Zola jesus
Encyclopedia
Zola Jesus is the stage name of Russian American
singer/songwriter Nika Roza Danilova (born on 11 April 1989). Having released three EPs and two full-length albums, combining industrial
, classical
, electronic
, goth
and experimental rock
influences, she received generally good reviews and was regarded as one of the names to watch out for in 2011.
, on over 100 acres of forest. "I was delusional as a kid; I never spent a lot of time around other people my own age except for my brother, who’s a year older," she remembered. Speaking of her childhood's harsh realities, she remembered the climate ("The cold is unbelievable. I try not to complain") and general wilderness, the lack of TV or internet. "When you live around a lot of people in a city and that synthesized stimulation, you can get lost in that's the hustle and bustle. When you grow up in the country you have nothing to stimulate you but what you seek," she said. Some of Danilova's later goth sensibilities might have come from the impressions of her early childhood when she was exposed to a hunter's environment and a survivalist's worldview. "My dad was a hunter so there would constantly be animal parts all over the place. He’d be out in the forest and bring back deer heads hoping that animals would eat the flesh and leave a skull. But it wouldn’t happen. There would just be a deer head hanging from a tree branch you could literally bump into," she remembered. "Our milk was from the neighbor’s cow. I am not a country bumpkin but this is how we live. We ate deer and pheasant and venison and all this meat that my dad would go out and kill," she added.
Danilova started singing early on, buying voice lesson tapes and opera sheet music at the age of 7; soon she began working with a vocal coach. It was not her parents' idea: "I begged them to do it. For some reason, I really wanted to sing opera even though I wasn’t really exposed to it as a kid. I think my little baby toddler mind heard some opera song and then became fixated on how powerful it sounded," she later remembered. Danilova started performing opera when she was 10 years old, but experienced serious psychological difficulties. "I would too often lose my voice before performances due to anxiety, and was so hard on myself. I would beat myself up about any imperfections or flaws in my voice. I was such a perfectionist, and my voice was still so young so it couldn't do everything I wanted it to, and I resented myself for that. But since performing as Zola Jesus it's been getting easier," she later recalled. For a couple of years she had to stop singing due to anxiety and the competitive nature of opera. "I studied opera on and off for about 10 years. I wasn’t in any operas, though, it was always really private and individual...I kept stopping because I was like, I’m not good enough, I suck, this is awful, and then I'd start again. I could never practice singing if anyone was home," she explained in a Pitchfork interview. In her teens Danilova started to experiment in a more rock-orientated format. By naming her alter ego after Jesus Christ and the French writer Émile Zola
she said she consciously wanted to alienate peers. "It worked perfectly – a lot of people wouldn't even say Zola Jesus because they thought it was sacrilegious", she said in an interview. "Using Jesus in my name isn’t necessarily supposed to be a strong statement. I respect religion and I know people do need it, but it’s a weird phenomenon in our world. It’s so weird," she later commented. Inspired by favorites like Ian Curtis
, Lydia Lunch
, Diamanda Galás
, Throbbing Gristle
and Swans
(but also bubblegum pop and classical aria), she started to record at home, using keyboards, drum machines and "anything else she had on hand". In 2008 she debuted with singles "Poor Sons" on Die Stasi and "Soeur Sewer" on Sacred Bones Records.
Before transferring to University of Wisconsin-Madison to study French and philosophy, she attended UW-Milwaukee, where she began a business major. Of these business courses she said: "I was giving up my soul. I think I was drawn to business because it's really insensitive and unemotional, so it was the complete opposite of what I was studying with music."
. The sound was in a certain way dependent on her surroundings. "I usually record in the winter because I am holed up. It’s cold outside but warm inside with the heater and blankets. A lot of the songs are cold but in the coldness you find warmth. Winter has a lot to do with it.
Then followed Tsar Bomba EP (on Troubleman), New Amsterdam compilation on Sacred Bones and an untitled, limited-edition vinyl split with Burial Hex (Aurora Borealis). For touring she recruited Dead Luke (synths), bassist Lindsay Mikkola and drummer Max Elliott. Later the line-up changed to: Shane Verwey and Nick Turco (synth), Alex DeGroot ("who... does fancy controller things I can't wrap my head around, as well as backup vocals" per Danilova) and Nick Johnson, a drummer with metal band Jex Thoth.
Zola Jesus has also played with Former Ghosts
. "It was fun to participate in that project. Freddy is a really amazing person, I am very honoured to be able to collaborate with him and Jamie," she commented. On Fever Ray's 2010 European tour, she performed as a support act and also toured with The xx
. In the late 2009 collaboration between Zola Jesus and Rory Kane took shape (as Nika+Rory project), a demo being put out on MySpace which was described as having "more of a straight up pop feel". "Rory really nails that trance-pop-r&b style, he loves making that stuff and I love singing on it," Danilova remarked.
In 2010 Zola Jesus released Stridulum EP, described as "a much grandier effort" (next to her debut album) and her "most melodic work to date". Inspired by Giulio Paradisi 1979 film of the same name, it marked "a huge leap forward in terms of fidelity and accessibility". "With Stridulum I've tried to find a better balance; meeting in the middle with melody and texture," she explained. After the release Zola Jesus performed at the SXSW festival, for her second time.
Then followed the Valusia EP, also on Sacred Bones. LA Vampires Meets Zola Jesus EP, the collaboration with Amanda Brown of Pocahaunted
, presented "a dingy, lower-than-lo-fi sound and very little of what one would call traditional songwriting," according to Pitchfork review.
Zola Jesus' second full-length album, Stridulum II
(an EP extension, regarded as a debut in the U.K.); received 8/10 from the NME
which praised Danilova's classically trained voice as "the deadliest weapon in her arsenal" and called the album "dark masterpiece".
Zola Jesus's third LP, Conatus
was released in late September 2011 via Sacred Bones. The album's 11 tracks were produced by Brian Foote (aka Nudge: Jackie-O Motherfucker
, Cloudland Canyon) and Danilova herself, including elements of cello, double bass, violin, and viola.
" on a music sometimes evoking Joy Division
. For Q magazine, her "haunting vocals and swirling, electronic athmospherics are located midway between Florence Welch
and Siouxsie and the Banshees." She has also been linked to Lisa Gerrard
of Dead Can Dance
and Elizabeth Frazer of the Cocteau Twins
. Her style has been described variously as "commanded by ominous lyrics and a sultry Goth delivery," and "noise music that scrapes and glistens in equal measure." In a Spinner interview, describing her own artistic self, she said:
Reviewers praise the quality of her vocal performances. "Whether creaking or soaring, her voice transmits with a directness that easily cuts through the layers of lo-fi grime that usually surround it. You don’t hear singers like this every day, or even every year," according to Pitchfork.
Danilova's been exposed to modern music through her father who listened to bands like Oingo Boingo
, Dead Kennedys
, Squeeze and Talking Heads
. When older, she discovered The Residents
and Throbbing Gristle. "I liked exploring how uncomfortable music could make you, which is how I found noise. I was terrified by the Residents when I first heard them at 13, but then I got intrigued by it and wanted to listen more," she said. "Their catalogue is one of the few of any artist where I never know what to expect with each album. [They're] constantly changing and experimenting in their art, as any great performer should. As far as a composer, I'd have to say Karlheinz Stockhausen
– absolutely out of control brilliant." Answering questions about her favourite artists and composers, she was also mentioning "singers with big voices, like Diamanda Galas and Tina Turner
. Diva
s, film scores from the '70s and '80s. Industrial
and power electronics. BBC Radiophonic Workshop
, opera, Philip K. Dick
." Speaking to Spinner, she said: "I listen to anything that stands out. I guess something people wouldn't expect me to listen to are artists like Alicia Keys
. But she is so incredibly talented. She has this huge voice and great work ethic, which I really respect in an artist. She is also very humble and gracious and devoted to her skill." Of her operatic upbringing she said:
, who's dark as fuck. He's basically like: Kill yourself, it's not worth it. After you read his essays, you can't feel good about anything, so it's obviously going to affect my art and how I live", she added.
Serious reading played an important part in her self-education. "I probably read Dostoevsky and Nietzsche before I should have", she confessed. Danilova, much interested in philosophy, describe herself as an atheist. "If there were physical evidence then maybe I would consider it. But...The Bible and all these books written by people, they are stories, compelling, yes, and they teach you about life and how to take care of people. Taking them for fact, that's really naive. They are great stories to teach moral structure, but they are just stories." When asked of her personal philosophy, she said: "I believe in not avoiding things you’re afraid of. Especially really dark things."
Russian American
Russian Americans are primarily Americans who traces their ancestry to Russia. The definition can be applied to recent Russian immigrants to the United States, as well as to settlers of 19th century Russian settlements in northwestern America which includes today's California, Alaska and...
singer/songwriter Nika Roza Danilova (born on 11 April 1989). Having released three EPs and two full-length albums, combining industrial
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
, classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
, electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
, goth
Gothic rock
Gothic rock is a musical subgenre of post-punk and alternative rock that formed during the late 1970s. Gothic rock bands grew from the strong ties they had to the English punk rock and emerging post-punk scenes...
and experimental rock
Experimental rock
Experimental rock or avant-garde rock is a type of music based on rock which experiments with the basic elements of the genre, or which pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique....
influences, she received generally good reviews and was regarded as one of the names to watch out for in 2011.
Early life: 1989–2008
Nika Roza Danilova was raised in Merrill, WisconsinMerrill, Wisconsin
Merrill is a city in Lincoln County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 10,728 at the 2010 census. The city is located to the south of and adjacent to the Town of Merrill....
, on over 100 acres of forest. "I was delusional as a kid; I never spent a lot of time around other people my own age except for my brother, who’s a year older," she remembered. Speaking of her childhood's harsh realities, she remembered the climate ("The cold is unbelievable. I try not to complain") and general wilderness, the lack of TV or internet. "When you live around a lot of people in a city and that synthesized stimulation, you can get lost in that's the hustle and bustle. When you grow up in the country you have nothing to stimulate you but what you seek," she said. Some of Danilova's later goth sensibilities might have come from the impressions of her early childhood when she was exposed to a hunter's environment and a survivalist's worldview. "My dad was a hunter so there would constantly be animal parts all over the place. He’d be out in the forest and bring back deer heads hoping that animals would eat the flesh and leave a skull. But it wouldn’t happen. There would just be a deer head hanging from a tree branch you could literally bump into," she remembered. "Our milk was from the neighbor’s cow. I am not a country bumpkin but this is how we live. We ate deer and pheasant and venison and all this meat that my dad would go out and kill," she added.
Danilova started singing early on, buying voice lesson tapes and opera sheet music at the age of 7; soon she began working with a vocal coach. It was not her parents' idea: "I begged them to do it. For some reason, I really wanted to sing opera even though I wasn’t really exposed to it as a kid. I think my little baby toddler mind heard some opera song and then became fixated on how powerful it sounded," she later remembered. Danilova started performing opera when she was 10 years old, but experienced serious psychological difficulties. "I would too often lose my voice before performances due to anxiety, and was so hard on myself. I would beat myself up about any imperfections or flaws in my voice. I was such a perfectionist, and my voice was still so young so it couldn't do everything I wanted it to, and I resented myself for that. But since performing as Zola Jesus it's been getting easier," she later recalled. For a couple of years she had to stop singing due to anxiety and the competitive nature of opera. "I studied opera on and off for about 10 years. I wasn’t in any operas, though, it was always really private and individual...I kept stopping because I was like, I’m not good enough, I suck, this is awful, and then I'd start again. I could never practice singing if anyone was home," she explained in a Pitchfork interview. In her teens Danilova started to experiment in a more rock-orientated format. By naming her alter ego after Jesus Christ and the French writer Émile Zola
Émile Zola
Émile François Zola was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism...
she said she consciously wanted to alienate peers. "It worked perfectly – a lot of people wouldn't even say Zola Jesus because they thought it was sacrilegious", she said in an interview. "Using Jesus in my name isn’t necessarily supposed to be a strong statement. I respect religion and I know people do need it, but it’s a weird phenomenon in our world. It’s so weird," she later commented. Inspired by favorites like Ian Curtis
Ian Curtis
Ian Kevin Curtis was an English singer and lyricist, famous for leading the post-punk band Joy Division. Joy Division released their debut album, Unknown Pleasures, in 1979 and recorded their follow-up, Closer, in 1980...
, Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch is an American singer, poet, writer, and actress whose career was spawned by the New York No Wave scene...
, Diamanda Galás
Diamanda Galás
Diamanda Galás is an American avant-garde composer, vocalist, pianist, organist, performance artist and painter.Galás has been described as "capable of the most unnerving vocal terror", with her three and a half octave vocal range. She often screams, hisses and growls...
, Throbbing Gristle
Throbbing Gristle
Throbbing Gristle were an English industrial, avant-garde music and visual arts group that evolved from the performance art group COUM Transmissions...
and Swans
Swans (band)
Swans are an influential American post-punk band initially active from 1982 to 1997, led by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Michael Gira. The band was one of the few groups to emerge from the early 1980s New York No Wave scene and stay intact into the next decade. Formed by Gira in...
(but also bubblegum pop and classical aria), she started to record at home, using keyboards, drum machines and "anything else she had on hand". In 2008 she debuted with singles "Poor Sons" on Die Stasi and "Soeur Sewer" on Sacred Bones Records.
Before transferring to University of Wisconsin-Madison to study French and philosophy, she attended UW-Milwaukee, where she began a business major. Of these business courses she said: "I was giving up my soul. I think I was drawn to business because it's really insensitive and unemotional, so it was the complete opposite of what I was studying with music."
Career : 2009–present
In 2009, while still studying at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Zola Jesus recorded (in her apartment) and released her debut full-length The SpoilsThe Spoils (Zola Jesus album)
The Spoils is a debut full-length studio album by Nika Roza Danilova, better known as Zola Jesus, released in July 2010 on Sacred Bones Records...
. The sound was in a certain way dependent on her surroundings. "I usually record in the winter because I am holed up. It’s cold outside but warm inside with the heater and blankets. A lot of the songs are cold but in the coldness you find warmth. Winter has a lot to do with it.
Then followed Tsar Bomba EP (on Troubleman), New Amsterdam compilation on Sacred Bones and an untitled, limited-edition vinyl split with Burial Hex (Aurora Borealis). For touring she recruited Dead Luke (synths), bassist Lindsay Mikkola and drummer Max Elliott. Later the line-up changed to: Shane Verwey and Nick Turco (synth), Alex DeGroot ("who... does fancy controller things I can't wrap my head around, as well as backup vocals" per Danilova) and Nick Johnson, a drummer with metal band Jex Thoth.
Zola Jesus has also played with Former Ghosts
Former Ghosts
Former Ghosts consists of former This Song Is a Mess But So Am I member Freddy Ruppert with collaborations from Xiu Xiu frontman Jamie Stewart, Zola Jesus originator Nika Roza Danilova, and Yasmine Kittles of TEARIST. Ruppert is the lead songwriter on this brutally gloomy, Joy Division-esque project...
. "It was fun to participate in that project. Freddy is a really amazing person, I am very honoured to be able to collaborate with him and Jamie," she commented. On Fever Ray's 2010 European tour, she performed as a support act and also toured with The xx
The xx
The xx are an English indie pop band, formed in London in 2005. The band's members met while studying at Elliott School, the same school that produced Hot Chip, Burial and Four Tet. They became a trio when their second guitarist and keyboardist, Baria Qureshi, departed in late 2009. In September...
. In the late 2009 collaboration between Zola Jesus and Rory Kane took shape (as Nika+Rory project), a demo being put out on MySpace which was described as having "more of a straight up pop feel". "Rory really nails that trance-pop-r&b style, he loves making that stuff and I love singing on it," Danilova remarked.
In 2010 Zola Jesus released Stridulum EP, described as "a much grandier effort" (next to her debut album) and her "most melodic work to date". Inspired by Giulio Paradisi 1979 film of the same name, it marked "a huge leap forward in terms of fidelity and accessibility". "With Stridulum I've tried to find a better balance; meeting in the middle with melody and texture," she explained. After the release Zola Jesus performed at the SXSW festival, for her second time.
Then followed the Valusia EP, also on Sacred Bones. LA Vampires Meets Zola Jesus EP, the collaboration with Amanda Brown of Pocahaunted
Pocahaunted
Pocahaunted was a psychedelic/drone/dub band based in Los Angeles, California founded in 2005 by Amanda Brown and Bethany Cosentino.-History:...
, presented "a dingy, lower-than-lo-fi sound and very little of what one would call traditional songwriting," according to Pitchfork review.
Zola Jesus' second full-length album, Stridulum II
Stridulum II
- Credits :* Artwork - Indra Dunis* Producers – Alex DeGroot, Nika Roza Danilova * Written by – Nika Roza Danilova...
(an EP extension, regarded as a debut in the U.K.); received 8/10 from the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
which praised Danilova's classically trained voice as "the deadliest weapon in her arsenal" and called the album "dark masterpiece".
Zola Jesus's third LP, Conatus
Conatus (album)
Conatus is the third studio album by American recording artist Zola Jesus, released in the United Kingdom on September 26, 2011 and in the United States on October 4 by Sacred Bones Records...
was released in late September 2011 via Sacred Bones. The album's 11 tracks were produced by Brian Foote (aka Nudge: Jackie-O Motherfucker
Jackie-O Motherfucker
Jackie-O Motherfucker is an American experimental music group that formed in Portland, Oregon in 1994.-Biography:Jackie-O Motherfucker began as a duo consisting of multi-instrumentalist Tom Greenwood and saxophonist Nester Bucket. The group has had more than forty members drawn from the U.S....
, Cloudland Canyon) and Danilova herself, including elements of cello, double bass, violin, and viola.
Musical style and influences
According to the NME, Zola Jesus "wails like Kate BushKate Bush
Kate Bush is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years.In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart...
" on a music sometimes evoking Joy Division
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences...
. For Q magazine, her "haunting vocals and swirling, electronic athmospherics are located midway between Florence Welch
Florence Welch
Florence Leontine Mary Welch is an English singer-songwriter, best known worldwide as the lead singer of Florence and the Machine...
and Siouxsie and the Banshees." She has also been linked to Lisa Gerrard
Lisa Gerrard
Lisa Gerrard is an Australian musician, singer, and composer who rose to prominence as part of the music group Dead Can Dance with former music partner Brendan Perry....
of Dead Can Dance
Dead Can Dance
Dead Can Dance are an ethereal neoclassical duo formed in Melbourne, Australia, in August 1981, by Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry. The band relocated to London in May 1982 and disbanded in 1998. Their 1996 album Spiritchaser reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top World Music Albums Chart...
and Elizabeth Frazer of the Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins were a Scottish alternative rock band active from 1979 to 1997, known for innovative instrumentation and atmospheric, non-lyrical vocals...
. Her style has been described variously as "commanded by ominous lyrics and a sultry Goth delivery," and "noise music that scrapes and glistens in equal measure." In a Spinner interview, describing her own artistic self, she said:
Reviewers praise the quality of her vocal performances. "Whether creaking or soaring, her voice transmits with a directness that easily cuts through the layers of lo-fi grime that usually surround it. You don’t hear singers like this every day, or even every year," according to Pitchfork.
Danilova's been exposed to modern music through her father who listened to bands like Oingo Boingo
Oingo Boingo
Oingo Boingo was an American new wave band. They are best known for their influence on other musicians, their soundtrack contributions and their high energy Halloween concerts. The band was founded in 1972 as The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, a performance art group...
, Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1978. The band became part of the American hardcore punk movement of the early 1980s. They gained a large underground fanbase in the international punk music scene....
, Squeeze and Talking Heads
Talking Heads
Talking Heads were an American New Wave and avant-garde band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991. The band comprised David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison...
. When older, she discovered The Residents
The Residents
The Residents is an American art collective best known for avant-garde music and multimedia works. The first official release under the name of The Residents was in 1972, and the group has since released over sixty albums, numerous music videos and short films, three CD-ROM projects and ten DVDs....
and Throbbing Gristle. "I liked exploring how uncomfortable music could make you, which is how I found noise. I was terrified by the Residents when I first heard them at 13, but then I got intrigued by it and wanted to listen more," she said. "Their catalogue is one of the few of any artist where I never know what to expect with each album. [They're] constantly changing and experimenting in their art, as any great performer should. As far as a composer, I'd have to say Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Another critic calls him "one of the great visionaries of 20th-century music"...
– absolutely out of control brilliant." Answering questions about her favourite artists and composers, she was also mentioning "singers with big voices, like Diamanda Galas and Tina Turner
Tina Turner
Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...
. Diva
Diva
A diva is a celebrated female singer. The term is used to describe a woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, and, by extension, in theatre, cinema and popular music. The meaning of diva is closely related to that of "prima donna"....
s, film scores from the '70s and '80s. Industrial
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
and power electronics. BBC Radiophonic Workshop
BBC Radiophonic Workshop
The BBC Radiophonic Workshop, one of the sound effects units of the BBC, was created in 1958 to produce effects and new music for radio, and was closed in March 1998, although much of its traditional work had already been outsourced by 1995. It was based in the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in Delaware...
, opera, Philip K. Dick
Philip K. Dick
Philip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist whose published work is almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments and altered...
." Speaking to Spinner, she said: "I listen to anything that stands out. I guess something people wouldn't expect me to listen to are artists like Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys
Alicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began playing the piano...
. But she is so incredibly talented. She has this huge voice and great work ethic, which I really respect in an artist. She is also very humble and gracious and devoted to her skill." Of her operatic upbringing she said:
Ideas and concepts
Being a philosophy student in some ways shaped both her lyrical concepts and attitude. "In high school I was really into Situationism, which is basically the idea that you can live art. Thats part of my music now, because I feel like it's not worth doing something if it’s already been done. So I'm trying my best to do something that’s completely novel within the parameters of it being accessible so people won’t dismiss it right away", she said in an interview. "...Reading about certain philosophers changes your perspective. I was just reading this guy named Arthur SchopenhauerArthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher known for his pessimism and philosophical clarity. At age 25, he published his doctoral dissertation, On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason, which examined the four separate manifestations of reason in the phenomenal...
, who's dark as fuck. He's basically like: Kill yourself, it's not worth it. After you read his essays, you can't feel good about anything, so it's obviously going to affect my art and how I live", she added.
Serious reading played an important part in her self-education. "I probably read Dostoevsky and Nietzsche before I should have", she confessed. Danilova, much interested in philosophy, describe herself as an atheist. "If there were physical evidence then maybe I would consider it. But...The Bible and all these books written by people, they are stories, compelling, yes, and they teach you about life and how to take care of people. Taking them for fact, that's really naive. They are great stories to teach moral structure, but they are just stories." When asked of her personal philosophy, she said: "I believe in not avoiding things you’re afraid of. Especially really dark things."
Touring band members
- Alex DeGroot – electronics/programming
- Nick Turco – synth
- Shane Verwey – synth
- Nick Johnson – drums
- Nika Roza Danilova – vocals
Studio albums
- The SpoilsThe Spoils (Zola Jesus album)The Spoils is a debut full-length studio album by Nika Roza Danilova, better known as Zola Jesus, released in July 2010 on Sacred Bones Records...
(2009, Sacred Bones RecordsSacred Bones RecordsSacred Bones Records is an independent record label founded in 2007, based in Brooklyn, NY. The label has released recordings from artists including Zola Jesus, Moon Duo, The Men, Cult of Youth and Blank Dogs...
) - Stridulum IIStridulum II- Credits :* Artwork - Indra Dunis* Producers – Alex DeGroot, Nika Roza Danilova * Written by – Nika Roza Danilova...
(2010, Souterrain Transmissions) - ConatusConatus (album)Conatus is the third studio album by American recording artist Zola Jesus, released in the United Kingdom on September 26, 2011 and in the United States on October 4 by Sacred Bones Records...
(2011, Sacred Bones Records, UK #144)
EPs
- Tsar Bomba (2009, Troubleman Unlimited RecordsTroubleman Unlimited RecordsTroubleman Unlimited Records is a record label specializing in indie rock and similar genres. Founded in 1993, the label is based in Bayonne, New Jersey and owned by Mike Simonetti....
) - Stridulum (2010, Sacred Bones Records)
- Valusia (2010, Sacred Bones Records)
Splits and compilations
- Burial Hex/Zola Jesus – Untitled LP (2009, Aurora Borealis Records)
- New Amsterdam (2009, Sacred Bones Records)
- LA Vampires/Zola Jesus – LA Vampires Meets Zola Jesus EP (2010, Not Not Fun Records)
Singles
| Date | Title | Backed with | Record label | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | "Poor Sons" | "The Way, Dog" | Die Stasi | 7" single |
| "Soeur Sewer" | "Odessa" | Sacred Bones | ||
| 2010 | "Poor Animal" | "I Can't Stand" | Souterrain Transmissions |