Marissa Paternoster (born August 1, 1986) is an artist, singer and guitarist active in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

's New Brunswick music scene. She is the lead singer and guitarist in the bands

Screaming Females Screaming Females is an American rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey comprising Marissa Paternoster on guitar and vocals, Jarrett Dougherty on drums, and Mike Abbate on bass. They released their debut album ''Baby Teeth'' in 2006. The band h ...

and

Noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, d ...

Biography

Paternoster's parents met while both teachers for the

Elizabeth Public Schools Elizabeth Public Schools is a public school district in Elizabeth, in Union County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. The district is one of 31 former Abbott districts statewide that were es ...

. Her mother, Leslie Okun, who Paternoster has described as "culturally

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

", was an art teacher who now resides in Florida. Her father, Angelo Paternoster, gave her her first guitar lessons before she taught herself to play as a teen. Paternoster grew up in

Elizabeth, New Jersey Elizabeth is a city and the county seat of Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.New J ...

and attended

Roselle Catholic High School Roselle may refer to: * Roselle (plant), a species of hibiscus (''Hibiscus sabdariffa'') **A drink made from that plant, also called "Hibiscus tea" Roselle is the/a name of: ; People * Mike Roselle - American environmental activist and author ; ...

and later

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

Mason Gross School of the Arts Mason Gross School of the Arts is the arts conservatory at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It is named for Mason W. Gross, the sixteenth president of Rutgers. Mason Gross offers the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance, Theater, Digi ...

, where she became interested in music and formed Screaming Females. An only child and an introvert, she grew up with a passion for comics, drawing, and, before long, guitar.

Recording career

Sleater-Kinney Sleater-Kinney ( ) is an American rock band that formed in Olympia, Washington, in 1994. The band's current lineup features Corin Tucker (vocals and guitar) and Carrie Brownstein (guitar and vocals), following the departure of longtime member ...

influenced her to start a band with bassist Mike Abbate and drummer Jarrett Dougherty in 2005. In a 2012 list, she was named the 77th greatest guitarist of all time by '' Spin'' magazine.

Personal life

Paternoster is an out

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

and has spoken about how bands like

gave her the confidence to be a queer woman in music. Her go-to

karaoke Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music i ...

song is

Meat Loaf Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally as Meat Loaf, was an American rock singer and actor. He was noted for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. He is on t ...

's "

Paradise by the Dashboard Light "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" is a song written by Jim Steinman. It was released in 1977 on the album ''Bat Out of Hell'', with vocals by the American musician Meat Loaf alongside Ellen Foley. An uncommonly long song for a single, it has bec ...

Discography

* ''Peace Meter'' (2021)

References

1986 births Living people Singers from New Jersey Mason Gross School of the Arts alumni People from Elizabeth, New Jersey Guitarists from New Jersey Roselle Catholic High School alumni American lesbian musicians LGBT people from New Jersey 21st-century American women guitarists 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American women singers Women punk rock singers 21st-century American singers 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people Don Giovanni Records artists {{US-music-bio-stub LGBT Jews Jews in punk rock Jewish feminists