Vanessa Van Ness

Vanessa Van Ness is a British American singer, songwriter, producer, and guitarist blending krautrock, psychedelic, and indie electronic influences. She grew up in Venice Beach, California in the same building Jim Morrison once lived in before he found success. Her parents were English immigrants from Kent. Her mother was a hatmaker and folk artist, and her father was a furniture maker who believed music was the highest art form. Inspired by the DIY spirit of the Venice boardwalk and musical history of her home, she began writing lyrics and teaching herself guitar as a teenager. Her lack of belief in her own singing voice—which ironically later became a staple of her sound—caused her to work harder at playing an instrument. Before releasing her first songs, Van Ness worked in film & television and would often volunteer as a disaster responder. Her first release, True True Shot, was written while volunteering in Nepal during the 2015 Nepal Earthquake, which partly influenced the song’s themes, and which she later self-produced on a laptop, performing the instruments herself. True True Shot was picked up by BBC Introducing in Oxford, UK, then won the Fresh on the Net competition hosted by BBC 6 Music’s Tom Robinson. Subsequent singles earned continued BBC and indie radio support, while The Early Bus, a neo-psychedelic meditation on her brother’s car accident, climbed to No. 1 on the Hype Machine Popular chart. Van Ness is based between LA and the UK. ~Sarah Klein