Rocky Paterra Brings in the Christmas Joy with His New Single “Naughty List”
BUZZ LA- Nov 29, 2019
- 4 min read
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, singer and songwriter Rocky Paterra began his songwriting journey in 2017 when he recorded his debut pop EP “Thoughts from the A Train” after flying out to Nashville. Currently based in New York City, Rocky writes music for other local Indie artists as well as himself. With a massive 1200+ followers on Instagram, it’s only a matter of time before everyone is singing Rocky’s music on the radio.
Getting into the Christmas spirit, Rocky has decided to release his own modern, festive and fun spin-off version of 10 holidays original songs in his second album “Naughty List”. Not only is “Naughty List” the title of the album, but also the number 1 track on his holiday album. “Naughty List” is a holiday Pop song with a happy/ funky vibe to it that'll get you in the Christmas Spirit.
Unlike other holiday remakes which tend to merely emphasis words differently or minorly tweak the instrumentals and beats, Paterra has created a true holiday original. He incorporates fun poppy lyrics that get you in the mood to celebrate. The song is not too repetitive and only associated with Christmas, I truly believe this is a track you will continue to listen to throughout the year and not merely as a seasonal song.
Listen to "Naughty List" here.
Hey Rocky, welcome to BuzzMusic! Tell us about your inspiration with the makings of your album “Naughty List”?
Hi BuzzMusic! I’m so happy to be talking a bit about my album Naughty List with you! I wanted to make this album because I’m inspired by contemporary holiday music that places modern pop through a festive lens, both in production and songwriting elements. When Sia released her 2017 holiday album “Everyday Is Christmas,” I was in Nashville recording my first album. I remember feeling excited listening to her holiday album because she is one of my favorite pop writers, and I knew that I wanted my next album to be my own take on holiday pop.
We love the first track “Naughty List” as it gives off such a happy Christmas vibe. How does it relate to the other songs in your album?
Thank you! I love the title track. I think it sets the tone for the album nicely, even though it was one of the last songs I wrote for it! While there are tracks like “Naughty List, “Better Behave,” and “Two Turtle Doves” that are super Christmas-y, I enjoyed the challenge of writing songs with varying musical styles for the album. The lead single “Icicle” is a dark pop-rock track, “Do Christmas With You” is a chill acoustic track, and “Snow Falls Down” is an R&B track with synth-heavy production qualities. Making sure everything felt both stylistically varied and thematically cohesive was a fun challenge that I tried my best to craft!
What have been some of your biggest struggles along your journey as a music artist and how did you overcome them?
I think that a challenge for anyone in any line of work is finding the right people to collaborate with to bring something from an idea to a fully realized version. I’m so lucky to say that I’ve found that with my Naughty List team! When I write music, I’m not always writing for my voice, so the artists who are featured singers on the album were absolutely vital. I’m so lucky to have worked with each one of them. And I’m so fortunate to have had Michael Wuerth as my head producer. We worked together weekly since January, and his experience and expertise in music and production made my dream of making this holiday album come true. What I have learned about collaboration is that while you can technically make anything with anybody, the ends only really justify the means if you come away from the experience feeling like everybody’s heart was in it.
In the future, do you plan on releasing albums for other holidays or a completely different theme?
Haha! No plans at the moment for albums centered on other holidays, but what I love about Naughty List is that I can give it a big push every holiday season. I think there’s a lot of potential for its usage in various film, television, and commercial media, and so I’ve learned so much about that world through all of the promotional work I’ve done behind the scenes surrounding its release. Every year will open itself up to potential opportunities for these songs that I love so much, and I’m extremely excited about that!
Thanks so much for chatting. We are excited to listen to more of your music. What do you have planned next as a music artist?
Thank you so much! As of right now, I have a single release planned for January and plenty of songs that I’m shopping to various artists for collaboration. I love writing music, specifically writing for other singers, and a huge dream of mine is for this passion to become my career in every sense of the word. As an independent artist living in New York City, times can be particularly tough. I do everything in my control to get what is in my head into other people’s ears, and as long as I’m making active strides to do that, I can sleep a little easier at night!
