How I love Dark New Wave. Lately, or more precisely, in the last 20 some years I haven’t heard of anyone to bring the sound back with vigor and passion and make it sound brand new and resonate like it did back in the 80′s. That is, until I heard Paul Nagi. I can’t get enough of his style and quite gorgeous voice.

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What has been the most monumental point in your career so far?

Playing live and having people whom I’ve never met, know my music; Selling out the Viper Room; Recording at Motown Studios where greats like Ray Charles recorded; Flying to New York and playing a show at Sin-E; Seeing 1000 of my first EP in my hands; Recording and licensing a pixies song; Playing live on college radio, there have been so many.

Who are you influences?

I really like 80′s new wave and Joy Division. U2′s early stuff really stuck with me because of the emotion. Jeff Buckley (althought I’ve only started to listen to him recently), the Killers, David Bowie, Weezer, Radiohead, the Pixies. At one point, I also listened to Billy Joel, Kenny Rogers, some opera, Guns and Roses, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi.

I grew up listening to mainstream radio so most commercial music of the 80′s and 90′s has seeped into my  music. In the end, what I’ve learned from this random melange of music is: I like big and emotional choruses that could be sung by hundreds of screaming fans with a twist of the unusual musical change in there.

At what point in your life did you decide to make music a career?

When I got tired of hearing the same stuff on the radio, about five years ago. I had just moved to LA and I was regularly going to open mics. People started to really respond to my music and suggested that I record it. So I did, and after a year, I got a band together and recorded my first EP Auto Repair at the old Motown Records Hollywood Studio. We were playing and I realized I could really do this as a profession.

What song do you most like to play live?

“Matter of Time” because it makes me want to dance.

You have already accomplished a lot this year including being nominated for an LA music award as well as being featured on Music Connection’s top 100 hottest unsigned artists list. What do you think is in store for the future?

Well, I’m sure the hard work is only just beginning. Hopefully I’ll be able to get an opening spot for some established bands. I’ve learned to never plan too far ahead but in the short term, I just finished my music video for “Erase This From Our Blood” (which you can see on my MySpace page at www.MySpace.com/PaulNagi79) and I am putting the finishing touches on my new single “Quite Gorgeous.” It’s a sort of a Franz Ferdinand meets the Strokes and the Doors.  It’s a dancy and fun song.

Describe your most memorable show moment?

Playing to a packed at the Viper Room and almost no one turned to the bar to buy a drink during one of my slow songs “Always On My Mind.” They were all just staring at me almost mesmerized.

How do you feel about the changing state of the music industry?

You gotta roll with it. Everything changes, you just need to be flexible. If artists are smart, they realize that they hold the power, if they are willing to sweat and bleed. With that said, record labels are still very important. It’s like a tree with heavy branches. If the weight from the limbs gets too far away from the trunk, then the limbs fall off.I think that’s what happened to the record labels. Labels have lost a lot of their dominance and have spread too far from their original purpose. The strongest part still remains, but it will be some time before the labels get back to their previous form, if they ever do.

Your EP is called Auto Repair how many cars broke down on you before you decided to name your EP that?

It is short for autonomous repair. It refers to the idea that the body heals itself from all the damage that you do to it, psychological and physical, and your heart is at the center of that process. I wanted to call my band that, but most of the guys i play with told me that everyone would ask the question that you just asked. That stuff never bothered me. I think people who listen to my music are smarter and look for a deeper meaning.

Coincidentally, Paul is also playing a show tonight February 25th at the Whisky a Go-Go for the LA Music Awards Showcase. If you’re in LA, check it out.

–Sheena Felix

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