Sound Searching: Adi Ulmansky

From Tel Aviv with love.

Legend has it: Growing up as a child in Jerusalem, Adi Ulmansky’s music instructor encouraged her to continue on the path of music when telling her she has a rare gift. We’re glad she did.

Reminding us of some of our favourite female artists, Adi blends all sorts of genres together to vividly express herself. In pursuit of it, Ulmansky’s debut mix tape Shit Just Got Real features 9-tracks showcasing her electronic sound, encompassing Hip-Hop, post-dubstep, Pop and Trap. Styled ½ pop star and ½ grunge kid, she pulls her visual and musical inspiration from anime culture, art, the Hip-Hop scene and Japanese fashion.

Influenced by the sounds of electronica in her childhood via her older brother, Ulmansky branded herself as a rock metal kid and she says,

“When I finally heard Radiohead, I felt I’ve finally found what I want to do – a combination of electronic music with the warm sound of live instruments.”

Ulmansky released an album titled “Siblings” with her 3-piece band Lorena B, who performs a mixture of rock and electronic music. The music video for single “Swallow My Gum” was selected for MTV playlisting and was also selected for The BBC Music Video Festival 2011. Lorena B visited London twice over the past two years, in 2011 the band met Jarvis Cocker who then played one of their tracks on his BBC 6 radio show. During the band’s last visit to the UK, in March 2012 to promote a new EP, Lorena B opened a show for Disclosure at XOYO, London (line-up included also Deadboy and Bondax). Ulmansky counts London as one of her favourite places in the world.

Lorena B also performed in the Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg 2011, the CMJ Marathon in NYC 2011 and local celebrated festivals in Israel including in-D-negev. During this time, Ulmansky collaborated with Borgore on popular tracks called “Someone Else’s” and “Why Does It Feel”. In 2012, Ulmansky released the first teaser of her solo material; an internet viral to one of her solo tracks “I Always Liked Men With Good Hands”, showcasing her quirky ‘fantasy’ visual style and developed sound.

Today, you can download her debut mix tape Shit Just Got Real. It features a lead track from which A.D.I. is packaged with a retro wedding party concept video, and directed by Vania Heymann. Visuals are a key aspect of her music,

“I think my music and visual style is really inspired by street fashion and anime art. It combines a cynical approach, sophisticated yet trashy. I love the work of the amazing director Kahlil Joseph who released a beautiful video for Flying Lotus a few months ago.”