attend Schooltime Performances at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.
LISTEN UP
Cocotazo Media is piloting Listen Up, a catalog of curriculum-aligned audio for middle-grade and high-school classrooms.
LISTENING ROOMS
Cocotazo Media offers classroom and community listening experiences of our award-winning audio content for youth.
MUSIC
PRODUCERS
Michael Aquino
he/him
Timestorm - Executive producer / Sound Designer / Composer
Cocotazo Music - Executive producer / Musician
Cocotazo Audio Theatre - Executive producer / Sound Designer / Composer
Michael Aquino is a sound designer, composer, musician, and audio producer. He is the composer, sound designer, and engineer for the podcast series Timestorm. Recognition for Timestorm: 2022 Anthem Awards (Silver Medal), 2021 NJ WebFest (Best Family-friendly Podcast), 2020 Webby Awards Honoree, 2019 Audio Verse Awards (Vocal Composition). Solo albums: Giants Will Fall (2015), City Stars (2017). Compilations: Puerto Rico del Alma (2017), Stuff This in Yer Face (Cocotazo Music/You Don’t Know Jersey 2018), New Year | Año Nuevo (2021). Samples of work. MichaelAquino.com
Dania Ramos
she/her
Timestorm - Series creator / Executive producer / Head writer / Voice director
Cocotazo Audio Theatre - Executive producer / Writer / Voice director
Dania Ramos is a writer, podcast producer, and arts educator. She is the creator and head writer of Timestorm, which has been recognized by the Anthem Awards (2022 Silver Medal), NJ WebFest (2021 Best Family-friendly Podcast), and the Webby Awards (2020 Honoree). Her stage plays have been produced or developed by Luna Stage, Writers Theatre of New Jersey, Speranza Theatre Company, Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre, Repertorio Español, and Teatro Vivo. Dania is the author of the middle-grade mystery novels Ignacio in the Dark (Overdue Books 2018) and Who’s Ju? (Northampton House Press 2015). DaniaRamos.com
PRESS
Common Sense Media - Podcast Reviews: Timestorm (Lauri Anderson)
Medium - PRX Announces Podcast Streaming Partnership with Sensical
The Podcast Host - Best Fiction Podcasts & Audio Dramas 2021 – Not Just the Usual Suspects! (L. Harris Friel)
School Library Journal - Series & Serial Podcasts That Will Keep Kids Listening All Summer (A. Bensfield & P. Rogers)
School Library Journal - Top Trendsetting Podcasts from 2020 (Anne Bensfield & Pamela Rogers)
Corporation for Public Broadcasting - Public Media Highlights VOCES & Other Latino Voices for Hispanic Heritage Month
Centro Voices - Google Sponsors Cocotazo Media Podcast on Puerto Rican History and Culture (Nestor David Pastor)
The Bello Collective - Indie Fiction Podcasts You Should Be Listening to in 2019 (Elena Fernández Collins)
Discover Pods - 12 Adventurous and Educational Podcasts for Kids (Elena Fernández Collins)
Lonely Planet - 9 kids podcasts for curious explorers (Sarah Stocking)
Women.com - Fans of Historical Fiction Need to Listen to These 5 Podcasts (Michelle Nati)
The Cinemaholic - 15 Best Podcasts For Children (Diksha Sundriyal)
Latina Media Co - 11 Latinx Podcasts Changing the White Voice of the Industry (Elena Fernández Collins)
Medium - Kicking off the Google Podcasts creator program (Lindsay Abrams)
Medium - Meet our Six Inaugural Teams for the Google Podcasts creator program (Lauren Rothering)
Fast Company - 6 podcasts that Google and PRX will help bring to your ears (Melissa Locker)
RadioPublic - 2018 in (Podcast) Retrospect (Ma’ayan Plaut)
The Bello Collective - Audio Drama Debuts: The Sun Upon the Page (Elena Fernández Collins)
Audio Dramatic - Six Podcast Episodes That Left Their Mark (Elena Fernández Collins)
New Jersey Stage - "New Year | Año Nuevo" Benefit Compilation Features NY/NJ Musicians
When the Horn Blows - EP Review: Aquino - City Stars (Karla Harris)
You Don’t Know Jersey - Aquino Release Show Celebrates Excellent ‘Giants Will Fall’ Release (Ed Magdziak)
baby sue - October 2015 Comics, Poetry, and Reviews (LMNOP aka dONW7)
“Timestorm keeps the adventure fun and positive, without watering down the challenges of coming-of-age and finding one’s place in history.”
“For budding historians, intrepid globe trekkers, and anyone who enjoys complex, immersive, gratifying storytelling.”
“Timestorm’s strength is in their characters, in learning about their relationships and their attitudes, and in that promised balance between the twenty-first century and whatever far-off time they’re exploring.”
“This episode is 4 poems about Puerto Rico after Maria [...] to hear those accents, and that language, and those turns of phrase meant everything. [...] Every performance was art made in the eye of a storm, and I will never forget how much it helped heal me, calm me, and held my hand as I stood up again on both feet.”
“[...] this adapted tale of classic folkloric character, Martina the Cockroach [...] it’s a feel-good, smile-big kind of story [...]”
“Giants Will Fall sports a wide range of sounds, textures and a relentless creative streak...”
“There is a connectivity running through the songs that is held together by excellent musicianship and Aquino’s emotional and honest delivery.”
“City Stars in full is a vivid and diverse journey through a deeply creative mind. Aquino knows exactly how to connect with the multitude of feelings that the human condition experiences - where you can almost reach out and touch each variable emotion that is intricately woven into his music.”
“This is Aquino’s debut album...and it’s a keeper. Michael combines elements from rock, folk, and Latin music to create a nice warm friendly sound that should appeal to a wide range of folks.”
PODCAST FEATURES
RECOGNITION
2022 Anthem Awards - Silver Medal: Education, Art, & Culture (Timestorm)
2021 New Jersey Web Fest - Best Family-friendly Podcast (Timestorm)
2021 On Air Fest Official Selects - Take Up Space (Timestorm Season 2 minisode)
2020 Webby Awards Honoree - Podcasts: Family & Kids (Timestorm)
2020 Discover Pods Awards Finalist (Timestorm)
2019 Audio Verse Award - Vocal Composition: In the Timestorm (Michael Aquino)
2018 Audio Verse Award Finalist - Martina & the Musician | Engineering / Writing: Michael Aquino / Dania Ramos
2017 Audio Verse Award - Music: "Blood Heart" (Lyrics: Ernio Hernandez; Music: Michael Aquino)
2017 Audio Verse Award - Engineering: Something Inside That Head of Yours (M Aquino)
2017 Audio Verse Award Finalists - Writing: Hot Drinks (D Ramos), Rincón (Tanya Pérez) | Music: Cape May Warbler, CAT Festival Theme (M Aquino) | Production: Hot Drinks, The Last Call, Rincón
PARTNERSHIPS & AFFILIATIONS
