NEW EP OUT AUGUST 25, 2023
Pal Shazar was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Her musical career began at a time when creative souls roamed wildly on the east coast. She began writing songs in the late 70’s, inspired by artists Patti Smith, Television, and Iggy Pop, all of whom she illustrated for the local rock fanzine Back Door Man while working nights as a ticket girl at the famed Troubadour nightclub.
Together with partner Andrew Chinich she created the band Slow Children in the early eighties and began playing clubs in L.A. A highly cerebral duo, their music consisted of guitar driven pop laced with intellectual lyrics. Slow Children soon caught the eye of producer Stephen Hague (Pet Shop Boys, Pretenders) and musician Jules Shear who together produced a demo for the group. A single released by Jet Records caught the ear of maverick A&R man Nigel Grainge in the U.K. He signed the band to his Ensign Records and the two records they recorded were released in the states by RCA.
Pal’s association with Jules proved to be more than just a musical collaboration. In time they married and relocated to the east coast. After a short stay in Boston, they moved to Woodstock, New York where Pal found inspiration to begin writing songs on her own. She continued to paint and illustrate which provided the means for her to develop her own record label, Shiffaroe Records, on which she released her first solo effort, “Cowbeat Of My Heart”.
In 2000 Pal worked with bassist Sara Lee (B52’s, Ani Defranco) co-writing several songs for Sara’s debut solo record. She also began her t-shirt line, which received wonderful press. A true renaissance artist, this musician, painter, and designer continues to write prolifically and gain attention with each and every move. In March of 2000 Stylus Records released her CD, “Safe” which was agreed by writers and fans to be her best work to date.
In 2001 Pal relocated to the land of her teenage years. She rented a place in Topanga Canyon, California, where her first love Neil Young roamed, and wrote the songs that appear on her fifth record, Shazar No. 5. The recordings were done back in N.Y at “The Magic Shop”, while Pal could be seen each month performing her songs at “The Living Room” in NYC.
At the end of one full year out West, the family made the trip across the States once again, this time returning East but somewhere warmer. Destination Asheville, North Carolina, a small city as opposed to the towns they’d been living in.
In Asheville Pal’s clothing line blossomed. She created a second line alongside her original company “A Pal Shirt” called “Pauvre Moi” collaborating with Myah Hubbel and Erin Honeycutt, two accomplished designers from Asheville. The “Pauvre Moi” line is sold in L.A., NYC, and North Carolina.
One afternoon Pal happened to see a large black and white photograph of a doll on the wall in one of the local boutiques. At once she knew that the time was right to begin the process of putting the next CD in order, with this photograph as the cover.
Photographer Serenity Eyre is a visionary. She and Pal have worked together packaging the CD, “The Morning After”, using the original title of the photograph. “Serenity allows one to see life in places normally overlooked. Her work is a rare gift.”