Nouela (Photo by: Angel Ceballos)
Chants is the debut album by Seattle
multi-instrumentalist/singer Nouela. Born to Norwegian & Korean parents,
Nouela Johnston spent the first 11 years of her life living in Korea and
learning to love music. It is no accident that the musical craft and
composition that Nouela displays on Chants feels like the
endeavor of an experienced singer and songwriter; the prologue to Nouela's
career as a songsmith reveals it all. In her own words:
"My parents were both music professors when I was
growing up. My mom has a doctorate from Juilliard, my dad has a PhD in
composition from Princeton. They were both such hardcore musicians who spent
their entire lives practicing, they essentially decided they didn't want that
for their children. They raised me in a musical vacuum. I really didn't
have too much to listen to in the house other than my mother's classical
playing/practicing and my father's records, which were the Beach Boys, Pet
Shop Boys, Beatles, Kraftwerk, Monk, Mingus, and some Weird Al
Yankovic."
Emerging from this distinctive musical climate, Nouela
performed her first piano recital at the age of 4. At 11 she moved to
Seattle and immediately joined her school's jazz band.
"I wanted to learn how to play
EVERYTHING. I took guitar and flute lessons, then branched to clarinet,
saxophone, jazz piano, and bass. In high school I started playing shows in
jazz combos for money, and started fucking around on drums. I really just
wanted to learn the bembe beat for drum set because a clinic
teacher said it was the hardest beat he's ever learned.The main line to
the bembe is in 'Doubts.'"
Nouela spent her teens and early twenties fronting bands
(Mon Frere, People Eating People) and cut her musical teeth recording and
touring with both local Seattle groups and national acts (The Fall Of
Troy, Say Hi, Schoolyard Heroes, Cursive). After having worked
with a diverse stable of musicians & producers including members of The
Blood Brothers and Minus the Bear, Nouela decided to streamline her creative
processes and play nearly every instrument herself on Chants,
even going so far as taking on the role of co-producer.
The sonic terrain of Chants appears like
the dark landscape of a musically Darwinian island that mirrors Nouela's
upbringing: an enigmatic and isolated place where Carole King's Tapestry has
been allowed to co-mingle for countless generations with PJ Harvey's To Bring
you My Love and Fiona Apple's Tidal. What emerges is a unique body of music
that is both ambitious without being self-indulgent and vulnerable without
being piteous. Chants is a musical flood of feelings and
emotions born from the enduring toil of the human condition.
NOUELA
Sun June 3: San Diego, CA @ Casbah
Tue June 5: Los Angeles, CA @ Bootleg Theater Wed June 6: San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill Fri June 8: Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios Sat June 9: Vancouver, BC @ Media Club Sun June 10: Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern Wed June 13: Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry Thu June 14: Chicago, IL @ Shuba's Sun June 17: Montreal, QC @ Il Motore Tue June 19: Cambridge, MA @ TT The Bears Wed June 20: New York, NY @ Piano's Thu June 21: Brooklyn, NY @ Glasslands Fri June 22: Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda's Sat. June 23: Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery
Nouela
Chants
(The Control Group)
Street Date: June 12, 2012
1. Joke
2. Buckle Down
3. Fight
4. Home
5. Suckers
6. Chants
7. Secrets
8. Joke Part II
9. Doubts
10. Regrets
|
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Nouela releases new single, "Suckers," via American Songwriter, launches tour next week
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment