Thank You Jalen Brunson’s story, by Brian Abate

The New York Knicks have captured the hearts of many New Yorkers as this team of undersized underdogs found ways to win despite losing a lot of their key players to injuries. Star point guard Jalen Brunson went from a second-round pick to a star player and Red Hook’s own Lucie Lozinski (Ski Team) has released her song “Thank You, Jalen Brunson” which celebrates his rise and the Knicks run this season.

Lozinski’s path to Red Hook and pursuing a career in music has not always been a straightforward one. She grew up in New Jersey but went to school in Massachusetts. She later lived in San Francisco and then moved to New York.

“Both of my parents are musicians so I was around music early and drawn to it,” Lozinski said. “I also wanted a job though, and that wasn’t really a job so my path through music has been pretty wiggly. I didn’t just take the music route so I went to college and took creative writing. For the past 10 years, I wrote for tech companies and I made music on the side as an outlet.

“Money came in through tech and went out through music and it’s almost like having jobs with negative money. It’s definitely expensive making music.”

Lozinski’s tech job was writing about software by developers from her company for other developers. She enjoyed it, but she is now focusing on music. She also had a unique path to becoming a Knicks fan.

“I liked Ray Allen and I liked the Celtics coach while I was living there [Massachusetts,”] Lozinski said. “I realized I didn’t like living there and all the players I knew were gone. When I moved to San Francisco the Warriors were a really fun team but I didn’t grow up there. They were like cool neighbors. Then once I moved to New York, I decided I wanted to become a true Knicks fan. They were the home team growing up.”

A few years later the Knicks went from being bottom dwellers to a playoff team. They signed Brunson ahead of the 2022-23 and took another step forward as the point guard made the transition from being a role player on his previous team, the Dallas Mavericks, to a star with the Knicks.

“Seeing this person who’s kind of an unlikely leader having fun and giving us hope; you can’t really explain it or copy it. I just wanted to thank him for that and it’s been incredible how excited everyone has been about the playoffs. I wanted to give people something to hold on to regardless of what happens, especially the Knicks fans who have been here for the ride a lot longer than me.

“I’ll get tunes stuck in my head and I’ll be mumbling around the house,” Lozinski said. “I recorded the chorus part and I sent it to a couple of friends. It’s almost like making a puzzle or a haiku. You get the first couple of lines and then you have to make everything else fit. The first part is easy and then effort comes in with the puzzle-making part.”

The song is actually her second one about the Knicks, with the first one called “Knicks Suck.” For a long time, they did but the future is now bright for the Knicks.

Lozinski is in the process of recording her first album which is expected to include 12 songs. She was able to find a few other musicians who worked well with her (and are also basketball fans) for “Thank You, Jalen Brunson.”

“Meeting the musicians was almost a little like going to camp,” Lozinski said. “We all met each other and got to know each other. It’s cool how nice everybody working in music is especially once you start making music. Once you start releasing things people can hear what your strengths and weaknesses are and see what works well.”

The primary producer for “Thank You, Jalen Brunson” is Nate Mendelsohn who also played drum machine and guitar, engineered, and mixed the track. Joshua Crumbly is on bass, synth, and piano and he also co-produced. Joe Bozzi is the mastering engineer. Lozinski wrote the song, sang the vocals, played the guitar, and did some co-production as well. A lot went into the song.

Despite the positives, Lozinski is also navigating through some big challenges as well.

“When you’re doing everything by yourself, there are a lot of different roles you have to take on,” Lozinski said. “Now I’m going to have to go on social media and post stuff and find ways to get people to listen. The part I want to focus on is making music but there’s a lot that goes with it.

“I’m really excited about this record though. This is what I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid and I wanted to do it with great collaborators who leave a positive mark. I found these people who I think are great. I also have to figure out a release strategy and figure out how to get these songs into the world and get people to listen to them. Hopefully, they like them.

“How do we get the songs into physical space and get ‘Thank You, Jalen Brunson’ playing in the rickshaws outside of MSG? I started hanging up posters with the QR code and it’s so cool seeing people taking a risk and listening.”

As a Knicks fan, the song makes me smile and while the season ended with Brunson breaking his hand (along with injuries to a lot of the team’s other key players) there is a lot to look forward to. The same is true for Lozinski and her career as a musician.

“Thank You, Jalen Brunson” is on all streaming platforms and on TikTok and Instagram. Lozinski’s Instagram is @ skiiiteam and the song’s video which was directed by Elena Ridker is now on Youtube. Stay tuned because there will be more music to come from Lozinski (Ski Team.)

“It’s been special and cool to see how thankful and proud New Yorkers are, even after [the Knicks were eliminated]” Lozinski said. “The standing ovation at MSG. The warm comments on the song and video. So the thankfulness stands and continues into the summer, until October when it all begins again.”