Why He’s Interesting: Nathan-Paul first picked up the saxophone at the age of 11 and now has nearly 20 singles, six EPs and five albums out. He’s also in a band, Nathan-Paul and the Admirables.
Genre Bending: “We do a little bit of everything. We cover the whole spectrum of black music … you’ve got gospel in there, you got blues, you got jazz, you got rock, you got hip-hop, a lot of different things.”
Just Out: Funk Me, the band’s first full studio album, was released last summer.
How It All Started: “Growing up, my father always let me play my music as loud as I wanted. I would go to sleep listening to it blasting … all the time. I don’t remember ever having any limits as a creative person. I was never discouraged, not once. That was my childhood.”
Cleveland Love: “I want to help my city grow and do its thing. I’m invested in the city of Cleveland and teaching our youth. I want people to want to say that they are from Cleveland.”
Day to Day: For the last four years, Nathan-Paul has served as the band director at Richmond Heights High School. “Pretty much everything is about the kids … without the kids, without investing in them, you’re not investing in the future. I wouldn’t be where I am without adults investing in me when I was a kid.”
Up Next: He’s working on a duet with Cleveland pianist Jon Thomas and a project with local musician Marcus Alan Ward. “I’m just going to keep releasing. I’m probably going to put out between four to seven projects this year. The floodgates are open.”
