FRET12 SESSIONS
Djunah
–Live Performance
The one-of-a-kind, one-woman-show known as Djunah stopped by our shop for an intense performance of songs off of her albums Femina Furens and Ex Voto. After the searing set, Djunah (otherwise known as Donna Diane) walked us through her gear, her remarkable full-body performance technique, and more. Join us for this exclusive performance from the FRET12 Shop at the Salt Shed.
Broadcasting from our shop at The Salt Shed, FRET12 Sessions invites musicians of all genres and styles to come in, perform, and share their work with the world.
FRET12 SESSIONS
Djunah – LIVE PERFORMANCE
The one-of-a-kind, one-woman-show known as Djunah stopped by our shop for an intense performance of songs off of her albums Femina Furens and Ex Voto. After the searing set, Djunah (otherwise known as Donna Diane) walked us through her gear, her remarkable full-body performance technique, and more. Join us for this exclusive performance from the FRET12 Shop at the Salt Shed.
Broadcasting from our shop at The Salt Shed, FRET12 Sessions invites musicians of all genres and styles to come in, perform, and share their work with the world.
F12-SESSION 012 // Djunah
Djunah delivers poetic, visceral lyrics with a voice that oscillates between haunting and explosive, creating a foreboding atmosphere nearly as impressive as her ability to effortlessly perform metal-inflected noise rock riffs while simultaneously using her foot to play live bass lines via a monophonic synthesizer driven by the Roland PK5 MIDI pedal controller. With her ability to effortlessly switch mood and tempo on a dime, as showcased in July’s People off her debut album Ex Voto, and her single-minded commitment to self-exploration and expression, Djunah is a musical tour-de-force to be reckoned with.
After the performance, we sat down with Donna to talk about her evolving writing process, translating that to a live show, and of course her gorgeous collection of gear featuring brilliant Chicago makers Furlan Guitars, Emperor Cabinets, Dean Costello Audio, God City Instruments, EarthQuaker Devices, Gibson, and more.
“From the beginning, the ethos was always to be a two piece that sounds like a three piece...how much noise we can make all live? No loops, no samples, no backing tracks, nothing.”
– Donna Diane
“From the beginning, the ethos was always to be a two piece that sounds like a three piece...how much noise we can make all live? No loops, no samples, no backing tracks, nothing.”
– Donna Diane
“I think as a songwriter and a performer, sometimes when you have
those constraints, you really get to use your creativity to be like, how are
we going to do that?”
– Donna Diane
“I think as a songwriter and a performer, sometimes when you have those constraints, you really get to use your creativity to be like, how are we going
to do that?”
– Donna Diane
“I usually only play guitars with bridge pickups because I always want the tone
to be as bright and nasty as possible,
and he [John Furlan] kind of bet me that
he could build something with a neck pickup that I would love. I've always wanted a DC style guitar, so that
is how it came about. And I do love
the neck pickup.”
– Donna Diane
“I usually only play guitars with bridge pickups because I always want the tone to be as bright and nasty as possible,and he [John Furlan] kind of bet me that he could build something with a neck pickup that I would love. I've always wanted a DC style guitar. So, this is how this came about. And I do love the neck pickup.”
– Donna Diane
“This is my favorite pedal I've ever owned, the Reverberation Machine [by Death By Audio]. I started using it for guitar because I like this really cool, dusty kind of distorted reverb... there are a lot of songs in Ganser where I use distorted vocals. It’s just a sound I’ve always wanted for vocals and it’s much more fun to perform as well.”
— Sophie Sputnik
“This is my favorite pedal I've ever owned, the Reverberation Machine [by Death By Audio]. I started using it for guitar because I like this really cool, dusty kind of distorted reverb... there are a lot of songs in Ganser where I use distorted vocals. It’s just a sound I’ve always wanted for vocals and it’s much more fun to perform as well.”
— Sophie Sputnik
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FRET12 SESSIONS – Djunah
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All video and photos by FRET12.
Venue: FRET12 Shop, located in the main lobby of the Salt Shed - Chicago.
The views and opinions expressed in artist interviews are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of FRET12 or associated entities.
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