Listen Lisse pronounced (Lease) is a Singer/Songwriter. She grew up in an obscure place in the Southern Hemisphere by the sea in a town with a river and lakes near a native forest that has one of the largest trees in the world. She grew up with the usual small town angst that you would expect and learned to play electric guitar as one of the ways to cure this angst.
After finishing art school in Auckland as a painter she moved to London in 1998 where she currently lives. She started performing live in 2004 playing guitar and later introducing percussion instruments, loopstation and playing a kick pedal and floor tom live.
The most recent release is a full length album called: Pow Bang released in 2009. After the experience of recording her first album It’s Not You Lisa was able to use this familiarity with the recording process to accomplish a more full sound, playing Multi-instruments and layering vocals and guitar with a new found confidence. Eddie Darko who played live with Listen Lisse played guitar on some songs and Nick Howdle-Smith worked drum engineering into some of the tracks.
Some gigs have included opening for Richard Swift (Secretly Canadian) at a Rough Trade night at the Enterprise in Chalk Farm. Then in Berlin Listen Lisse supported The Meanwhiles as part of their European tour.
Listen Lisse has most recently toured NZ April 2010 and played at Chicks Hotel in Dunedin, Happy in Wellington and due to being stranded by the volcano an additional gig at The Wine Cellar in Auckland.
Listen Lisse started performing live in 2004 playing guitar and later introducing percussion instruments and playing a kick pedal and floor tom live. In 2007 Band member Eddie Darko joined Listen Lisse and contributed to the album Pow Bang (2009). Lisse has played in European cities including Berlin and Tartu, Estonia.
Listen Lisse is currently solo and is often referred to as a one woman band. She is due to record a third album this year.
The most recent release is a full length album called: Pow Bang self released in 2009. This album was recorded at a home studio and is co-produced by Lisa with digital distribution by CD Baby. The song Raise Me was chosen by director/producer Natasa K. Crnkovic for a music video which will be released this year.
Some noteworthy gigs have included opening for Richard Swift (Secretly Canadian) at a Rough Trade night at the Enterprise in Chalk Farm, London. In Berlin Listen Lisse supported The Meanwhiles (USA) as part of their European tour.
Other releases by Listen Lisse include the song Wake me up When Xmas is Over which is an Anti-Xmas song written by Listen Lisse and is released with UK label Filthy Little Angels as part of a compilation: Tis the Season to Be Filthy.
Also released with Filthy Little Angels is a 1 minute song called Slow it Down as part of a compilation called: Just A Minute.
Listen Lisse has plans this year to tour more parts of Europe and the UK.
Recent reviews of Pow Bang:
"Pow Bang" is the album of an artist totally at one with her writing. It's an album that asserts it's self. It's not aggressive, there's no need to adopt a faux accent to try and make the songs sound somehow more sophisticated, the songs speak for themselves. There's a real drive to both the narrative and the music, that powers the album forward. It hints at post punk in attitude, it has a swagger that's not arrogance, more entitlement. - Fatea Magazine
LISTEN LISSE - Pow Bang: Listen Lisse is a singer / songwriter from New Zealand and has been playing live since 2004. The most recent release is sitting in my hands right now! Recorded and released in 2009 this eleven track album is a piece of art that you have to hear. OK so not everyone is into acoustic stuff but this is far from the run of the mill acoustic material you've probably heard. There's plenty of punk attitude in Listen Lisse's music and that can be heard throughout this album. What's more Listen Lisse has a voice that really suits the style of music she plays and I reckon why this release is so damned cool. Favourite tracks for me include 'Raise Me', 'Burning Dust', 'On The Road', 'Vengeance' and 'Street Lights' though no doubt you'll find your own. This comes well packaged and production is spot on too! If you're after something different to what you usually hear then Listen Lisse has got to be up there amongst the gems that are worth seeking out. - Street Voice Magazine
"Darkly Crooning multi-instrumentalist Listen Lisse brings pared-back, rough-around-the-edges, disaffected-to-the-point-of-dangerous, indie chick chic and techy time signatures to album number two Pow Bang" - Rock n Reel Magazine
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