Biography
Take your pick…
The “Quick & Easy”:
(Photosculpture of Clint by DavidMeanix.com)
The “Press-Friendly Bio” Version:
As a spoken word performer, Clint Catalyst has presented his work on stages everywhere from mainstream festivals (Bumbershoot, OUTFEST) to subcultural gatherings (New York Fringe Festival, The Dark Arts Festival (SLC), Homo-a-Go-Go, Convergence 9, Scutterfest); from bars (Slim’s, DNA, The Paradise Lounge, Amnesia, the Red Lion Pub, The Parlour Club) to book expos (West Hollywood Book Fair); from theatres (Highways in Santa Monica, The Village in Los Angeles) to public libraries (Los Feliz, San Francisco main branch); from art galleries (The Harmony Gallery in L.A., Zeitgeist in Cambridge, MA) to literary salons (The Radar Reading Series in San Francisco, Beyond Baroque in Venice, The Unhappy Hour in West Hollywood, Writers With Drinks in San Francisco, and Fritz Haeg’s Sundown Salon in L.A.) from cafés (The Three Dollar Bill, The Bearded Lady) to LIFE’s LGTB “Youth Lobby Day” at the California State Capitol. Most recently, a video of his performance piece “To Push Away Or Clutch” screened at The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, PA for an exhibition that ran from June 3 – August 31, 2008. He is the author of Cottonmouth Kisses [Manic D], which held the #1 position in the Amazon.com Bestseller List over a span of several years in multiple categories, and has been deemed a “cult classic” by several publications. His work has been published in a wide range of anthologies, literary journals, magazines and newspapers; moreover, he’s served as a contributing editor at two magazines (Swindle Quarterly, *Surface), a managing editor of Permission magazine, and editor-at-large of three literary journals (Praxis, Psychodaisies, and the Hendrix College publication now known as The Aeonian) as well as of his own magazine, As If: A Collection of Images, Poetry and Interviews. With author Michelle Tea, he co-edited the anthology Pills, Thrills, Chills and Heartache (Alyson Books), which premiered in the #10 slot on The Los Angeles Times Bestseller List and was a Lambda Literary Awards finalist. His own list of awards include The Isaac Andrew Campbell Memorial Prize for Poetry, The Congress/Bundestag Scholarship, First Place in the Levi-Strauss “Poetry Slam,” First Place in the Mixed Media category, Second Place in the Short Story category, and Second Place in Poetry for the annual Murphy Foundation for Programs in Literature and Language competitions. In 2008, the literary journal CFF deemed Catalyst both “Renaissance Man of the Year” and “Author With Most Anticipated New Release.” He lives in Los Angeles, where he’s worked as a screenwriter for both ABC and ABC Family one-hour pilot ‘development deals,’ as well as an associate producer on the series “America’s Next Top Model.” Insofar as the other side of the camera goes, he’s had cameos in over a dozen TV series, spanning a range from CBS’s “Morning Show” to the Discovery Channel’s “Beyond Bizarre” to HBO’s break-out hit “Da Ali G Show.” Regarding his foray into film, through which “In The Spotlight” presented the first opportunity for him to play a ‘character’ role (Bell Wartock), Catalyst laughs, “I can’t even tell you how grateful I am to get a break from playing myself. Seriously! It’s friggin’ exhausting…” Further information is available via his personal site (ClintCatalyst.com), IMDB, Wikipedia, and yes, even the most prestigious source of all knowledge: UrbanDictionary.com.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
The More Extensive:
Noteworthy/Newsworthy:
Video Of Clint Performing “To Push Away Or Clutch”
And Polaroid Of Clint Taken By Glenn Kaino
Exhibited At THE ANDY WARHOL MUSEUM IN PITTSBURGH
From May 3 – August 31st, 2008
Coverage From Variety Magazine’s “Stylephile” Follows:
Clint Catalyst was raised on a dusty gravel road deep in the dirty bowels of Jonesboro, Arkansas. He made a name for himself as a spoken word performer, club personality and “alternative/fetish model” in the San Francisco underground in the ’90s, due to his big mouth and boisterous personality. His images have appeared in magazines, on postcards, in books and on book covers, but that matters little now that he’s an old geezer in Los Angeles. These days Mr. Catalyst leads a considerably more manageable life, juggling his current stint as a contributing editor at Swindle Quarterly while clacking away at the handful of creative projects he cultivates during those rare and precious moments he has time.
After years of working in and writing about the fashion industry, Catalyst has also begun to explore the roles of art direction/styling on photo shoots, as it’s “just another way to create characters.” As a stylist, his most recent published work appeared in Paris Vogue, where he collaborated with photographer Albert Sanchez, art director Pedro Zalba, hairstylist Tony Chavez, and make-up artist Cherie Combs to actualize a glamorous new look for Beth Ditto, lead singer of The Gossip:
And insofar as characters go, in 2006-8, he was filmed in three different roles: that of Bell Wartock, a maniacal author in Hilary Goldberg’s short film “In The Spotlight” (starring opposite Guinevere Turner and Michelle Tea); of an Oompa-Loompa impersonator in the Entwin Productions short “Color Me Olsen” (directed by the brilliant Darren Stein of Jawbreaker fame); as well as Jaréd Silvér, a charlatan fashion designer in Lisa Hammer’s full-length feature POX.
Catalyst also plays the archetypal role of ‘The Writer’ in Matthew Mishory’s short “Delphinium: A Childhood Portrait of Derek Jarman,” which premiered in the UK at the Portobello and Raindance Film Festivals in September of 2009.
In 2010, Catalyst is slotted to go “into production,” playing the character “Sid” in Matthew Mishory’s full-length feature Portland.
For official details, please peruse:
Still, more than anything, Catalyst yearns to see his characters “come to life” on both the small and large screens. He’s had two scripted TV pilot development deals to date, but intends to keep banging that proverbial curb for the proper screen credits– i.e., his name, as a writer…not some janky-ass title assigned to avert WGA minimums.
Then again, there are exceptions he’s not beyond pursuing!
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Or, The ‘Curt-and-Somewhat-Stodgy’ Version:
Catalyst’s academic creds include a Bachelor of Arts With Honors Distinction in English from Hendrix College, and a Master of Arts in Writing from the University of San Francisco. He’s won contests and received various awards for his literary stylings, including the prestigious “Congress/Bundestag” scholarship and the “Isaac Andrew Campbell Memorial Prize for Poetry,” but he’d rather gab about his published works than any of his accolades: namely, the book Cottonmouth Kisses, which spent over two years in the Amazon.com Top 10 Bestseller List for Gay and Lesbian Fiction–peaking in the #1 position–and the anthology Pills, Thrills, Chills and Heartache, which he co-edited with the fabulously talented Michelle Tea. In 2004, PTCH made it to the #10 position in the Los Angeles Times Nonfiction Bestseller List; moreover, in 2005 PTCH was nominated as a finalist for the 17th Annual Lambda Literary Awards. Since then, he’s had various scribblings published in other anthologies, newspapers and magazines, most of which can be found in the bibliography section of this site (assuming, that is, that he’s bothered to update it).
Click here for ordering information for Cottonmouth Kisses, the meth-addled cult-classic collection of Clint’s writings published by Manic D Press.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Or, For The FULLY MILLENNIAL “tl;dr” EXPERIENCE:
Clint Catalyst is an American author, actor, screenwriter, television producer, spoken word performer, stylist, and self-described “accidental model.”
In an article which ran in the 2007 ‘Best Of’ issue, L.A. Weekly referred him to as “the most photographed model of the underground” due to his surprisingly long run of editorial, catalog and print work in an industry not associated with longevity.
Catalyst has covered music, LGBT issues, and popular culture for numerous magazines including Los Angeles magazine, LA Weekly, Hustler, Frontiers (magazine), LA Alternative Press, San Francisco Bay Guardian, Instinct magazine, Permission (magazine), Out (magazine), Useless magazine, Ritual Magazine (U.K.), Surface, and Shepard Fairey & Roger Gastman’s Swindle Magazine.
Early Life
Clint was raised an only child to Southern Baptist parents. During all 18 years of his adolescence, he lived with his family “on a dusty gravel road” in an isolated area of Arkansas. Wildly imaginative, the fact that there were no other children with whom to interact in the neighborhood was less of a hindrance than a creative challenge: Catalyst simply made up his own. While it is common for youngsters to have an ‘imaginary friend,’ Clint took it a step beyond—he had “an entire realm” of make-believe characters with whom he interacted, often venturing into the forest and pretending that they were the sole survivors of a lost world. In an interview with Chicago-based journalist Sukie de la Croix, he explains this part of his history as quite likely “why [he] started writing” in the first place.
Education
An astute student, Catalyst excelled academically. His degrees include a Bachelor of Arts (with honors ‘Distinction’) in English from Hendrix College, as well as a Master of Arts in Writing from the University of San Francisco.
Published Writings
Clint is primarily known for his book Cottonmouth Kisses, which was released in the summer of 2000 through the San Francisco-based publisher Manic D Press. In support of the book, Clint toured across the U.S. and Canada with long-time friend and author Michelle Tea. It was during this trek that they came up with the idea to solicit stories written in the first-person narrative for an anthology they co-edited entitled Pills, Thrills, Chills and Heartache. The book premiered in the #10 slot on the Los Angeles Times Bestseller List (category: nonfiction paperback) the week of its release, March 14, 2004 and was a Lambda Literary Awards Finalist among the “Top 5 Fiction Anthologies” released during the span of that year.
Cottonmouth Kisses, however, has established itself as a subcultural mainstay with a widespread cult following. Without the assistance of a publicist or agent, the book went into its second printing in 2007.
Spoken Word
Clint is an accomplished spoken word performer who has presented his talent on stages everywhere from mainstream festivals (Bumbershoot, OUTFEST) to subcultural gatherings (New York Fringe Lit Festival, Dark Arts Festival 2001, 2002, Homo-a-Go-Go, Convergence 9, Scutterfest); from bars (The Paradise Lounge, Amnesia, the Red Lion Pub, The Parlour Club) to book fairs (West Hollywood Book Fair); from theatres (Highways in Santa Monica, The Village in Los Angeles) to public libraries from art galleries to literary salons (The Radar Reading Series in San Francisco, Beyond Baroque in Venice, CA, Sundown Salon in L.A.) from cafés to the California state capitol Additional listings of Catalyst’s readings can be seen on his website, http://www.clintcatalyst.com
From May 3 – August 31, 2008, a filmed version of Catalyst’s spoken word/performance piece “To Push Away Or Clutch” was on display at the Andy Warhol museum in Pittsburgh,PA. Deemed an “Uberstar”–the 21st Century version of Warhol’s infamous “Superstars”–Catalyst was hand-picked by the artist Glenn Kaino to be photographed with the Polaroid ‘Big Shot’ (the same camera Warhol used). Kaino’s Polaroids were then juxtaposed with Warhol’s original portraits of both “Superstars” and superstars, by which museum curators designated them as companion pieces/modern counterparts to various icons from Warhol’s repertoire.
Equal parts luck and a killer hair/make-up team, Catalyst’s image by Kaino was paired with Warhol’s Polaroid of Mick Jagger. In addition to being reproduced in H magazine, the image appears in a published account of Kaino’s 8-year retrospective at the museum entitled The Work of Glenn Kaino: Communicating Rooks, a compendium released by the seminal art press Hatje Cantz in September 2009.
Acting
Clint was “discovered” by director Hilary Goldberg during a dramatic reading he did at the Los Angeles bookstore Skylight Books. She cast him in his first ‘principal’ role as the nefarious charlatan Bell Wartock opposite actress Guinevere Turner in the short film “In The Spotlight.” ”In The Spotlight” was released in 2007, and is slotted to continue making the festival rounds throughout 2008. In November 2008, the Belgian magazine Secret published a feature that describes the film as “a black and white short with a black heart and biting social commentary about fame, art, artifice, shadowy figures who hold the power and public personas who reign as their submissives in the eternal quest for eternity: that possessed by actors, charlatans, heartbreak-for-hire, and the tragically hollow ‘faux real.
Bitch (magazine) published a 2-pg article about “In The Spotlight” in its Winter 2009 issue. Entitled “Liars Poker,” this discourse by journalist Jessica Hoffman explores how the short “plays literary games” and is a “feminist upending of the [noir] genre.”
Catalyst has a small role as an Oompa-Loompa impersonator in Darren Stein’s short “Color Me Olsen,” which was released in 2007. He also plays the role of Járéd Silver–a parody of Catalyst’s close friend, the designer Jared Gold–in Lisa Hammer’s feature film, POX. As ‘Himself,’ Catalyst appeared in a celluloid version of the off-musical comedy Forever Plaid, shown nationwide in theatres to celebrate the play’s 20th anniversary. However, his most recent role is as ‘The Writer’ in Matthew Mishory’s short “Delphinium: A Childhood Portrait of Derek Jarman,” which premiered September 5, 2009 at the Portobello Film Festival in London.
Catalyst has also been cast in Matthew Mishory’s feature, Portland, as “Sid – the Emcee.” Initially scheduled to commence production in early 2009, due to the untimely demise of the film’s male lead–David Carradine–mere days before filming, the film has now been scheduled for pre-production in 2010.
Television
In 2004, Clint set his sights on writing and working within the television industry. With a writing partner, Darren Stein, he co-created and wrote a pilot under a development deal with Touchstone/ABC.
As an Associate Show Producer, he worked for three cycles (2005-2006) on the reality series “America’s Next Top Model.”
February 8th, 2008, Clint won the first place for TV Host in CBS’s BigShotLive contest. His role for the followup winner’s episode was red carpet commentator for the 2008 Grammys. This marks the second time that he’s done red carpet commentary for a major awards show.
Spring-Fall, 2008: With writing partner Darren Stein, Catalyst had an hour-long pilot development deal with ABC Family for a series entitled “Longevity.” In an interview with the literary journal The Battered Suitcase, Catalyst explained that Stein and he worked in close conjuction with producer Eli Holzman (creator of the series “Project Runway,” among others) who “has a background in reality t.v., though the experience [Catalyst] had working with him in the various incarnations of “Longevity” is testament to the fact that he’s a writer/producer…in the truest sense of the term.”
May 22, 2008: Clint appeared as a guest on the talk show “Good Things Utah” regarding his duties as the MC—and one of the guest judges for the model “open call”—for Salt Lake City-based clothing designer Jared Gold’s Czarina/’Farewell’ show. Two other guests appeared with Catalyst and Gold on-screen: models Audrey Kitching and Stevie Ryan.
November 2008: Clint Catalyst has a cameo as the stylist for Antoine de Caunes in Allez a L.A.!, a five-part series that ran on the French Cable Network Canal Plus. In the episode, de Caunes asks for Clint’s assistance before attending Lenora Claire’s birthday party at the Houdini Mansion.
March 2009: Catalyst appeared as a special guest on an episode of “Germany’s Next Topmodel,” hosted by Heidi Klum.
Modeling
Shortly after his arrival in San Francisco, Clint’s foray into modeling “all started with a book cover”—though the cover of the book was not his own. He was discovered by photographer Phyllis Christopher, who had an assignment to shoot the cover of an anthology entitled Sons Of Darkness. She thought his dark aesthetic would work well for a book about vampires, and so began his first paid modeling assignment.
From that moment on, his assignments have run the gamut from Goth to custom latex-wear, from fetish/corsetry to dapper hats, from contemporary urban gear to post-punk casual wear, from cravats to high-end costume jewelry. Among his covers include another book, The Best of Alice Joanou, the literary journal Modern Words, the entertainment paper in:utah this week, the CD cover for a compilation entitled “T.V. Terror,” the Daily Journal newspaper, the 2007-8 community guide/phone directory produced by Frontiers (on which he appears as one of eight “LGBT Icons” along with supermodel/actress Jenny Shimizu), Scutter ‘zine, and–of course, his own book, Cottonmouth Kisses.
Despite the tear sheets and campaigns accumulated over the years, Catalyst refutes the term ‘model’ in reference to himself. Explaining that it’s “just part of the brand,” he prefers being described as a hyper-hyphenate. “If seeing my [image] one place causes people to look me up somewhere else,” he says, “then it serves its purpose.”
March 2008: Catalyst was announced as one of the ‘personalities’ to appear in a national Peta2 “Fur Is Dead” campaign in conjunction with the clothing line Skelanimals and the style emporium Fred Segal. The two-page spread ran in the magazines AP and Revolver.
April 2008: Alternative models Audrey Kitching and Clint Catalyst were photographed as the latest faces in support of Janine Jarman’s Hollywood salon “Hairroin: Addicted to Style.” Photographer Steven Barston was hired for the assignment, in which each of the models were shot on an antique mortuary gurney to accompany the fashion-forward logo of the “un-salon”: a human skull adorned with an “up-do” and feminine bow, framed in the elegant style of a 19th century brooch.
May 2008: Clint Catalyst is announced among the roster of new runway/promotional models for the clothing line Killers Never Die, a Los Angeles-based company for “the distressed” and “the relentless.”
July 2008: Clint announced among the roster of models (runway and print) for the jewelry line Hello Drama. Hello Drama is the latest endeavor from Kaila Yu and Kit E. Katt, who–among many other things–host the on-line talk-show “Nylon Pink.”
August 2008: Clint Catalyst and Audrey Kitching are selected as “spokesmodels” for custom milliner Creepsuela Switchletto.
September 2008: Clint has a two-page editorial in the Fall 08/Winter 2009 magazine produced by Ali Barone to showcase her clothing line Lipstick Prophets.
February 2009: Artist and correspondent Sham Ibrahim of MaryTV.net reports Clint Catalyst and Kayley Gable–actress, socialite and granddaughter of Hollywood legend Clark Gable–were two “stars” who modeled couture designs by Pol’ Atteu of Beverly Hills for his ‘Pre-Oscar Academy Awards Fashion Show.’ Atteu is famous not only for his high-profile clientele but also his close friendship with Playboy magazine Playmate of the Year and television personality Anna Nicole Smith. With his partner, talent agent Patrik Simpson, Atteu co-authored the book Portrait of an Icon, a first-person account of their life as Anna Nicole’s best friends and confidantes.
March 2009: Release of a formal announcement from Bang Bang Baby! Designs that “the oh-so-fabulously fierce Clint Catalyst” has been chosen as the jewelry and t-shirt company’s “very first male spokesmodel.”
June 2009: Solo images of Catalyst–including an advertisement for Creepsuela Switchletto, in which he appears with the iconoclastic model Audrey Kitching–are released in the Canadian magazine Imago.
July 2009: Catalyst plays the role of a vampire again, this time in a high-fashion editorial shot by Hoda Amel Abdalla for HauteMacabre.com
Stylist
Catalyst has been employed as a stylist, called upon for avant-garde and editorial looks for everything from stagewear for musician/model Lisa D’Amato to comedian Margaret Cho, whom he helped “transform” for Taylor Chang-Babaian’s book Asian Faces to the glamour transformation of Beth Ditto, lead singer of The Gossip with celebrity photographer Albert Sanchez. Among his credits also include Antoine de Caunes, most famous for his decade-long stint co-hosting the series “Eurotrash” with designer Jean Paul Gaultier, and Michelle Tea, for her appearance as one of 50 icons in the annual special produced by Swindle magazine.
Trendsetter
Buzznet.com has Clint Catalyst as a designated “Buzzmaker,” a term the site uses for members “who are top tier.” Buzzmakers are identified by a pink star on their page. Out of the entire site, only 60 users have been honored with the “Buzzmaker badge.”
Catalyst has also been described as an “It” Boy, among his extensive catalog of ’social titles.’
June 13, 2006: L.A. Weekly’s ‘Style Council’ noted Clint among guests at the private/invite only show of musician Peaches as making an impression with a “to-die-for feathered hat.”
April 4, 2007: Noted in print among the fashion show “Front Row/A-Listers” at Project Runway winner Jeffrey Sebelia’s standing-room-only premiere at L.A.’s elite 2121 Lofts.
July 17, 2007: Frontiers magazine runs a two page article in which Clint is deemed the ‘King of What’s Next’.
October 18, 2007: “Clint Catalyst, at BOXeight, is on top of the trend with a miniature top hat like the ones being sported all over London.” – Lawrence K. Ho, Los Angeles Times
December 7, 2007: Nexia Holdings’ Holiday Runway event is hosted by “fashion icon” Clint Catalyst.
December 20, 2007: Fashion News California describes Clint as a host, “an author, artist, and internet persona” who is among a “growing online social community creating a buzz…“
January 2008: Instinct magazine deemed Clint a “red-carpet-stalking fashionista [who’s] in the moment before anyone else is.”
February 2008: Catalyst co-hosts the kick-off party for entertainment paper Metromix.
March 5, 2008: Fashion Journalist Caroline Ryder deems “Clint Catalyst a queer fashion figurehead.”
May 14, 2008: Metromix magazine deems Catalyst a “Fashion Renaissance Man.”
In Out.com’s 2008 coverage of ‘Power Gays,’ Clint Catalyst is listed as one of the three “Buzznet celebrities” who, “one 14-year old girl at a time [is] beating the hype machine at its own game.” In the same article, journalist Japhy Grant goes so far as to describe him as perhaps an “unintended role model” since “At long last, for mainstream middle American tweens, the popular kids are weirdos and outcasts.”
July 29, 2008: The popular website Gay.com refers to Catalyst as a ‘Scene King.’ When asked to describe his inimitable personal style that has garnered this title for him even within a definition of “scene kings” on UrbanDictionary.com, Clint replied “If Isabella Blow had a male counterpart who was portrayed in a Mark Ryden painting and weasled his way out.” In an interview for the Peta2/Fur Is Dead campaign, he simplified his ‘look’ as being focused on “Dark themes, bright colors. Hats, pomp, humor…and circumstance. A motto of mine when getting dressed-up? “Nothing exceeds like excess.”
2009: Catalyst is listed in the official Myspace Celebrity Directory.
March 14, 2009: Journalist Gendy Alimurung’s coverage of Gen Art’s fashion week launch at the historic downtown Los Angeles theater states: “There are even the requisite few celebs. Clint Catalyst, looking handsomely vampire-like, is sitting across the aisle.” (L.A. Weekly)
Host
Due to his infamy in certain social circles, Clint is often hired as a club host, as well as a host for magazine parties and fashion shows. As a ‘fashion icon,’ he’s done everything from community outreach work as a “celebrity judge” (with model/actress Jenny Shimizu and designer Nick Verreos) for the Asian Pacific AIDS Alliance Quest Beauty Pageant to Paper magazine hiring him as a judge for Audrey Kuenstler’s ‘High Fashion Wrestling’ event. He’s done red carpet duty at several awards ceremonies, including the 2007 Emmy Awards for Buzznet.
March 16, 2007: Catalyst hosts Jared Gold’s “Quiet Army” fashion show. March 14, 2008: Clint hosts Jared Gold’s Czarina fashion show. The event received rave reviews, with journalists going so far as referring to it as the ’show du jour’ that “upped the ante” of L.A. fashion week.
September 02, 2008: Catalyst co-hosts an AltitudeTV segment with Jayme Foxx, entitled “FASHION POLICE- Sunset Junction LA Hipster Fashion Dos and Donts.” He is also seen hosting for AltitudeTV again at the “Box Eight – LA Fashion Party” in October 2008.
June 11, 2009: Journalist Sarah Sternberg from the cultural news and critique site Flavorwire.com lists Foxx and Catalyst’s “FASHION POLICE…” first out of the five clips chosen for her article “Top of the Vlogs: Our Favorite Fashion Videos.”
Personal Life
June 2003: Clint was a noted guest at the marriage of comedian Margaret Cho and the L.A. Cacophony Society’s Reverend Al Ridenour, a “double ceremony” keeping the element of surprise akin to its date of Friday the 13th. As the sun set, the couple had a traditional Korean service involving both families, a live rooster and hen, and an ample supply of flying chestnuts and dates. If the first service was for the family, the second was for the couple’s eclectic crew of night-crawlers: Bridesmaids were decked out in ‘High Goth’ gowns rife with dark sparkle and black bouquets; wedding bands were extracted from small coffin-shaped boxes, and Cho’s outfit was a 150-year-old beaded gown, complete with 30-foot-long veil adorned with black rubber snakes, à la Medusa.
October 13, 2007: Catalyst was one of the guests to attend the wedding of Jessicka and Christian Hejnal (of the band Scarling) in Los Angeles. He served as the couples’ master of cermonies and read an original piece written for the event.
Catalyst is known for his close friendship with avant-garde designer Jared Gold and has even been described as his ‘muse.’ They often attend social events and fashion shows together, and Catalyst has worked as an event producer for several Black Chandelier fashion shows, in addition to Gold’s eponymous line. In the spring 2008 collection of Gold’s company, Black Chandelier, there is even a garment dedicated to/inspired by his friend: the “Clint Catalyst Tarot Card Destroyer” t-shirt.
Actress Pauley Perrette–famous for her role Abby Sciuto on the CBS hit series NCIS–is a personal friend with whom Clint has modeled, collaborated (her autobiographical story “Cheers” was published in the Pills, Thrills, Chills and Heartache anthology under a shortened version of her name–”Pauley P”–due to its intensely personal subject matter), attended fashion shows, social events, as well as Clint’s birthday parties, infamous both for their outrageous themes (“Cholo A Go Go,” A Gaygnster Glam-Fest; a formal ‘Wake,’ to “mourn the death of his youth”; “Clint and His Thousand Closest Imaginary Friends,” thrown by legendary mash-up D.J.s Adrian & the Mysterious D of Club Bootie, et al) as well as the eclectic mix of hipsters and celebrity guests known to grace the roster: model/actor Tony Ward, celebrity photographers Austin Young and Albert Sanchez, model/actress Angela Lindvall, jewelry designer/style icon Tarina Tarantino and her husband, director Alfonso Campos, music video director Justin Coloma and his wife, singer/songwriter Linda Strawberry, milliner Adele Mildred, casting director Jason James, music journalist/ D.J./Vlaze TV correspondent Ali Maclean, clothing designer Jessica Louise, journalist Dan Kapelovitz and actress/musician Giddle Partridge, photographer David Lee, America’s Next Top Model contestant-turned-rapper Lisa D’Amato, the ‘Queen of the Beautifuls”: musician Jeffree Star, fetish model Courtney Cruz and visual artist/clothing designer TonyMech, filmmakers Matthew Mishory, Wash Westmoreland, Richard Glatzer, Hilary Goldberg, and Darren Stein, “co-conspirator”/photographer Amanda Brooks, stylist Sonja Teri and Swindle Quarterly editor Roger Gastman, actress Kat Turner and rock photographer/videographer Piper Ferguson, model/actress Jenny Shimizu, Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, singer/songwriter Linda Perry, and actor/producer Joel Michaely–that have caused even house parties he’s thrown to be written about in gossip columns.
Awards
* Isaac Andrew Campbell Memorial Prize for Poetry, received while at Hendrix College.
* “Congress Bundestag/Open Door” scholarship, by which he lived & studied in Germany for a year.
* Murphy Foundation for Programs in Literature and Language: Poetry, Second Place; Mixed Media, First Place; Short Story, Second Place
* Levi-Strauss San Francisco ‘Poetry Slam’ Competition – “Winner” (1997)
* 2004 Maggie Award Nomination for Distinction in Magazine Journalism (Instinct magazine, “Gayngster Boys” Dec 2003 issue)
* CFF deems Clint “Renaissance Man of the Year” & “Author With Most Anticipated New Release” (2008)
Works
Music Videos Appearances
* “Big Deal” by Katastrophe(2008)
* “Boys” by The Autumns(2007)
* “Black Tears” by Miss Derringer (2007)
* “Curious” by Johnnny Dangerous (2006)
Music Collaborations
* Catalyst worked on the “Assassin” track from Apocalypse Theatre’s CD Angry Angels. The track is actually an unpublished prose poem Catalyst wrote as a tirade against the apathy prevalent among contemporary youth (a key passage of which is ” The name of this disease is apathy/And apathy, disease has changed us all/It’s Changed The Human Race To Human Crawl”). A remix of the aforementioned track entitled “Angel’s Fawk” surfaced several years later, first on a bootleg entitled The XPeriments, then in 2005 as a track available for free download among the tracks rotating on both the band’s MySpace page (www.myspace.com/apocalypsetheatre) and personal site (www.apocalypsetheatre.com). Currently, Catalyst has both tracks available for download in the MP3 section of his personal site.
* Eager to experiment with different art forms—and particularly drawn to burgeoning radical subcultures—Catalyst befriended homohop performer Deadlee, known for his controversial presence as an “in your face” “homo-revolutionist” within hip-hop, a genre often associated with homophobia. After Deadlee saw Catalyst do a spontaneous performance art set at the Parlour Club’s infamous Club Touché, the two began tossing around ideas for a future collaboration. While they have performed on stage together numerous times, the end result is the track “Gay Pac” (featuring Clint Catalyst) from the 2006 full-length Assault With A Deadlee Weapon.
