The sound and the fury

More info and music here : http://myspace.com/torabrava

Tora Brava is a singer, songwriter, performance artist and actor. Much like her talents, her music spans many genres. Currently her music can be described as pop electronica with a postmodern rock edge. Tora Brava is the stage name of Tora Kim who was born in Seoul, South Korea. At a very early age she showed a penchant for unusually high levels of energy and productivity. Her family moved to Panama when she was 3 years old, then moved to the States where she spent most of her childhood in New Jersey. There she studied classical piano, viola, ballet, art and voice, and wrote her first song at the age of 13. Tora moved to New York City to attend Barnard College and met John Zorn, on whose record label Tzadik she released her first critically-acclaimed album with her band Xtatika. During this time she also worked as a performance artist, penning and performing one-women shows and with ensemble casts in New York City, sharing the stage with Karen Finley, Sean Lennon and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Altogether she released 3 albums with Xtatika, toured the Northeast and Europe, and graduated from New York University’s Gallatin School on the Dean’s List with a BA in Performance Art and Creative Writing. Tora went solo thereafter.

As Tora Brava, she started writing songs while traveling in France and Morocco. She released her first solo EP, Escape From Wonderland [Ceremony Media] in 2009. The album received attention for its poppy hooks, a worldly and sensual breadth of vision, and electronic rock edge. She went on to tour Mexico and Asia. Tora returned stateside to write and record the 13 Wolves EP. This collection of radio-friendly tunes marked a return to her rock roots, recording with a full band of guitar, bass, drums and synth. After a successful run of shows on the East Coast, Tora moved west to Los Angeles in late-2010. In addition to being an award-winning prose-writer, Tora is also a trained actor, trained dancer, and an accomplished visual artist. She is currently focusing on acting. In the summer of 2011, Tora played the lead role (the bad-guy role which Lee J. Cobb made famous in the original film) in the play “The Jurors”, a modern retelling of 12 Angry Men in Hollywood. She is currently filming Dark City, her first indie feature film in which she plays the lead.

Tora loves food, Bikram yoga, truffles (the underground variety), and the beach. She lives in Los Angeles with her two Jindo dogs.