Music

Zola Jesus. In it. For real.

John Rogers | Tuesday 2 November, 2010 19:35

It’s hard to imagine Zola Jesus, aka Nika Roza Danilova, in her new home city of Los Angeles, dressed in her outsiderish proto-gothic outfits, driving and strolling and loitering between the palm trees and paved boulevards and rollerbladers.

She’d be better suited to the spiked towers of Prague, or the architectural melee of Berlin, or at least the weeping trees and hulking blocks around Central Park in autumn; somewhere you can gaze mournfully or lurk meaningfully amongst buildings with weathered headstone facades.

But, as always, it’s a mistake to identify an artist too much with their work. Why should the recently married 21-year-old star be anything but cheerful with the state of her life?

“It’s good here,” says Danilova, brightly. “I moved from Wisconsin in August and I was here for a week, then I went off on a three-month tour, and now I’m back for five days then off again… I haven’t really had time to settle in yet.”

It’s all been a whirl of late for Zola Jesus lately. She has, in her own words, hit the ground running – since the 2009 Stridulum EP was released, her songs have poured through the international music underground like a flash flood. Stridulum was a departure from the lo-fi sound of previous works New Amsterdam and The Spoils.

“Zola Jesus was initially a kind of experimental noise project,” she says of the transition. “Stridulum is the only record I’ve made that had a clear pop sound to it, although I’ve always had pop in me.”

With cult hits ‘Night’ and ‘I Can’t Stand’, Zola Jesus has grown from a relatively obscure project to one of the most talked about new acts of 2010. But there’s a lag between perceived success and the reality. “All the interest is great but it’s all very theoretical,” explains Danilova. “You’re starting from nothing so you have to build it on your own. It’s important for people to have patience in the artist’s growth.”

But the audiences keep swelling, ready or not. “Playing bigger venues is exciting, it’s something i’ve always wanted and it’s something I’ve been working so long for,” enthuses Danilova. “When I’m up there on stage in front of thousands of people, it’s like a dream come true. Having these opportunities with Fever Ray and with The XX has been a blessing.”

At the same time as these breakthrough shows, Danilova has been working with Former Ghosts and Xiu Xiu, with whom she starts a UK tour in November. “Freddy Rupert contacted me and wanted he to sing on a song. He liked it so much he asked me to sing on more and more and so I became a contributing member, along with Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu.”

These bands are a good fit for Zola Jesus right now, more so than the huge production of Fever Ray and the subdued, wide-screen asceticism of The XX. Live, Danilova paces the stage as if looking for the exit, the compulsive striding anxiously automatic and very much at odds with her naturally powerful voice. “I’ve never had the time or the money to put together the live show I would really be proud of and that was crafted and had visuals,” she explains.

But she’s in no rush to step things up prematurely. “It’s important that I’m with a group of people who really believe in me and really want to me to succeed. The industry is completely saturated with people who are dishonest. I’d much rather be with people who are in it for real, just like I am.”

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