Meet Paul Catania

Today we’d like to introduce you to Paul Catania.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I was born and raised in Gloucester, MA. The selfish side of me feels like I raised myself, but in a lot of ways it’s true. Sorry Mom and Dad. I suppose much of my artistry comes from a dark place so creating for me has always been therapeutic.

Even if not for a project’s sake, but the mere, instant ease of mind. I followed my warped childhood dream of wanting fame and success (thank you MTV), and moved to Winter Park, FL to study recording arts at Full Sail University where I earned a Bachelor of Science in 2006. I had a few friends who understood that crazy brainchild so I started making beats and a few dirty rap songs which then led me to steadily songwriting, producing multimedia projects and eventually event producing.

My friends and I put on a lot of performances amalgamating inner city street style, choreography to original electro-pop songs and some pretty weird conceptual stage shows. Amateur, but fun.

A lot happened. Constantly moving, bad relationships and one of my closest friends passing which really fucked me up for a while. Around 26-27 I felt it was time to heal. Or at least begin to try. I think it’s fair to say that I had been depressed my entire life and found a lot of that masked with drugs but mainly alcohol. Isn’t that the story? I stopped drinking in July 2010 and for the next year played a lot of shows with my band, went to a lot of AA meetings and although busy, started to feel the need for change. I moved back to MA the day after my 28th birthday.

I kept any bit of momentum up and I felt driven. Almost immediately I put together a dance night with my friend Riley Knispel called “What Nice!”. In 2013 I began my most consistent and creative venture as the creative director, producer and occasional performer of “Closet Case”. Closet Case had a slow start and I kind of worked it up the North Shore even doing one in Boston but in 2016, rebooted the party back in Gloucester and it kind of took off from that. Sometimes it’s monthly. Sometimes it’s quarterly. Sometimes I take a year off, but there is always a theme and it’s ALWAYS a good time.

Please tell us about your art.
Currently I am working on a few music projects with new and old friends and Collab partners. My strengths are easily identified in my songwriting both lyrically and melodically. I’ve been told I’m a bit of a wordsmith and I’m a huge fan of clever wordplay, metaphors and emotional (or emotionless) poetry. I used to do a lot more programming of synths and drums for electronic pop-dance and experimental tracks under different aliases (rather than personas), but generally I’m just penning lyrics to others pre-existing music, starting from scratch writing with new musicians or sharing songs I’ve written myself melodically with lyrics and figuring out which key they’re in and where the changes should come etc… That’s sometimes takes a wee bit longer but always a fun and interesting process.

In more recent years, regarding sharing more personal creative content and performing, I’ve learned to free myself of some fears I had as a child and have accepted that I am able to compensate a lack of classical training in the arts with my knack for having to “work with what I got”. That’s a gift, and I try not to take it for granted anymore. Although one may deem the following self-proclamation cocky but, in a way, I’ve mastered the art of improv by forcing myself out on stage, into the public eye (and ears) of many both to positive feedback as well as humiliating experiences which have strengthened my stage presence backbone and humbled me in many ways. Having actively done it for so long and 90% (if not more) being all original content,

I hope to inspire people in a larger arena to put themselves out there even if they feel their art is in amateur stages. There is always a safe space for performance artists somewhere. Baby’s first dance recital can’t be a 10. Some artists start a little later in life, and that’s ok. I also believe that not all entertainers are creative artists. Some people are meant for show biz because they are highly skilled in the arts they were trained in. I think that’s something people forget. Although at times a perpetrator of self-doubt, I would encourage all to truly understand that it takes guts to get up in front of a crowd and share something foreign to them, especially if they created that work. Art is therapy. For the artist and the observer. Even in bad judgement. Right? Doesn’t it make people feel good to negatively critique with their friends? Hmm. How interesting. However, what I’d like for people to take from my artwork is a sense of self confidence and navigating any area of life if possible. Even if it’s bad, weird, or amateur. There. I said it.

Lately I’ve been curating these conceptually themed drag and burlesque events with Closet Case and they just keep getting better and more involved including video sketches and interludes playing on the themes and I’m always impressed and ecstatic at how the performers are so down to embark on the journey of bringing these weird ideas of mine to fruition. I do the same for them sometimes with editing audio mixes inspired by said themes. I think the best art comes from collaborations. We all need each other and quite honestly, it’s all so surreal to see it play out in front of the crowds each time.

What do you think about conditions for artists today? Has life become easier or harder for artists in recent years? What can cities like ours do to encourage and help art and artists thrive?
Art takes on various mediums, shapes and forms. For some artists I’d say it has become infinitely easier to showcase and promote their art. Some people are REALLY good at navigating social media. I on the other hand feel ultimately doomed by it. I’m great with schmoozing and genuinely love meeting new people in person. I think an issue now is that with social media, some people think that because they connect with others through it, that they are actually friends and therefore they will have their support. To me that’s a big no. It takes a fraction of a second to click like, double tap a heart or RSVP that you’re going to an event.

In actuality, people need to get off their ass and go see a show. Dare I even say, PAY a cover?!?! I think the key is to actually have a killer fan base online or you just got to guerrilla style promote the shit out of it yourself. That and just having some solid friends. Even boosting posts for events I’ve thrown have not shown us the numbers we were looking for. At any rate, I believe we must live and breathe our art. Also reaching out to local print sources and promoting with flyers doesn’t always do the trick. As artists, we are in a strange time right now. The art renaissance isn’t getting the average struggling artist paid, but people are paying attention, and that’s a start.

How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
The state of promoting myself as a musical artist is in reboot stages as they always seem to be, BUT for the sake of checking out some of my songs and collaborations you can find a small but solid chunk of tracks on my SoundCloud page… SoundCloud.com/PaulCatania

Us freaks over at Closet Case would adore nothing more than for all to follow/like our social media accounts and stay up to date via Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter…
@ClosetCaseParty

The best way to support is to keep us on your radar, tell all your friends and get those butts out to a Closet Case Party. Every party is different from the last and it’s quite the experience each time!!!

Contact Info:

• Email: closetcaseparty@gmail.com
• Instagram: closetcaseparty
• Facebook: closetcaseparty
• Twitter: closetcaseparty
• Other: SoundCloud.com/PaulCatania

Image Credit:
Photos
1 (purple rocker wig) Jessye Herrell
2 (red coat) Jay Burke
3 (green overalls) Jessye Herrell
4 (queen eating shoe) Jay Burke
5 (The ODD Ball poster) Closet Case Productions
6 (Gimme live backdrop) Jay Burke
7 (Trigger Warning) Closet Case productions
8 (circus freak bodysuit Lucas Hobbes O’Neil
9 (Group bow) Jay Burke

Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.