BIO:
What is it about reverb that I love so much?” asked Shana Falana.?“It takes sound and puts a bubble around it,” she answered. “It’s like saturating a wave form in color. It’s a vibration out. It’s almost instantly visual.”?Which is how one might classify Falana’s music. Peter Aaron, rock critic for the culture magazine Chronogram chose “A dreamy, far-off aural mist recalling Galaxie 500 and Cocteau Twins. [It] gives the strong impression that all of Ms. Falana’s winging, metaphorical or reality-based, has only been relaxed and easy.”?In fact, critics across the country have responded to the effortless lucidity of Shana’s music, calling it “positive music of wonderment and discovery” (Dave Cromwell, DELI Magazine) and “atmospheric, pure and free” (David Malachowski, Daily Freeman). Malachowski went on to liken Shana’s creative approach to that of “Rothko or Pollack” saying “[she] works with abstract shapes and moods and intent, impressions not fully revealed, left open for interpretation.” Writing and performing music for nearly 20 years, on a trajectory that has lead from San Francisco to New York City, and finally upstate to the Catskill Mountains, Shana Falana is finally making her official debut, the In the Light EP. For close to a decade-in the late 90’s and early 00’s-Shana played a major role in San Francisco’s vibrant music scene. The bands she played in were as eclectic as the scene itself, ranging from a Bulgarian Women’s choir, to various rock operas, to drumming in Kelley Stoltz’s band. While at the time they were just creative outlets for a highly talented, energetic young women, she now sees their influence on her current work. “Much of the dissonant tonality in my music comes from what I learned singing Bulgarian folk harmonies,” she said. “Drones, chants, improvised singing; the group I was in really taught me how to use my voice in all of these powerful new ways.” But Shana wasn’t just learning how to command her voice, she was building her sound, and she was getting insight from some of the most influential names in indie-rock. Gerard Smith from TV on the Radio gave Shana her first Delay Pedal, which allowed her to loop her own vocals and guitar in real time, something which remains an essential piece of her live show. Anton Newcombe from the Brian Jonestown Massacre showed her a simple way to create drones with her organ, using tape to hold down the desired keys. “Tonally I like big,” said Falana. “I love over-saturation of sound.” Like many in her circle, Falana eventually felt compelled to bring her music out of the Bay area into the world. “It was time to try ourselves out someplace else,” she reminisced. After visiting a friend in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, she instantly fell in love with the area, making the move permanent in fall of 2003. “I was exploring a new side of myself, a darker side. New York was so much tougher than the California scenes. Everyone was so competitive, which I loved, it forced me to get my shit together!” Over the next five years, she did just that. Fine tuning her songwriting and vocal approach, Shana recorded close to four albums worth of material, and very much established the sound she has become recognized for today. Though an abundantly creative time, Falana was struggling to keep pace with the restless city, and subsequently found herself in a dangerous drug addiction. That, along with a series of life altering events (which included the death of her father, the loss of a close friend to an overdose, and a freak freight elevator incident that took the tip of her index finger) encouraged Shana to move Upstate, with the expressed purpose of getting sober. Landing in the artistic hamlet of Rosendale, Shana now has over two years of sobriety, and she celebrates her hard won clarity with the In The Light EP- a collection of 6 songs that speak about nothing less then transcendence. Sings Falana on the title track with her unbending honesty- “In the light it’s gonna be scary. In the light you’re going to see everything.”?Mixed by Gareth Jones (Grizzly Bear, Interpol) and produced by Kevin McMahon (Real Estate, Titus Andronicus) In the Light was born with glimmers of dreamy pop among deep layers of sonic and harmonic textures. Legendary players such as cellist Jane Scarpantoni (Lou Reed, Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and local sensation Breakfast in Fur, enthusiastically lent their genius to the project. With demons no longer holding her back, Shana Falana has found a way to actualize her life’s purpose through her music. “I have been in dark, dark places with dangerous people,” she said. “I have been carried. I feel like I was carried because I’m supposed to give something to people.” In addition to her pristine new recordings, Shana has also put together an intensely engaging live show which features perfectly synced original film projections, pre-recorded “backing” instruments, a live drummer, and of course, Shana’s crystal clear vocals and powerful guitar playing. “I’m going for the feminine, for the sweetness. It takes a lot of courage because vulnerability is just not sexy in rock. I’m bringing back Snow White.” [May 2012]
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