Short Bio
From the alchemical realm of the underworld emerges a dark progressive art musician named JoJo Razor. After witnessing the illumination of the snake biting its tail she began to use its light for unearthing songs, art, fortunes and stories.
Straight out of San Francisco’s throwaway backyard, Oakland became her feeding ground which is far from the bright lights of the city and down in the dirty dark mix of the esoteric and the melancholy.
The exposure to the realm of the dead imprinted JoJo’s creative landscape with textures, layers, voices and deep whispers of wisdom from deep in the other world. In 2016 she discovered the ability to create music in 5.1 surround sound which resonated deeply with her progressive rock, concept album, coming of age past. She is currently working on a solo CD that samples and houses these experiences.
JoJo holds an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute where she concentrated on performance/video/computers in the new genres department pushing to the side her many years of singing on stage. Throughout her education music and art were compartmentalized with a no cross boundary rule. Her art was shown nationally and internationally but she began to notice that during her openings she would change the conversations to music and her love of the stage.
In 2004 she began working with Antero Alli, filmmaker/experimental theatre in his sourcing group ParaTheatrical ReSearch. It was during this time that JoJo began to infuse her voice with authentic movements through her body without the influence of an audience.
Wanting to synthesize her art/video/performance with music she co-founded VoxMaids, a dark musical collaboration with Cynthia Wyuker. It was during their performance of Searching for the Voice of the Third, San Francisco Fringe Festival, that JoJo heard, in meditation, to push further into the unknown.
She had experienced and survived a personal myth starting in 1989 that lasted three years courtesy of the Los Angeles music business which drove her directly to the gates of death on the road of alcoholism. During her second year of sobriety she was pulled into the other worldfull of dark archetypes that taught her how to maneuver and unfold in the land of the dead. The climax came when she stood face to face with the Mother-Beast watching, listening and giving voice to the process of it biting its tail; then hearing later that night from the group therapist that you are going through what the Greeks went through. She took his words with her through a personality death and filed them away for later reference, knowing she had no idea what he was taking about.
In 2007 JoJo began unfolding and focusing on this personal myth in her solo performances called The Dead of Winter Forest, directed by David Ford and performed at The Marsh in San Francisco and Berkeley. She continued adding to her performance arsenal with loop box stations, rituals, acting through storytelling, songs and began creating a set of telling cards featuring her other world characters.
Currently, all of the music and all of the art that she channels comes into manifestation through this other world. In between working on her solo pieces she splits her time between two original progressive rock bands, Gekko Projket out of Los Angeles and Imager out of Oakland, both with 2015 album releases. She also finds time to embody the spirit of Yes’ Jon Anderson in Shine Delirious and Jefferson Airplane’ Grace Slick, in San Francisco Airship. She has also been a regular singer and co-creator on Cruise to the Edge’s After Hours Electric Prog Jam and has sang with members of Yes, Saga and Renaissance. In the 80s she opened for many international bands such as UFO, BTO, John Waite, Onigo Bongo, Molly Hatchet and more.
Band Members
JoJo Razor is a dark progressive artist/vocalist/composer who channels esoteric themes.
Hometown
Oakland, Ca.
Links
| Website | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube |
Solo Discography
In (2019) CD & Digital | Melodic Revolution Records
Other Projects
Imager – Imager (2015) CD & Digital | Self Released
Gekko Projekt – Reya of Titan (2015) CD & Digital | Melodic Revolution Records