Carla Bozulich
Encyclopedia
Carla Bozulich is an American musician based in Los Angeles
, known for her work as the lead singer, lyricist and founder of both The Geraldine Fibbers
and Evangelista and as a founding member of Ethyl Meatplow
. Her 2006 album, Evangelista, was released by Constellation Records
, that label's first release by a non-Canadian artist. In 2007, she also named her ever-evolving touring group "Evangelista" eventually recruiting bassist Tara Barnes and keyboardist/sampler Dominic Cramp as permanent band members. However, the rest of the lineup of Evangelista as a recording, performing and touring band changes each time they play or record. In keeping with this change, the albums Hello, Voyager, Prince of Truth and In Animal Tongue were released under the band name Evangelista. Bozulich has also been involved in other projects, including collaborations with Francesco Guerri and Sarah Lipstate. In addition to singing and composing music, she is known to play guitar and work with samples
and sound experimentation. She was born in New York City
.
, the Geraldine Fibbers
, Scarnella (a duo with Nels Cline
, the name being an anagram of their combined first names), The Nels Cline
Singers, Scott Amendola Band
, The Book of Knots, the as-of-yet unrecorded band The Night Porter, as a solo artist, and as leader of the Evangelista project. Bozulich is the producer of the upcoming Evangelista album In Animal Tongue, which will be released on September 20, 2011.
Bozulich has also formed an improvisational project called Bloody Claws with Francesco Guerri, with whom she toured Europe in the spring and summer of 2009. She has also contributed to recordings by Mike Watt
(most significantly as a vocalist on four tracks of his album Ball-Hog or Tugboat?
), Hadda Brooks
and Lydia Lunch
. She has performed live with Watt, as well as with Thurston Moore
, Christian Marclay
, Okyyung Lee, Carla Kihlstedt
, Wayne Kramer
, Wilco
, Italian
guitarist Simone Massaron (with whom she sings and provides lyrics on the 2008 album Dandelions on Fire) and many others. Members of Evangelista outside of the core trio of Bozulich, Barnes and Cramp have included Ches Smith
, Shahzad Ismaily, Ava Mendoza, Jeremy Drake, Gambletron, Mirko Sabatini, Madigan Shive
, Andrea Serrapiglio, Thierry Amar
, Nadia and Jessica Moss, Becky Foon and Jessica Catron.
On August 16-17, 2009 she performed live with Marianne Faithfull
and Marc Ribot
in Düsseldorf
as part of the 2009 Ruhrtriennale
. Willie Nelson
performed on her 2003 album The Red Headed Stranger
, a song-by-song cover of his album of the same name
.
Bozulich scored a 2001 production of Jean Genet
's play The Maids
, as well as the 2003 film By Hook or by Crook, directed by Harry Dodge and Silas Howard and produced by Steak House. The Geraldine Fibbers songs "Lilybelle" and "Seven or in 10," both cowritten by Bozulich, have been covered by Kiki and Herb
.
Bozulich has been asked to perform as a solo artist at two All Tomorrows Parties
festivals, and at two Bad Bonn Kilbi festivals. In 2005, she performed Brecht
/Weill
composition "The Ballad of the Lily of Hell" at the Meltdown Festival in London
, curated by Patti Smith
.
on Mother's Day 2005. Bozulich had recorded sounds at the train station for a previous project and decided to hold a free participatory musical event at the location.
The fourth Eyes for Ears performance was at the CalArts Center for Experiments in Art, Information and Technology (CEAIT) Festival at Los Angeles' REDCAT Theater on March 5, 2010. Titled Drowned To The Light, it featured Bozulich — along with David Rothbaum, Ezra Buchla and Danny Frankel — performing songs and improvised music before the projected films of Brooklyn
musician and filmmaker Sarah Lipstate.
The fifth Eyes for Ears, entitled "Under the Skin" was performed on May 7, 2011 in Krems, Austria as part of Donaufestival
. This was a multimedia
installation incorporating the entire Minoritenkirche Knoster monastery and grounds. Bozulich also curated three nights of performances at the festival.
, Ecstatic Peace
and Ben Is Dead
. She has mentioned her desire to expand her short story "The Sparkely Jewel" into a full-length novel. Bozulich has also worked in the illustrative arts.
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, known for her work as the lead singer, lyricist and founder of both The Geraldine Fibbers
Geraldine Fibbers
The Geraldine Fibbers were an alt-country band founded in 1994 by Carla Bozulich. Initially, band members included Bozulich, Daniel Keenan, Julie Fowells, William Tutton and Kevin Fitzgerald...
and Evangelista and as a founding member of Ethyl Meatplow
Ethyl Meatplow
Ethyl Meatplow was an American alternative/industrial music band best known for their sole album, Happy Days, Sweetheart, released in 1993 by Dali Records, a division of Chameleon Music Group and distributed by Elektra Entertainment...
. Her 2006 album, Evangelista, was released by Constellation Records
Constellation Records
Constellation Records is an influential Montreal, Quebec independent record label known for its contributions to experimental genres of music. It is most famous for releasing the albums of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band, and Do Make Say...
, that label's first release by a non-Canadian artist. In 2007, she also named her ever-evolving touring group "Evangelista" eventually recruiting bassist Tara Barnes and keyboardist/sampler Dominic Cramp as permanent band members. However, the rest of the lineup of Evangelista as a recording, performing and touring band changes each time they play or record. In keeping with this change, the albums Hello, Voyager, Prince of Truth and In Animal Tongue were released under the band name Evangelista. Bozulich has also been involved in other projects, including collaborations with Francesco Guerri and Sarah Lipstate. In addition to singing and composing music, she is known to play guitar and work with samples
Sampling
Sampling may refer to:*Sampling , converting a continuous signal into a discrete signal*Sampling , converting continuous colors into discrete color components*Sampling , re-using portions of sound recordings in a piece...
and sound experimentation. She was born in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Musical career
Bozulich's recording career began in 1982 when, under the name Carla Noelle, she contributed to a recording by Gary Kail called "Zurich 1916", which would be released in 1984 as part of the album Creative Nihilism. She has since played with numerous bands including the Neon Veins, Invisible Chains, Ethyl MeatplowEthyl Meatplow
Ethyl Meatplow was an American alternative/industrial music band best known for their sole album, Happy Days, Sweetheart, released in 1993 by Dali Records, a division of Chameleon Music Group and distributed by Elektra Entertainment...
, the Geraldine Fibbers
Geraldine Fibbers
The Geraldine Fibbers were an alt-country band founded in 1994 by Carla Bozulich. Initially, band members included Bozulich, Daniel Keenan, Julie Fowells, William Tutton and Kevin Fitzgerald...
, Scarnella (a duo with Nels Cline
Nels Cline
Nels Cline is an American guitarist and composer, currently the lead guitarist of alternative rock band Wilco. David Carr of the New York Times describes Cline as "one of the best guitarists in any genre."-Career:...
, the name being an anagram of their combined first names), The Nels Cline
Nels Cline
Nels Cline is an American guitarist and composer, currently the lead guitarist of alternative rock band Wilco. David Carr of the New York Times describes Cline as "one of the best guitarists in any genre."-Career:...
Singers, Scott Amendola Band
Scott Amendola
Scott Amendola is an American jazz drummer from the San Francisco Bay Area. His styles include jazz, blues, groove, rock and new music. He is considered central to the Bay Area music scene....
, The Book of Knots, the as-of-yet unrecorded band The Night Porter, as a solo artist, and as leader of the Evangelista project. Bozulich is the producer of the upcoming Evangelista album In Animal Tongue, which will be released on September 20, 2011.
Bozulich has also formed an improvisational project called Bloody Claws with Francesco Guerri, with whom she toured Europe in the spring and summer of 2009. She has also contributed to recordings by Mike Watt
Mike Watt
Michael David Watt is an American bassist, singer and songwriter.He is best known for co-founding the rock bands Minutemen, dos, and Firehose; , he is also the bassist for the reunited Stooges and a member of the art rock/jazz/punk/improv group Banyan as well as many other post-Minutemen...
(most significantly as a vocalist on four tracks of his album Ball-Hog or Tugboat?
Ball-Hog or Tugboat?
Ball-Hog or Tugboat? is the debut solo album by former Minutemen and fIREHOSE bassist, songwriter and vocalist Mike Watt. It was recorded in 1994, and came at a personal and professional career crossroads for Watt...
), Hadda Brooks
Hadda Brooks
Hadda Brooks , was an American pianist, vocalist and composer. Her first single, "Swingin' the Boogie", which she composed, was issued in 1945...
and 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...
. She has performed live with Watt, as well as with Thurston Moore
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
, Christian Marclay
Christian Marclay
Christian Marclay is a Swiss-American visual artist and composer.Marclay's work explores connections between sound, noise, photography, video, and film...
, Okyyung Lee, Carla Kihlstedt
Carla Kihlstedt
Carla Kihlstedt is an American violinist, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist from Lancaster, Pennsylvania currently living in Oakland, California....
, Wayne Kramer
Wayne Kramer (guitarist)
Wayne Kramer is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer and film and television scorer....
, Wilco
Wilco
Wilco is an American alternative rock band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo following singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup has changed frequently, with only singer Jeff Tweedy and bassist John...
, Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
guitarist Simone Massaron (with whom she sings and provides lyrics on the 2008 album Dandelions on Fire) and many others. Members of Evangelista outside of the core trio of Bozulich, Barnes and Cramp have included Ches Smith
Ches Smith
Ches Smith is an American musician whose primary instruments are drums, percussion, and vibraphone. He writes and performs music in a wide variety of contexts, including solo percussion, experimental rock bands, and small and large jazz ensembles....
, Shahzad Ismaily, Ava Mendoza, Jeremy Drake, Gambletron, Mirko Sabatini, Madigan Shive
Madigan Shive
Madigan Rachel Ruth Shive is an American composer, performing artist, community organizer and international touring musician based in San Francisco...
, Andrea Serrapiglio, Thierry Amar
Thierry Amar
Thierry Amar is a Canadian musician. He is most notable for participating in Godspeed You! Black Emperor, as well as being co-founder of Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band with Efrim Menuck and Sophie Trudeau. Amar also participates with Black Ox Orkestar, a Yiddish folk...
, Nadia and Jessica Moss, Becky Foon and Jessica Catron.
On August 16-17, 2009 she performed live with Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....
and Marc Ribot
Marc Ribot
Marc Ribot born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer.His own work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notably Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, and composer John Zorn.-Biography:Ribot was...
in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
as part of the 2009 Ruhrtriennale
Ruhrtriennale
The Ruhrtriennale is an annual music and arts festival in the northwestern area of Germany which runs between mid-August and mid-October. It was founded in 2002 by the government of North Rhine-Westphalia with Gerard Mortier, the impresario and former artistic director of the Salzburg Festival, as...
. Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
performed on her 2003 album The Red Headed Stranger
The Red Headed Stranger
The Red Headed Stranger is an interpretation by Carla Bozulich of Willie Nelson's 1975 multi-platinum album Red Headed Stranger, released in 2003. Nelson appears on three tracks.-History:...
, a song-by-song cover of his album of the same name
Red Headed Stranger
Red Headed Stranger is a 1975 album by American outlaw country singer Willie Nelson. After the wide success of his recordings with Atlantic records, Nelson signed a contract with Columbia Records, a label that gave him total creative control over his works...
.
Bozulich scored a 2001 production of Jean Genet
Jean Genet
Jean Genet was a prominent and controversial French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. Early in his life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but later took to writing...
's play The Maids
The Maids
The Maids is a play by the French dramatist Jean Genet. It was first performed at the Théâtre de l'Athénée in Paris in a production that opened on 17 April 1947, which Louis Jouvet directed...
, as well as the 2003 film By Hook or by Crook, directed by Harry Dodge and Silas Howard and produced by Steak House. The Geraldine Fibbers songs "Lilybelle" and "Seven or in 10," both cowritten by Bozulich, have been covered by Kiki and Herb
Kiki and Herb
Kiki and Herb are an American drag cabaret duo. Bond portrays Kiki DuRane, an aging, alcoholic, female lounge singer...
.
Bozulich has been asked to perform as a solo artist at two All Tomorrows Parties
All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)
All Tomorrow's Parties is a music festival which takes place at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead, Somerset, England....
festivals, and at two Bad Bonn Kilbi festivals. In 2005, she performed Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
/Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
composition "The Ballad of the Lily of Hell" at the Meltdown Festival in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, curated by Patti Smith
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
.
Eyes for Ears
Between 2000 and 2010, Bozulich created site-specific performance art pieces under the umbrella name Eyes for Ears. "Fake Party" (developed for Society for the Activation of Social Space through Art and Sound) took place at the Schindler House in August 2000; an event described by Bozulich as "new music dressed up like a party meets a social event disguised as art." During the piece, the audience was treated upon arrival as guests at a party at the Schindler House. Guests were pulled from the "party" into a private room, where they were serenaded by Bozulich lyp-synching to old pop songs, and eventually led into yet another party room. The intricate details of the event are described on Bozulich's website. A second piece, Performance for Fever Dreams, was performed at the Getty Museum of Art in February 2004. The third performance in the series was a "guerilla sing-along" featuring Bozulich and others at a train station waiting room in Glendale, CaliforniaGlendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...
on Mother's Day 2005. Bozulich had recorded sounds at the train station for a previous project and decided to hold a free participatory musical event at the location.
The fourth Eyes for Ears performance was at the CalArts Center for Experiments in Art, Information and Technology (CEAIT) Festival at Los Angeles' REDCAT Theater on March 5, 2010. Titled Drowned To The Light, it featured Bozulich — along with David Rothbaum, Ezra Buchla and Danny Frankel — performing songs and improvised music before the projected films of Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
musician and filmmaker Sarah Lipstate.
The fifth Eyes for Ears, entitled "Under the Skin" was performed on May 7, 2011 in Krems, Austria as part of Donaufestival
Donaufestival
The Donaufestival is an annual festival of music and performance that takes place each April in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. In the early years of the festival, two towns were used as locations - Krems and Korneuburg...
. This was a multimedia
installation incorporating the entire Minoritenkirche Knoster monastery and grounds. Bozulich also curated three nights of performances at the festival.
Other work
Bozulich has written articles, short fiction, poetry and criticism for Alternative Press, LA WeeklyLA Weekly
LA Weekly is a free weekly tabloid-sized "alternative weekly" in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Editor/Publisher Jay Levin and a board of directors that included actor-producer Michael Douglas...
, Ecstatic Peace
Ecstatic Peace
Ecstatic Peace! is a record label based in Easthampton, Massachusetts, founded in 1981 by Sonic Youth member Thurston Moore. The premiere release was a split cassette featuring spoken word performances from Michael Gira of Swans and Lydia Lunch...
and Ben Is Dead
Ben Is Dead
Ben Is Dead was a Los Angeles-based zine published from 1988 through 1999. Its creator, Deborah "Darby" Romeo, got its name from a dream she had about her husband Ben, a Frenchman she divorced not long into the magazine's run...
. She has mentioned her desire to expand her short story "The Sparkely Jewel" into a full-length novel. Bozulich has also worked in the illustrative arts.
Discography
- As a featured performer with Gary Kail/Zurich 1916:
- Creative Nihilism (as Carla Noelle) [1984]
- As member of Invisible Chains:
- Invisible Chains [1986]
- As member of Ethyl MeatplowEthyl MeatplowEthyl Meatplow was an American alternative/industrial music band best known for their sole album, Happy Days, Sweetheart, released in 1993 by Dali Records, a division of Chameleon Music Group and distributed by Elektra Entertainment...
:- Happy Days, SweetheartHappy Days, SweetheartHappy Days, Sweetheart was the 1993 debut and only album for Industrial music dance group Ethyl Meatplow. The album was released on Chameleon Records, distributed by Elektra Entertainment and produced by Barry Adamson...
[1993]
- Happy Days, Sweetheart
- As a featured vocalist with Mike WattMike WattMichael David Watt is an American bassist, singer and songwriter.He is best known for co-founding the rock bands Minutemen, dos, and Firehose; , he is also the bassist for the reunited Stooges and a member of the art rock/jazz/punk/improv group Banyan as well as many other post-Minutemen...
:- Ball-Hog or Tugboat?Ball-Hog or Tugboat?Ball-Hog or Tugboat? is the debut solo album by former Minutemen and fIREHOSE bassist, songwriter and vocalist Mike Watt. It was recorded in 1994, and came at a personal and professional career crossroads for Watt...
[1994]
- Ball-Hog or Tugboat?
- As lead vocalist and lyricist of the Geraldine FibbersGeraldine FibbersThe Geraldine Fibbers were an alt-country band founded in 1994 by Carla Bozulich. Initially, band members included Bozulich, Daniel Keenan, Julie Fowells, William Tutton and Kevin Fitzgerald...
:- Get Thee Gone (vinyl only) [1995]
- The Geraldine Fibbers (compact disc EP incorporating elements of Get Thee Gone) [1995]
- Lost Somewhere Between the Earth and My Home [1995]
- Live From the Bottom of the Hill [1996]
- What Part of "Get Thee Gone" Don't You Understand? [1997]
- Butch [1997]
- As member of Scarnella:
- Scarnella [1998]
- Super Bad at 65: a Tribute to James Brown (song "Hot Pants") [1998]
- As a featured duet vocalist with Hadda BrooksHadda BrooksHadda Brooks , was an American pianist, vocalist and composer. Her first single, "Swingin' the Boogie", which she composed, was issued in 1945...
:- I've Got News For You (song "Sometimes I'm Happy") [1999]
- Solo albums:
- The Red Headed StrangerThe Red Headed StrangerThe Red Headed Stranger is an interpretation by Carla Bozulich of Willie Nelson's 1975 multi-platinum album Red Headed Stranger, released in 2003. Nelson appears on three tracks.-History:...
[2003] - I'm Gonna Stop Killing [2004]
- Evangelista [2006]
- Unrock Instore Gig Series Volume 4 (released in Germany and limited to 300 copies) [2008]
- The Red Headed Stranger
- Featured solo work:
- New Coat of Paint: Songs of Tom Waits (song "On The Nickel") [2000]
- Fields And StreamsFields and StreamsFields and Streams is a double CD compilation album released by the label Kill Rock Stars on May 7, 2002.-Track list:CD 1# "Memo From The Desk of the Quails - The Quails# "Sex Object - Manda & The Marbles# "Waste of Time" - The Coolies...
(song "Blue Boys") [2002] - For a Decade of Sin: 11 Years of Bloodshot Records (song "Lonesome Roads") [2005]
- As a featured vocalist of The Scott Amendola Band:
- Cry (song "Masters of War") [2003]
- As a featured duet vocalist with Lydia LunchLydia LunchLydia Lunch is an American singer, poet, writer, and actress whose career was spawned by the New York No Wave scene...
:- Smoke In The Shadows (song "I Love How You...") [2004]
- As a featured vocalist for The Book of Knots:
- Traineater (song "View From a Watertower") [2007]
- As leader of Evangelista:
- Evangelista (released under the name Carla Bozulich) [2006]
- Hello, Voyager [2008]
- Evangelista at Issue Project Room (self-released CD sold at live shows) [2008]
- Prince Of Truth [2009]
- In Animal Tongue [2011]
- Collaborative album with Simone Massaron:
- Dandelions on Fire [2008]