Meet Enzo De Palma

We recently connected with Enzo De Palma and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Enzo, so excited to have you with us today, particularly to get your insight on a topic that comes up constantly in the community – overcoming creativity blocks. Any thoughts you can share with us?

To me, there are two skills necessary to overcome writer’s block. The first one is planning. I’m always coming up with ideas and taking them down, whether it’s iPhone notes filled with story ideas or voice notes with little seeds of songs. That way, if I’m in a situation where I need an idea, I have a library of creative nuggets I can start from. Second, being creative on command is a skill by itself that you have to develop. Professional artists don’t have the luxury of just waiting around for an idea to strike; they have to be able to come up with them on the spot. And that’s a skill you can work on. Give yourself assignments and time limits. Figure out how to draw ideas from your mind. Find a way to get yourself to that place where you can be creative. And finally, try not to see the blank page (or whatever your medium’s equivalent is) as scary. See it as possibility!

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

So I do a couple of things. Firstly, I’m a comic book writer and author. My first graphic novel, a sci-fi action thriller called Manhattan: Manhunt with art by Joshua Swaby and Diego Albuquerque, was published a couple of years ago. I have a short comic in the newest anthology from Oneshi Press, a fantasy retelling of the old silent German monster movie “The Golem” with art by Diego. I’m working on a horror short story for the new online speculative fiction journal Devour. And I’m finishing up my second graphic novel right now. I don’t want to say too much about it yet, but it’s…pretty wild. You’ll be in for quite a ride.

Secondly, I’m a musician! I play mandolin in an indie folk band called Corporate Bike Culture. We’re touring around LA this summer, and we’re releasing our debut album pretty soon. I’m also playing keyboard in a rock band called Margo’s Bench. We’re playing pretty regularly at an awesome venue in Studio City called the Tuning Fork, and that’s been a ton of fun. And I’m working on a genre-crossing solo album where I play 98% of the instruments. I’m hoping to finish recording that this summer.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I think the three most valuable skills for an artist to have are professionalism, curiosity and voice. Professionalism is so important because artists who are easy to work with are the ones who get hired. And that means being communicative, being on time, being flexible and willing to compromise, and having a high level of technical ability. And, as an addendum, the more different genres in your medium you’re able to work in, the better. As a musician, I’m able to play jazz, rock, classical, etc. As a writer, I can write action, drama, suspense, thriller, comedy… The more you can do, the more you’ll be hired to do.

Curiosity is so so important for an artist, because that’s how you grow and get better. You never stop learning, and the more an artist wants to know about their medium, the more they’ll improve. Over the last few years, I’ve been getting into West African music like palm wine or high life and Brazilian music like choro or forro, and these have expanded my mind and improved my skills — especially my rhythm! And finally, having a unique voice is what makes people come back to you specifically. And this seems contradictory to my earlier advice to compromise and be able to change genres. But that’s the hard part — keeping your voice while compromising and while switching genres.

For anyone who’s on the path to becoming an artist, these all can be accomplished with practice! Practice professionalism — again, give yourself fake assignments! Practice curiosity — if you’re an artist and you’re truly not curious about other genres, look harder! And practice your voice — that only comes after doing your art a lot, even if no one else ever sees it.

What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?

This question hits really hard for me, because clearly, I ascribe to the well rounded point of view! I’m both a writer and a musician, and I play 14 instruments and really do not limit myself to one genre in either medium. But I can’t say for sure that that’s the best way to go! I’ve had teachers and fellow musicians advise me to just stick to one or two instruments. I didn’t listen to them, of course, and I’m so glad I didn’t, because learning all these instruments has given me a very full understanding of music from many different sides.

And to be clear, I’m not equally good at all 14 instruments or at every genre of music. And I have much more experience writing comics than novels. But I do think there is value in having competencies in many different areas. It does seem to be rare among artistic superstars, who are mostly known for one thing. Yo-Yo Ma would fare about as well playing jazz as Paul McCartney would playing bluegrass. Ernest Hemingway probably would have loathed to try to write a comic book, just as Frank Miller would probably chafe at having to write poetry. There are exceptions, especially in music — for example, Jacob Collier, a pretty true multi-instrumentalist, or Chris Thile or Bela Fleck, two musicians who truly jump genres constantly. But those examples are far and few between.

So maybe it is best to focus just on your strengths? Of course, that can make it hard to stand out, depending on what your strengths are. I’m definitely not the best guitarist any musician knows. I’m likely not the best pianist any musician knows. I’m very possibly the best mandolinist any musician knows, though — in fact, quite possibly the only mandolinist many know! Maybe that old saying “jack of all trades, master of none” is true in that if you’re good at too many things, you don’t get known for anything specifically.

In the end, I think the best thing to do is whatever comes naturally to you. If writing horror is what makes the most sense to you, do that! If saxophone is the only instrument you connect with, go all in! If you’re like me and playing one instrument or even pursuing just one field of art was never going to be enough for you, then go with your heart. It’s not that I’m arrogant enough to think I can be successful in two very difficult fields. It’s just that I know I can’t live without writing and playing music.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://enzodepalma.com
• Instagram: @enzodepalma_
• Facebook: enzodepalmaofficial
• Twitter: @MrWasabihead2
• Youtube: @enzodepalma
• Soundcloud: enzo-de-palma
• Other: TikTok: @enzodepalma_

Image Credits

Amanda Ryvkin, Camila Wilson