Q&A: Zola
Jesus
Nika Roza Danilova is the mastermind behind the experimental
pop persona Zola Jesus. The Wisconsin-bred Danilova began studying opera at age
8 but gave it up ten years later to pursue more free-form expression. Initially
an underground artist while pursuing studies in Philosophy and French at the University
of Wisconsin-Madison , the
25-year-old now boasts five studio albums of her big, bumping, darkly-themed
brand of tunes. Her latest effort is 2014’s “Taiga,” named after the Russian
word for “forest” and the biggest biome in the world. The intense collection of
eleven songs is a result of nine months of immersion in the wilds of the Vashon
Island in Puget Sound . Danilova now lives
in Seattle with her entomologist
husband.
Q: Where did the name Zola Jesus come from?
A: Oh, man. I was 14 years old and I came up with it
completely randomly. I was reading [French author Émile] Zola at the time and
liked the idea of Zola Jesus. I made people call me that at school and it just
stuck.
Q: Initially, you were studying opera. What made you
switch genres?
A: I became a little disillusioned with opera because
of the heavy tradition and all of the rules, the fact that you can be good or
bad or right or wrong. As a child, that became too much for me, so I used Zola
Jesus as a means to explore music that didn’t necessarily have to be a boring
tradition; it could be whatever I wanted to do.
Q: How have you seen your music evolve over the
years?
A: Everything’s completely experimental. Every time I
make a new song, I’m trying something new or exploring territory that I’ve
never tried before. In that sense, it’s very impulsive, but it definitely
evolves throughout the years, naturally.
Q: Do you tend to start with lyrics or
instrumentation?
A: It totally depends on the song.
Q: Tell me about your relationship with nature and
how it influenced your latest album.
A: I grew up around it. I grew up in Northern
Wisconsin and nature was just part of my life. I didn’t think
about it, but my family lived in the woods and relied on that a lot for living.
I moved away from them and I started to miss it a lot, so I moved back to the
woods in a sense and it felt like home again. I was able to create music in a
much different way than I’d done before.
Q: You told “Interview” that “Everything I do is a
reflection of the duality within me.” What dualities do you grapple with on a
daily basis?
A: Everything. Black and white, right and wrong,
things like that. There are shades on a spectrum, but for some reason, I can
only oscillate between the extremes, especially in music, you know? Pop versus
experimental, accessible versus inaccessible.
Q: What are your favorite fashion pieces at the
moment?
A: Black turtleneck and black pants. I’ve been
wearing that for four or five months straight now. I get into obsessions about
clothing. Right now, I have a very uniform look where you wear one thing and
you wear it every day and don’t have to think about it.
Q: What about hair and makeup?
A: Pretty minimal. I don’t wear very much makeup and
my hair is long right now. It’s pretty wild, but I usually style it.
Q: How did you end up in Seattle ?
A: Randomly. I visited on tour and fell in love with
the city and the coast. I wanted to move out of Los
Angeles and I picked here.
Q: What do you miss most about the Midwest ?
A: I miss my family. The culture of Northern
Wisconsin is pretty unique. The Pacific Northwest
reminds me of the Midwest in a way.
Q: What are you looking forward to in 2015?
A: Touring and trying new things.
Originally published on Vita.mn in Jan. 2015.
Originally published on Vita.mn in Jan. 2015.