Tori Roze and The Hot Mess

Soul/Jazz...Tori Roze is a multi-instrumentalist and soul-singer to the core. Currently living in San Diego, Tori has been writing music since the age of sixteen, utilizing the medium to primarily channel those things that cannot be understood merely by the act of saying the words themselves. The Hot Mess, comprised of five extremely exceptional musicians that literally bring the house down, is sure to leave you reeling with toe-tapping excitement. "If you combined the music of Erykah Badu, Ella Fitzgerald, Amy Winehouse, Janis Joplin, Pink, and Adele, you would acquire what our sound is. We like to put some stank on it, bottom line." Seeking nothing more than to shed light on the human experience, Roze is a key artist in conveying the emotional intent behind a song. Her edge being that of a heart-driven soul mixed with the nitty gritty truth, she is sure to leave audiences with the sense of relative human connection and a vocal style that is absolutely unforgettable.

By Jay Allen Sanford | Published Wednesday, June 17, 2009
“My parents maintained a very musical household,” says singer-trumpeter Tori Roze. “My mom played with Randy Holden, the lead guitarist in Blue Cheer, and she opened for groups like Canned Heat and Three Dog Night. She used to hold Janis Joplin’s Southern Comfort bottle for her offstage.
Roze’s parents were also involved with the San Diego Repertory Theatre and with Indian Magique, a theatrical troupe that won the Canadian Emmy for Best Comedy Show in 1977. In high school Roze fronted the band Carne Askata before departing to attend Boston Conservatory for a year. After doing a semester in London with music and theater classes at the Old Globe, she eventually graduated with a degree in theater from UC Santa Cruz. She currently fronts the six-piece rock ’n’ soul combo Tori Roze and the Hot Mess. “If Erykah Badu, Amy Winehouse, Ella Fitzgerald, Pink, and Adele were all to get together,” she says, “you’d get the essence of our sound. Bottom line: we like to put some stank on it.”

WHAT’S IN YOUR CD PLAYER?
1. Michael Jackson, Off the Wall. “Can we just talk about how incredible this record is? Fully orchestrated, the man sings his heart out, and it makes your booty wanna move.”
2. Erykah Badu, Mama’s Gun. I could listen to this forever and be happy.”
3. Björk, Family Tree. I love how this woman sings from her soul, and you feel it viscerally. I have to see her perform before I die.”
4. Grand Ole Party, Humanimals. “A local band doing something way different — this is what I listen to before I go out to amp me up.”

MOST-VISITED WEBSITES?
1. Myspace.com“I’m always checking up on my music page and updating things, and I’m constantly looking for female-fronted bands that rock.”
2. Sonicbids.com“Always updating my EPK [electronic press kit] and looking for exciting gigs.”
3. Astrology.com“I gots to know my horoscope, shoot!”
4. Google.com“I get extreme usage of the image finder, for flyer-making and whatnot.”
5. Facebook.com“Man, this is the most un-user-friendly site ever, but all my friends are addicted to its crappy layout, so I use it to check in with friends who are too cool to use Myspace anymore. What the heck are they thinking?”
MAC OR PC?
“PC, because I can right-click.”
DO YOU PLAY VIDEO GAMES?
“Eww.”
BEST ADVICE YOU EVER GOT?
“Perseverance, kid — it’s the only thing that’s going to save you.”
FINISH THIS SENTENCE: “I LIVE IN SAN DIEGO BECAUSE.…”
“…I can. Jealous?”
CARE TO RATE THE NEW PREZ?
“He’s pretty snazzy, but he’s got his work cut out for him. Thank goodness he’s eloquent, though. Sheesh!”
SOMETHING ABOUT YOU FEW WOULD KNOW OR GUESS?
“I worked at Hot Dog on a Stick for ten years...ha!"

"San Diego's Funky Songstress: Tori Roze"
Tim Pyles - FM 94.9 On Air

"Tori Roze's voice gives me fierce goose bumps. She grooves with soul, style and just enough rock to let you know she's serious."
Cathryn Beeks - Listen Local SD

"“My parents maintained a very musical household,” says singer-trumpeter Tori Roze. “My mom played with Randy Holden, the lead guitarist in Blue Cheer, and she opened for groups like Canned Heat and Three Dog Night. She used to hold Janis Joplin’s Southern Comfort bottle for her offstage.” Roze’s parents were also involved with the San Diego Repertory Theatre and with Indian Magique, a theatrical troupe that won the Canadian Emmy for Best Comedy Show in 1977. In high school Roze fronted the band Carne Askata before departing to attend Boston Conservatory for a year. After doing a semester in London with music and theater classes at the Old Globe, she eventually graduated with a degree in theater from UC Santa Cruz. She currently fronts the six-piece rock ’n’ soul combo Tori Roze and the Hot Mess. “If Erykah Badu, Amy Winehouse, Ella Fitzgerald, Pink, and Adele were all to get together,you’d get the essence of our sound. Bottom line: we like to put some stank on it." Jay Allen Sanford - San Diego Reader

"Ranging from the Joss Stone-ish "Sweet Drank" to the 1990s Taylor Dane dance-anthem style of "Like a Rockstar," Tori Roze is both gritty and soulful. Apparently she subscribes to the MC Hammer school of break-ups, as she sings in "Bet's Off": "You're just trying to make me jealous/Better try harder 'cause nobody can touch this." Her tortured yet self-confident style makes this songstress too legit, too legit to quit. Enrique Limon" - San Diego City Beat

TRIBAL BAROQUE

Lila’Angelique One day in the Angel tunnel in New York's Central Park, when she was listening to Thoth while they were singing "Anya," it sounded like a baroque countertenor; but there rhythm, vocal whooping and roaring sounded so tribal, that Lila called there music “Tribal Baroque”. A combination of opposites: raw, howling singing, feet stomping rhythm, faces painted, breasts flopping, wild original costumes, ecstatic spiritual dancing combined with highly developed musical phrases, perfect pitch, Bulgarian-style operatic soprano and countertenor vocals, and classically influenced violin. Thus the name, "TRIBAL BAROQUE"

S.K. Thoth was born on June 19th, 1954 in Manhattan General Hospital to Elayne Jones, a tympanist with the New York City Opera, and George Kaufman, a doctor. They named him Stephen after Stephen Foster, the songwriter in the early 1900's. Stephen spent his early years in St. Albans, Queens. His parents had two more children, Harriet and Cheryl. He and his sisters attended the United Nations International School where Stephen showed himself to be an average student. Both parents were involved in the Civil Rights and anti-Vietnam War movements and took Stephen and his sisters on many marches in NYC and Washington. His father was one of the doctors who assisted the marchers who were beaten up by the police. At eight years old, after one year of piano lessons, he had a dream of someone giving him a violin. He began studying violin with Mara Dvonch, a friend of his mother's and the assistant concertmaster of the American Symphony Orchestra. Although recognized to have talent, he rarely practiced as much as his teacher would have liked, wanting to play baseball and tennis, and cook instead. Even so, he progressed steadily. His parents separated and divorced when he was ten years old. The separation forced he and his sisters to leave the United Nations International School to attend public school. He went to Junior High School 217. During junior high school, he began imagining and creating a mythological world, Festad, as a reaction to feeling alienated from his peers and after reading Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. He auditioned for and was accepted into La Guardia High School of Music and Art. Upon graduating he received the Memorial Award for over all musicianship. In 1972, his mother became tympanist for the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and moved he and his sisters to San Francisco. There he attended San Francisco State University as a music major where he met Richard Wiseman, a professor of comparative literature and an adept at Jungian psychoanalysis, who later became his adviser and mentor. Three years later, he transfered to San Diego State University as an astronomy major. After becoming disinterested in astronomy, physics and mathematics, he turned his interest and attention to opera, drama, and literature. He studied Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelugen and took classes in languages, philosophy, and playwriting, which led to him continuing to write about his mythological world Festad . . . As S.K. Thoth, he has been prayforming his solopera, THE HERMA:The Life and Land of Nular-in, daily at the Bethesda Terrace Arcade in New York City’s Central Park for more than ten years. In addition, he has prayformed the solopera in Sweden, Canada, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, and in the Bay Area, where he developed his work, for the AfroSolo ‘99 Theater Festival. He has appeared on The View, America’s Got Talent, and the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. In 2001, award winning director Sarah Kernochan made a documentary about Thoth’s life and work, which won the 2002 Academy Award for Documentary on a Short Subject. In June 2009, he released a book of short stories entitled Ruby and the Treehouse. In September 2009, Thoth released his eleventh CD with soprano and violinist, Lila’Angelique. He continues his study of theosophy, the eating and preparation of raw food, the assembling of the Encyclopedia of the Festad, and the writing of a novel about The Herma.

Lila’Angelique was born Caitlin Churchill Harkin with her twin sister Jamie Johnson on the 26th of February 1988 in New York City. Her preschool years were spent in Bergenfield, New Jersey, but her family moved to Nashville when she was 5. Both parents are professional musicians. Her mother, Caroline Peyton, is a singer who worked on Broadway. Her father, Brendan Harkin, is a guitarist and recording engineer who runs a full time recording studio in his home. In elementary school, she began Suzuki violin lessons when she saw a fellow student with a violin, but she quickly grew tired of the regimented group lessons and turned to studying classical at the Blair School of Music and Irish fiddle with private teachers. At 10, she was introduced to Verdi’s Rigoletto by her cousin and fell in love with opera. Delving passionately into the art form, she learned many operas by heart. One summer, two years later, she began voice lessons after discovering she had vibrato while singing along with Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. At 13, she met her mentor, Will Griffin who nurtured and tutored her in philosophy, art and music. In High School, she was placed in advanced choirs and won talent shows with her twin sister, singing operatic duets such as “Sous le dôme épais” from Delibes’ Lakme and “We are women” from Bernstein’s Candide. She studied voice with Metropolitan Opera coloratura soprano Elizabeth Carter, and her technique advanced rapidly. Instead of paying attention in math class, she would study the libretto to Mozart’s Die Zauberflote. Many of her teachers and fellow students had trouble with her outlandish styles of clothing: cut up jumpsuits, tutu’s, tuxedos and clown makeup. Before her 18th birthday, she sang the duet “Ach, ich liebte” from Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio with Will Griffin on Nashville’s classical radio station, WPLN 90.3 . As a freshman at the University of Kentucky at Lexington, she played Ariel in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, composing original music for her character. She also played the title role in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors. After a year in the university, she dropped out and moved to New York City to study at Circle in the Square Theatre School. She was frustrated by the school’s emotionally draining regimen and was also alienated from her peers. On October 11th 2008, she wandered into Central Park and stumbled upon Thoth in the Angel Tunnel. She became his only student. On March 2009, she joined him in prayformance and stopped going to theater school. In the fall, she and Thoth released a CD of their music recorded live. Presently, she and he perform their miniature tribal baroque operas throughout the world,