Rahway-based “urban junkyard” artist expands cast as London,
Colley accompany Tom Waits collaborators Ralph Carney, David Coulter on latest
sessions.
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J Hacha De
Zola as photographed by Miguel Peralta
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J Hacha De Zola – In The Press
“The kind of
alluring character found in old children’s books.” – UTNE
“The main influence is that of Tom Waits. But if Zola
has influences, he also has talent.” – VOIR
“To say that De
Zola’s creative process and musical style are unique is an understatement.”
– SLUG
“Cranks and curdles and clomps around his slithery
croon tunes.” – CMJ
“A twisted, dystopian narrative straight from the mind
of John Carpenter.” – ELMORE
“Visionary.” – BLURT
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“I like to say this silly video is in
the style of ‘Le Gallus Film Noir’ or ‘Le Chicken Film Noir’” – J Hacha De Zola.
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“The beauty of working with silhouettes is that they
are perfectly amorphous,” says J Hacha
De Zola of the music video for “Falling
Out of Chairs,” a deep cut from Picaro Obscuro, the Rahway, New
Jersey-based artist’s second album of 2016. “You can become any shape or size
through a simple movement.” The clip was shot by Stefan Zeniuk of Brooklyn’s “Psycho Mambo” ensemble, Gato Loco. “I am a particularly big fan
of ‘film noir’ genres,” Hacha De Zola
explains. “We like to dub this style of video ‘Le Gallus Film Noir’ or ‘Le
Chicken Film Noir’ ala ‘Nosferatu.’”
Even in the midst of promoting Picaro Obscuro, along
with taking
a side street to cover an Ariana Grande
jam (see below), Hacha De Zola
is already deep into recording his third album. This time around, Hacha De Zola will be joined by trumpet
player, Frank London, a Grammy-winner
as a member of The Klezmatics (and a
collaborator with David Byrne, John Cale, and Itzhak Perlman), as well as Dana
Colley, co-founder of the dark spirited blues-rock band, Morphine.
“He’s like a codeine cough syrup dream on the train to
Zurich,” is how another Hacha De Zola
collaborator, legendary sax man Ralph
Carney, describes him. Carney,
who made his bones with Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, The B-52s, They Might Be
Giants, and Frank Black (and who
is also the uncle of The Black Keys
co-founder, Patrick Carney), makes
his tenor and baritone horns an omnipresent force on Picaro Obscuro, and will
join Hacha De Zola again on his
as-yet-untitled third album.
Multi-instrumentalist, David Coulter is heard throughout Picaro Obscuro, as well. Coulter,
who has recorded, performed and toured with artists as diverse as Damon Albarn, Jarvis Cocker, Laurie
Anderson, Kronos Quartet, Yoko Ono, and Beck among many other notables, shares a common compatriot with Carney in Waits, as both men performed on the Waits album The Black Rider, a collection of the
songs from the theater piece of the same name for which Coulter served as Associate Musical Director.
Other influences on the sound of Picaro Obscuro according
to Hacha De Zola include: Perez Prado, Captain Beefheart, Screaming
Jay Hawkins, Danil Kharms, Arthur Rimbaud, Frank Zappa, Nick Cave,
and Syd Barrett.
Picaro
Obscuro, the second album by J Hacha De Zola is out now. His cover
of the Ariana Grande song “Bad Decisions” is also streaming now. Hacha De Zola is available for
interviews. Contact Josh Bloom
at Fanatic for more information.
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J Hacha De Zola turns Ariana
Grande’s “Bad Decisions” into a “Tom Waits-Esq Barroom Roar,” says Cover
Me in its track premiere.
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“Recording this cover, I realized how truly amazing of
a singer Ariana Grande is,” says
Rahway, New Jersey-based musician J
Hacha De Zola. “She can sing her butt off.” Of course, Hacha De Zola brings
a decidedly unique take to the tune, premiered via
cover song website, Cover Me. “I’m
not much of a singer, I’m probably more of a crooner,” he says. His style has
been called “baroque pop,” “avant indie,” “boozegaze,” and “urban junkyard” – imaginative
descriptions that turn out to be pretty on point.
“I really wanted to see if I could cover, or more
accurately, ‘re-make’ a pop tune and have it sound like me,” Hacha De Zola says “I connected with
the slightly dark connotations that could be drawn from it. It’s also in the “dark”
key of E minor.” Ultimately, the song is pretty unrecognizable from its
original version until it hits the chorus. “At that point, I hope the listener
says, ‘Holy shit, this is an Ariana
Grande cover?!’”
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J Hacha De Zola
Picaro
Obscuro
Out Now
Track Listing:
02. Bad Fiction
05. Falling Out of Chairs (VIDEO)
06. Picaro Obscuro
07. Black Water
08. Taking Names
09. On Your Own
10. Dead End Street
11. Tears of Summer
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J Hacha De Zola Links
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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion
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