Scarling. | |
|---|---|
 Christian Hejnal and Jessicka in 2005 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2001–2014 |
| Labels | |
| Past members |
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| Website | www |
Scarling. was an American noise pop band formed in Los Angeles in 2001. The band consisted of lead vocalist Jessicka Addams and guitarist Christian Hejnal.
The band's name comes from a fictional word created by singer/fine artist Jessicka in 1999. In 2001 the definition appeared on Scarling's website: "Middle English, from Old English scaerlinc, from scar+ -ling, -linc -ling; akin to Old High German von scar, Latin scarnos 1. the smallest mark on your heart left by the healing of a severe injury. 2. he or she who is scarred densely almost emotionless. 3. a mentally challenged/physically handicapped sibling of a normal star. 4. a band from Los Angeles. The "S" in Scarling. is sometimes lower case and the word itself ends in a full stop or period." [1]
Scarling. was formed by singer Jessicka Fodera (known simply as Jessicka) after the dissolution of her band, Jack Off Jill, and guitarist Christian Hejnal. They were introduced by guitarist Lisa Leveridge, [2] and they began rehearsing and recording in a San Fernando Valley performance space; after the pair had written a number of songs together, they began a search for additional band members and eventually cemented the first and very short-lived lineup of Scarling.
In early 2002, Jessicka was introduced to Long Gone John, owner of Sympathy for the Record Industry, by mutual friend Mark Ryden. On March 19, 2003, Scarling's debut single, "Band Aid Covers the Bullet Hole" (produced by Chris Vrenna), was released on the Sympathy for the Record Industry label. Its cover featured an illustration called "Wound 39" by Mark Ryden.
In April 2004, Scarling. released their debut album, Sweet Heart Dealer , a seven-song release again produced by Vrenna and packaged by Ryden. Later that year, Jessicka was featured on the cover of ROCKRGRL magazine's vocalist issue. Scarling was then invited to join the lineup of the Robert Smith-organized Curiosa Festival, performing on select West Coast dates alongside Interpol, The Rapture, Mogwai, Cursive, The Cooper Temple Clause, and longtime inspirations The Cure. [3] [4] [5] Smith described the band's music as "dark, desperate, chaotic, gorgeous pop music, the sound of the end of the world" and nominated "Sweet Heart Dealer" for the 2004 Shortlist Music Prize. [6] [7] [8] While Alternative Press Magazine said Scarling. sounded like, "being French kissed by the most beautiful beings in the world, really alluring yet massive stuff." [9] Three weeks before joining the Curiosa tour, drummer Garey Snider left and was briefly replaced by Samantha Maloney in order to perform live at a group art showing at the Copro/Nason Gallery (Santa Monica, California). Weeks later they found drummer Beth Gordon, who served as Scarling's permanent replacement. Scarling, with the help of friend and fill-in bassist Radio Sloan, continued to play around Los Angeles and San Francisco at clubs such as The Bottom Of The Hill, Spaceland and The Troubadour.
On October 21, 2004, John Peel, English disc jockey and radio presenter, invited Robert Smith to stand in for him while he was in Peru as a guest DJ on what turned out to be the last Peel Session show. [10] Smith played Scarling's Crispin Glover as one of the tracks in his eclectic set. [11] Scarling. were also chosen by Smith to be part of his Celebrity Playlist on iTunes along with Cocteau Twins, My Bloody Valentine, Supergrass, Nirvana, Placebo, The Psychedelic Furs, and several bands that played on the Curiosa tour earlier that year. [12] Smith wrote a quote about each song and wrote "Beautiful shadows" next to the Scarling. track. [13]
After a series of 7-inch singles on Sympathy, Scarling announced in early 2005 that their second album, So Long, Scarecrow , would appear later that year; it was preceded by the single "We Are the Music Makers", and was released on August 23, 2005. So Long, Scarecrow was co-produced by Rob Campanella, formerly of The Brian Jonestown Massacre, at his studio, The Committee to Keep Music Evil headquarters. The critical reception for Scarecrow was generally strong: Alternative Press gave the album a 5 out of 5 rating. [14] Simon Price from The Independent said, "In contrast to the abrasive JOJ sound, Scarling. work up a wonderfully hazy guitar swirl, reminiscent of post-My Bloody Valentine noise-pop from the Britain of the early Nineties." [15] [ permanent dead link ] Chris Beyond from No-Fi Magazine described Scarecrow as "somewhere between Blonde Redhead and Sonic Youth and said "there are 13 tracks on this album, but they leave you wanting more." [16] Scarling's was touted as resurrecting goth' by Venus magazine: "Goth isn’t dead. It’s just evolved into a sweeter version with Scarling’s variety of distorted but, dare I say, gorgeous version of the once-dreary genre. On the band’s full-length debut, So Long, Scarecrow, frontwoman Jessicka’s syrupy yet cautious vocals are quite different than her former angry, self-mutilating persona in the late ’90s Marilyn Manson-esque group Jack off Jill." [17]
In December 2005, Scarling. embarked on its first UK tour, creating a buzz for themselves and selling out most venues. SLS's first single "City Noise" is featured on the compilation Alright, This Time Just the Girls Vol. 2 and 2006's Staring To The Sun . The song "Bummer" from SLS was featured on Showtime's The L Word season 3 episode "Latecomer", [18] as well as an Urban Outfitters/Filter magazine compilation. An episode of the medical drama Grey's Anatomy (season 2) is titled "Band Aid Covers the Bullet Hole". [19]
In 2006, Scarling continued to tour in the United States and Europe, embarking on their first co-heading with UK shoegaze outfit Amusement Parks on Fire [20] and opening for The Wedding Present [21] and Depeche Mode later in the year.
Scarling. currently resides in the neighborhood of Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California. On February 14, 2006 (Valentine's Day), while on a break from touring, Jessicka and guitarist Christian Hejnal were engaged. Their wedding took place on October 13, 2007, at the Oviatt Penthouse in Los Angeles. [22] The band was largely on hiatus for six years following their marriage, with Jessicka returning to focus on her art career. [23] [24]
Scarling. performed at the wedding of Bravo's Shear Genius finalist Janine Jarman and Matthew Wolcott at the Houdini Mansion in Hollywood on June 26, 2010. [25]
Jessicka has stated that, after her art show "Little Grey Secrets", Scarling. would resume. Scarling. released their single "Who Wants To Die For Art?" digitally in the US on iTunes October 29, 2013. Jessicka Addams suffered health problems shortly after the release of the songs. [26]
On May 13, 2014, Mark Ryden released an album entitled The Gay Nineties Old Tyme Music: Daisy Bell, that features Scarling along with other artists all giving a different rendition of the same song, "Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)". The album, printed on 180 g red vinyl, was limited to 999 copies, all hand-numbered and signed by Ryden. Half of the records were sold at the Michael Kohn gallery. The proceeds from the record will benefit Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit that supports musical education in disadvantaged elementary schools. [27] [28]
Studio albums
Kevin Michael Dompe, born and best-known as Kevin Michael Haskins, is an English drummer, best known from the British rock group Bauhaus. He was also a member of Tones on Tail and Love and Rockets.
Mark Ryden is an American painter who is considered to be part of the Lowbrow art movement. He was dubbed "the god-father of pop surrealism" by Interview magazine. In 2015, Artnet named Ryden and his wife, painter Marion Peck, the king and queen of Pop Surrealism.
Jessicka Addams is an American visual artist and musician. Best known by her stage name Jessicka, she was the frontwoman for the alternative rock band Jack Off Jill, and later for the noise-pop band Scarling.
Samantha Maloney is an American musician best known for playing in the bands Hole and Mötley Crüe. She has also performed live with Eagles of Death Metal and Peaches.
Robin Moulder is an American entrepreneur, producer, and musician, best known as being one of the founders of the riot goth-girl group Jack Off Jill and her subsequent project, TCR. She is a bassist, pianist, and programmer. She is the CEO and co-founder of 3lb Games, a virtual and mixed reality video game developer.
So Long, Scarecrow is the second and final studio album by the rock band Scarling. Written and recorded in early 2005, and released on October 25, 2005. It is Scarling.'s only album to feature drummer Beth Gordon. Its title is a reference to The Wizard of Oz: in lead vocalist Jessicka's view, the film's Scarecrow is a metaphor for the band itself; the character's initial lack of and search for a brain, she explains, parallels Scarling.'s search for new territory in a predictable and monotonous musical environment.
Sweet Heart Dealer is the debut studio album by the rock band Scarling., released on February 17, 2004, through Sympathy For The Record Industry. Originally scheduled for release as Butcherbourne, the album was retitled at the last minute, and pared down from 11 tracks to seven during mixing at Old Blue Studios in Los Angeles. The songs "A Constant Reminder", "Surgeon General", "Here On Earth" and "Funeral Gown" were recorded then omitted and have yet to be released.
Clear Hearts Grey Flowers is the second and final studio album by American rock band Jack Off Jill, released on July 17, 2000, through 404 Music and Risk Records. It was produced by Chris Vrenna of Nine Inch Nails/Tweaker.
John Mermis, known as Long Gone John, is an American entrepreneur best known for his record label, Sympathy for the Record Industry, and his vinyl toy company, Necessaries Toy Foundation. He lived in Long Beach, California, for 30 years, but relocated to Olympia, Washington, in 2007.
Christian Hejnal Addams is an American visual effects producer and the guitarist and occasional vocalist of the Los Angeles-based rock band Scarling.
"Band Aid Covers the Bullet Hole" is a single by Los Angeles, California rock band Scarling. It was released in the USA on 7" vinyl on March 19, 2003, on the Sympathy for the Record Industry label, and on compact disc on December 16.
"Crispin Glover" is the second single from Scarling.'s debut album, Sweet Heart Dealer. It was released in the USA on two separate 7" vinyl records on November 7, 2004 on the Sympathy for the Record Industry label. Each record has its own cover art — one a portrait of the song's titular actor, the other a photo of the band — and a unique b-side.
Rob Campanella is an American musician, best known as a Los Angeles producer, engineer, and member of The Quarter After.
Staring to the Sun is a single and an extended play (EP) by American noise pop band Scarling. It was released on June 6, 2006. "Staring to the Sun" seems to be a sister song to So Long, Scarecrow's title track as the two songs share multiple lines of lyrics.
"Teenage Whore" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole. It is the first track on the band's debut studio album, Pretty on the Inside (1991), and was released as a single in the United Kingdom on the European label, City Slang in September 1991. The single was released in both compact disc as well as 12" and 7" vinyl, with "Drown Soda" and "Burn Black" as b-sides. Though it did not chart in the United States, the single gained popularity in the United Kingdom upon its release, peaking at #1 on the UK Indie Chart in September 1991.
Sexless Demons and Scars is the debut album by Jack Off Jill. At the time the group consisted of Jessicka, Agent Moulder, Ho Ho Spade, and Lauracet Simpson. Original members Michelle Inhell and Tenni Ah-Cha-Cha left the band a few months prior to the recording.
Jack Off Jill was an American alternative rock band from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, founded in 1992 by vocalist Jessicka, drummer Tenni Ah-Cha-Cha, bassist/keyboardist Agent Moulder, and guitarist Michelle Inhell. Though these four women were the initial founders, nine members rotated through the group in its life-span, including Scott Putesky, guitarist and co-founder of Marilyn Manson. The band lasted nine years, with only Jessicka and Moulder remaining throughout the initial run. The band reunited in 2015 for a number of shows, with Jessicka, Tenni, Inhell, and bassist Helen Storer.
Kyle DiFulvio is an American singer–songwriter and musician. He is noted for his work in American rock bands Scarling., The Studdogs, and Skeleteen.
"Who Wants to Die for Art?" is the fifth and final single from American noise pop band Scarling. It was released on October 29, 2013 through The Committee to Keep Music Evil, and was available as a 7" single from the band's online store for a limited amount of time. It is also Jessicka's final musical release before her retirement from music in 2021.
The discography of the American noise pop band Scarling consists of two studio albums, two extended plays, and five singles.
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