BIO When asked what motivates her to make music, Johanna Warren responds immediately: “Music is vibration; it's a direct way to affect matter. A song is a way to journey into places of discord and then resolve back into harmony.” The Portland songwriter/multi-instrumentalist constructs complex, gossamer folk compositions that draw from the richness of the human experience and her own unique flavor of mysticism. Her 2015 sophomore album, numun, found its way on to several notable year end lists and led Rolling Stone Magazine to name her a "Songwriter You Need to Know." In 2016 she founded Spirit House Records, a radically artist-friendly label for witches, healers and free spirits.


Last year, Warren also released Gemini I, the first of a pair of conceptually connected albums written and recorded in the throes of a rocky romantic relationship with another artist. “All the songs on both records are about a complicated three-year relationship with a Gemini man,” she says. “It was very much a 'twin flame' situation. We were working with bright light and intense shadow.” As a way to process this emotional chaos, Warren began to write in earnest as a form of self-therapy. Eschewing the more abstract lyricism of her earlier work, she began to create a suite of confessional songs about the blessing and the curse of romantic love.

The albums that resulted, Gemini I and Gemini II, are moody, bewitching records packed with layers of occult symbolism and personal mythology. Every song on Gemini I has a corresponding “twin” on II, linked by melodic motifs, lyrical content or production choices. Rather than the DIY recording setups that Warren and engineer/producer Bella Blasko had used previously, the Geminis were tracked at Dreamland studios in upstate New York. There, equipped with a sudden wealth of instruments and more sophisticated technology, Warren who arranges and play nearly everything on her records, felt free to explore. This spirit of experimentation is evident on the records. The songs retain the hushed warmth of previous releases Fates and nūmūn, while expanding Warren’s sonic landscape in all directions.

SELECTED PRESS "A minutely examined and revelatory emotional upheaval, a view of a failed romance sung with meditative grace" - The New York Times “Heartbreaking and stirring” - Pitchfork "The spirit that animates much of Warren's music and philosophy is an enduring belief that we can be better, despite the hurt and despair we put each other and ourselves through." - NPR One of “4 Singer-Songwriters You Need to Know” – Rolling Stone Magazine "A luminous folk fantasia that’s really quite beautiful" - Stereogum “Like the moon and stars in the sky that never fail to impress with their brightness no matter how well we have their movements mapped out, Warren’s music has the power to also shine through predictability” - Paste “Like [Elliott] Smith, she’s interested in the depths of human relationships and the forces that can poison them unseen. She doesn’t lament the dissolution of romances and friendships, but attacks it like a puzzle.” – Consequence of Sound

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Merch & Ted

In this freestyle rap improv game 'Once Upon a Rhyme' we ask our audience for a story about an adventure they had with a best mate. Join us as we improvise our own version of this story through freestyle rap. We hope you enjoy 🎶🔥

"Merch and Ted: Off the Dome” is a theatrical improvised rap performance. The set is a blend of improv, acting, rap and physical theatre, with each part of the show built around audience interaction. From reinventing Netflix episodes to enacting audience stories, the show thrives on spontaneity, ensuring no two nights are the same.