Carla Lippis is a live grenade with lungs, and she’s back in Australia to unleash her new sound with MONDO PSYCHO: an avant garde descent into rock ‘n’ roll purgatory helmed by ‘the Satanic Liza Minelli’, whose relentless vocal power grinds audiences everywhere into a state of submission.
With nods to Iggy’s Raw Power days, the riot girl howl of the 90’s, the chaotic post-punk of The Birthday Party and the insolence of X-Ray Spex’s Poly Styrene, Carla’s dominating presence is both feared and revered. She is the dark side of the Almodovar heroine: vulnerable and yet untameable. This musical brutalism contrasts with a hypnotic approach, awash with lush synths straight from the worlds of Badalamenti’s Twin Peaks or the creeping dread of 1970’s Italian horror scores.
In a career ranging from singing in sequins to nightclub crowds in London’s West End to touring Europe fronting the cinematic sounds of Italian post-folk group Sacri Cuori, Carla has performed, collaborated and shared the stage with the likes of Calexico, Marc Ribot (right hand guitarist for Mr Tom Waits), She & Him’s M. Ward and ex-Bad Seed Hugo Race. She has released music in a range of guises from the alt-country ballads of ‘The Martial Hearts’ to the minimalist punk riffs of ‘The Rules’, or the 60s Italian pop of ‘Baby Carla.’
The MONDO PSYCHO stage show evokes a live phantasmagoria, with pulsing melodic synths and grinding guitars washing over a wave of visceral vocal rage; and yet, there are moments of surprising intimacy and vulnerability. Her performances “channel her own personal demons, like Linda Blair in The Exorcist” (The Advertiser). Like a witch or shaman, Carla’s scream into the void is an act of catharsis, drawing those in who are ready for collective release.
The current Carla Lippis band lineup consists of some of Adelaide’s most dextrous musicians: ‘Shaolin Afronauts’ afro-futurist band leader Ross McHenry on bass and Matriach Moog; celebrated film sound designer Duncan Campbell on synths; sound effects and piano; Glaswegian-born avant noise specialist, Geoffrey Crowther on guitar; NYC-based Angus Mason on drums; and the aptly named Django Rowe on second guitar.
For her forthcoming album Carla set outs to evolve beyond the horizon of hardcore, to a place where she could unleash her furious manifesto. Filled with the rage of betrayal, it was her choice to either psychically implode, or to explode on stage. She has chosen the latter.
Carla also works as a composer and performer with various Australian dance and theatre companies, notably Windmill Theatre, Restless Dance Theatre and Opera South Australia.
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AWARDS
VIDEOS
Wolf It Down
Parasite
The Hard Way
Happy
La Soirée – Perth 2019
Live @ Adelaide Cabaret Festival
Son of a Gun – Music Video
Sacri Cuori – Delone
SPOTIFY
REVIEWS / TESTIMONIALS
“A wholly original and formidable talent.”
The Advertiser
“From the emotional delivery to the vocal technique to the musical ambition, it’s all turned up to 11 …. a wild ride.”
The Scotsman
“Definitely one of Australia’s, if not the world’s, most underrated performers …. her divine musicality won’t be going unnoticed for much longer.”
Theatre Travels
“A Knockout”
The Australian
“Like something straight out of a Tarantino film … an absolute pleasure to listen to.”
Edinburgh Festivals Magazine
“Carla Lippis’ vocals….curl around you like the ‘fern in the spring’ of legend.”
Record Collector Magazine
“Carla has an incredible voice ranging from sensual mumble to soaring magnificence”
Louder Than War