Paul Cafaro (born May 8, 1966), known professionally as Blag Dahlia, is an American singer and record producer, best known as the vocalist for

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band Dwarves.Ritchie, Ryan (2007)
Locals Only – Blood, Guts and Literacy: Blag Dahlia steps out from behind the Dwarves to wax hysterical
", ''

OC Weekly ''OC Weekly'' was a free alternative weekly paper distributed in Orange County and Long Beach, California. OC Weekly was founded in September 1995 by Will Swaim, who acted as editor and publisher until 2007. The paper was distributed at coffee ...

'', July 12, 2007, retrieved February 7, 2010

Career

Music

Dahlia is best known as the frontman of Dwarves, a punk rock band, which he founded while attending Highland Park High School in suburban Chicago in the mid-1980s. With the Dwarves, he has written and produced nearly a dozen studio records over a span of over 30 years. He has produced albums by

Mondo Generator Mondo Generator (sometimes known as Nick Oliveri and the Mondo Generator) is an American rock band founded in 1997 by Nick Oliveri. History Formation and ''Cocaine Rodeo'' (1997–2002) Nick Oliveri (under the moniker ''Rex Everything'') fo ...

, Dwarves, F.Y.P,

Jon Cougar Concentration Camp Jon Cougar Concentration Camp is an American punk rock band from San Diego, California, United States. History Jon Cougar Concentration Camp was formed in January 1994 in San Diego by Chris Fields, Clint Graham, Travis Spatter, and Travis Milli ...

Swingin' Utters Swingin' Utters (often typeset as $wingin' Utter$, and originally called Johnny Peebucks and the Swingin' Utters) is a Californian punk rock band that formed in the late 1980s.Bush, JohnSwingin' Utters Biography, Allmusic, retrieved September 30, ...

, and The God Awfuls. He also released solo material as Blag Dahlia and under one of his other aliases, Earl Lee Grace. '' Blackgrass'' (1995), a 13-song LP of bluegrass songs, was released on the

Sympathy for the Record Industry Sympathy for the Record Industry (also known as Sympathy Records or Sympathy 4 the R.I.) is a mainly independent garage rock and punk label formed in 1988 by Long Gone John. The first Sympathy release was the Lazy Cowgirls' ''Radio Cowgirl'' LP ...

label using a backing band of real bluegrass musicians. He started an acoustic duo with

Nick Oliveri Nick Steven Oliveri (born October 21, 1971) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter. He is perhaps best known as a former bassist of Kyuss and later Queens of the Stone Age from 1998 to 2004. Oliveri is also a solo artist and ...

, The Uncontrollable. He narrated the opening score on ''Last Day of School'' by Autopsy Boys. In 1999, he sang "Doing the Sponge" in the ''

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (or simply ''SpongeBob'') is an American animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It chronicles the adventures of the title character a ...

'' episode " The Chaperone".

Films

Two songs recorded by Dahlia were on the soundtrack to A.W. Feidler's short film ''The Job'' (1997). In 2001, Dahlia performed "Zine-O-Phobia Music" for the '' Ghost World'' soundtrack. Dahlia appears in a mock

snuff film A snuff film, or snuff movie, or snuff video, is a type of film that shows, or purports to show, scenes of actual homicide. The concept of snuff films became known to the general public during the 1970s, when an urban legend alleged that a cland ...

entitled ''Misogynist: The Movie'' (2003). The Dwarves song "Massacre", which Dahlia wrote, was on the soundtrack to the 2006 film ''

Hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or shared b ...

''. He also narrated Chris Fuller's 2007 independent film ''

Loren Cass ''Loren Cass'' is a feature-length motion picture about adolescents coming to terms with their lives in St. Petersburg, Florida, after the riots that took place in 1996. It was directed by independent film-maker Chris Fuller and took ten years to ...

''.

Writing

Dahlia has authored three novels, ''Armed to the Teeth with Lipstick'' (1998), ''Nina'' (2006), and ''Highland Falls'' (2022).

Controversy

In 2004, Dahlia was involved in an altercation with

Josh Homme Joshua Michael Homme ( ; born May 17, 1973) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the founder, primary songwriter, and only continuous member of the rock band Queens of the Stone Age, which he form ...

at a Los Angeles club, after which Homme was arrested for assault. Upon pleading no contest, Homme was ordered to remain at least 100 yards (91.44 meters) away from Dahlia and the club, was sentenced to three years' probation with community service, and was forced to enter a rehab program for 60 days.

Solo discography

*"Let's Take a Ride" / "Lord of the Road" 7" (1994),

*"Doing the Sponge" (1999), ''

'' *''Venus With Arms'' CD (1995), Atavistic *''Blackgrass'' CD album (1995), Sympathy for the Record Industry – released under the name Earl Lee Grace *"Haunt Me" / "Let's Take a Ride" 7" (1996), Man's RuinStrong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 312

References

External links

Feature: The New Pop Idol: Candy Now and Blag Dahlia?!Nothing But Hits with Blag Dahlia
column for PlugInMusic.com
Blag Dahlia's best things about 2008Blag Dahlia interview on RocknRollDating from 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dahlia, Blag 1966 births American male singers Living people Sympathy for the Record Industry artists 20th-century American novelists American bluegrass musicians American punk rock musicians American punk rock singers Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American novelists American male novelists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Dwarves (band) members Atavistic Records artists