Nika Roza Danilova, known professionally by her stage name Zola Jesus, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her music has been noted for combining elements of electronic, industrial, classical, and goth.
real name: Nicole Rose Hummel
genres: pop music, dark wave
plays: voice, guitar, piano
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Nicole Rose Hummel was born April 11, 1989, in Phoenix, Arizona, where she spent her early years. Her parents are first-generation Americans, with combinations of Ukrainian as well as German, Slovenian, and Russian descent. Her grandparents immigrated to the United States from Odessa, Ukraine, and settled in North Dakota. Honoring her ancestry, she formally goes by her Slavic name, Nika Roza Danilova. She has one older brother.
Danilova has stated that she has been influenced by a number of singers and bands, including Ian Curtis, Lydia Lunch, Diamanda Galás, Throbbing Gristle, Swans, Bauhaus and Cristina. On her fourth album, Taiga, she mentioned mainstream pop artists such as Mariah Carey and Barbra Streisand as being influences on her vocal performance.
Her style has been described variously as "commanded by ominous lyrics and a sultry Goth delivery," According to the NME, Zola Jesus "wails like Kate Bush" on a music sometimes evoking Joy Division. Q magazine noted her for her "haunting vocals and swirling, electronic atmospherics... located midway between Florence Welch and Siouxsie and the Banshees." She has also been compared to Nico, Lisa Gerrard of Dead Can Dance and Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins.
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