Emily Wells plays songs from her ambitious new album “The Symphonies: Dreams Memories and Parties” at a series of shows at the Hotel Café in Los Angeles. Starting out warming the stage for a sold out Lykee Li show on August 25th, Emily will play solo gigs on September 4th and 18th.Emily Wells will self release her symphonic folk electric eclectic fantasy set “The Symphonies: Dreams Memories and Parties” on October 21st. Don’t Miss her incredible, intelligent live show!
Check out Emily on KCRW’s Nic Harcourt's new online show 60 Frames
Look for Emily at minute 1:35
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4XiI-dp4kg
Hear "Symphony 6: Fair Thee Well and Requiem Mix"
Emily Wells in her dreams and waking life planned a party where her memories and the present could dance together. Emily Wells wrote, performed, recorded, and produced a series of fantastically modern symphonies for the festivities. The result is “The Symphonies: Dreams Memories & Parties”, is a symphonic folk electric eclectic fantasy set with sonics and intelligent, emotive lyrics. The record makes the listener turn up the volume and press repeat, while the live show draws the audience in closer to the stage to stare in wonder at the pixie-punk of a girl, dressed in a crinoline, adorned with tiny white lights, who creates the sounds of an orchestra with one lone violin.
Emily Wells is an anomaly among musicians most of whom spend their careers striving for a major label deal. Before she was old enough to vote, a major label was courting Wells, two music-publishing companies were competing for the rights to her songs and she was recording with award winning producers. By the time she was legally buying her first drink, however, Emily had chosen a different path. With true indie ethos, she moved from New York, leaving in her wake a lucrative deal from a major label, the renowned producers, recording studios, and a manager. During that period of her life, Emily had been offered everything that most musicians want. Everything except what she, as an artist, needed most: creative control.
Attaining the ever-elusive artist’s dream of creative control, as Wells would soon learn, comes only at a price. Wells’ cost was the thousands of miles logged, traipsing across country, playing in and outside of bars, pubs, and juke joints. She traveled in a tiny car, dragging along guitars, a tiny bass, a giant old Linn 9000 drum machine, and a four track. When flush, Emily would spend the occasional night in a seedy motel room where she would tirelessly record with her archaic four-track and dirty old instruments. Emily didn’t look back to her swank days as a would-be priority artist on a major label and regret any of her choices; she saw each obstacle in her path as a challenge.
Eventually landing in Los Angeles, Wells finally learned through recording and performing, how to have the creative control she craved. Slowly building her own studio, she taught herself how to record and produce. This is the studio in which she would create, record, mix, and produce “The Symphonies: Dreams Memories & Parties” her latest release. To get the sound of a full orchestra, Emily didn’t take the easy way out and simply loop the layers of violins; instead, she played up to 21 separate tracks of violin on each symphony, often using an octave pedal to create the tones of an underwater cello or viola. In addition to the strings, there is a plethora of other sounds, electronic and organic alike. Two years ago, Wells found a bassist, Joey Reina, and a drummer, Sam Halterman, who add a richness to both the live show and the recordings. Their contributions to “The Symphonies” give the compositions more depth as well as a little junk in the trunk.
Prior to “The Symphonies”, Emily released “Beautiful Sleepyhead and the Laughing Yaks” to an ever widening audience and much critical acclaim. NPR featured the album on “All Songs Considered Open Mic” and Reviewer Magazine raved, “…Sleepyhead…has some of the best, most well written music and gorgeous female vocals ever.” iTunes also featured Wells as an Indie Spotlight Artist.
Live Dates:
8.25- The Hotel Café- opening for Lykee Li- Los Angeles
9.4- The Hotel Café- Los Angeles
9.18- The Hotel Café- Los Angeles
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