"Weird Paul" Petroskey | |
|---|---|
 Petroskey in 2019. | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Paul Petroskey |
| Also known as | "Off-The-Wall" Paul, "Champ" [1] |
| Born | November 21, 1970 |
| Origin | Bethel Park, Pennsylvania |
| Genres | lo-fi, punk rock, indie rock, comedy rock, spoken word, nerd rock |
| Occupations | Streamer, Musician, Spray Coater [1] |
| Instruments | Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Drums, Chord organ, Stylophone, Keyboards |
| Years active | 1984-present |
| Labels | Homestead Records, Rocks & Rolling, Thick Syrup Records |
| Website | weirdpaul |
"Weird" Paul Petroskey (born November 21, 1970) is a lo-fi musician, Twitch streamer, and YouTube personality [2] [3] [4] in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area. [5] He has been writing and recording music since 1984, and has written or co-written over 700 songs and appeared on over 50 released albums. [6] [7] [8] Petroskey has played as part of an ensemble and has performed in the bands The Blazing Bulkheads, The Blissful Idiots (which later changed their name to Revenge of the Nerds), 57 Big End Halos (Scott Fry) and The Weird Paul Rock Band.
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Petroskey formed his label Rocks & Rolling Records in 1987, through which he released his first album In Case of Fire Throw This In on cassette tape. [9] He initially called himself "Off-the-Wall Paul" in an effort to differentiate himself from "Weird Al" Yankovic. In late 1989 Petroskey began performing with drummer Manny Theiner and in 1991, signed with New York record label Homestead Records . [10] Through Homestead Records the two released the album Lo Fidelity, Hi Anxiety, but were not picked up for a second album. The pair toured the United States to promote the album. [11] [12]
Between the years 2001 to 2004, Petroskey filmed a documentary with Chicago filmmaker Stacey Goldschmidt, who was creating a film about his music. Weird Paul: A Lo Fidelity Documentary was completed in 2005 and was released in April 2006, where it went on to show at the Chicago Underground Film Festival and Leeds International Film Festival. [13] In 2015, Petroskey hosted and starred in the weekly local television series The Weird Paul Variety Show on WEPA-CD in the Pittsburgh area. The first airing was June 11, 2015.
A documentary about Petroskey was released in 2019, called Will Work for Views: The Lo-Fi Life of Weird Paul which is described as "a documentary film 30 years in the making." [14]
