We were lucky to catch up with Chaz DePaolo recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Chaz , thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

When I first realized I wanted to be a professional musician is when I first heard Fleetwood Mac Rumors. I had just moved into a new house and had just turned 12 years old. It was Christmas 1977 and I remember sitting for hours studying the songs and the lyrics. (I was one 1 of eight as well as having a step brother and step sister who were much older. I was influenced by so many styles of music that they had listened too). I had gotten a small Panasonic cassette player and recorded the LP thru the microphone on the cassette player and brought it everywhere I went. I knew right then that that was what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. My mother was a Rockett and Broadway showgirl in the 40s and 50s so the entertainment world was nothing new to me. I spent my childhood going to Broadway shows and developed a love of that music as well. A perk living 7 miles from NYC. I remember seeing Yule Brenner in the “King And I” in NYC as an 11 year old and was struck by his presence. I remember watching my mother perform as a small child and she would dance on pointe and I would dream one day of being a performer myself.

Chaz , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a guitarist,singer,songwriter who’s music is steeped deeply in the “Blues”. I was born with “show business” in my blood having been born the son of a professional ballerina and Broadway show girl. I started playing guitar at age 15. I would play acoustic guitar at first learning the Eagles,Fleetwood Mac and Rod Stewart until 1980 when my whole world changed. My older brother brought me into his room and said “wait till you hear this!” At which point he played “Back In Black” by AC/DC. That was it for me. I saved my money and on my 17 birthday I walked 7 miles to a music store, 2 towns away, and bought my first electric guitar. I diligently practiced hours a day trying to master the works of Van Halen and other 80’s shredder guitarists. I wasn’t very successful. I just could not become proficient in “80s metal guitar”. As time went on I became discouraged. In 1987 I decided to pursue a classical guitar degree in college. While preparing for the audition I suffered a very severe tendinitis in my right thumb from practicing hours a day on electric and classical guitar. Holding a pick and tying my shoes became extremely painful. At that time I would go for cortisone injections so I could play with my first real band. Eventually after 11 Dr’s telling me there was nothing in 1988 they could do and a college classical guitar teacher telling me in his exact words “you have no talent!” I decided to pursue a Music Business degree. I was the first intern ever from my college in the pilot program. It was the summer of 1988 I started as an intern at “Blue Note Records” in NYC(the most famous jazz label in the world) then moved to Capitol/EMI Records 3 months later. At the time Capitol/EMI had David Bowie,The Red Hot Chilli Peppers,Richard Marx,Poison and the list goes on and on. I had a plan though. I would learn all I could about the record business so one day when I could play again I would have my most powerful tool to run my career. Knowledge thru experience. Well I graduated in 1991 and started my first job for a record distributor. as a NYC radio promotion man. I promoted records by ICE CUBE,Ice T and Mary Wilson of the Supremes. During this time in 1992 I found a Dr. Dr number 12! He reviewed my case, looked at my hand and stated “I think I can help you but you have to do everything I tell you to do.” One of those things was wearing a removable cast and taking an extremely toxic drug that had horrible side effects but it relieved the inflammation in my injured thumb. The drug was considered dead which means it was only used in certain instances. But it worked. By late 1992 I was able to start playing again while moving up in the business side of music. I performed live for the first time in years at a professional level in a cover band in June of 1994. I started gigging several times a year and by 1995 I had started to develop very rapidly and began writing songs.Fall of 1995 I had found a wonderful job as a salesman for the number one Hip Hop label in the world:Priority Records. I was organizing sales and in store signings and promotions for Ice Cube,Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre as well as Jay-Z. I had worked in almost every position in a record company. I saw artists get signed that you never heard of and now are billionaires . I was part of the machine. By 1999 I had formed my own label and had performed as an original artist in 1999 in Montreal. I was selling hundreds of records at retail in NYC. By 2001 I was signed by a record label in Dublin Ireland. I was working full time as a record salesman and performing several nights a week. In 2001 Priority Records was sold and the entire sales force was fired. On June 1st of 2001 when I worked my last day on the business side of music I was officially a full time recording artist who started touring internationally and selling records internationally as well. My plan worked.

What do you find most rewarding about being creative?

The most rewarding part of being a touring recording artist are the people you meet when you travel. I have learned the most amazing tidbits of wisdom by meeting other passengers in airports or on trains or buses. I have received so many answers to my life in these chance meetings. I feel these meetings were destiny for me to figure out my journey. These encounters are reflected in many of my songs to this day.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

A story from my journey that exhibits resilience is the fact that I beat Alcoholism and battle with Bi Polar disorder and MDD. I will be celebrating 20 years sober this July. Coming from a family of addicts and alcoholics of which 3 of my siblings are dead from addiction I would say this was quite a feat and having managed to treat my BI Polar disorder without a manic episode or depression in 5 years. For a 4 year period, when very symptomatic, I was performing 200 dates a year and would contemplate my very existence and would have to still perform. On the road I would stay in bed all day till soundcheck, do the show and go back to bed. Some nights just putting the guitar over my shoulder was physically difficult because of the severity of my depression. But I kept on going and here I am today to tell my story.