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a r t i s t b i o g r a p h y Born Elaine Sijera Lachica in Baltimore, Maryland, Elaine began studying piano, violin and singing at age 3. Growing up with a musican mother, Elaine performed and listened to all genres of music in particular classical, jazz, musicals and British and American pop music. Major music influences include the Cocteau Twins, Tori Amos, Nick Drake, Radiohead, Cassandra Wilson and Bach. At 18, while studying classical voice at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, she formed a band called 'Azure' with guitarist Nito Gan and drummer Blaise Keller. Azure's blend of vocal layers upon hypnotic guitar/keyboard atmospherics won them positive press, radio airplay and performances at colleges and clubs throughout the east coast. As a soloist at Peabody, Elaine toured Italy, performed opera, premiered music by Peabody composers, collaborated with visual artists from the Maryland Institute of Art for multi-media pieces and was awarded the Woodhead prize for Voice. Elaine graduated from Peabody and studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles. Afterwards she moved to New York and began freelancing as a classical singer with the New York Collegium and the Waverley Consort performing and touring throughout the U.S. all the while composing songs. In 2000, Elaine was awarded a Beebe fellowship to study abroad at the Royal College of Music in London. She finished writing songs for '9' in London then returned to the U.S. and produced and recorded her debut CD for a 2002 release. Described as "alternative-soul fused with electro-acoustic soundscapes", songs from '9' receive international airplay and critical acclaim around the world. In 2004, Elaine released her 2nd LP 'Apolune'. This current album reveals her multilayered sound as well as vocal and instrumental arrangements that are more ambitious in scope. Some songs on 'Apolune' showcase a different writing style delivering a more immediate straightforward indie-pop. Currently she plays shows with New York drummer Ryan Cavan and bassist Rich Chapple. Ryan and Rich recorded drums and bass for 'Apolune' and help to create a more dynamic live show. Elaine performs her music throughout the east coast where she has played shows at The Vault in Baltimore, CB's 313 Gallery, The Sidewalk Café, Acmeunderground, Freddy's and Vibe in New York City. a r t i s t w o r d s '9' is about letting go of the past and about learning through pain and somehow being re-birthed from that pain. At the risk of using too many adjectives, I described it as "alternative-soul meets ethereal electro-acoustic soundscapes" I wrote all of the songs at the piano and wanted all of them to stand alone as acoustic songs so that I could perform them live with a minimal set-up. In the studio, I was interested in exploring a multilayered vocal and instrumental sound. I created sounds and loops on synthesizers and drum machines and I explored the different timbres of the bass, guitar and piano. I experimented with delay and reverse and other processing signals. Also I layered my vocals and used my voice in different ways-either breathy and low or bluesy or floaty and descant like. 'Sirens'. I named this song 'Sirens' because the overlapping vocal lines reminded me of the sirens that beckoned the sailors in Homer's Odyssey. At that point in my life I felt like there were so many voices inside and outside of my head that were pulling me in many different directions. I felt far away from where I should be going. I took the vocal line of 'Garlands Racing' and layered the same line on top of each other in a different key and a different tempo-I felt like the same melody could make a completely different song and still be interesting and compelling. 'Be That Day' is a song that brings up different scars from my past as well as some vivid memories from my travels. This was a bluesy song and it is one of my favorite acoustic songs to perform live. I used the instruments to provide texture in order to text-paint the lyrics 'Varuna'- an archaic Hindu god, neither masculine or feminine, representing sexual union and lord of the sky, of waters, of law, of winds, of seasons and of death. I was writing about breaking free and releasing oneself and the tumultuous energies that help transform you. In the beginning of the song, I wanted the music to mimic this morphing energy like the back wards vibes into the vocal lines -a continuous line with only the piano and drums as anchor. 'The Door' is a song I wrote in response to 9/11. I was feeling so much grief. I sensed most people were going through this and this was a song to all who were grieving. I love to perform this song live. In the studio version the bass and electric parts are very interwoven-there's an interdependence there that I enjoy. 'Garlands Racing' is about the breakdown of the ego when a relationship changes form. When I wrote these lyrics I remember feeling angry about the way a relationship ended followed by pangs of guilt and remorse. This song was a dark electronic song where I used many different synthesizer sounds. I wanted the drum machine and the live drums to play off of each other for a very heavy groove. 'Drift'. There's a melancholy in this song, a deep sadness. I wanted to move through a sadness I was feeling at the time. There is a lot of space to breathe in the song-I didn't want to be afraid of silence and stillness. This is a straightforward acoustic piece and I rely on the vocal melody and the lyrics to carry almost all of the emotion. 'In this wilderness' is a song about isolation, about love lost and how patience is demanded of you in difficult times. I wanted to write a song with a very electronic, almost artificial accompaniment with a very emotional vocal line - this gave the piece musical tension for me. 'Closer' is about the lies we tell ourselves, and how easy it is to be mesmerized by cheap laughs and cheap dramas. There's almost always a voice that beckons you out of there. There's a bit of tongue in cheek here lyrically and I wanted the song to have an electronic effected soundscape but be very grounded with the drum machine 'Blue Blinding Sun' is a song inspired by my grandmother who died in 2000. My sister Melissa and I found one of her old diaries dated before Alzheimer's took hold of her. She had gone to Medjugorie in the former Yugoslavia for a Catholic retreat, a shrine where the Virgin Mary was said to appear. Strange phenomenon would happen there-rosaries turned gold and sometimes the sun would "dance", moving up and down. My Lola (Filipino for "grandmother") would look at this "dancing" sun and would write in her diary over and over---'Blue blinding sun...blue blinding sun". I don't know what Lola saw but I loved the image of a blue blinding sun and I loved thinking about Lola looking directly into the sun, unafraid. I wanted to write a song that imitated the feeling of looking at the sky. Here the voices sweep up and down with a delayed guitar to ground us a little amidst the piano flourishes '9' : Creating '9' was a kind of therapy for me and it was my first time recording an album by myself and I wrote everything and performed almost everything alone (Nito played on a few songs). Spending that much time alone-in that kind of intense state-I released a lot of negative energy and I started to learn how to just be. Check out the artist's website: http://www.elainelachica.com Track List: 1. Sirens 2. Be That Day 3. Varuna 4. The Door 5. Garlands Racing 6. Drift 7. In this Wilderness 8. Closer 9. Blue Blinding Sun Suggested CDs:
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