Make It Big! Episode 7 - Karina Denike (Dance Hall Crashers and many, many more!)

Make It Big!

Karina Deniké is a vocalist and songwriter from the San Francisco Bay Area. Born in Cambridge, England to Czech dissident artists, Deniké spent her early years performing street theatre throughout Europe, Northern Africa, and India. Upon settling in Oakland, California at age 12, she immersed herself in the vibrant local arts and music scenes of the area, soaking in everything from punk shows at the legendary 924 Gilman to the talents of jazz/soul greats Jon Hendricks, Fred Marshall (Vince Guaraldi, Chet Baker), and Sugar Pie Desanto. At age 18 she released her first album with the dual female fronted Dance Hall Crashers, and at 22 she was signed to major labels MCA and Warner/Discovery. Deniké has made a lifelong study of the finer nuances of vocals, harmony, and performance, moving fluidly from intimate torch song chanteuse to soul singer to punk powerhouse. From pop music to jazz to modern composers' works, she has lent her voice, arrangements, and compositions to more than 30 records, soundtracks, and countless national and international performances, and is an active member of the Bay Area music scenes. After extensive and fruitful collaborative work, Karina Deniké is excited to present the first album entirely focused on her unique compositional voice. "The writing for this album, Under Glass, began when I fell in love with a beautiful Farfisa chord organ. A charming, quirky wooden toy whose big reedy sound fully transported me to another time. I immediately wrote the song 'Musee Mecanique', a 1930’s inspired love ditty with a nod to my dear San Francisco and her stunning shores." Under Glass was released April 14, 2015 and features Deniké's six piece band and an impressive list of additional talent. Centered around power vocal performances and ornamented with an unusually rich collection of vintage sounds — including the chord organ, bass clarinet, Fender VI baritone guitar, vibraphone, and celeste — Under Glass features some of the Bay Area’s finest musicians and composers: Aaron Novik (Tzadik Records, PortoFranco Records), Michael McIntosh (Ralph Carney's Serious Jass Project, the Cottontails), James Frazier, Eric Garland (Mads Tolling, Donavon), and Lily Taylor (Pour Le Corps Records). The album also highlights guests Deston Berry and Alex Dessert (Hepcat), Ralph Carney (Tom Waits, B-52's), Brigid Dawson (Thee Oh Sees), Ara Anderson (Tin Hat, OK GO), and Meric Long (The Dodos). With nods to doo wop drama, crackly records, Motown beats, girl group harmonies, 60's soundtracks, and Eastern European Lullabies, Under Glass is both strikingly original and warmly nostalgic. Its 12 reflective songs are filled with tales of female aviators, love, memory, and personal and regional history, firmly rooted in the musical worlds and seaside city Karina Denike calls home. Deniké has recorded with Dance Hall Crashers (MCA), NOFX (Epitaph), Tony Sly/No Use for a Name (Fat Wreck Chords), Ralph Carney's Serious Jass Project (Smog Veil), and Hepcat (Hellcat), among others. She has shared bills with artists including The Pretenders, Fiona Apple, Beck, The Ramones, Thee Oh Sees, and Aimee Mann and performed at prestigious venues and events around the world, such as the Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland), the Reading Festival (UK), the Warped tour, and the Fillmore. Recently, she contributed the acclaimed opening track to The Songs of Tony Sly; A Tribute (Fat Wreck Chords), was the guest music director for the SF Bay Area's Undercover Presents Series tribute to Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited (hosted by The Contemporary Jewish Museum of San Francisco), contributed lead vocals and vocal production to the album Home Street Home: The sHit Musical (written by Fat Mike of NOFX, and Tony Award winner/Avenue Q co-writer Jeff Marx), contributed a song to the 20th Century Fox film This Means War featuring Reese Witherspoon, and performed at the opening party for the world renowned art festival dOCUMENTA 2012, in Kassel, Germany.