FEATURED FOLKZ: Musician Bio: Divasonic and member/owner of Digital Bliss Productions

Divasonic music bio:
(Divasonic played at the Feb. 27th, 2010 show, and helped raise $1,800 for Haiti relief)

Genres: Electronica/Dance / Alternative / Pop

Label: Digital Bliss Productions/Cyberset, Digital Bliss Productions

Lynda Arnold is a jack of all trades in the music business, simultaneously operating as a multi-instrumentalist, producer, engineer, performer and educator. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Lynda performs and produces as 'Divasonic' molding her own sound of downtempo, house and d-n-b mixed with ethereal vocals and jazz flute inprovisations.

Her label credits include EMI, Clubstar (Germany), Cyberset (SF), Epiphyte (SF) and her own label, Digital Bliss.

More About Divasonic

Divasonic

"The road of individuality is not a straight line..."

Divasonic is built around the production, songwriting, and multi-instrumental talents of Lynda Arnold, who got started at an early age by taking dance lessons, then adding piano and flute to her repertoire. "My parents said I always had talent with rhythm and my ability to move to the music," says Lynda. "Even though I was trained as an instrumentalist, it's no surprise that I enjoy playing around with rhythms. Dancing was my artistic escape during my teenage years when I was learning classical music. " After earning a classical music degree from DePauw University and a recording/production degree from Ex'pression College for the Digital Arts, Lynda started producing and performing her own music in 2000. She says her real release as a musician came when she started to improvise and program her own music after her classical training ended. "I started to put down what I was hearing in my head," she says. "There's nothing like creating in the moment."

Lynda's extensive performance schedule has included a variety of projects, from performing with electronic and live bands to putting on shows with renowned DJs. When she's not on stage, she is recording with an assortment of Bay Area artists and producers or composing music for herself or other projects, such as the acclaimed multimedia dance troupe Capacitor. And then there is her production company, Digital Bliss Productions (digitalblissproductions.com), whose goal is to bring more attention to women producers in the male-dominated field of electronic music. Some such efforts include sponsoring performances and releasing compilations, all of which focus on women producers and vocalists.

As you may expect, Lynda is not a woman with a lot of free time. Ask about her biggest challenge, and she responds: "Being able to do it all. To write, produce, record, promote, perform, tour, and finance the whole damn thing! Oh, the day will be sweet when I will be able to have a manager, a band, and a comfy tour bus! The more I engage in this artistic and business process, the more I realize that I need an army to get things done."

But if her second full-length album, Changing Wind, is any indication, Lynda should be soon enjoying a taste of that sweeter lifestyle. Where her debut album, Birth, was about spirituality and "the internal journey of the soul gaining confidence and overcoming fears and insecurities," Lynda uses Changing Wind more as an outlet for contemplations about relationships, including the ups and downs of "elations, surprises, sensuality, reality, growth, partnership, nurturing, falling in love, and enduring love through its changes." It also stretches a bit further musically, showing off a stronger jazz influence mixed with stronger soul and pop vibes, all wrapped around the elements Lynda has come to be known for, including drum-and-bass rhythms, experimental percussive sounds, and flute and vocal melodies derived from her own poetry.

In addition to everything she has already accomplished and everything she is currently in the midst of, Lynda has even bigger hopes for the future, from performing to producing to teaching. Fortunately for her listeners, those plans largely revolve around her music. "Even if I changed careers at some point in my life, I would always have a musical project," she says. "Music has been a part of my daily life for many years now, and I can't imagine living without the inspiration of it. It's a light that never seems to run dry."

Live musicians:

Lynda Arnold ~ Flute, programming, keys, and lead vocals
Tom Hallenbeck: Bass
Atiim Chenzira: Support Vocalist
Jet Man: Drums