Vanessa Atalanta

Vanessa Atalanta (VA) was formed in early 2005, a collaboration between a recently infatuated couple who were introduced to play music. Marivel Luna (lead vocals) and Jesse Simms (guitar, back-up vocals), fused by their budding romance with a desire to create a brand of music that rejects traditional genres and defies the formulaic labeling that dominates modern independent music. After an incubatory (or lazy/insecure) period, Vanessa Atalanta wrote a batch of songs on which to base their musical aesthetic: dynamic, resonant vocals sung over intricate, complexly-arranged acoustic guitar. As their songwriting improved, a layer of urban rhythm was infused into their already melodic, rock-influenced songs, with hip-hop bass lines doubling as Beatlesque melodic underpinnings.VA’s initial strength lies with Marivel’s voice: a sultry contralto that seduces you with sadness rather than sexual innuendo; yet this alluring warmth is sporadically punctuated with powerful, spine-tingling vocal lines. Ms. Luna was trained as a mariachi singer from the age of 9 (she even starred in an episode of “Sesame Street”, singing a traditional song with her youth mariachi band!) expanding her vocal strength, and developing a velvety, subtle tone, and dynamic, immaculate phrasing.Beneath these astonishing vocals, float shimmering, acoustic chords, crafted with lapidary-like precision. Mr. Simms began playing guitar at the age of twenty after he taught himself to play the piano: skipping “Chopsticks” and moving straight to Chopin. However, after meeting Marivel, he decided to focus on guitar and Vanessa Atalanta was born.Drawing their name from a butterfly (Red Admirable) that appears from beyond the grave in Vladimir Nabokov’s novel “Pale Fire”, Vanessa Atalanta bring a literary sensibility to their lyrics – replacing the sophomoric diction that pervades indie-rock, with a lexile dexterity rarely found in modern music. This poetic sensibility is fused with unique chord progressions, catchy melodies, and beguiling lead vocals to ease the listener in. Only after repeat listens - as the lyrics begin to coalesce in the listener’s mind – does the music take on a calamitous-Cassandra like quality: flying the white flag of emotional surrender, acting as an auditory warning to the misfortune of consciousness – Nature’s nightmare.