it is what it is

ZETI is the indie artpop / neo-classical / neo-folk project lead by Margaret Stutt. Started as a bedroom side project, at times it includes a flexible lineup of artists from California and Milwaukee. Influenced by her ordained Soto Zen practice, this expression is meant as an offering for collective freedom, healing, connection and spiritual grit.

Stutt came up in the Milwaukee and Brooklyn music scene and grew through heavy pavement pounding under the moniker Pezzettino until suffering a mental breakdown and hospitalization in 2012 which forced her to stop performing publicly indefinitely. She launched ZETI around that time as a means to start anew with a project that made space for gravitas and experiments beyond genre while wrestling with 32-minute indie opera Pedestrian Drama. To date, 14 works released to sea and wind, she is working on new material both in studio and at home.

it is what it is will be an ongoing series with its first release in February 2026. This project celebrates everyday connection with creativity, resourcefulness, collaborations and connection to the present moment, counter balancing more involved studio projects slated for release 2027+.