Katzin

**Katzin** is the musical project of **Zion Battle**, a New York-based songwriter who was born in Alexandria, Virginia, grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, and came of age in Manhattan. Battle started making music at just 13 years old, inspired by live concert recordings, YouTube performances, and the music he experienced at church—his father is a theologian and priest. By 15, he was embedded in NYC's basement and rooftop music scene, playing anywhere a teenage band could plug in an amp. In 2021, at 16, Battle went viral with "Getaway," a New Wave-influenced track that sounded like New Order reimagining Smashing Pumpkins. He's since studied music at both CalArts and the New School and has collaborated with both up-and-coming producers and Grammy winners like Mikey Freedom Hart and Sarah Tudzin.

Today, Katzin performs with a steady live band featuring drummer Matt Levesque and bassist Leo Kouklanakis, playing everything from house shows in Greenpoint to record stores in Ridgewood to the legendary venues of Bleecker Street and the Lower East Side. After self-releasing the *Holy Cow!* EP in 2023, Battle signed to the Brooklyn-based independent label **Mexican Summer**. His debut album, *Buckaroo*, uses imagery of the American West—cowboys, horses, deserts, and vast plains—to tell his own coming-of-age story, exploring what it means to be American and the leap from adolescence into adulthood.