Music
Press
front page photograph (see photos section) and commentary on the band. - COURIER
JANUARY 2009's POP ROCKET as "... generating a rapidly expanding buzz ... THE ICARUS SIREN Lays down a lush, organic soundscape, the band draws on cumulatively diverse experience. Dreamers and rockers alike should be most welcome." - THE POP ROCKET
featured in MARCH 2008 venuszine, folk legend ANI DIFRANCO takes a fans interview. VENUSZINE.com - VENUSZINE magazine
Thursday, January 29, 2009
It's the later hour of Acker Music Night, and a throng of perplexed spectators pack into a Montezuma Street BBQ joint to see an eclectic group of musicians whose musical fare this evening is only tangentially of the Christmas variety.
The holiday spirit in one form or another possesses the vocalist, who is wearing garland-trimmed wings, draped in strings of Christmas lights and writhing on the floor, crooning to the moodily meandering rhythm section steadily pulsating under incessant guitar flourishes.
Not quite metal, sort of space rock, impossible to turn away from.
The Icarus Siren has made waves the last four or so months with its emotional post-grunge and the uninhibited performance art of frontwoman I Am Tamela.
Starting out in Austin, Texas, in 2006, The Icarus Siren started out as a two-piece progressive folk act between Tamela and singer-songwriter Joseph to the Lions, who met while playing in the local music scene.
The two relocated to Prescott for "a focused environment" to record a follow up to their 2007 indie debut, the brooding, atmospheric "The Darlings of The Fiery Dramatic," which draws upon influences like PJ Harvey, A Perfect Circle, and Starflyer 59.
Adding the rhythm section of brothers Mike and Andre Lokai took the band in a theatrical rock direction, with unconventionally structured pieces of dense instrumentation behind Tamala's performance, at times incorporating spoken word.
"Best way to describe our music - definitely dark," says Mike Lokai, bass. "We enjoy the dark, want it to be complicated, and have tons of fun - complicated fun."
"It's completely organic, lush, wonderful. From practice to practice, show to show, you try to bring something, those glimmers of light, shining moments. Everything's different, all the time," says Joseph to the Lions.
Currently laying the groundwork for another recording, they plan to tour the southwest and shoot for a slot at the South By Southwest festival in Austin, and play more regionally.
The Icarus Siren plays at Sundance's Place Saturday night, with Madison County and Tommy Peacock and the Gas. Music starts at 9:30 p.m.
- DAILY COURIER by Loren Mclain
Discography
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releases:
2007 'DARLINGS of the FIERCELY DRAMATIC' (Independent)
2009 planned independent release and music video
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PRESS :
Feature on AM ARIZONA morning show: January 30th , 2009
web feature: PRESCOTT COURIER
COURIER (front page) for ACKER NIGHT PRESCOTT http://prescottdailycourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&subsectionID=1&articleID=62453
COURIER TOP 10 ARTS MOMENTS: we were listed at number 7 with several other up and comers- SWEET NASTY / DUTCH HOLLY/ and prescott staples HIGH ROLLERs and POOR KIDS without CABLE. http://www.dcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=74&SubSectionID=514&ArticleID=62602
RECENTLY in JANUARY EDITION of 'THE POP ROCKET' with an UPCOMING SHOWS PROMOTION and SIDE BAND photograph: describing the band as, a "... generating a rapidly expanding buzz around town. Laying down a lush, organic soundscape, the band draws on cumulatively diverse experience. Dreamers and rockers alike should be most welcome." pg. 7
TAMELA is the spokes model for the clothing line SADIE LOCKART (http://www.sadielockart.com)
TAMELA was just in SWEET NASTY's VIDEO for 'MOJO DEVIL's CLAW' soon to be released. shot in prescott, AZ and its outskirts.
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Photos
Bio
Originally formed in Austin, Texas in 2006 as only a two piece: w/ former solo artist Joseph to the Lions (featured in VENUSZINE alongside ANI DIFRANCO in 2007) and solo artist and actress I AM TAMELA.(television appearances and film roles such as 2005's independent release 'YONDERVILLE') THE ICARUS SIREN gained immediate attention in the Austin music scene while gaining new ground for the independent folk movement.
THE ICARUS SIREN is a pursuit of spiritual and non-biased creativity in both texture and songwriting. drawing upon influences such as PJ HARVEY, A PERFECT CIRCLE, STARFLYER 59, as well as PRIMUS, TOM WAITS and many other hard to categorize groups, THE ICARUS SIREN has proven itself through press and live shows as newfounds and challenging for the listener.
Described in the JANUARY 2009's POP ROCKET as "... generating a rapidly expanding buzz ... THE ICARUS SIREN Lays down a lush, organic soundscape, the band draws on cumulatively diverse experience. Dreamers and rockers alike should be most welcome." The group is known for their dreamlike stasis and theatrical reserve on stage, creating a place of timeless characters and artistic performances involving artists, photographers, fashion design behind SADIE LOCKART and a nod to previous alt rockers gone theatrical, such as DAVID BOWIE and LOU REED.
THE ICARUS SIREN began performing as a more progressive folk version of what later became much more of a THEATRICAL ROCK ACT as we know today. Relocating to PRESCOTT , ARIZONA from Austin- following a national independent tour- Tamela and Joseph were seeking a focused writing environment to record a follow up to their 2007 independent release 'THE DARLINGs of THE FIERCELY DRAMATIC'
Later joined by brother's Micheal and Andre Lokaj on bass and drums, the now four piece, set out to write and perform new material that would bring a focus on TAMELA's voice and thick texture behind instrumentation and the incorporation of spoken word into performance. The motto being a 'stay true to self without boundaries' attitude towards songwriting.
Performing and garnering notable press with each show, THE ICARUS SIREN is a quickly and not so quietly growing entity in the ARIZONA music scene. Peforming passionately on stage before growing audiences, Tamela's vocal prowess, similar to Tracey Bonham, and the talented Kristeen Young, are recieving praise for dynamics and sheer power. The full and expansive vision behind the rest of 'ICARUS' force the listener to fully experience the possibility of exorcism through song, filling the music with their own ghosts, melody, and metaphor.
Future plans for THE ICARUS SIREN include a spring tour through Arizona towards AUSTIN for SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST... and a continued presence in Phoenix, Prescott, Las Vegas, and Flagstaff.
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"It is strange and beautiful that Homer should make the Sirens appeal to the spirit, not to the flesh."[5] "For the matter of the siren song is a promise to Odysseus of mantic truths, with a false promise of living to tell them, they sing,
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