ALJ Alumni ('19)Dominick De Paz gearing up to release a new song...

Dominick De Paz has been super busy in the studio working on the production of his newest single, "Downward Spiral. " This release is happening on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024. Where you can find it available to download on all streaming platforms- such as Apple Music or Spotify.

This song is something he wrote during the Covid times, about a girlfriend having trouble adjusting to the lockdown situation within her family, and managing life with her brother with a compromised immune system. Not able to be of much help to her, only watching her spiral out of control. Music and lyrics were both written by Dom, who is singing while playing the piano and guitar in the song. Drums were played by Patrick Moran and Bass by former roommate and good friend, Ian Banno.

Dom graduated from the prestigious Berklee College of Music last year, in May, achieving Magna Cum Laude with a Professional Music degree in Song Writing and production with a minor in Private Studio Teaching. While songwriting is his passion, it's his love of music that started at an early age in Rahway's Franklin Elementary School with its intense focus on the arts and exemplary music programs. He did everything from the summer program with violin to the basic recorder in the 3rd grade which he proudly mastered having the ability to play a song "by ear" because of his perfect pitch. It is at this time, that he also began piano lessons. He continued his musical journey by joining the choir and band after his family moved to Clark while attending Carl H. Kumpf Middle School where he had begun playing clarinet in the band and guitar in the Jazz band. His time in the Middle school choirs and band shaped his love of singing and exploring vocal range.

During his time at Arthur L. Johnson High School, Dom decided to audition for the Marching Band. Which proved to be quite the experience all 4 years, while enjoying anything and all things musical. Concert band and choir, along with the musical stage productions the students put on each Spring. All the while his skills in piano, clarinet, guitar and voice kept advancing at a steady rate. He left for college a big fish in a small pond, but soon realized at Berklee, he was a small fish in a big pond. The students were extremely talented in all areas of musical ability and he questioned himself if he truly belonged among them. After settling into this new city of Boston, he was immersed in all that Berklee had to offer its students and won a few scholarships to help offset that hefty tuition. One of them was the "Thrive" which was given to students by academic results. Another was the" Quincy Jones" (yes, the record producer) which was specifically awarded to him in the category of songwriting, proving that he was on the right track and motivated him to keep up the creative energy to pursue that field vehemently. He spent many nights doing performance gigs throughout Boston and NYC on his school breaks over the years. During his Junior year at Berklee Dom completed a semester abroad in Spain where they have a campus in the beautiful city of Valencia, dedicated to the pursuit of global music industry curriculum. Time there was described as the best 5 months of his life, so far!

To promote his newest single, "Downward Spiral" he will be performing at our very own, Crossroads Restaurant Bar in Garwood on North Ave. on Sat. Sept. 7th. Mark your calendar to come out and hear him and his band, live.

Dom is happy to continue exploring opportunities writing for himself and other artists who need his skill and one day hopes to be a songwriter who is well known for contributing to music and the enjoyment it brings to our world.

For more information on Dom and upcoming shows, you can follow him on Instagram @domdepaz or visit his website www. domdepaz.com