Ana Lola Roman

Ana Lola Roman wants you to be uncomfortable.

The Brooklyn, N.Y.-based avant garde singer/songwriter aims for her listeners to be on edge so they’re in the right frame of mind, she said.

“I’m not interested in people standing around, drinking their vodka tonic and going ‘Yeah!’ ” she said. “I’m just trying to get people away from the reality television and have them come out and see some music that’s thought-provoking.”

Roman’s introduction to the piano at age 6 sparked a slow-burning creative drive. She was writing songs two years later, but the real flood didn’t hit until much later.

Roman landed in New York for college, escaping her home in Choctaw, Okla., a suburban vortex where any hope of performing would have died a slow death, she said.

After the events of Sept. 11, 2001, rocked the city, a well of pent-up energy and frustration with “stupidity and closemindedness” finally burst, she said.

“I had all this fermentation and energy inside me for a while, and I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do,” she said. “Finally, I just took all the songs out and started performing them.

“It all came to fruition slowly and painfully and wonderfully.”

Roman’s off-center style combines a warbling voice set above aggressive, staccato piano-driven melodies accompanied by drum fill courtesy of Tim Stevens, formerly of the math-rock band Table.

Tonight, she’ll join fellow New Yorkers Aquila and the Huntsville-based Kabuki surf-rock band Daikaiju for a triple bill at Barking Legs Theater.

That crowd should be a welcome change from the Big Apple’s scene, Roman said.

“I’m hoping these people are able to listen and be provoked a little bit and to have some fun,” she said. “In the long run, I just want them to dance and sing and to have fun and to get away from the television.”
- Chattanooga Times Free Press

Ana Lola Roman and her lavishly strange, fluttering synth-pop caught my ear a while ago after I noticed she had shows coming up with the likes of Best Hits, Miracles, about half of Wham City, and an upcoming Impose date (June 27) with Pterodactyl, A Sunny Day in Glasgow and Boogie Boarder. Wham City was last friday, and soundly confirmed her talents as an instrumentalist, uniquely tremelo-heavy vocalist, and magnetic stage personality. I can see how she became friends with the Wham crew: her compositions are bright and fun, catching an easy balance between the accessible and the arcane. I'd hazard to say that her best material may have been what I saw live, but a couple recent EPs do capture much of what makes her work so intriguing.\ - Impose Magazine

Ana Lola Roman is a Brooklyn synth-pop gem by way of Oklahoma who frequently pops up in Baltimore and Berlin, leaving a trail of lavishly strange dance performances and videos wherever she travels. Bloglin readers may recall that she was spotted last month by Toilet Cobra judging the Soul Clap dance-off at one of Jonathan Toubin’s incredible rock n’ roll parties. Ana recently teamed up with Jeff Donaldson, better known in the chiptune scene as Notendo, to make this video with some vintage Panasonic cameras. I very much dig the color and the quality of the old tape stock.

I also collaborated on a video with Ana earlier this year for “Some Volatile Sh*t Man,” made with a simple point-and-shoot digital camera and some tasty samples culled from old educational films about weather.

Ana’s headed back to Germany in 2010 for an artist’s residency at an ancient Bavarian castle or something like that, but I’m sure she’ll return to Brooklyn eventually, so keep your eyes peeled. Whatever happens, the colors will be intense. - MISHKA

Ana Lola Roman: Animated and unusual synth-pop. Ana is a Brooklynite, in fact, but describes her appartment as the Brooklyn stop on an underground railroad leading bands out of Baltimore. And she seems to fit in well with that crowd, cavorting on stage with a certain charisma and lightly darting fingers for both keyboard and guitar. Backed by a drummer and some pre-aranged synth loops, Ana vaulted through her songs — banging out chords, skipping across time signature shifts, launching into spirals of arpeggio, and providing tremolo-voiced words all along. - Impose Magazine

WHO? American singer, Ana Lola Roman, who didn’t want to tell us her age but is ‘no longer in her 20s’
SOUNDS LIKE Róisín Murphy’s vocals with mysterious, melodic beats

She may look pretty, but singer-songwriter Ana Lola Roman has a dark side. “It’s not enough for me to write about heartache and a cute boy,” she says, “It’s about finding hope and dystopia at the same time.”

Born to American and Spanish parents, Ana grew up in sleepy Oklahoma, so it was on holiday in Spain that she discovered dance music. “I was extremely under age,” she recalls, “but those first clubbing experiences changed everything for me.”

Since her awakening to beats and bass she’s travelled the world, finally settling in New York, where she’s picked up a mentor and friend in the form of Scissor Sisters’ producer Jean Luc Sinclair, who is now helping her produce music. “Working with him has been a dream come true,” she says. “He never just changes anything, he enhances. He knows exactly what I’m thinking, and he’s been an amazing guide.”

Don’t expect to find her music dropped in any main-room DJ sets. Her tracks juxtapose an emotional and fragile vocal delivery with raw electronic sound. Buzzing, reverbed beats sit over piano chords and Ana’s haunting voice. Imagine Kate Bush at Sónar By Day and you’re on your way.

Citing influences such as Madonna and Siouxsie And The Banshees, the self-proclaimed “gym freak” plans to release her album in September, and hopes to embark on a tour. “I want to be completely immersed in the music. I want to wake up and not know where I am,” she says. Let’s hope she packs a map.

Ana’s LP, ‘Even Professional Assassins Have Lovers And Romances’ is set for release in September on MySecretIdentity - Mixmag

WHO? American singer, Ana Lola Roman, who didn’t want to tell us her age but is ‘no longer in her 20s’
SOUNDS LIKE Róisín Murphy’s vocals with mysterious, melodic beats

She may look pretty, but singer-songwriter Ana Lola Roman has a dark side. “It’s not enough for me to write about heartache and a cute boy,” she says, “It’s about finding hope and dystopia at the same time.”

Born to American and Spanish parents, Ana grew up in sleepy Oklahoma, so it was on holiday in Spain that she discovered dance music. “I was extremely under age,” she recalls, “but those first clubbing experiences changed everything for me.”

Since her awakening to beats and bass she’s travelled the world, finally settling in New York, where she’s picked up a mentor and friend in the form of Scissor Sisters’ producer Jean Luc Sinclair, who is now helping her produce music. “Working with him has been a dream come true,” she says. “He never just changes anything, he enhances. He knows exactly what I’m thinking, and he’s been an amazing guide.”

Don’t expect to find her music dropped in any main-room DJ sets. Her tracks juxtapose an emotional and fragile vocal delivery with raw electronic sound. Buzzing, reverbed beats sit over piano chords and Ana’s haunting voice. Imagine Kate Bush at Sónar By Day and you’re on your way.

Citing influences such as Madonna and Siouxsie And The Banshees, the self-proclaimed “gym freak” plans to release her album in September, and hopes to embark on a tour. “I want to be completely immersed in the music. I want to wake up and not know where I am,” she says. Let’s hope she packs a map.

Ana’s LP, ‘Even Professional Assassins Have Lovers And Romances’ is set for release in September on MySecretIdentity - Mixmag

A blast from the past, with strong futuristic elements entwined in her musical productions, Ana Lola Roman is one to keep an eye on. Ana Lola Roman delivers hits straight to the soul with her new single Jigsaw/Klutch. This ‘jack-of-all- trades’ just so happens to be a songwriter, singer, choreographer, sound designer and multi-instrumentalist. The siren, originally from Oklahoma also happens to be based in both Berlin and NYC. This makes her phenomenal in my book, and quite possibly an extra-terrestrial. Described as avant-garde, emotive and neo-classical, it is definitely hard to put a label on her work. All that matters is it’s good, and well worth a listen.

Klutch radiates an almost electronic tribal essence that is merged with vulnerable vocals and piano compositions. On the other hand, the musical weight of Jigsaw conveys the emotive content within her lyrics, but also manages to weave in futuristic content at the same time. Her atmospheric soundscapes and clean aesthetics are strong and full of character. Deep lyrics and dark synths entice the listener into a meditative state in which dancing is a necessity.

Jean Luc Sinclair, the music extraordinaire who has collaborated with Trent Reznor and The Scissor Sisters in the past, has recently jumped aboard Roman’s project. Tom Ellard of the popular electronic group, Severed Heads, is also reworking a number of his ‘80s classics with Roman’s help. The young lady’s first full feature length album is due for release in the latter half of 2011, and tour dates will be announced not long after. Jigsaw/Klutch will be available from 20th June so mark your calendars. - Planet Notion

Ana Lola Roman is a multi-faceted new artist from Brooklyn, who is up to release her debut album “Even Assassins Have Lovers and Romances” on January 2012 having electro-pop sounds and glam to super dry new-wave and avant-pop. During the year she released the song “15 Minute God”, which is also her most recent video clip, directed by Matthew Caron. She cites influences from flamenco, tango, 80s pop, Sheffield synthpop and industrial, while international press already compares her to Nina Hagen, David Bowie and Roxy Music.
- Ozon Magazine

PRESS AND REVIEWS

“Ana Lola Roman's Canon of surreal songs, contradictory stylings, and Japanese music box hi-jinks won't let anyone get too comfortable in their seats on any night. Ana evokes a Thelonious Monk dancing with Joplin, Latin flourishes gone acidic. Her voice teeters from high Edith Piaf ecstasy to low Bowie-esque swagger, onwards towards a Nina Hagen schizophrenia. Her stage prowess is both withdrawn, unpredictable, and down right delicious."
~GAWKER.COM.

“ITS SORT OF DAVID LYNCH MEETS THE CENTIMETERS”
~MOMUS, recording artist and founder of imomus.com

"Ana is making a name for herself as the new name in production and performance. She plays a thoughtful, bugged out electro that joins disparate sounds with solid grooves, and from time to time, a haunting vocal."
-Andrew W.K. - NYC

Ana Lola Roman is a Brooklyn synth-pop gem by way of Oklahoma who frequently pops up in Baltimore and Berlin, leaving a trail of lavishly strange dance performances and videos wherever she travels.
- Mishka Bloglin - NYC

Ana Lola Roman and her lavishly strange, fluttering synth-pop caught my ear a while ago after I noticed she had shows coming up and soundly confirmed her talents as an instrumentalist, uniquely tremelo-heavy vocalist, and magnetic stage personality.
- Nate Dorr Impose Magazine - NYC

Ana Lola Roman: Animated and unusual synth-pop, cavorting on stage with a certain charisma and lightly darting fingers for both keyboard and guitar.
- IMPOSE MAGAZINE- NYC

Ana Lola Roman's experimental electropop will leave quite the impression on you. This lady from Brooklyn "writes bizarre musical fairytales, driven by off-kilter piano, synths, and her unique vocal style".
- DISCONAIVETE

"Brooklyn’s Ana Lola Roman brings shiny, geometrically-complex dance beats that echo off walls around her enticing, otherworldly voice. A slinky treat, Roman’s vocals come in clipped and choppy over the helicopter-like rhythms of her pianos and keyboards. " -GAWKER.COM

"Roman weaves abstract lyrics into obtuse keyboards and percussion caressed performance rock. It takes a while to warm up to her Lori Anderson inspired adventurism but Roman has the musical knack to keep it from becoming artsy fartsy schtick." - CREATIVE LOAFING, Charlotte, NC

"The bell-like tones of her voice nervously vibrate and hover somewhere between mythological ice queen and living theremin." - JEZEBELMUSIC.COM

"Ana Lola Roman has soundly confirmed her talents as an instrumentalist, with her uniquely tremelo-heavy vocal style and magnetic stage personality with the moves to prove it...." -IMPOSE MAGAZINE, New York

"This German/Spanish/Oklahoma Hybrid is Best known for tracks Sparrow, Some Volatile Shit Man, WaterTaxi, Temple Of Cats and WaterTaxi....Much like Laurie Anderson, Danielle Dax, Gang Gang Dance and Rainbow Arabia with elements like an eerie piano/synth and quivering vocal melodies, this artist, performance artist, singer, multi-instrumentalist, whatever you want to call her, always delivers the unexpected....." -IN MADRID MAGAZINE, Madrid, Spain

"Ana Lola Roman Wants in Your Head..."
- Casey Phillips CHATTANOOGA TIMES FREE PRESS

"Look out for Ana Lola Roman! She’s like the punk-rock*, real life version of Uma Thurman’s character in Pulp Fiction. She even dances like her. "
- HOOVES ON THE TURF, New York

Magazine Article: Interview with Ana Lola Roman from "Cheap & Plastique" magazine by VIOLET SHURAKA

“ An atomic bomb went off in her keyboards and she plays like she just short-circuited.
~DIRTY GLAM MAGAZINE , UK/ France.

“I saw Ana Lola Roman live, at Luna Lounge. For me Ana Lola has been an enigma since she first appeared. I was drawn to her left of center approach to song writing and abstract lyrical style. Live, her piano and vocals take the lead to a laid-back rhythm section. This evening Ana sat at her piano and sang but the set still had theatrical feel to it. She defies comparison as a songwriter but the songs are so unexpectedl, and have such a genuine quality that it is nearly impossible to look away while she is performing, which is a testament to her originality.
~ERIC STEINER, "Crappy Advice" magazine

“ She writes bizarre musical fairytales, driven by off-kilter piano, synths, and her unique vocal style. Her music is very unusual -- for me, it conjures mental images reminiscent of Jan Svankmajer's Alice, one of those visually abstract films which has seared a couple great scenes into my mind.
~GREGG IPPS, "Vice" magazine - Collection of Press and Reviews

na Lola Roman (live at Luna Lounge, Brooklyn NY)
For me Ana Lola has been an enigma since she first appeared on myspace more than a year ago. I was originally drawn to her left of center approach to song writing and abstract lyrical style. Live, Ana Lola plays as a three piece. Her piano and vocals take the lead to a laid back rhythm section. This evening Ana sat at her piano and sang but the set still had theatrical feel to it. She defies comparison as a song writer but the songs are so unexpected, original, and have such a genuine quality that it is nearly impossible to look away while she is performing. You can find Ana Lola Roman's records on the Family Business which is a testament to her originality.
http://www.myspace.com/analolaroman - Eric from BOY/GIRL

Ana Lola Roman is not dance music. Not even close. I've been on this female vocalist kick over the last couple weeks, and Ana has provided a great working soundtrack. She writes bizarre musical fairytales, driven by off-kilter piano, synths, and her unique vocal style. Her music is very unusual -- for me, it conjures mental images reminiscent of Jan Svankmajer's Alice, one of those visually abstract films which has seared a couple great scenes into my mind. We're talking sawdust-filled bunnies with over-sized teeth, and jars of formaldehyde-soaked somethings (yes, somethings). ****************************** -----Greg Ipps, Writer and Part-Time Writer based in Toronto for Are You Familiar Blogspot, HOBO Magazine, Terminal City, and VICE Magazine If you're into these tracks, also check out Ana's other project, Roar On Ivory (released through Touch It Movement records). - Greg Ipps