Occupation(s) Musician, artist Name Azita Youssefi | Years active 1991–present Role Musician · azita.info | |
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Music groups The Scissor Girls, Silver Jews Albums Disturbing the Air, Tanglewood Numbers, Starlite Walker, Lookout Mountain - Lookout, American Water Similar People Steve West, Paz Lenchantin, Stephen Malkmus, Will Oldham, Cassie Berman Profiles | ||
TODD RITTMANN - AZITA YOUSSEFI - BRENT GUTZEIT - Myopic 19970224 Set 1 Excerpt
Azita Youssefi, born in 1971 in St. Louis, Missouri, is an American experimental musician, artist and music teacher based in Chicago. She was originally associated with the Chicago no wave scene, which included bands such as the Scissor Girls, U.S. Maple and Bride of No No.
Contents
- TODD RITTMANN AZITA YOUSSEFI BRENT GUTZEIT Myopic 19970224 Set 1 Excerpt
- Bonnie Prince Billy Then the Letting Go live 103106
- Background
- Scissor Girls
- Miss High Heel
- Bride of No No
- Solo
- Discography
- Art
- References
She has been a voice and piano teacher at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music since 2002, and has served as composer and musical director for theater productions of musicals by Brian Torrey Scott.
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, "Then the Letting Go" live 10/31/06
Background
Born in the United States to Iranian 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.
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 Girls 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 Walter/Jim O'Rourke 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 drummers Jen Kienzler, Shannon Morrow and guitarists J. Graf and M.V. Carbon (also of Metalux), 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. In 1997, Azita returned to playing her childhood instrument, the piano while rooming with engineer Elliot Dicks who brought a piano into their loft. On piano, she started writing and recording material which would eventually be released under her own name. Enantiodromia was released in 2003 on Drag City, 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 1980s".
Azita's album, How Will You?, was released on February 17, 2009. Her latest album, Year was issued in November 2012.
Discography
AZ
Scissor Girls
Bride of No-No
Azita