Azita
Encyclopedia
Azita Youssefi is an experimental musician and artist based in Chicago
. She is usually associated with the Chicago no wave
scene, which included bands like the Flying Luttenbachers
, U.S. Maple
and Bobby Conn
.
parents, Azita spent part of her childhood in Iran
and was attending grade school in Tehran when the Iranian revolution
began in late 1978. Her family moved back to the United States soon after, settling in Bethesda, Maryland
. Growing up, she attended an all-girls school, Holton-Arms
, and studied classical piano. As a teen, she would attend punk rock shows in Washington D.C. In 1989, Azita moved to Chicago to study at the Art Institute of Chicago
.
with Sue Anne Zollinger on guitar (later replaced by Kelly Kuvo), Heather Melowic on drums, and herself on vocals and bass. Their live performances were highly theatrical and the members often dressed in homemade costumes ranging from Catholic schoolgirl uniforms to clothes made of Bubble Wrap and duct tape. After two albums and a singles compilation, the Scissor Girls broke up in late 1996.
/Jim O'Rourke
project Miss High-Heel. Their self-titled CD was released on B-Sides Records (now NoSides Records) in 1998.
), disguised themselves onstage in what has been described as mummy-like burkhas. After two albums the band eventually dissolved in 2002.
, and Life on the Fly followed in 2004. Descriptions of this release varied, from comparisons with Steely Dan to comparisons with "a bad Rod Stewart album from the early 80's", the switch from atonal noise rock surprised many listeners who were more familiar with her earlier work.
Azita's next album, "How Will You?", is out on February 17, 2009.
Scissor Girls
Bride of No-No
Azita
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. She is usually associated with the Chicago no wave
No Wave
No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...
scene, which included bands like the Flying Luttenbachers
Weasel Walter
Weasel Walter is a composer and instrumentalist who founded the band The Flying Luttenbachers in Chicago in 1991 with late jazz cult figure Hal Russell and is a current member of Cellular Chaos and Behold...The Arctopus...
, U.S. Maple
U.S. Maple
U.S. Maple was an American noise rock band. The group formed in Chicago in 1995. The band consists of Al Johnson , Mark Shippy , Pat Samson , and Todd Rittmann — who banded together with the intent of becoming the deconstructionists of rock and roll.-Formation and first single:U.S...
and Bobby Conn
Bobby Conn
Bobby Conn is an American musician based in Chicago, Illinois, known for his pop-rock. He often collaborates with other artists such as musicians Colby Starck and Jim O'Rourke, and film-maker Usama Alshaibi. In 2003, Conn produced a session for UK punk band The Cribs, whom he met when they were a...
.
Background
Born in the U.S. to IranianIranian peoples
The Iranian peoples are an Indo-European ethnic-linguistic group, consisting of the speakers of Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, as such forming a branch of Indo-European-speaking peoples...
parents, Azita spent part of her childhood in Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
and was attending grade school in Tehran when the Iranian revolution
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the...
began in late 1978. Her family moved back to the United States soon after, settling in Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda is a census designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House , which in turn took its name from Jerusalem's Pool of Bethesda...
. Growing up, she attended an all-girls school, Holton-Arms
Holton-Arms School
Holton-Arms is an independent college-preparatory school for girls in grades 3–12, located in Bethesda, Maryland. The School's mission is to cultivate the unique potential of young women through the “education not only of the mind, but of the soul and spirit.” Holton-Arms is an independent...
, and studied classical piano. As a teen, she would attend punk rock shows in Washington D.C. In 1989, Azita moved to Chicago to study at the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
.
Scissor Girls
Disillusioned with the visual arts as a medium for expression, she turned to performance art and sound. In 1991, she formed the spastic noise-rock group The Scissor GirlsThe Scissor Girls
The Scissor Girls were a Chicago no wave band formed by Washington D.C. natives Azita Youssefi, Sue Anne Zollinger, and Heather Melowic in 1991. The idea to form the group was conceived during the late eighties by Azita Youssefi and Heather Melowic while they were living in their hometown of...
with Sue Anne Zollinger on guitar (later replaced by Kelly Kuvo), Heather Melowic on drums, and herself on vocals and bass. Their live performances were highly theatrical and the members often dressed in homemade costumes ranging from Catholic schoolgirl uniforms to clothes made of Bubble Wrap and duct tape. After two albums and a singles compilation, the Scissor Girls broke up in late 1996.
Miss High Heel
In late 1995, Azita played synthesizer for a short-lived Weasel WalterWeasel Walter
Weasel Walter is a composer and instrumentalist who founded the band The Flying Luttenbachers in Chicago in 1991 with late jazz cult figure Hal Russell and is a current member of Cellular Chaos and Behold...The Arctopus...
/Jim O'Rourke
Jim O'Rourke (musician)
Jim O'Rourke is an Irish-American musician and record producer. He was long associated with the Chicago experimental and improv scene...
project Miss High-Heel. Their self-titled CD was released on B-Sides Records (now NoSides Records) in 1998.
Bride of No-No
Azita formed the Bride of No-No, another project known for extreme theatrics, in 1999. Band members, which included drummer Shannon Morrow and guitarists J. Graf and M.V. Carbon (also of MetaluxMetalux
Metalux is a noise band consisting of M.V. Carbon and J. Graf, both members of Bride of No No. They are occasionally joined by Nautical Almanac member Twig Harper...
), disguised themselves onstage in what has been described as mummy-like burkhas. After two albums the band eventually dissolved in 2002.
Solo
Azita recorded her first solo work, Music for Scattered Brains, to be used as a part of her college thesis project. Music for Scattered Brains was originally released on vinyl in 1995. While being in Bride of No-No, Azita returned to playing her childhood instrument, the piano, and started writing and recording material which would eventually be released under her own name. Enantiodromia was released in 2003 on Drag CityDrag City (record label)
Drag City is a Chicago-based independent record label. It was established with a Royal Trux release in 1990 in Chicago, Illinois by Dan Koretzky and Dan Osborn.Drag City specializes in experimental indie rock acts...
, and Life on the Fly followed in 2004. Descriptions of this release varied, from comparisons with Steely Dan to comparisons with "a bad Rod Stewart album from the early 80's", the switch from atonal noise rock surprised many listeners who were more familiar with her earlier work.
Azita's next album, "How Will You?", is out on February 17, 2009.
Discography
AZ- Music for Scattered Brains (CD, Atavistic, 1997; LP, SG Research, 1995)
Scissor Girls
- We People Space With Phantoms (LP/CD, Atavistic, 1995)
- Here is the "Is-Not" (CD, Atavistic, 1997)
Bride of No-No
- B.O.N.N. Apetit! (LP/CD, Atavistic, 2000)
- II (LP/CD, Atavistic, 2003)
Azita
- Enantiodromia (LP/CD, Drag City, 2003)
- Life on the Fly (LP/CD, Drag City, 2004)
- Detail From the Mountain Side (CD EP, Drag City, 2006)
- How Will You? (LP/CD, Drag City, 2009)
- Disturbing the Air (LP/CD, Drag City, 2011)
Art
- Cover art on To Live and Shave in L.A.To Live and Shave in L.A.To Live and Shave in L.A. is an experimental music collective founded in 1993 by avant-garde composer/producer Tom Smith and Miami Beach musician/producer Frank "Rat Bastard" Falestra...
's Ride a Cock Over Horse 7" (Menlo Park Recordings, 1996) - Artwork for the LP/CD Music for Scattered Brains - AZ