PRESALE TICKETS / NYC / 19 JUNE

Presale tickets are now available!

19 JUNE 2010
NYC / Glasslands Gallery

SACRED BONES SHOW
with
Effi Briest
Nice Face
Amen Dunes

BUY PRESALE TICKETS HERE

“NIGHT” MUSIC VIDEO

ZOLA JESUS
Pitchfork Premieres Video for “Night”

Directed by Jacqueline Castel, “Night” is the first video from Zola Jesus’s latest EP, Stridulum.

“Perhaps the most exciting challenge for me about working with the same artist on a different video is creating separate pieces that are at once unified while still exploring new aesthetic and conceptual boundaries,” says Castel. “The first video that I directed for Zola Jesus was for the song “Clay Bodies,” where we channeled silent films of the 1920s and Sergei Parajanov using the crumbling, decrepit landscapes of Detroit as our backdrop. “Night,” in contrast, is the product of 1980s futurism via nightmares, Cocteau, and the work of pornographer Rinse Dream. While strikingly different, they each carry their own apocalyptic tone. Otherwise, it’s just a bunch of smoke and mirrors.”

Watch the video for “Night” now on Pitchfork.com

In conjunction with Zola Jesus’s September European tour and support dates abroad with Fever Ray, Berlin label Souterrain Transmissions will be re-releasing an extended version of Stridulum on August 23rd. Bonus tracks will include a re-recorded version of cult classic “Sea Talk” and two brand new as-yet-to-be-named songs. This record will be a European only release and is also yet to be named.

INTERVIEW: THE QUIETUS

Zola Jesus is Nika Roza Danilova, a 21-year old vocalist from Madison, Wisconsin currently juggling university – she’s winding up an undergraduate degree in French and philosophy – with being one of the most remarkable and talented young musicians of the era.

Nika’s musical career began at the age of 10, when she studied opera and applied to New York’s prestigious Juilliard School. Her application was denied, but when Danilova reinvented herself as Zola Jesus in high school and started to record songs in her bedroom, that voice re-emerged. 2009’s The Spoils, released on Sacred Bones, unfurled an epic sort of gloom-pop deliberately tarnished with lo-fidelity scuzz, but songs like ‘Clay Bodies’ rose above the rubble thanks to Nika’s huge delivery, full-hearted and powerful in a way that that melds a familiar diva dynamic to an abrasiveness practiced by scream queens like Diamanda Galas and Lydia Lunch.

Zola Jesus has one heel in noise music: recently reissued is her highly recommended split album with fellow Wisconsin musician Clay Ruby, aka “horror electronics” practitioner Burial Hex. Her new EP Stridulum, however, strips away a lot of the scuzz, and it’s little short of a revelation. Cool, bottomless synths and crashing, martial drums tether down six commanding songs about love and death that filter up to the gods. It’s perhaps lame and reductive to pose it, but Zola Jesus reminds me of a young Joanna Newsom, in a way; classically trained, but contortion her formal musical understanding into an experimental, intensely personal vision with imagination to burn.

Nika probably should have been studying or something, but she was good enough to take an evening out to answer some questions about transgressive art, writing love songs, and what a goth does when goth comes into vogue.

So if it’s not too gauche a place to start, when did you discover that you had a voice? I know you studied opera, but did you feel you wanted to sing before that, or was it that that put you on a stage?

Zola Jesus: I never really knew I had a voice, I just really wanted one. I’ve always sung and loved how it felt physically, like it was a release. I learned a lot of techniques that I use often when performing. More lately I’ve been trying to forget them in order to try to explore new areas of my voice that otherwise would be ignored.

How do you write, and how do songs come together? Does it start with the voice, vocal melodies, or with lyrics, or fragments of tune?

ZJ: It depends from song to song. Often it starts with a vocal melody, sometimes a drum beat, or even a sound texture – anything that pulls a song out of me.

It strikes me that the drums feel like they play a really heavy role too, although they’re used quite unusually – lots of sparse, beaten toms…

ZJ: I love drums, in a very primal way. I never thought beats had to be complicated, so long as they’re heavy and rhythmic. I’m usually attracted to really big beats, driving and grinding, which can be heard in the songs, I’m sure.

Is there anything in particular that bonds together the songs on Stridulum? Google brings up that it’s a 1979 film in which “the soul of a young girl with telekinetic powers becomes the prize in a fight between forces of God and the Devil…”, which I guess might be significant?

ZJ: Everything about that film plays a part in the album. It was a forgotten film, too quick to be thrown in the trash. It’s a beautiful, well-made film, albeit with lots of holes, but still it shines. I knew going into recording that I had a very short amount of time to make the new EP, but I wanted to put everything into it. I figured I might sink, maybe I bit off more I could chew, but I was going to give it everything I had. The plot was also very intriguing to me, as this was my effort to let the light take over in the music, possibly for the first time. I even used a clip from one of the scenes in the title track, ‘Stridulum’.

‘I Can’t Stand’ and ‘Night’ are songs about love and lovers, but often with a dark pall – “I’m on my bed/My bed is stones/But in the end of the night/We¹ll rest our bones.” Is it easy to write about relationships and love? So many love songs have been written, but it’s a topic that seems to be endlessly giving… maybe it’s all about the bit of yourself that you leave within them?

ZJ: I usually hate love songs, I think they’re lazy and often boring. But recently I fell in love, and my love was a huge influence in making me wanting to create so much bigger than myself. I was getting out of a very dark period, so this love finally felt like a new beginning. I wanted to write an album that was emotionally challenging to me, as this was the first time I’ve felt hope for myself, for humanity, for love, for everything. The record is very honest, I say it as it is.

There’s a song on Stridulum called ‘Manifest Destiny’, which is an interesting term – originally I gather it referred to American growth and aggressive expansion in the 1800s, real ‘chosen people’ stuff. But I can’t make out the lyrics, so it could be (probably is) about something else entirely…?

ZJ: The song, to me, represented what’s to come. ‘Manifest destiny’ was a term from the 1800s that described the ideal of America expanding coast-to-coast. As it wasn’t always that way, it was an ideal for Americans that expressed a possibility to take on the rest of the continent for their own. It is my way of saying ‘this is just the beginning’.

You’ve spoken a little about being into power electronics and early industrial music – how did you get into that stuff, what’s the stuff you enjoy most, and what’s the appeal? Is there something about quote-unquote ‘transgressive’ art in general that attracts you?

ZJ: I’m really attracted to the aggression in power electronics and industrial music. It’s very confrontational, very dark, and not afraid to face uncomfortable themes. I respect when something isn’t easy, especially art. Noise isn’t easy to listen to for most people, and noise artists don’t make it any easier. Even if you can handle the frequencies, the conceptual topics covered by artists like Taint, Mikko Aspa, Brethren, etc… are all incredibly controversial. Rape, paedophilia, anti-semitism, terror, the Holocaust, whatever…it’s not that I’m attracted to these themes because I support them, but because they’re challenging human emotion. It’s all about the mood and the deception of the music that is so intriguing to me. And sonically-speaking, there are definitely some musicians out there putting out material where I can’t tell what the hell they’re doing to produce the sounds. To me, that’s fresh, that’s what is shifting the status quo. I’ve heard the sound a guitar can make in a punk band. Do something else with it…

Content-wise, is there stuff that’s like, shit, too far or are you pretty inured or comfortable with extremity?

ZJ: Sometimes when listening to the records of Brethren or Taint it gets to a point where I feel pretty disgusting listening to the vocals and samples – but that’s the point. It¹s not supposed to be a comfortable thing to listen to. You’re not supposed to be listening to these samples of interviews with children of rape and think ‘oh man, this rules!’ It’s not supposed to feel good. I feel like if it did, that would be defeating the purpose. There are artists that are seriously misogynist and people always wonder why I listen to their music – sure, I can ignore them or protest them as a woman, but don’t you think it would piss them off more if they knew a woman was legitimately listening to what they have to say? Most of those men are probably just afraid of women in the first place, anyway.

What’s your approach to production? I didn’t really notice it before, but listening to Stridulum and then going back to stuff on The Spoils, it’s obviously got a more lo-fidelity sound going on. Is that something you’ve done and you’re beyond now, or might you revisit it?

ZJ: Production used to be a big part of the sound for me, since in having that lower quality recording gave it timelessness, and also created the opportunity to discover new sounds that can only exist in a distorted atmosphere. I really liked that about lo-fi, that in disregarding good production I got to blend industrial sounds with pop songs. But with Stridulum, I wanted to try something different. I think it’s important to grow as an artist and continue to challenge yourself. After having done that style of production for the past couple of years I felt I wanted to focus on my songwriting and also prove that I wasn’t relying on that fuzz. A lot of times lo-fi is a way of covering up flaws, and Stridulum was my way of proving to myself and everyone else that I didn’t have anything to hide.

For want of a better word, a sort of ‘gothiness’ seems to have crept back into (especially American) indie-rock – yourself, and stuff like Blessure Grave, some of the Wierd Records stuff, Cold Cave perhaps. Apart from the fact that style goes in cycles, any thoughts on why that aesthetic might have returned?

ZJ: Twilight? Vampire movies, maybe? Everyone’s a goth now. It blows my mind. I don’t like to comment on this whole trend because I’ve come to resent myself being associated with it. If goth is trendy then I’m buying fucking polo shirts. They’ll still be black, though.

And finally, I think I heard there was going to be no full-length until 2011?

ZJ: I’m in university, and when I’m not, I’m touring, moving, and working on the LP. The process of creating Stridulum was rushed and there’s a lot I wanted to do but couldn’t, due to time and what I had at my disposal. My next LP isn’t going to come out until I’m confident it’s something I think is worth people’s time to listen to and appreciate. It’s going to be a masterpiece, that’s all I can promise.

NYLON: REVIEW

“While the claim that Nika Roza Danilova (a.k.a. Zola Jesus) was raised by wolves might prove to be hyperbole, one listen to her stark, harrowing pipes on her new Stridulum EP confirms that she was once trained as an opera singer before she pursued her musical muse down the dark and twisted path of goth. The six song outing builds upon the buzz generated by the two lo-fi albums she released last year, scrubbing some of the tape hiss off the surface, which casts songs like “Night” and the title track in sharper contrast. A spot on the soundtrack of the next teen vampire flick could well be on the horizon” — Andy Beta

Read the review in the new May issue of NYLON

ZOLA JESUS TO SUPPORT FEVER RAY ON 2010 EURO TOUR

We can announce that Zola Jesus will be supporting Fever Ray in London, Paris and Glasgow on the September 2010 European tour.

Zola Jesus is the endeavor of a solitary girl named Nika Roza Danilova to simultaneously combat and invoke the approaching apocalypse using the only weapon she has; her voice. After a decade of opera training and a musical awakening involving such varied inspiration as Billboard bubblegum, classical aria’s, no wave, avant industrial, she was able to thread her influences into a sound uniquely her own.

Born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin this 21 year old vocalist is part of a new crop of US underground acts updating the gothic-rock aesthetic and she’s causing quite a stir on both sides of the Atlantic.  According to The Guardian, she makes “huge, heart-wrenching songs powered forth on epic synth and crashing war drums”, and ‘Pitchfork describes her music as both “bruising” and “beautiful”.

Zola Jesus’ debut full length ‘The Spoils’ made dozens of year-end lists in 2009, and her new 6-track EP ‘Stridulum’ is seeing praise flow in from The New York Times to AOL to The Guardian (“an amazing record”).  Fans and critics alike weren’t quite prepared for the massive pop-ness of her new EP on Sacred Bones. Recording her vocals for the first time with professional instruments, Nika’s voice is brought to the powerful forefront of the mix unleashing the full range of emotions that had only been hinted at in her previous work. No longer just the doomsday soothsayer, Nika refines her soulful psalms creating songs equally nurturing as foreboding.

Zola Jesus is positively ecstatic to be making her UK live debut opening for Fever Ray this September.

Fever Ray’s September tour dates are as follows:

6th Sep Glasgow O2 ABC
8th Sep Brixton Academy, London
9th Sep La Cigale, Paris

SUMMER 2010 SHOWS

More to be announced soon!

Sat-May-01 Oberlin, OH Oberlin College – Fairchild Chapel

Thu-Jun-17 Toronto, ON Sneaky Dees (NXNE)

Fri-Jun-18 Toronto, ON The Garrison (NXNE)

Sat-Jun-19 Brooklyn, NY Glasslands Gallery

Fri-Jun-25 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry

Sat-Jun-26 Madison, WI Project Lodge

Sun-Jun-27 Chicago, IL Schubas

Fri-Jul-09 New York, NY South Street Seaport

Tue-Jul-13 New York, NY Terminal 5

Sun-Jul-25 Portland, OR Holocene

Fri-Jul-30 Oakland, CA Fox Theatre

Sat-Jul-31 Los Angeles, CA Wiltern Theater

PASTE MAGAZINE: BEST OF WHAT’S NEXT

Best of What’s Next: Zola Jesus

By Jenny Charlesworth

>Nika Roza Danilova stumbles when asked to describe the concept behind the music video she’s in the midst of shooting. “I can’t even explain it, so I’m not going to, but it takes a lot of neon and a lot of fog and it’s going to be really intense,” the twenty-year-old Zola Jesus mastermind says, offering only a slight hint as to the cinematic wonderland awaiting fans when the video for “Night”, the lead single off of her new EP, Stridulum, is unveiled later this month. The classically trained opera singer turned Siouxsie-devotee doesn’t mean to be aloof, but she’d prefer people come to their own conclusions about the solo project she started in high school and now balances with philosophy studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Already bored with the media’s attempts to decipher her industrial-tinged gloom-pop, the Wisconsin-native requests that you simply listen to her music and enjoy, ignoring the urge to stamp her spooky balladry with some up-to-the-minute buzzword. After an electrifying performance at SXSW last month, Paste talked with Danilova about opera, Wisconsin and not having a plan.

Paste: How did Zola Jesus come about?
Nika Roza Danilova: It just happened really naturally. I’d studied opera for a very long time, but had given it up because I was so self-critical—so Zola Jesus was my way of coming back and trying to make music without any sort of technique in mind. I didn’t want a plan because I think when you have a plan, you set yourself up for expectations, and that’s not what I want. Zola Jesus is my way of just exploring whatever I want, however I want, and trying to heal from the process of studying opera, which was really productive and amazing, but at the same time made me really self-critical.

Paste: What has your background in opera brought to this project?
Danilova: Definitely an appreciation for vocalists. I think the vocals should be very strong because it’s the most human part of the music—the way the voice can connect with people is incredible and I’m very aware of that.

Paste: How do you feel about the term “goth” being used to describe your sound?
Danilova: I was fine with it until I realized that it’s something that’s come back in style a little bit. Whatever I’m doing with Zola Jesus is never about adhering to trends so people putting tags on it is kind of defeating—it’s something I’ve been trying to avoid my entire career. I think it also hinders people from listening to me who have certain stereotypes or clichés attached to goth.

Paste: What has been inspiring you lately?
Danilova: I’ve become more and more inspired by soul and have been listening to so much Marvin Gaye. The way he sings, and the way his songs are, is just so emotional. With The Spoils, which is my previous album, it was very focused on the sound and the texture of the music and with Stridulum, it’s more about the emotion and passion. I tried to write songs that grab hold of you immediately and challenge your emotions, so that’s kind of the soul influence.

Paste: Are people often surprised when they find out you’re from Wisconsin?
Danilova: People assume if you’re from Wisconsin, you’re wearing camo or a cheese hat or something really cliché. So yeah, people tend to be dubious when I say I’m from Wisconsin.

Paste: What is the biggest misconception about Zola Jesus?
Danilova: Sometimes I think that because I get thrown into so many passing trends, people just assume that I’m just another one of those. I’m so completely passionate about what I do and so determined; I’m in this for the long haul and I’m not sure people understand that.

Paste: As a student of philosophy, do your studies ever influence your music?
Danilova: I think more so with my mindset and my dogma for creating music. I’m passionate about philosophy because it’s very practical and it teaches you how to live your life. I’ve had the realization in studying everything that I’ve studied, that this is your life and you really have to take the path you want to take, and that’s what I’m trying to do.

Paste: What is it like to play live with a band after making records as a solo artist?
Danilova: The backing band I play with live is so talented. They don’t expect to be a part of Zola Jesus, but I’m starting to think that they should be because they’re what really keep it together when I play live. More and more I’m starting to think of the project as a band, which is a very transitional idea for me, but also amazing.

LINK

INTERVIEW WITH HARMONY KORINE

THE NEW YORKER / NYC APRIL 9

XIU XIU, TUNE-YARDS, AND ZOLA JESUS

Most of the audience on April 9 will be here to witness the unlikely (but fascinating) pairing of Jamie Stewart’s downtrodden synth-pop act Xiu Xiu and the jangly freak-folk of Tune-Yards. But it’s worth arriving early to catch a few songs by the opening act, Zola Jesus, a lo-fi experiment in goth music, fronted by the twenty-year-old Nika Roza Danilova. Danilova sets herself apart from the current crop of gloom-pop revivalists with her impressive vocal timbre (she began studying opera at the age of ten), which brings an uplifting vitality to an otherwise depressed genre.

LINK

LA SHOW MARCH 31ST, 2010

ZOLA JESUS (SOLO)
TEARIST
ZOMBELLE

ECHO CURIO
1519 Sunset Blvd. Echo Park, CA 90026

9PM / $5 (DONATION) / BYOB