A Chat with Pauli The PSM

BY LIZ BAUMMER (SHE/HER)

The first time I meet Pauli The PSM is in a dimly lit DC9 Nightclub on a mid-November night in 2023. Pauli The PSM has just finished their set and comes out to talk to a long line of waiting fans. It’s one of those moments where you realize one choice may change your life. I almost didn’t even apply to cover the show because I felt like I had waited too long to ask and yet I can’t imagine having not been there. When I recount this story to Pauli The PSM towards the end of our interview, Pauli The PSM laughs

“I'm so glad you did that, and I think that is something that needs to be included. I think that's something that's really important that people remember. It's like you miss 100% of the shots that you don't take so thank you for taking the shot and thank you for following up on it, and going for the rebound.”

It’s 100% true because on the last day in January, I’m virtually chatting with Pauli The PSM from their dressing room at the Sphere in Las Vegas where they are the opening DJ each night during the U2 Sphere residency. They play the new, yet already iconic venue, three days a week: Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. When I bring up that their name goes down in history as one of the first people to play in such a space, that people will be reading about them, a queer artist, being one of the first people to play in the Sphere, Pauli The PSM pauses.

“That's kind of crazy. I've never really thought about it. I’m so like in the moment of just being present and just doing my job that I haven't really thought about the lasting effects or the legacy of it at all. Maybe let’s have that conversation in 10 years.”

And that’s not the only incredible thing Pauli The PSM is up to. Recently, Pauli The PSM deemed 2024 their year of collaboration on Instagram. They’ve already released their first big collaboration: the visualizer for Milkyway was released on January 29 with stunning visuals by Gabrielle Rosenstein (@gabrielle_rosenstein on Instagram).

When asked why collaboration is so important Pauli The PSM made an insightful analogy likening collaboration to cross pollination:

“I think it's just like…the only way we can truly grow is through education and exploration, and I think there's only so much you know within your world. I think collaboration is a beautiful thing because it’s like cross pollination so you're gonna create things that haven't been done before and there's no right or wrong way of doing that. Yeah that's my vision for it in terms of what can be birthed out of these moments.”

They also made sure to emphasize that this season is not about goals or expectations:

“I'd say I have no expectations. There's this quote that is like ‘expectation is the thief of joy’, and I think I just want my frequency whilst I'm creating to be joy and I'm heading into the studio to collaborate with other musicians and artists at the moment and there's no parameters. The only goal is to have fun and I think once you have fun everything else flows so yeah that's my MO when it comes to collaboration. I think more people should collaborate.”

Pauli The PSM’s mentality falls in line with the famous quote that we both say over top of each other when the video call lags slightly ‘If you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together’ and Pauli The PSM makes clear:

“That's my thing is like I wanna go far. I want to go all the way. And my goal for that is to collaborate with a super wide net that's being cast out into the world of every type of person that represents every walk of life and yeah, that's the vibe for me I think.”

To say Out Jamz is excited to get in on the year of collaboration for Pauli The PSM is an understatement. With a focus on queer individuals in the music industry, Pauli The PSM and the art they strive to create aligns exactly with who we are as a publication, something Pauli The PSM noticed during our first conversation after their show a little over two months ago. I have been blown away by Pauli The PSM since that first interaction. They were very vocal about their excitement for Out Jamz’s mission and our coverage of their show. When asked to elaborate on their reaction, Pauli The PSM started by expressing even more excitement about Out Jamz covering their show saying:

“I think it's important to have people that look like me on stages, but also people that look like me in publications and to have our voices be heard, and I think that's it. It's being seen, being heard. Those are the two massive things that we all yearn for and crave as humans so knowing that Out Jamz recognized me and my queer identity, that filled me with joy and this element of success in that you saw what I stand for. And even you just saying it now, it's a reminder that what I’m doing is bigger than me and what we stand for is bigger than us individuals. I just think it's really important that our narratives are told by us, and it's great that there's publications like Out Jamz that are telling queer narratives through a queer lens. And I never thought, I ever would have had the information I have about whether it is being non-binary or gender fluidity. I would have never known any of these things if it wasn't for publications like Out Jamz so that's why it was just so fulfilling seeing you and where I had to like take a real moment pause and share with you how thankful I was.”

A big part of our conversation at that show and our continued conversation has been the topic of LGBTQ+ representation in the music industry. In sharing my personal experience of not realizing I was bisexual until college and feeling like I had lost time and community, Pauli The PSM and I spoke about how that representation is important for others to see people like themselves and learn about different identities:

“I'm grateful that we can have this conversation and have it publicly, in a way that people can reference it in the future and learn from it and help themselves to discover who they are. I only learned about pansexualism and gender fluidity and all these terms so recently and like you said sort of like you’ve lost time but I think there's magic in the fact, we have a community now that we can all learn together, we can all grow together and there's no real time lost.”

PAULI THE PSM | COURTESY OF OUTERMOST AGENCY

If you ever get the chance to see Pauli The PSM live in concert, I highly recommend the experience. Easily the most seen and safe I have ever felt at a show in my life, Pauli The PSM makes every fan in the room feel special. At DC9 Pauli The PSM handed out roses and friendship bracelets, brought fans up on stage to sing and dance with them, and stayed after the show to talk to every single person who wanted to chat. This relationship with their fans was my biggest takeaway from the show, and I wanted to know why this was so special for Pauli The PSM:

“I talk about community quite a lot but more than anything, I just want the fans to be a part of the experience and it’s not about just going to a show and gawking at all these acts like oh my gosh this person’s incredible. I want it to feel really inclusive and really interactive. Your role in the audience is just as important as my role, like no you no me. Like this doesn't work if I'm just on stage by myself in the middle of whatever city like it's a very different thing if it's just me and no one turns up you know? So I just want everyone to feel like it’s a reflection of life and life is best when everyone is together, working together for a unified vision, a unified goal and I think that's what the show is for me. What are we all there for? And I think it's for a bit of escape but more than anything to feel something and to have fun and I just want people to leave knowing that they've experienced something fresh, that they've experienced something real, and to know that they are loved and again it goes back to been seen, been heard. I want people to go to that show and know this: I see them and I hear them as much as they can see me and hear me. Just because I'm on the stage and I have a microphone doesn't mean that I should be the loudest person in the room. We all have a story and the concert experience for me is a place where we all get to share our narrative”.

That is exactly the atmosphere that Pauli The PSM has been so successful in creating. Pauli The PSM’s show is the safest, most seen, and the most loved I have ever felt at a concert in my life. I truly left their show feeling like an entirely different person in the best way possible, a sentiment that Pauli The PSM says makes them emotional:

“I live for those moments. When you truly are living your purpose, you're living beyond any sort of ego, you're living beyond anything that's personal. Like when I'm on that stage it's not really for me like I'm doing it because of what you just said.”

As for why Pauli The PSM does what they do and why they love being an artist and what they hope that fans take away from their shows:

“That’s the magic. What you felt that night, I'd love for you to share that again in the publication but then also like in real life. The next time you go to a show or the next time you're out with your friends just being able to share that joy, that love, and just reminding people of how important they are. We are all in this journey of life together. It's rough out there and just knowing that there are other people that think like us, that feel the same way as us, that hurt the same way as us. We may not explicitly be able to say what it is. We may not have the language for it, but we can look into each other’s eyes and feel something. Every time I get on that stage I look into people's eyes, I want you to feel something. So many people go day-to-day through their lives, and they don't feel anything. They’re numb, and that is scary to me like I've been that person. So to now know that people are leaving these shows with feeling, with a heart full of joy and love…that is the sole purpose of why I do what I do.”

On top of their music and artistry, Pauli The PSM is reflective, meditative, and thinking about the world in bigger ways than just themselves. When I ask Pauli The PSM what is something they would like the world to know about Pauli The PSM as a solo artist, Pauli The PSM elaborates on just where the second part of their name comes from:

“I think names are really important, and the names that we give ourselves are really important. They're quite meaningful so my name, Pauli The PSM, The PSM part stands for the power of your subconscious mind, and I think that's one thing that I want people to kind of know and to kind of explore for themselves. Like what does that mean? What is the power of your subconscious mind?”

Who is Pauli The PSM away from the music?

“I think away from my music, away from the artist, away from the persona: I'm a human. I'm a human being. I eat, drink, sweat, bleed the same as everyone else, and I think the one thing that people probably would never know about me is that I'm actually secretly really, really shy…like cripplingly shy. But I think there's moments like this and having an outlet like music and the stage really helps me to just explore parts of myself that I've never really been able to explore. I'm grateful for music, and I'm grateful for the unlimited possibilities that life has to offer.”

If you take one thing away from this interview let it be this:

“Like life is such a beautiful thing and as long as we’ve got breath in our lungs, everything is possible. I think that's what I'd like everyone to know. Like really explore the depths of your subconscious because that's what feeds your conscious and breathe into life whatever you want. That's my vibe!”

That vibe carries through the interview. The seemingly unlimited joy that radiates from Pauli The PSM is palpable and contagious, and the interview ends up feeling more like catching up with a friend than a formal business meeting. The call ends with a selfie and Pauli The PSM taking the time to tell me about how much they loved the photos I had taken at their show before they ask me if I have any plans for my Wednesday evening, a question that somehow catches me so off guard that my brain buffers momentarily before I can blurt out edit photos, type up this interview, and watch a movie.

After this interview I’m no closer to answering the question of “What makes Pauli The PSM so special?”, and honestly, I am starting to think that is exactly as it should be. On one hand, every interaction makes them seem more special than the last. On the other hand, talk to them for five minutes and you will find yourself chatting with the most down-to-earth individual in the room. Overall, Pauli The PSM remains the kind of artist that everyone should have on their playlists and on their bucket list to see. Their incredible musical talent, genuine authenticity, and unique joyful perspective on life makes them the type of artist that lifts up everyone in the room with them, and they deserve every ounce of success that is coming their way. If you’re wondering where to catch Pauli The PSM’s insane talents live in action next, they’re making their SXSW debut in March in Austin, TX before heading on their debut headlining European tour in April.