Her artistic name, or alter ego, came after Jesus Christ and the French writer Émile Zola, saying on an interview for Q Magazine "It worked perfectly – a lot of people wouldn't even say Zola Jesus because they thought it was sacrilegious".
On her live performances, she also has Alex DeGroot (electronics and programming), Shane Verwey (synthesizers), Nick Turco (synthesizers), Christiana Key (electric violin) and Nick Johnson (drums).
Starting in 2006, this 23-year-old artist has been receiving very positive reviews by critics and occasionally mentioned as one of the names to watch on the music scenario.
Counting with three albums: The Spoils (2009), Stridulum II (2010) and Conatus (2011) and three EPs Tsar Bomba (2009), Stridulum (2010) and Valusia (2010), Zola Jesus shows why she has been so acclaimed by critics.
With her sound defined somewhere between electronic, classic and experimental rock, she names has big influences different artists like Kate Bush, Joy Division, Florence Welsh from Florence + The Machine and Talking Heads. About her influences, she once stated on an interview to Spinner: "I listen to anything that stands out. I guess something people wouldn't expect me to listen to are artists like Alicia Keys. But she is so incredibly talented. She has this huge voice and great work ethic, which I really respect in an artist. She is also very humble and gracious and devoted to her skill."
Vessel was the first single taken from Conatus and Zola Jesus's explained all the meanings of this song and all the process to NY Times.
About Vessel's background, Zola said that "was written very quickly, almost compulsively. I had a very strong feeling inside about this song, it felt very sharp and clear but at the same time there was a stutter trying to rise from the mud. This song in particular was like the final sum of the disorder I had to fight through in order to make this record. It was a great exhale but also kind of the peak of my sickness."
And when questioned about the metaphor of the moth life that appeared on this song's video, she answered "was born from many surreal dreams I was having while writing the record, the white-banded sphinx moth was used to symbolize the otherworldliness of dreams, secret knowledge".
Absolutely a great song from a bright and talented artist, with a huge future in front of her.
