14 May 2011 - 0 Comments

KIWI musician Janina is set to release her debut album The Original Ending this June with a national album release tour kicking off at Auckland's Kings Arms. Infusing pop, rock and folk with tinges of electronic and classical elements, Janina creates lyrically rich tales of music within clever structures to deliver evocative songs that stick.

Janina sings and plays guitar, clarinet and saxophone adding Theremin to create organic electronic beats, fusing the old with the new. She moved back home to Wellington from London in 2008 to record and produce her album The Original Ending, engineering and producing the album herself, alongside brother/musician Stevie Starr, with mixing and mastering by Auckland based producer and VNZMA 2009 Tui Best Engineer Andrew Buckton (Midnight Youth, The Dukes).

On October 20 she released her first single and music video Intentions of a Reluctant Artist in the shop window of fashion store Rex Royale on Cuba Street, Wellington.

Surrounded by cupcakes, mannequins and TVs, Janina sang about the precarious relationship an artist can have with following their musical intentions within a musical industry which can at times feel like it takes more interest in the marketing surrounding an artist rather than the music itself. The single is an encouragement ode to artists to "Don't Stop…" despite any reluctancy to enter into any musical rat race with "eyes shut, mouth wide open", much like the mannequins surrounding her. It describes her journey, her choices and her intentions.

Since completing her Bachelor of Music and English Literature degree at Victoria University, Janina released her EP Mercy in 2004 with cellist Francesca Mountfort. Following her stint as a reporter at Capital Times, she headed to America. In San Francisco, Janina played live to air on 'beat poet' Diamond Dave's show after he heard her perform at an open mic evening, then she moved to London, where she lived for four years working for Trinity College of Music and Classic FM. Janina gigged regularly with London-based Kiwi cellist Rebecca Turner before deciding to take herself home to produce her own album and sing in a shop window on Cuba Street. Janina has been a DJ host on Wellington's Radio Active and music reviewer for Radio NZ since her return. Don't miss Janina's debut album - out soon!

"Janina's voice is beautiful, moving, and wonderfully rich in color. She has a voice that the ear loves, and she can do that very rare thing, sing something and make you feel it in a special way... Highly imaginative and creative writing, and just great music." - NZ composer John Psathas on The Original Ending, 2011

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