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The songs on BONZIE’s debut full-length album, Rift Into The Secret of Things, brim with unbridled intensity and fiery alt-rock
spirit. BONZIE — Chicagoan Nina Ferraro — isn’t a traditional confessional singer-songwriter. She’s more of an observer and
commentator who expresses herself with unwavering honesty, and delivers her lyrics with powerful abandon. It’s partly for this
reason that Ferraro has chosen to release her songs under the moniker BONZIE — an image and word she’s long associated with
her creative output.
Self-released by Ferraro on iTunes in August, Rif ...read more
The songs on BONZIE’s debut full-length album, Rift Into The Secret of Things, brim with unbridled intensity and fiery alt-rock
spirit. BONZIE — Chicagoan Nina Ferraro — isn’t a traditional confessional singer-songwriter. She’s more of an observer and
commentator who expresses herself with unwavering honesty, and delivers her lyrics with powerful abandon. It’s partly for this
reason that Ferraro has chosen to release her songs under the moniker BONZIE — an image and word she’s long associated with
her creative output.
Self-released by Ferraro on iTunes in August, Rift Into The Secret of Things has earned the 19-year-old much critical praise,
including comparisons to such celebrated indie artists as Cat Power’s Chan Marshall (Spin) and Neutral Milk Hotel’s Jeff Mangum
(The Aquarian). The New York Times has called her songs “often folky at first — but just as steely in songs that chart trust and
tension.” Vogue has enthused: “Her self-harmonizing is masterful” while calling out her “talent for moving seamlessly between
gentle folk-inspired verses and edgier rock-n-roll riffs.” Interview magazine has remarked: “Layering waves of strings, electronic
hiccups, spiky guitar, and unexpected instrumental breaks upon a foundation of gentle coffeehouse folk, Rift beams with
confidence.”
That confidence has enabled Ferraro to hold her own while teaming up with veteran producer and engineer Steve Albini (Nirvana,
Pixies, PJ Harvey) to record a dynamic, experimentally inspired new track entitled “How Do You Find Yourself, Love?” at Albini’s
Electrical Audio studio. Ferraro first discovered Albini’s work when she heard Slint’s 1987 album Tweez, which he recorded. “Nothing
I had ever heard had sounded that way,” she says. “It was emotional and raw, but at the same time, still finessed. He gets this
amazing equilibrium. I started listening to all of the records he’s done. I was an instant fan.” Albini introduced Ferraro to guitarist
Jeff Parker and percussionist Dan Bitney (both members of Chicago post-rock band Tortoise), who play on “How Do You Find
Yourself, Love?”.
Ferraro has always felt strongly about separating herself from people’s expectations and predispositions. When she began writing
and playing her songs at age 9, she would tell people they were covers of songs by other artists, rather than admit they were her
compositions. “I knew that if I presented them like, ‘I wrote this, this is my song,’ there would be a certain amount of bias coming
from the person I was playing it for,” she explains. “It would become more about me and my relationship with the listener, which
felt so wrong because songwriting for me was never an egocentric pursuit. I wasn’t looking for anything in return. The benefit was
simply creating something and releasing the song into the atmosphere, so to speak.”
Fast forward to now, and BONZIE has opened for the likes of Iron and Wine for sold-out crowds, Noah and the Whale, and Neon
Trees.
BONZIE now tours across the country and has performed at New York’s CMJ festival, Milwaukee’s Summerfest, and Taste of
Chicago, as well as at Pianos, The Knitting Factory, Rockwood Music Hall, and the Brooklyn Bowl in New York, Hotel Café and Bardot
in Los Angeles, and Lincoln Hall and House of Blues in Chicago. BONZIE toured with Cayucas, and wowed critics with her
performances at SXSW in Austin, including The New York Times’ Jon Pareles, who commented that her “delicacy and drama,
surrender and anger, made a riveting combination.”
BONZIE is now set to release her second full-length, the much-anticipated Zone on Nine. Due out in May 2017, the album was fully
written and produced by Ferraro herself, and co-produced with Jonathan Wilson (Father John Misty, Conor Oberst) and Ali Chant
(Perfume Genius, Youth Lagoon).
BONZIE http://www.bonzie.net/
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