About Me
“Larissa Ness has all the makings of being the next IT girl.” - Kelly O’ Neil, journalist.
Ever since she sat down at the piano when she was 3 years old, she would then and forever be in love. Not just with the piano, but with music entirely. Larissa’s mother shares this same love, having sung at Carnegie Hall, she continued her passion in music by offering lessons to local children on the Texas coast. Needless to say, Larissa grew up around music, surrounding her daily, especially with a baby grand right in the middle of the living room. Larissa eventually learned to play the flute, practice writing, composing, and of course, singing.
By now it was understood that Larissa would pursue music as a career. In an early interview, Larissa said, “Pursuing music as a career has always been about doing what I love, what I know, and what I feel.” “More so, it is a way to reach people, to make a difference in the world, and challenge the limits of those goals.” That being said, it was only natural that Larissa would begin to record in the studio. Larissa made her debut as a recording artist with “Texture Vision”. “Je T’aime”, The first single from “Texture Vision” aired on commercials for B & H Music Stores. These commercials also appeared on MTV,VH-1,SPK,NICK,FXNC,SciFi, and ENT in the Houston, Texas area. In addition to this exposure through television,“Je T’aime” had been featured in the New York independent film “Dykeotomies”. This lead to the opportunity to be commissioned by 40/20 Productions to co-write the theme song for the upcoming Austin independent film, “Lost in Sunshine.” As for commercial radio, Austin’s biggest rock station, 101-X, also added tracks from “Texture Vision” to their Sunday morning “Chillville” segments. “Texture Vision” was followed by a self titled EP and a LIVE recording at The Bugle Boy, in La Grange, Texas. Then in December 2008, Larissa released, “I’ve Found You”, a side project E.P. that consisted of both, jazzy and “Latin flavored” music, incorporating Flamenco, Salsa, Bossa Nova , and Samba beats that created an exciting “Norah Jones goes Latin” sound. Larissa also wrote French lyrics and featured players from the world renown Latin groups, Cienfuegos and the Grammy-nominated band, Grupo Fantasma. Clearly, Larissa’s classical training and influences seem to meet her creative desire to fuse, blend, and experiment. This has been the basis of her evolution as an artist, and after, “I’ve Found You”, Larissa seemed to have found her new outlet. She then bid farewell to her past inspirations and Hello, to Pop.
“Hello” is the second LP that Larissa Ness has released. This album may be considered more Urban Pop/Hip Pop, opposed to a pure pop sound, but nonetheless, it brings her to the keys, and funnels her voice and creativity to both build on the foundation of Hip Hop. With producer, Ernst Bernard of Hello Productions and guest rappers, Ray C and Young Mischiff, “Hello” began the journey of who Larissa Ness is today. Reviews of “Hello” reflected positive observations, such as the following: “Synthesized and percussive hip-hop back beats can provide an awesome hook for a song, such as “Bringing It Back”; “A slight deviation from the hip-hop sound is “Running” which opens with ethereal synthesizers and employs a unique group of percussion sounds”; “Ness sings beautifully as her layered voice dovetails through the phrases”; “The most uplifting track on the album is also the first single, “Thoughts of You”. Just before the “Hello” album release, the song, “Thoughts of You” was featured on a trailer for the CBS Primetime show, Ghost Whisperer, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt! As this album gained momentum, and the initial single had been released, Larissa knew it was time to move on to music video. Larissa pursued the expertise of Undergound Planet’s, Raymond Schlogel and Ruben Cantu, as she noted their work with Dexter Freebish and Endeverafter. Following four months of arduous dance rehearsals with a full dance team and choreographer, Carly Bell, they were all ready to shoot. After the music video release in November 2009, eyes were seized by her piano playing in the video, but not with her fingers, but with her toes! The music video gained air play around the nation, in a variety of outlets. The video was seen on internet and television programs, retail spaces, gyms, and even music video networks, including Austins own, ME Television.
“Step away from the piano and dance”, these were the words of publicist, Neil Diaz of NCD Resources and Matt Williamson of Big Skillet Creative. Always ready to experiment, Larissa was interested in hearing more. She knew that she wanted to continue to pursue a more modern and danceable sound, such as the music from “Hello”. However, everyone was in agreement that the electro - dance sound was influencing every music genre from rap to hip hop and pop to rock, and so entered Prepmode and Elstar. Larissa Ness had planned to release, “Don’t Think I Won’t” as the second single from, “Hello”. Except, this track would now become a dance remix. Prepmode and Elstar took Larissa into the studio and in May 2009, “Don’t Think I Won’t” the single and music video, both were released as a dance remix. Performing this version brought Larissa away from the keyboard and closer to audiences in multiple forms. As “Don’t Think I Won’t” (dance remix) begins to reach fans and audiences through internet radio and music video outlets, Larissa Ness has gone back into the studio to work on a high energy dance album that will include the key board, perhaps a ballad or two, and re-visit the influence of hip hop. Currently, this concept is compared to Lady Gaga (She likes to dance and play the piano too) more than past comparisons such as Sarah McLachlan, Colbie Caillat, Vanessa Carlton, Stacie Orrico, Sara Bareilles and last but not least, Norah Jones, on fire, but this remains to be seen. However, a preview of the next album can be downloaded for free, look for the single, “Get to it” at www.purevolume.com
Fun Facts:
- Larissa’s music has received radio play all over the US, England, France and Germany, previous to the album, “Hello”.
- Guest Rapper on “Hello” has been heavily featured on B.E.T. and has been recognized by influential Texas rappers, referred to as, the Dirty South.
- Larissa Ness performed “Don’t Think I Won’t” the remix, for the first time, LIVE at a fashion show. This lead to the next performance of this version at a second fashion show where she opened the event by modeling on the runway then from striking a pose, to hitting a note, the entire crowd was completely surprised.
- Larissa Ness graduated from Texas State University.
- In earlier years, Larissa toured and performed in Europe with Voca Libre.
- Larissa is in the UrbanDictionary
- Larissa Ness sang the vocals on the track, “Nightlife” for the band, Get in Line.
- You can see fun out takes, bloopers, and behind the scenes footage of Larissa’s music videos on YouTube
- Larissa Ness Sang on the Wii Video Game, “All Star Cheer Squad 2”
For more on Larissa Ness:
Larissa Ness loves having new friends, so stay up to date on Larissa’s progress and upcoming events, including show dates, upcoming music videos, and special events by visiting Facebook
www.Twitter.com/LarissaNess
www.flickr.com/photos/larissaness
www.Myspace.com/LarissaMusic
