SLV, Audra Isadora, Cole Williams

SLV is musician and songwriter Sandra Lilia Velásquez and drummer/composer Sean Dixon.

After recording three studio albums and touring extensively with her band Pistolera, Velasquez released her solo debut EP, Dig Deeper, on February 12, 2013 on her own Luchadora label. The four song recording was produced by ten-time Grammy nominee and legendary bassist Meshell Ndegeocello, who plays bass on three of the songs and co-wrote one. She debuted her band at Joe's Pub in NYC in February of 2013 of which music site Feast Of Music hailed, "SLV transported the audience to a different time and place… her energy blanketed the audience… Leaving the deepest impression was SLV's absolute authenticity."

She has been featured on NPR, WNYC and USA TODAY. Her band is currently a trio with a laptop and fans can expect what the New York Music Daily boasts in their live review, "[SLV] channeled minute fractions of the spectrum between boudoir seduction and full-blown angst and every emotion in between."


With a name as big as her sound, Audra Isadora makes soulful glam pop all her own and is ready to unleash her booming voice and vivacious vibrato that echo Kate Bush's eccentricity and Annie Lennox's sensational solo efforts. Armed with a full instrumental band on her self-titled EP, the NYC-based sultry powerhouse is sure to make a splash with five wildly colorful tracks that showcase her apt ability to create a delectable journey of tunes for your earbuds to feast themselves on.

Audra was always attracted to the unique and unconventional, realizing at age 10 that her true instrument, aside from her voice, was the oboe. Topping her strikingly quirky personality off with a BFA in musical theatre, and you've got the explosive recipe of Audra Isadora in full David Bowie performance mode: "To be able to create a character, and make theatrical musical choices based on that…and to be able to wear a costume (and if i'm lucky, some crazy wig)…I continue to do that in my own music now." For Audra, her spectacular singing performance is dramatically influenced by musical theatre and as a natural born musical artist, she has a knack for creating outlandish characters and performing on stage a la Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

Audra's instrumental act features a varied cast of talent on her EP, with Matt Katz on keys, Jason Rabinowitz on guitar, Kenneth Salters on drums, Brendan O'Grady on bass, Dos Allen on sax, Bruce Harris on trumpet, Adriel Williams on violin, and last but not least — the oboe played by Audra Isadora, herself.

Audra Isadora's EP takes you on a musical journey, with heavy influences ranging from jazz, blues, 90's anti-folk, to neo soul and even drawing cues from the likes of David Bowie to Tori Amos. "Creature of Desire" is a rainbow of sound, starting off on a slow dizzying tripped out beat and building up to a crescendoing, echoing chorus that builds throughout the song and highlights Audra's wide vocal range. The EP also contains a bonus remix by Bright Light Bright Light which is a seductive synth rendition of the shimmery electronica track.

While "Creature of Desire" was an evocative burst of light-hearted lyrics and catchy pop grooves, "Sparrow Song" slows down the tempo, being one of the more intimate tracks on the EP. Audra reveals, "It is about the hospital experience — as a patient, and as the loved one of a patient. I am a cancer survivor, and my mother passed away from cancer." As much as the EP is a musical journey for the listener, Audra Isadora's music also serves as an emotional one as well.

Audra picks you right back up again after "Sparrow Song" with her playful rendition of Kate Bush's classic, "Babooshka," and pays homage to one of her heroes by dressing up the number with vibrant trumpets and livening it up with her trademark vocals. The EP ends appropriately with the song "Green," based on a cross-country road trip from DC to LA and represents both Audra's soothing croons and powerful wails.

"The song is about the journey — both literally, and emotionally, as I dealt with loss and appreciating the vast and incredible power and beauty of nature." As Audra Isadora embarks on this incredible new solo journey with her music there's no telling what this songstress is capable of.


"I am reminiscent of a time when music spoke beyond the surface," says Brooklyn's highly fashionable songwriter, composer, producer and artist extraordinaire Cole Williams. On the surface, Cole presents herself as a striking songbird that you can't take your eyes off of. Below though, unafraid of being vulnerable or naked in her music, Cole is quickly building her creative empire.

Cole Williams kicked off this year with the release of multiple singles and music videos, as well as a successful tour throughout France. She then hooked up with hip hop duo Chiddy Bang to offer some powerful female vocals on their single "Ray Charles," and followed that up with live performances on national TV including Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and Wendy Williams.

Next on her agenda, Cole Williams will independently release a limited-edition, double EP titled, Out of the Basement, Out of the Box on May 8, 2012. The album, co-produced by Josh Valleau and Cole Williams, includes the tracks from her 2011 soul/reggae/rock EP Out of the Basement Part I, plus a new collection of songs showcasing her pop and R&B roots.

Cole Williams has also lent her vocals both on stage and in the studio to other notable artists including Melinda Doolittle, Diane Birch, Joss Stone, Little Jackie and Neurotic Drum Band. Her 2006 Swedish Grammy nomination for Best Live Performance (with Glenn Wish and The New Memphis Orchestra) skyrocketed her commercial voiceover work, which she now does for Suave, CoverGirl and JC Penny, among others.

Cole's voice is not her only representation in the media. Her love for vintage shopping and brilliant eye for color combinations, textures and cuts have gotten her spotted on the street and pulled in for fashion photo shoots with such designers as Elyvette, Makabu and KALYSSCOLORS, and for publications like Italian Vogue and Suavv Magazine.

Regular performances and residencies with her two bands, That'sMyCole and People's Champs, at New York City hotspots including Pianos, RBar and Asellina, prove that Cole Williams is a small package with a big live presence.

Raised in the Little West Indies of Brooklyn, NY as the only child of a Jamaican mother and Bed Stuy-native father, Cole treated the records in her living room like siblings. She played, fought, admired, questioned and loved Bob Marley, The Beatles, Mighty Sparrow, Jackson 5, Motown and Dancehall Reggae. Today, with every project Cole touches you can hear the eclectic mix of genres that dance around in her head.

Cole Williams is the pioneer's soul mate; the anthem for some and the voice for others. "I keep it real in every lyric, musical line and inflection," she says. And what's the appeal for the empowered listener? "I don't write a lot of syrupy love songs because I'm from Brooklyn; I don't believe in that shit."