Three Questions With Zola Jesus
Next up in the 3Qs series is the amazing record producer, singer, and songwriter, Nika Roza Danilova, better known as Zola Jesus!
She was kind enough to answer three questions ahead of her show in LA on December 5th, Rite of the Oracle, presented by Eternal Research and KCRW. Grab tickets here.
Synth History: What are a few of your favorite pieces of gear of all time?
Zola Jesus: JMT anything
I have several of their synths, and always want more. There’s something so unwieldy and chaotic to their stuff. I really love working with gear that you can’t really predict. It allows for so much randomness and surprise, which I think is the backbone to the great work.
Polivoks
This is my bucket list synth. I know there are emulators and clones out there, but I really want an original. It’s one of the saddest and most busted sounding synths I’ve ever heard. So uniquely Soviet.
Cathedrals, or any large cavernous spaces, really.
Put me in a cathedral or a cave and I’ll be content for hours. I was taught to sing operatically, which basically demands space. The voice is nothing without air to move it. A cathedral has been engineered to amplify sound. No microphone, no PA, no reverb pedal comes close.
Synth History: What are three albums you think everyone should listen to at least once in their lifetime?
Pauline Oliveros, Stuart Dempster, Panaiotis - Deep Listening
Time Machines - Time Machines
Hildegard von Bingen - Canticles of Ecstasy
Synth History: As a producer and songwriter, what is one tip you have for maintaining creativity in the studio?
Zola Jesus: Fight against the pressure to judge. This should be the only war you wage in the studio.
The more you can allow yourself to be free, the more the muse will come to visit.
Synth History exclusive.
Photos provided by Eternal Research.
Conducted by Danz.
