cynthia

finally, a proper bio!
cynthia catania was born in northern n.j., to 1st generation, american born sicilians.. culturally diverse, middle-class, earnest folk, cynthia’s dad joe played the mandolin and brought music into the catania family home. cynthia’s brother jeffrey, became the first of the brood to formally take up music. cynthia followed in his footsteps, at the age of 13, with piano lessons. (cynthia’s older brother, now stays away from live music – in general, because of all the noise they made as kids!)
cynthia’s real gift was her singing voice. which didn’t become apparent until months later, when she started performing in garage bands. “actually it was jeff’s 1st band – and i had to weasel my way in! i really need to thank his best friend at the time, who played drums, for getting me in the group.” and so her musical journey began..
after growing up in the nyc music scene, cynthia relocated to sunny, southern california. she started writing & performing around town as a solo artist – something brand new for her. during one of her first LA partnerships, she began writing & recording a solo album with well-known bassist, tad wadhams. tad, famous for his work with sheryl crow, produced & co-wrote her eponymous debut.
a few years later, cynthia teamed up with annmarie cullen to form saucy monky. a band comprised of 2 singer-songwriters (annmarie is originally from dublin, ireland), saucy monky has released 3 albums on it’s own olivoiL records label (cynthia started olivoiL after being introduce to ani difranco’s indie – do it yourself- spirit). over the past few years, saucy monky have toured ireland, the uk, central europe & shared festival stages with contemporaries like pj harvey, pink, black eyed peas, maryanne faithful, the gypsy kings and wilco, to name a few. their previous album, turbulence, garnered a AAA top 40 single with the track “disco ball (boulevard remix).”
the LA times said this about the band: "saucy monky shares a lot of the qualities of pop’s classic female-fronted bands — irrepressible melodicism and smart lyrics..”
in september of 2008, saucy monky released "between the bars," an emotional mini-album filled with catchy hooks & snazzy guitar lines. notably, the band recorded their rendition of “superstar,” the classic 1970’s carpenter’s hit. cynthia, a long time carpenter’s fan, remembers singing along to karen’s albums in her parents living room. “i’ve always had a special place for the carpenter’s music. karen carpenter & ann wilson were my fav’s. their voices made me want to become a singer. i also had a barbara streisand phase…and everyone in the house suffered! but it’s how i learned how to sing, busting a lung along with those girls” (she smiles).
since it's release, “between the bars” has been spun on irish radio, and the video for “superstar” has been featured on various european music television shows. (yes, the girls are a one stop shop! annmarie directs and films the videos, and cynthia records & produces the albums..)
recently, after cleaning out her closet - cynthia released a collection of unreleased tracks, entitled “missing venus.” said title track has had great exposure on the nickelodeon tv series “zoey 101.” “i started getting emails from the shows audience asking where they could buy the song. that was my motivation for the cd..”
in addition to songwriting, solo work, saucy monky (and pouring the occasional pint), cynthia has been producing records & composing for tv & film.
visit the SAUCY MONKY myspace page