Forum Home Forum Home > Progressive Music Lounges > Suggest New Bands and Artists
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - Lisa Bella Donna for Progressive Electronic
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login

Lisa Bella Donna for Progressive Electronic

 Post Reply Post Reply
Author
Message Reverse Sort Order
Gordy View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator
Avatar
Folk/Eclectic/PSIKE/Metal/Post/Math Team

Joined: January 25 2007
Location: US
Status: Online
Points: 4026
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Gordy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Lisa Bella Donna for Progressive Electronic
    Posted: January 08 2024 at 18:44
Back to Top
Progfan97402 View Drop Down
Prog Reviewer
Prog Reviewer
Avatar

Joined: March 12 2010
Location: Oregon
Status: Offline
Points: 93
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Progfan97402 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 30 2023 at 17:29
It does seem that Lisa is currently living in West Virginia. From what I've seen from interviews, she was originally from that state and grew up there. She moved back to WV because she liked the serene environment that she gets there that she didn't get in an urban environment in Ohio.

Anyways, I am in the middle of getting more familiar with her recorded output, outside her works with EYE, and a couple of solo electronic recordings she made. Each release seems quite different, she's done Berlin School, as mentioned before, avant garde electronic, ambient, strange combination of Appalachian style music with electronic, and the occasional venture outside electronic, such as jazz/fusion. What really blows me away is the incredible detail she goes into talking about her gear, which I've seen on YouTube videos. I really love those big analog synth tones she creates from those keyboards. I know if I was confronted with the gear she has and I play with the knobs, I'd only make them go haywire and make unpleasant noise, but Lisa can master these intimidating synths. I remembered when I first heard "Book of the Dead" from EYE's final release Vision of Ageless Light, I noticed a short, but Berlin School-like piece that kickstarts the album. I was wishing she'd record some solo material in the Berlin School vein, and I got my wish. Unfortunately, I live in Oregon and little chance she'll be heading to Eugene, near where I live. If she did, I'd be attending and having my mind blown. Seeing her gear is a site to behold!
Back to Top
yam yam View Drop Down
Collaborator
Collaborator
Avatar
Crossover Team

Joined: June 16 2011
Location: Kerberos
Status: Online
Points: 6359
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote yam yam Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 30 2023 at 04:43
Wow, what an incredible lady! Have a read of this really detailed interview to get an idea of her life in music: https://headphonecommute.com/2023/12/20/in-the-studio-with-lisa-bella-donna/.

And for a tour of her home studio deep in the Appalachian mountains of the eastern United States see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8vf99skSCU.
Back to Top
Gordy View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator
Avatar
Folk/Eclectic/PSIKE/Metal/Post/Math Team

Joined: January 25 2007
Location: US
Status: Online
Points: 4026
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Gordy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 29 2023 at 23:25
She's a local legend, and I saw her a couple times in EYE and her prior group Deadsea. I think she lives in West Virginia now.

If you could tweak your original post into a workable biography as per the Artist Submission Guidelines, I'll then take her to the team.
Back to Top
Progfan97402 View Drop Down
Prog Reviewer
Prog Reviewer
Avatar

Joined: March 12 2010
Location: Oregon
Status: Offline
Points: 93
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Progfan97402 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 29 2023 at 23:13
Lisa Bella Donna was in the psych/prog/stoner rock combo EYE out of Columbus, Ohio. Their final album was Vision and Ageless Light, released on The Laser's Edge with some truly outstanding keyboard work. Apparently, EYE is no more, according to what Ken Golden of The Laser's Edge said on Pete Pardo's Sea of Tranquility YouTube channel. Lisa has since pursued a vastly prolific solo career with many recording in the Progressive Electronic vein, many of them in the Berlin School style. Sure, some recordings are not in the vein, or even fall in the PE vein, but a good portion of it does, and deserves to be in PA. She is a total gear freak, as you'll see if you see her on various YouTube videos. She uses tons of authentic vintage gear, including a genuine Mellotron, plus new analog gear as well. There is too much to check out but do check out her Bandcamp page. Her 2019 release Circulus is a wonderful album for fans of Berlin School. That Mellotron passage that starts "Kanawha Falls, West Virginia" is to die for. Tons of sequencers (making me think of TD's Ricochet) and it ends with windchimes. Here's that album:


Endless Roads is very ambitious, would be a triple album had it been released on vinyl, parts of it are rather abstract. I hadn't heard everything she's done, but at her best it's truly amazing stuff.
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down



This page was generated in 0.102 seconds.
Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.