INAMORATO
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Music

The best kept secret in music

Press


"Tora Woloshin"

Vocalist for rock band Heartfelt Confessions
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 06.29.2006
Age: 16
For the record: For fans of Tucson's youth rock scene, Tora Woloshin is 16 years of power-packed vocals backed by the burgeoning rock band Heartfelt Confessions.
To local media outlets, she was the girl screwed over by the reality television talent search "American Idol."
Woloshin received a coveted golden ticket to Hollywood last season only to be told later by "Idol" recruiters that she would not be coming after all. The announcement was made mere days before the second round was to begin.
"They didn't give me a reason," Woloshin said in a phone interview last week. "I had already gotten the reservations and everything, and it was like, never mind. I was like, 'Uh, OK.' "
Woloshin's last-minute rejection has not kept her down. The young singer continues to develop and thrive with Confessions.
The band just released its first album and performs Friday at the Rialto Theatre as part of the Fox 11 Tucson Music Melee.
How did you first get interested in music? "I started singing when I was 2 years old. I grew up listening to Mariah Carey. I'd sing along to her stuff and went on from there. I am self-taught. I've had a few lessons, but I don't really like them because they tell me how to sing. I'm like, 'This is how I sing. You can help me with the form or structure of my mouth, but you don't tell me how to sing.' "
You weren't a part of Confessions' original lineup. How did you hook up with the band? "Around late January, I met Bobbie (Colby), the drummer. I overheard him talking about how his band is looking for a singer, and we set a tryout date. When I went there, they showed me one of their songs and said, 'Yeah, feel free to sing to it.' I started writing lyrics, and everything flowed so perfectly."
Who are your influences? "Nate (Hudson), our lead guitar, likes Pink Floyd a lot. The rhythm guitarist, Gabe (Moreno), likes Against Me. Justin (Colby), the bassist, likes the Used and AFI. I am a big fan of the Used and AFI, as well. Blindsyde is probably my favorite band."
How do you feel about "American Idol" now that you've been through the tryouts? "It's all right until you find out what they are actually trying to do. I don't think they know what they need, what America is needing. Every musician that I see on there kind of has the same sound and the same kind of music and looks the same. All the girls that win look the same. It (makes me mad) that they can't see the differences in people. But it was fun for the most part. The judges were all really nice to me."
Would you try out again? "Oh, hell no."
Gerald M. Gay. To suggest someone for this column, e-mail ggay@azstarnet.com.
- Arizona Daily Star


"Heartfelt Confessions vocalist/ex-'Idol' contestant gets ready for Music Melee"

2006-06-29
Danielle Sottosanti
Tucson band Heartfelt Confessions has a lot to be proud of: They made it to the second round of Bodog Music’s Battle of the Bands, holding the lead among Arizona artists and ranking fifth nationwide, and this Friday they landed the number one spot at Fox 11 KMSB-TV’s “Tucson Music Melee.” Any band would be proud of these achievements, but for a band with members ranging in age from (almost) 17 to 24, this early success is an amazing jumpstart to their career.

On May 31, Heartfelt Confessions self-released a six-track CD featuring the songs that made online fans vote them number one. “Haunting Your Dreams” starts off the EP with some guitar lines reminiscent of Pink Floyd’s “Hey You.”

Heartfelt Confessions describes their sound as a “hybrid sound (that) contains the DNA of everything from 70s punk, 80s rock and 90s metal with chromosomes of emo showing up in the strands,” citing everything from grunge to Mariah Carey to Pink Floyd among their influences. With the exception of the intro to “Haunting Your Dreams,” Heartfelt Confessions falls more in line with contemporary metal fused with lead singer Tora’s sweet, Carey-influenced vocals. It’s a nice juxtaposition, highlighted by background screams to give it an edge.

At nearly 17 years old, Tora is already a seasoned pro when it comes to the entertainment industry. By the time she was 11, she had cut her first record and appeared in over 100 solo performances. Then, at the height of “American Idol” mania, Tora was an “American Idol V” contestant and even appeared on the Fox affiliate news series “Idol Insider.”

Recently, Tora took some time to talk about Heartfelt Confessions with AZNightBuzz.

AZNightBuzz: What’s Heartfelt Confessions’ songwriting process like? Who writes all the lyrics?

Tora: I write all the lyrics. The band [Nate Hudson (lead guitar), Bobbie Colby (drums, vocals), Justin Colby (bass, vocals) and Gabe Moreno (guitar)] starts messing around with some ideas. Then, I start singing to the music.



The details:
Fox 11 Tucson Music Melee
Where: Rialto Theatre (318 E. Congress Street)
When: June 30 @ 8:00 p.m.
Door: $6
AZNB: So, you write the lyrics right there at band practice?

Tora: Yeah.

AZNB: Do you have any lyrical themes that you focus on?

Tora: Not really. it’s spur of the moment. A story just usually pops in my head.

AZNB: You’ve managed to maintain the lead in the online voting for the “Tucson Music Melee” since the beginning. How did you create a buzz about your band among music fans?

Tora: We used My Space. Bands really grow well on the Web site. My mom did a lot of publicity for us as well.

AZNB: What can fans expect to see from Heartfelt Confessions at the “Tucson Music Melee” concert Friday night?

Tora: We have a new song, so we’re going to be starting off with that.

AZNB: What’s next for Heartfelt Confessions? What is the band working on?

Tora: We’re doing Bodog Music’s Battle of the Bands. The competition is a live show in Phoenix. The top prize is a $1-million-dollar recording contract.

Tora Woloshin was featured in this week’s “Soundz” in Caliente. To read more about her, click here.

- AZ NightBuzz


"American Idol Reject Rocks On"

By Gil Kaufman
Bodog Nation Contributing Writer

This week, the fourth in a series of profiles of bands in Bodog's $1-million Battle of the Bands. Like all of them, they're hoping to live the dream by winning the grand prize of a record deal with Bodog Music, along with some cash and guaranteed marketing muscle.

Heartfelt Confessions
City: Tucson, Ariz.
Sound: Evanescence subtlety delivered with a screamo sledgehammer
Members: Tora (vocals), Nate Hudson (guitar), Gabe Moreno (guitar), Justin
Colby (bass), Bobbie Colby (drums)

Point of origin: Bands are born in the strangest places: high schools, playgrounds, basement rec rooms, bars, hell, even church choirs. But you don't hear of many that are birthed over spilled ink and blood. That's the story with Tucson's Heartfelt Confessions, an emo/hardcore group that formed in a tattoo parlour after a fortuitous meeting between its teenage singer and drummer. “I go to this tattoo shop, Majestic Tattoo, all the time to get my work done,” explained 17-year-old singer Tora, the owner of 10 tats, who moved to Tucson from California with her mom when she was four. “Bobbie, our drummer, apprenticed there and we started talking about music and I said, 'I've been looking for a band.' He said, 'I have a band and I'm looking for a singer.'” The group invited Tora to join them for a tryout in January 2006 and she wrote some lyrics to a track they'd written before meeting her, “Driven By Mistakes.” They immediately clicked and that became the song that launched a band. “I was in one band in California, but they seemed really flaky and sketchy … getting drunk during practice and I wasn't down with that,” said Tora, who recently got her GED and works a day job selling magazines over the phone. “I needed someone who was more serious.”

The sound: To look at them, you wouldn't think of the members of the band as “jammers” per se, but Tora said a lot of the songs on their just-released six-song EP started with a riff from guitarist Nate Hudson and some "random" lyrics she came up with on the spot. Even harder to believe, though, given the band's sometimes crushing sound and Tora's whisper-to-a-demonic-howl vocals, are her musical inspirations. “I've listened to Mariah Carey since I was born,” she said. “She's my idol. I still love Mariah Carey, but I like to do different music and I listen to a wide variety of stuff, from hardcore like Winter Solstice to, like, Rocky Voltato and Jeff Buckley. And I know it's weird, but I really like Britney Spears. It's just good music for dancing.” The rest of the band have similarly eclectic tastes, from Hudson's preference for Pink Floyd and the Foo Fighters to Colby's love of emo rockers Hawthorne Heights and Atreyu. But even if Tora isn't exactly singing pop ditties with the boys, you can definitely hear the decade's worth of vocal lessons she took in her operatic singing.

- Bodog Nation


Discography

EP– INAMORATO
Released March 13, 2007
JukeBox Records
Available on http://myspace.com/inamora
Available for download on snocap

All tracks available on myspace.com/inamora and battleofthebands.com/inamorato

"Trespass and Get Away" can be heard on KXCI 93.1 in Tucson

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy

Bio

Born from the ashes of bands whose musical lives were prematurely extinguished, INAMORATO has lit a new flame and is building a fire in the hearts of their collective and diverse fans. INAMORATO means the love of a man, and not only expresses the bond they share for the music but is a reflection of the love from people who appreciate and understand it.

INAMORATO's interest is to transcend boundaries and gain fans who ordinarily might not venture outside their musical comfort zone. Complex song structures, emotional lyrics and off-center rhythms combine with progressive, experimental guitar riffs and melodic elements for an infectious sound.

Tora- Lead Vocals
Inspired early on by R&B and later by Screamo, Tora’s melismatic vocals range from a sensual whisper to a demonic scream. Capable of a 5 octave range including the whistle register, she does not compromise expression for the sake of an impressive voice. An American Idol 5 contestant plus ten years of vocal training and prior gigs with Heartfelt Confessions and Tucson Boulevard, have earned Tora a reputation for being a vocal powerhouse in a tiny package.

Andrew Sorensen- Guitar
A self taught guitarist playing for over ten years, Andrew’s style is influenced by 80s and 90s rock bands including Fogazi, Tears for Fears and Sigur Rios. He has several years experience touring and gigging with Iowa groups Cassandra and Compendium of Pendulums. Andrew contributes complex rhythms and leads while experimenting with special effects and chord progressions that are outside the norm.

Trevor Tanzillo- Drums/Scratch Vocals
A self taught drummer, Trevor has been playing drums for nine years. Coming from a musical family, he has become a versatile drummer, comfortable playing most styles of music. A feel for the groove allows Trevor to compose unique and stylistic drum parts by using intricate and tight fills. He was influenced early on by Jimi Hendrix’s drummer, Buddy Miles. Trevor’s gig experience includes stints with Graves End and Mandala.

Julian Rodriguez-Bass
The newest member of the group, Julian came in and had less than 3 weeks to learn the set before his first show. Self-taught on the bass, Julian's influences are Tool, Marilyn Manson, and Aerosmith. Coming from a musical family, his dad played guitar, and his uncle played bass. Julian likes the music to rock, whether that be in rhythm, or in the atmosphere of the song.