Lisa Hammer’s Radiana (CD) #CDsale

Product Description

“…a precision modern rock record that’s damn near irresistible.” –Blurt

Radiana’s music is driving power-pop that comes out of 80’s Indie Rock meets 60’s pop and 90’s Shoegaze. Described as the perfect mix of “dreamy, danceable, noisy and ethereal,” the swirling, layered female vocals, shimmering harmonies, lush walls of guitar, and a bass & drums sound reminiscent of Stereolab and The Cardigans. Influences include: Blur, Wendy and Bonnie, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Adam and the Ants, Kate Bush, Blondie with a touch of New Order.

Loyal fans of the Pop Punk and Goth music scene have something to be cheerful about, and not ironically. Steven Deal of Bleached Black, Chopper, and The Absolute Zeros and Lisa Stockton-Wilson, formerly Lisa Hammer of Requiem In White, Mors Syphilitica, The Venture Brothers, are collaborating for the first time in a new project called Radiana. Deal plays lead guitar and co-writes with singer Stockton-Wilson who are joined by Daniel Kohler on bass (The Naomi Star, Steven Deal Band) for this debut.

Lisa Stockton-Wilson is plucky with big eyes and bobbed red hair and sprinkles her conversations with fluty laughter. She is perhaps most well known for her portrayal of Triana Orpheus on the Cartoon Network Adult Swim cult hit The Venture Brothers. But she has also had a successful career as an independent filmmaker and singer. Lisa recalls, “Stevo and I used to loiter around town together in the 80’s but it never occurred to us to start a band, we were in other bands at the time. I put him in my early film Pus$bucket, but we never played music together. Fast forward to almost now, and after recording [two tracks for his first solo album, Radio 12 in 2009], we saw how well we worked together, and decided to form a band. This collaboration is pure magic; it’s one of the best things we’ve each ever done.”

Lisa continues: “Everyone uses this word so freely, but I don’t care, I will say it. Steve is a genius. We get in a room and I turn on the recorder and he just comes up with these amazing riffs so effortlessly. I get so inspired while he’s recording that I run off and write the lyrics and start humming these weird melodies and almost medieval harmonies that shouldn’t work and so we end up writing and recording three songs in one night. I take the tracks home and add all the vocal layers and some keyboards and weird sound effects at like 3 in the morning in some hysterical trance and then send the tracks off to Dan who does his magic to make them sound luscious.”

There is something about Steven Deal that is impossible to resist. His long Roman nose and mischievous smile are magnetic as he regales you of his musical and civilian exploits. He is often sitting cross legged in leather pants and boots. Passersby constantly ask where he got his Union Jack leather jacket. It’s a special order that you won’t find in the States. Deal explains that this may be the best music he’s ever created. “Lisa adds a twist to my composition that I would never have considered in my solo work.”

“I’d always heard of bands doing a hybrid of seemingly clashing musical styles and making it ‘work’ but had never experienced it until i started work on Radiana with Lisa. We’ve been close friends for decades and always wanted to work together, but how the hell could we? I had a ’77 punk fixation with many streaks of British Mod influence, and she was literally a QUEEN of the gothic music scene. Don’t ask me how the hell it all fell together so easily but I can honestly say, when we write together, it is not work at all. It’s the easiest gig I’ve ever had in my life. Of my five writing partners I’ve had over the years Lisa is the only one where something truly psychic is happening, truly non judgmental, and when we do criticize each other’s work we’re usually rolling on the floor with laughter or mutual hatred, (laughs)…”

After listening to the new master Bliss Aquamarine, a trusted alternative music blog, agrees calling it “a genuine masterpiece, loaded with strong melodies and well-crafted arrangements. Radiana are a truly talented outfit that deserves a wide audience.”

The name Radiana comes from a vintage British newspaper. Radiana made headlines in the 1920’s as a fake female robot created by inventor John Popjie.

“Radiana, called a ‘mechanical man’ by the press, was exhibited by Professor John Popjie in the 1920s and 30s. This ‘queer figure’ could fly an airplane, drive a car while the professor was blindfolded, do conjuring feats, make a cake, shave a man from the audience and ‘extract teeth at the Professor’s will.’ The secret is that Professor Popjie’s female assistant was hiding inside.” – Deceptology.com

The major difficulty in creating a new album was the physical distance between the two artists. The excitement of creating their new music was enough to close the gap. Since time together was at a premium meetings in Connecticut would often evolve into all night jam sessions where they would come up with ideas for three or four songs and refine them later in their separate abodes. The album was recorded in both New York and Connecticut with Lisa and Steve often meeting in Connecticut. Tracks would be recorded separately and transferred through the magic of the internet.

Steve continues: “This band is also the first time where I finally got to be like all my guitar heroes, rhythm-based with some lead playing, mostly a backup singer…..like Mick Ronson, Derwood Andrews, Townshend, Graham Coxon, Ace Frehley, Jimmy Page, Eddie Phillips, Steve Jones…..I always felt “Forced” to sing in all my other bands, and of course in the solo gig I HAVE TO sing, and in the studio I’ll sing all day long, but live…..I literally feel like a dog on a chain, chained to that damn mic. Plus I really got to ape one of my all-time heroes Marco Pirroni, who I was listening to heavily during the writing of all my riffs…mind you like Pirroni, it’ helps to have a gifted lyricist and singer who can sing circles around me, being trained and all…”

ADDITIONAL HISTORY:

Lisa sang for Requiem in White, an early pioneering ethereal death rock band formed in 1985. They performed for ten years sharing the stage with Christian Death, Type 0 Negative, and Biohazard. The band eventually morphed into Mors Syphilitica and released 3 CDs:  Mors Syphilitica  (1996),  Primrose (1998) and Feather and Fate (2001 – on the Projekt label). Lisa eventually moved to Los Angeles to continue work as a filmmaker, while also composing music for film and stage. By 2007 Lisa missed performing live and founded her band The Terror Twins (with pianist/composer/brother James Merendino of SLC Punk fame). Their music has been described as “music for ghosts.”  In 2009 Lisa released her Dakini solo album on Projekt, which was engineered and mixed by Dan Kohler, now a member of Radiana.

“Comparisons to Dead Can Dance, Enya and Loreena McKennitt are obvious, but that doesn’t begin to capture the special magic that Hammer unleashes. Dakini is a special, unique listening experience aimed at those who hunger for music that is deep, profound and captivating.” – New Age Retailer Magazine.

Playing since he was 13 years old, Steven Deal signed his first record deal with Relativity/Sony at age 18 with his band, Bleached Black. They went on to tour the United States and Canada several times as a supporting act for groups such as Dinosaur Jr., Das Damen, The Screaming Trees, and The Neighborhoods. Their first album, Wrist Slashing Romance EP, was produced by Lou Giordano (Husker Du, Volcano Suns, GooGoo Dolls, and many others). Steve started the band Chopper in 1989, signed with Big Deal/Caroline records and toured throughout the UK, France and Spain. In 1997 he started his third band The Absolute Zeros picked up his deal with Big Deal Records, now owned by Paradigm in NYC. In the early 2000s Deal began performing with the Naomi Star as 2nd Guitarist/Vocalist/Songwriter with bassist/engineer Dan Kohler before they embarked on a solo album in the late 2000s.