ABOUT

When GRAMMY®-Winning artist and film composer Carla Patullo was a child, her Italian grandmother used to sing her folk songs from the old country. She would request Patullo record these impromptu performances so she would always remember her. At a very young age, this ritual taught Patullo the power of telling stories through song. 

Years later, following a near-death experience, Patullo turned to music to tell a triumphant story of her own for her solo debut, So She Howls. The cathartic and cinematic album was self-produced, self-released, and it won the 2024 GRAMMY® Award for “Best Age, Ambient, or Chant.” 

“During that dark time, I sang into my phone and this beautifully primal sound came out,” the LA-based artist recalls. “It made me more aware of the therapeutic power of music, and through that I discovered my purpose to send healing vibes through my music.”

Patullo is a film score composer, solo artist, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer. Her music connects with the emotions found in grief, healing, redemption, and joy. She is best known for an aesthetic that spans orchestral passages, lush acoustics, beds of dreamy vocals, and adventurous electronics. Patullo calls her sensibility “genre fluid.” “I focus on the story and communicating a feeling rather than a genre,” Patullo explains.

So She Howls is both primal and palatial, lavished with melodious non-verbal vocals, soothing chorus vocals, uplifting affirmations, and a rich tapestry of glistening orchestral sounds, dreamy synths, and found sound atmospherics. Throughout, Patullo maintains the emotional urgency of the tracks by preserving imperfections. “I wanted to capture the moment, so I tried to be a minimalist with editing,” she says.

So She Howls is intended to be experienced in one sitting. “My hope is that the listener will come through the process of the album feeling better, like working through a grief cycle,” she shares. 

The track “Calling You” blankets the listener with meditative ethereal tones, a recording of rain, a 12-person choir making wind sounds in unison, and call and response melodies. The composition “Earth” is based on twinkling melodies intertwined with Neo-classical violin. So She Howls concludes with the stately, “And Love,” which features haunting low tones, hypnotic vocals, and an orchestral arrangement that joyously swells. “That song is inspired by gratitude after having made it through,” Patullo says. 

The recordings boast Patullo’s world-renowned musician friends, such as GRAMMY®-nominated vocal ensemble Tonality (Bjork) led by Alexander Lloyd Blake; GRAMMY®-nominated Scorchio Quartet (Philip Glass), comprised of Martha Mooke (David Bowie), Lorenza Ponce (The Chicks), Leah Collof (Trey Anastasio), and Frederika Krier (Sly and the Family Stone); and the GRAMMY® Award-Winning artist Lili Haydn (Opium Moon). 

Patullo is a lifelong musician who earned a bachelor’s degree in songwriting and a master’s of film music from Berklee College of Music. She began her career releasing albums and touring with the rock band, White Widow, before signing on as musical director with Sandra Bernhard.

After her time with Bernhard, Patullo embarked on a successful career as a composer for film and TV. Some of Carla’s recent film scores include the feature film Bitterroot, which will have it’s world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2024; Disney+ film Maxine, starring Margaret Cho; Everybody Dies . . . Sometimes, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival; Magic Hour, an upcoming dramedy starring Miriam Shor; My Name Is Maria De Jesus, an HBO Latino film; Porno, Fangoria’s recent SXSW hit; and the IDA shortlisted documentary Lotte that Silhouette Girl. 

She is a Sundance Film Music and Sound Design Lab alumna, and four-time Hollywood Music in Media Award Nominee. This past year, because of Carla’s work related to animation pioneer Lotte Reiniger, two of Carla’s film scores were presented at The Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences Museum. As her body of film work shows, Patullo is passionate about writing music that supports and advances inclusion for women, immigrants, and the LGBTQ+ community.

Patullo is also a prolific songwriter and has written over 100 songs with placements on film and TV shows, such as the Sundance award-winning film Spa Night, Teen Titans Go (Cartoon Network), The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Skins (UK), Sabrina the Teenage Witch, L.A. A Queer History (PBS), and many more.

Currently, Patullo is working in her LA Studio, The Soundry, on her next solo album, and scoring music for a doc-series on homelessness. Looking back on her journey she says: “I’ve learned to take something horrible, and allow it to make me more vulnerable and live with more gratitude.” 

With Historic Wins, LGBTQ Artists Proved That Change Is Happening at the 2024 Grammys. LGBTQ artists saw huge wins. “We had Carla Patullo winning for best new age, ambient or chant album,” he tells Billboard. “It felt like we finally had wonderful representation in all genres, and I think that’s really important because it’s not just about [queer artists] being in pop or dance. I never even thought about having LGBTQ inclusion in the best new age category!” - BILLBOARD

Carla’s music is vibrant, ethereal, sometimes haunting, and so often mesmerizing. - POPAXIOM

Carla Patullo is sure to have made music that has caught the attention of many an ear, thanks to her prolific body of work spanning films and shows . . . characterized by her impressive versatility and willingness to think outside of the box, which has granted her success as a film and show composer AND as a touring performer, both solo and with her band - HIDDEN REMOTE