Layto / Johan Lenox

Layto (a.k.a. Paul Catalano) was born and raised in Boston. Being the youngest of five, in the midst of family turmoil and dysfunction, music became an escape. Growing up, Layto was exposed to many different types of music through his parents and even taught himself to play the piano. Gradually, he grew a deep appreciation for melody, and with an already established passion for writing, it was a natural progression. After dropping out of college one credit shy of his degree in English, the focus shifted to his music.

In 2018, Layto independently released his debut EP, Low Boy, featuring the single “Little Poor Me,” which quickly gained traction from Sirius XM’s ALT Nation and now has over 50 million streams worldwide. With over 150 million catalog streams, Layto will be moving forward with Position Music Group as a label partner, inking a deal in June 2022. Layto has an intensity about his style and delivery, blending alt rock, pop, and hip-hop elements. His music has given a voice to the millions who suffer from anxiety and depression.

“When we get into the studio to cut a record, I’m always hyperaware of not trying to create something I could picture another artist singing,” he says. “I want every track to feel like a Layto song, and with every release we continue to define what that means.”

Johan Lenox approaches pop music with the curiosity and perspective of a true outsider. Trained in classical music throughout his teens and into his twenties, he makes music on an epic scale with instruments that are centuries old. He writes orchestral arrangements and then manipulates those sounds digitally to create something uncanny that’s undeniably pop.

His debut album, WDYWTBWYGU, is animated by skeptical nostalgia for growing up in some un-idyllic suburb, while simultaneously staring down an uncertain future. It’s a fully realized announcement of a new talent, an artist who isn’t reaching for pop-punk or some other bygone sound to articulate generational angst, but blazing a different path altogether.

His songs are stately and hyper contemporary, as likely to deploy sweeping woodwinds and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus as they are trap-drum programming. “What I admire about pop music is that you can’t fake it,” Lenox says. “Millions of people have to like the song as a song for it to be a hit.” Lenox isn’t faking a thing.