Darling Violetta is an American

dark wave Dark wave, or darkwave, is a music genre that emerged from the new wave and post-punk movement of the late 1970s. Dark wave compositions are largely based on minor key tonality and introspective lyrics and have been perceived as being dark, ro ...

band based in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, United States. Their name is taken from the salutation used by

Bela Lugosi Blaskó Béla Ferenc Dezső (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), better known by the stage name Bela Lugosi ( ; ), was a Hungarian–American actor. He was best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the horror film classic Dracula (19 ...

in letters to his mistress,

Violetta Napierska Violetta Napierska (sometimes ''Violette Napierska'') was a German-Italian dancer and film actress. Most of her acting career she worked in Germany, German silent films, often with Béla Lugosi, Lee Parry and director Richard Eichberg. She was bo ...

. The band released their first EP ''Bath-Water-Flowers'' in 1997, though this work is commonly considered an album by most sources. Two songs were performed by the band in the episode " Faith, Hope & Trick" of the television series ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. The concept is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film, also written by Whedon, a ...

'' (season 3, episode 3), "Blue Sun" from ''Bath-Water-Flowers'' and "Cure" from ''The Kill You EP.'' The following year, the band, with producer

Holly Knight Holly Knight (born 1956) is an American songwriter, musician, and singer. She was a member of the 1980s pop rock groups Spider and Device, and wrote or co-wrote several hit singles for other artists, such as " Rag Doll", " Obsession", " Love Is ...

, composed and recorded the theme for ''

Angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

'', the spinoff series from ''Buffy''.

Biography

In 1999, Darling Violetta released ''The Kill You EP'' and a music video for its song "Spoiled and Rotten." In 2003, they released the album ''Parlour''. In 2005, the band composed an extended version of the ''Angel'' theme called "The Sanctuary Extended Remix", featured on the soundtrack of the series '' Angel: Live Fast, Die Never''. The style of the band is recognizable for the voice of singer Cami Elen (compared by some critics to that of

PJ Harvey Polly Jean Harvey (born 9 October 1969) is an English singer-songwriter. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments. Harvey began her career in 1988 when she joined local band Automat ...

), the use of

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

, particularly in their early compositions, and lyrics charged with

sexual innuendo An innuendo is a hint, insinuation or intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called insinuation), that works obliquely by allusion ...

, dark metaphor and goth references. Darling Violetta's song "I Want to Kill You", produced by Holly Knight, from ''The Kill You EP'' was licensed by

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...

for their game, '' Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption''. They also contributed another song to the Masquerade Universe which was in '' Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines'' entitled "A Smaller God" from the album ''Parlour''. In late 2009, Thomas and Elen reported recording songs for their fourth as yet untitled release. As of January 2018, Elen reports that Darling Violetta is on an 'extended hiatus'.https://web.archive.org/web/20231026101653/https://twitter.com/CamiElen/status/949681170819686400

Band members

*Cami Elen -

Vocal The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound producti ...

s Former members: *Atto Attie -

Bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

*Steve McManus -

Drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

s *Chris Pott - Bass *Jymm Thomas -

Guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

Featured players: *Gerri Sutyak -

Cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

*Michael Renninger - Bass

Discography

LP

* ''Parlour'' (2003)

EP

* ''Bath Water Flowers'' (1997) * ''The Kill You EP'' (1999)

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Musical groups established in 1997 American dark wave musical groups Angel (1999 TV series) American dream pop musical groups 1997 establishments in California