After TMU — Peter Katz

1. What attracted you to the Theatre Performance program at Ryerson University?

Truthfully, I just had a feeling. I had auditioned at a bunch of different places, but I remember being in the Theatre School building and my body just said ‘YES’. It felt like I was home in some weird way, and that this building was where I was meant to be for the next 4 years. I just trusted that ‘YES’, and I’m so glad I did! 

2. What do you wish you could tell your university self?

First and foremost that the giant bead necklace isn’t working for you and you should definitely use less hair product :) … but also that this is just one step in the path of your life. Life is cumulative. You’re having this experience now, and it will be there for you in ways that you never imagined, whether you end up exactly as an actor or not. I don’t have any real regrets about my time at TMU, I loved it and it shaped so much of my life, but maybe I could have worried a little less about how it was all going to play out. I don’t think I missed the moment though, I have such amazing memories and lifelong friendships from that time.

3. Do you have a favourite TMU memory or take away that’s helped you in your career?

I think one of the best things I ever did at TMU was learning clown. Clown is kind of the ultimate performance challenge, because you literally know if you’re doing it well or not, in the moment. People are either laughing, or they’re not. It forces you to be SO present, to be WITH the people that you’re standing in front of, to be with your feelings, to be in the moment. It just doesn’t work otherwise. I remember we did 3 nights of our clown show. One of my routines was making spaghetti in my pants (obviously). The first night, I killed it. People loved it. The second night, I tried to do what I had done the first night, which pulled me out of being present, and I bombed. The third night, right before I walked out onstage, I said ‘I have no idea what’s about to happen’, and I killed it again. I use that all the time in my life as a performer now. I’m prepared, I’m rehearsed, I’ve thought of everything, I’ve done everything in my power to set myself up for success…. and then I walk out onstage, open to whatever may come. Audiences feel that. They can smell it when you’re not authentically in the moment with them, and I feel like I developed that skill in clown.

That said, there are SO many memories… I have to talk about being in ‘The Laramie Project’ in my final year too. The director, Marianne McIsaac asked me to write a song for it (The Fence). Writing that song (and Marianne pulling me aside and suggesting that maybe there was a career in songwriting for me ahead) changed the course of my life, and ultimately became the career path that I would follow.  

4. COVID-19 has severely impacted the live music industry. How have you adapted and what have you learned from the experience?

Severely is the right word. For a period of time it had obliterated it, but I decided very early on that I was going to adapt. As soon as everything shut down, I bought a new camera, new audio gear, and I locked myself in my room and did a deep dive into how to livestream. I had a very clear goal from the beginning, that I didn’t want to just do a lesser version of an in-person show. I wanted to deliver a high-quality offering, and USE the medium (which when I think about it, those seeds would have been sowed at TMU, learning the difference between stage acting and on-camera acting). There are things about the virtual medium that are actual strengths. There’s an intimacy and interactivity that can be achieved that you can’t actually do in person. So once I had mastered the tech side of things, I worked on the performance piece of it. I thankfully emerged on the other side with a unique virtual offering that set me apart, and I’ve actually had some of the most successful months of my career to date, all virtually. I’ve been able to reach over 30,000 people so far, it’s kind of amazing. Don’t get me wrong though, I still miss being in person more than I can ever express, but I feel very fortunate to still be able to be connecting with people as a songwriter and speaker, even though I’m not physically in the space with anyone.  

5. What advice would you give a TMU student or recent graduate embarking on their career?

Be open to what might come. As I said earlier, the skills that you’re developing don’t disappear just because you’re applying them in a way you weren’t anticipating. I don’t do much acting anymore (every now and then, but very rarely), but the skills that I learned, the discipline I developed, the creativity I nurtured, all of that is with me every day. It has made me uniquely qualified for work I had no idea existed. My public speaking work is a great example of that. When I’m up delivering a presentation, I’m using my acting skills, my improv skills, my clown, my songwriting, my creative writing, my storytelling… it’s all in there. Not to mention my life experiences, my learning how to learn, my resilience, and determination. The world is always changing, and the jobs of today might not be the jobs of tomorrow, but the skills and ways of thinking that you’re developing now, will serve you if you stay open to HOW they might, instead of thinking there’s only one way that this will all play out.  

6. In your experience, what are some attributes of individuals who are most successful in your field?

I really believe that so much of the life of an artist is just deciding that you’re going to be the last one standing. It so often feels like an ocean that’s trying to spit you out. You need to feel very connected to WHY you’re doing what you’re doing, and you need to stay in love with the practice because you’re not always going to get the positive reinforcement externally. I think that connection to purpose is necessary to stay in it long enough to yield results that start to resemble a career. Of course, discipline is incredibly important, being a great self-advocate, treating people kindly… but more than anything, I think the people that find success, are connected to a deep sense of purpose.  

7. What do you feel is the most challenging part of the creative process? How do you overcome it?

I think it’s always a daunting task to create something that doesn’t exist yet. Is it good? Is it done? Where do I find it? How do I know when it’s right? Those questions are unanswerable. You have to be willing to just keep digging, keep pulling from the air, keep experimenting, expanding, iterating, making terrible things, and then within that searching, every now and then, you find your little pieces of gold. I see the creative process very much like work. I have no expectations of rainbows and butterflies and fairy dust. I expect every part of me to be trying to get me to stop sometimes, and yet I keep going and searching, committed to the process. So much of it is getting your darn brain to turn off too. There’s no place for ‘assessing’ when you’re creating. That comes after. Judgment, criticism, questioning, etc are killers to the creative process. It doesn’t matter if it’s good when you’re making it, it just matters that you keep making it, letting it flow, and you can figure out the rest later.  

8. Tell us about your new album! What sets it apart from previous albums?

How much time do I have :). I’m SO proud of ‘City Of Our Lives’, it feels like the album I’ve been trying to make my whole life. The DNA of it I think is to be the album that you listen to while dancing on the floor you were once crying on. We all have our challenges that we go through, and I didn’t want to get bogged down with the specifics of the challenges, but rather create an invitation around how we face those challenges. Who do we become when we stand up after we’ve fallen? How are we shaped in the moments of greatest adversity? And I wanted it all to be packaged in a way that didn’t require you to sit and pay attention to every second. The details are all in there, I assure you, painstakingly so, but I wanted you to feel it in your body before you processed it in your brain. So unlike my previous albums, it’s centered around the rhythm section. It’s dance-y, it’s pop, it’s driving, it’s brave, it’s vulnerable. I love it so much, and unlike most everything I’ve made before, I actually like it more and more as time goes on. I can’t wait for everyone to hear it. 

9. Anything you’d like to add or touch upon

I just want to give big love to the TMU faculty and community. My 4 years there fundamentally shaped my life and I owe a huge debt of gratitude to all my teachers and classmates. We went through a powerful time together. There was such an exchange of energy, passion, ideas, creativity…  I feel very thankful for that time and carry it with me every day.