Zola Jesus Fans

Zola Jesus

Location: Madison, WI

Bio: 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/offering ... (more) she has; her voice. After a decade of opera study and a musical awakening involving such varied inspiration as Billboard bubblegum, classical aria's, no-wave, and avant industrial, she was able to thread her influences into a sound uniquely her own.

Born and raised in the countryside of mid-western USA (Wisconsin), Nika Roza was literally raised by wolves (well proximally anyways). Beginning her musical output at the age of 16, she released: two 7"s, an EP, a live recording from WNYU, and a split with neighboring Madison head-trip, Burial Hex, on Sacred Bones, Troubleman, Die Stasi, and Aurora Borealis respectively. It was her debut full length for Sacred Bones last summer, however, that suddenly grew Zola Jesus’ profile exponentially. Her video for “Clay Bodies” directed by Jacqueline Castel, debuted on Pitchfork and The Spoils made dozens of yearend
lists including: The Wire, Pitchfork, and The Fader.

Her latest EP Stridulum is a huge leap forward in terms of fidelity and
accessibility. Recording her vocals for the first time with professional
equipment, 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 pop songs that are as equally nurturing as they are foreboding. The Guardian, NME and the BBC are already signing her praises and we are delighted for Nika to finally have a proper European release this fall on Souterrain Transmissions. Stridulum II will be a full length and contain three previously unreleased tracks that thematically expound on the EP. Zola Jesus
and her band will be touring the UK opening several dates for Fever Ray and doing a full European tour in Sept immediately following those shows (less)