Cover tunes follow-up “Icaro Nouveau” album, all-Spanish
synth EP “Syn
Illusion,” both produced by John Agnello (Sonic Youth, Kurt Vile).
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J Hacha De
Zola as photographed by Robin Souma
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J Hacha De Zola | In The Press
“A wild man in the vein of such fire breathing artists
like Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.” — Paste
“The kind of alluring character found in old
children’s books.” — UTNE
“Enticing as it is distant and strange.” — MAGNET
“Bound to light the way forward and inspire a legion
of imitators.” — PopMatters
“Sits at his own, most likely oddly shaped table.” – Pancakes and Whiskey
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& SHARE
“Like other groups and artists that washed through
underground and mainstream circles that never conformed to industry standards
(i.e. The World/Inferno Friendship
Society, Tom Waits, early Firewater, Motherhead Bug, it’s the stuff of legend...” – Ghettoblaster
Magazine on the “UnPOPular” EP
of cover songs by J Hacha De Zola
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J Hacha De Zola
“UnPOPular” EP
(Caballo
Negro)
Out Now
Streaming Link:
Track Listing:
01. Bury A Friend (Billie Eilish Cover)
02. Nightmare (Halsey Cover)
03. Writer In The Dark (Lorde Cover)
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J Hacha De Zola | About the “UnPOPular”
EP
“A few years ago, I covered an Ariana Grande tune, ‘Bad
Decisions,’ as an experiment. It’s a dance-pop tune which I wanted to
make sound like a J Hacha De Zola
song. Ya know, make it sound ‘creepy and dark.’
Musically or lyrically speaking, that song is very
different from what I do. It couldn’t be any more different and was quite
challenging for me, especially vocally. Obviously Ariana Grande is an ultra-amazing vocalist - a real song bird - and
then there’s me!
I had a lot of fun turning that song into a ‘Tom Waits-esq barroom roar’ as Cover Me put it. Fast forward almost three years later and I’ve decided to keep experimenting and pushing the boundaries of what I do by covering some more pop tunes. However, interestingly enough, this time things are a bit different.
I had a lot of fun turning that song into a ‘Tom Waits-esq barroom roar’ as Cover Me put it. Fast forward almost three years later and I’ve decided to keep experimenting and pushing the boundaries of what I do by covering some more pop tunes. However, interestingly enough, this time things are a bit different.
During my Icaro Nouveau
recording sessions, I recorded what I thought would be another one-off pop
cover, ‘Writer In The Dark’ by Lorde. It has a dark, moody, and almost
even slightly ‘dangerous’ feeling.
I have always admired Lorde’s songwriting prowess. There has always been something
cynical and maybe even a bit dark about her songs and ‘Writer In The Dark’ is no different. I was able to really connect
to the darker overtones of the lyrics. I could totally relate to that whole
‘scary love’ vibe.
The version on her album was pretty stripped down. I
didn’t play with the tempo very much on my version, but wanted to make it a bit
of a party when the listener least expected it. Adding some Cumbia vibes, Farfisa,
and Saxophones picked things up a bit without taking away from the darkness of
the song.
I was quite happy with this cover and put it under my
hat for a bit, hoping for the right moment to release it.
Suddenly, some new pop artists emerged with even more
tunes that I felt like I could relate to. A friend of mine passed this song
along to me – ‘Bury A Friend’ by Billie Eilish – who I didn’t know about
at the time. As he passed it along he said ‘You should do this song! This could
be a legit J Hacha De Zola tune!’
When I finally put some ears to it, I couldn’t agree more.
Billie is truly making some moves that ya just don’t see
very often for a pop star nowadays. This song is an exploration of the darker
side of songwriting. The instruments on the original tune are electronic, so we
decided to have a go at it and put my brand of creepiness on using some
interesting folk instruments like a Kaval, Gadulka, and Banjo. Also that’s an
Upright acoustic Bass thumping away on there! It almost feels like a strange
Balkan Bluegrass folk-music type of thing. I hope folks will dig it.
Another tune that came to my attention is ‘Nightmare’ by Halsey. I try to stay ‘current’ on things, and I asked my friend’s
little sister ‘Hey what are you listening to? What do the kids think is cool today?’ This kid gave me a laundry list of pop artists that she really liked and from
this list, I found ‘Nightmare,’
another song which I could relate to. It is a song of coming into one's own
power and owning up to what one is. It's about self -acceptance despite one’s
imperfections. It is a song of liberation. I love it!
Production
wise, we took the tune into a different direction. It’s got this strange mix of
a Latin – 80’s Christopher Cross – ‘Kokomo’
thing going on complete with Bass Sax, Latin Piano, palm muted Guitars and Clarinets.
We had a lot of fun making this EP. I have developed a big admiration
for all the artists I have covered over the last few years, especially these ladies!
They are all incredible vocalists and performers. I can’t sing anywhere near as
good as they do, so it was very challenging for me to even try to do what they
do!
Why is the title of the record ‘UnPOPular’? Well, we had a
lot of fun with these, trying to apply my own filter to these wildly popular
and accessible songs, just to see if I could make them sound like J Hacha De Zola. In drawing out their
own inherent ‘darkness’ or ‘creepiness,’ adding my style of croonin’, and applying
‘old timey’ sounds using instruments, I think in some ways maybe what I’ve done
is take hits and made them LESS accessible!”
J Hacha De Zola is available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.
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J Hacha De Zola | Also Available
Now
J Hacha De Zola
Icaro
Nouveau
(Caballo
Negro)
Out Now
Streaming Link:
Track Listing:
01. Anarchy (VIDEO)
02. El Chucho (Hooko) (VIDEO)
03. On A Saturday
04. Juan Salchipapas
05. A Song For Her
06. Hollow Trees
07. A Fool’s Moon
08. Ode To Ralph Carney
09. Super Squeaky (VIDEO)
10. Hacha’s Lament
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J Hacha De Zola
‘Syn Illusión’ EP
(Caballo
Negro)
Out Now
Streaming Link:
Track Listing:
01. Syn Illusión (VIDEO)
02. Otro Lado
03. Lejos De Mi
04. El Mago Negro
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J Hacha De Zola | Links
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Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion | Contact
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