Meet New Jersey Featured Artist: Matthew Pana

MATTHEW PANA is a drummer and voiceover artist based in New Jersey. 

(http://www.mattpana.com / https://www.sonicbids.com/band/mattpana/)

Matt works in Midtown Manhattan, editing audio and video for a living. In addition to his day job, Matt does session and studio drummer work “at affordable yet competitive rates.”

Matt sees his personal mission as a Catholic working in the arts as Ephesians 2:10: “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” He believes that “artists need to strive to not just be Christian or Catholic, but excel and touch the lives of others beyond the faith.”

Matt plays drums for his parish, St. Helen’s in Westfield, NJ, which follows the “Rebuilt Parish” model, with modern music at every mass. His parish has many creatives, and adds that he has recently joined Catholic Artist Connection and Catholic Creatives on Instagram. He also calls working next to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in midtown a “blessing,” and attends daily mass and Frassati Fellowship.

Matt goes to Rockwood Music Hall to get inspired, and he plays music and rehearses daily. His perfect day as an artist: “Creating graphic design treatments for HR, editing videos for marketing, then proceeding to play a gig at Rockwood Music Hall.”In addition to his day job, Matt does session and studio drummer work “at affordable yet competitive rates.”

His top three pieces of advice for Catholic artists? “Never stop learning, never stop collaborating, and think outside your genre.”