Weird Paul Petroskey

Weird Paul Petroskey (born November 21, 1970) is a lo-fi musician in the Pittsburgh, PA, area. He has been writing and recording music since 1984 and releasing music since 1987. The majority of his music is self-produced and distributed in limited numbers. History: As of 2012, Weird Paul has been releasing music for 25 years, almost all of it DIY. From 1987-2000 it was all home-recorded on cassette tapes (except for the Homestead Records release "Lo Fidelity, Hi Anxiety"). From 2001 on, the format moved to CD-R. He has written or co-written over 700 songs and appeared on over 50 released albums. Early years: In 1984, while Paul was attending Independence Middle School in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, he began writing parodies of hit songs of the day. Most of these spoofs featured the same subject, Petroskey's history and math teachers. These songs were recorded as an unreleased cassette EP, "Weird Paul in 2-D". The process used to record them utilized one tape recorder playing the original songs and a second recorder that captured Paul singing along. In late 1985, Paul got his first electric guitar at a rummage sale for $8. He began writing original songs (along with more parodies) and recorded a series of 6 unreleased cassettes from 1985-1987 that were borrowed by his peers at Bethel Park High School. Lo-Fidelity: In the fall of 1987, Paul released his first full length cassette tape on his own label, Rocks & Rolling Records, "In Case of Fire Throw This In". It was sold between classes to students at his high school. He was billed as "Off-the-Wall Paul" in an effort to differentiate him from "Weird Al" Yankovic. He followed it up quickly with "I Need a Pencil Sharpener" in 1988. After graduation, he attended The Recording Workshop in Chillicothe, Ohio. Putting what he learned to good use, Paul put out 2 more cassettes in 1989. By this time, everyone was calling him "Weird Paul", including radio DJs and promoters - so he started using the name again. He also started performing with a drummer, Ed (a-go-go). After Paul's father bought Paul a 4-track recorder in 1990, Paul recorded another cassette and started performing with a different drummer - Manny Theiner. They released a 7" called "Sucking Chest Wound". Hi-Anxiety: In 1991, Homestead Records signed Paul to a recording contract and released "Lo Fidelity, Hi Anxiety". It was made up of re-recordings of songs from previously released cassettes, plus new songs (it went out of print not long after and was re-released in a re-mastered, 20th anniversary edition by Six Gallery Press in 2012). Paul and Manny toured the East Coast and Midwest in support, including a show at the Knitting Factory in New York City. Paul and Manny ended their musical partnership after the tour and Paul began playing with other musicians. He waited for Homestead to pick up an option for another album, but this did not happen.Eventually, the songs Paul recorded from late 1991-1995 were released on Paul's next 2 cassettes in 1995 and 1996. 3 Bands: In 1996, Paul put a new 4-piece band together called The Blazing Bulkheads. They played some Weird Paul classics and new songs written specifically for the band. The band lasted a year and a half. Afterwards, Paul wrote a whole new cassette worth of songs released in 1999 as "The Dame That Drove Me Nuts". 1999 was also the year of the first reunion show of the Weird Paul and Manny Theiner line-up playing songs from "Lo Fidelity, Hi Anxiety". This became a yearly occurrence. It was at this point that Paul started a new 3 piece band, The Blissful Idiots. It became a 4 piece in 2001 with the addition of keyboards, and instrument that was previously not found in any Weird Paul line-up. When Paul became the only original member of the band in 2003, he changed the name to Revenge of the Nerds, but this line-up played their final shows in 2005. A Lo-Fidelity Documentary: During the years 2001-2004, Chicago filmmaker Stacey Goldschmidt had been making trips to Pittsburgh to interview Paul for a documentary about his music. She completed the film in 2005 and it premiered in downtown Pittsburgh at The Harris Theater in April 2006. It went on to be official selections at The Chicago Underground Film Festival and The Leeds International Film Festival, where Paul did his first performances outside of the United States. Featured in the documentary are interviews with Lou Barlow of Sebadoh, Britt Daniel of Spoon and John S. Hall of King Missile as well as many other lo-fi musicians and Weird Paul's parents. The Weird Paul Rock Band: In late 2006, Paul released his first CD recorded completely on a computer, "Medically Necessary" and formed a new 4-piece band, The Weird Paul Rock Band. It currently includes Brian Colleran on bass, Jon Dowling on drums and Ben Blanchard on keytard, a large Casio keyboard with a broom taped to the back, which utilizes a guitar strap so that it hangs in front of him. In 2010, The Weird Paul Rock Band released their album "Simulating the Act Of Love", which includes re-recordings of songs from Paul's solo efforts as well as four new songs. In 2011, Paul released his 26th album, "Check Me Out Now", and performed all of "Lo Fidelity, Hi Anxiety" live with Manny Theiner on drums at a 20th anniversary reunion show. In 2012, Paul signed with Thick Syrup Records for a retrospective called "Weird Paul: 25 Lo-Fi Years". It features songs from all throughout Paul's discography, plus four new songs recorded with David and Jad Fair of Half Japanese. The Weird Paul Rock Band performed a 25th anniversary show on June 2, 2012, to commemorate the release of 1987's "In Case of Fire Throw This In". The entire album was performed. YouTube videos: Paul's parents bought a video camera in 1984 and he immediately began filming his own music videos by miming to popular songs of the day. He also filmed everyday life in Bethel Park and scripted, shot and edited his own short films. As soon as he began writing and recording his own songs, he made music videos for them. In 2012, he began digitizing and uploading a video to YouTube every day - choosing from over 120 hours of footage. He also started filming new videos - some for older songs and others for new material. In June 2012, a 1984 video of Paul eating a McDonald's Breakfast went viral, amassing nearly 50,000 views. It was featured on The Huffington Post.

Source: Wikipedia

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