Singer/songwriter and musician Pena Hughes-John has adopted many guises in her music. Whilst her solo work has attracted a following at local folk and Steampunk events (mostly accompanied with her Ukulele), Pena always had an inner punk/rock side.....it was just the case of choosing her timing carefully as to when to bring her rockier/punk/goth side to the public arena.
Prior to setting up 'Lethia's Natorium' (Pena's touring band), Pena already had an eclectic mix of genres and different music projects, from the semi-instrumentals of 'Heartfelt Dreamland' (wall of sound inspired music) to her general solo work accompanied by her Ukulele.
With her music ranging from goth to steampunk and then to goth again, folk to indie from punk to prog rock from ska to rap from ballads to punk. Pena hates been restrained into playing just one genre. The one genre she does not do is modern day RnB.
Fed up with the context of imagery and pigeon-holing in the music scene and eager to release her indie rock/punk side, Pena became the 'anonymous' persona of 'The Angry Ukulele Lady'. As 'The Angry Ukulele Lady' was a studio project and with the listeners not knowing the 'The Angry Ukulele Lady's identity, Pena enjoyed the freedom of recording without the pigeon-hole constraints of artist imagery. With mostly shrieking vocals, layered harmonies, melodic guitars supporting the aggressively played Ukulele, these songs had attitude. Popular with internet radio stations and with some Steampunk circles, easily identifying the anonymous artist as Pena, promoters within the Steampunk community keen to book under this guise for gigs, which Pena had to politely decline as this was supposed to be a studio project only.
The introduction of 'Lethia's Natorium' in no way marks the end of Pena's solo performances but indeed is an additional outlet for her music work with a full band setup. However with Lethia's Natorium, expect music to contain elements of progressive goth punk rock with a slice of reggae fusion for good measure.
Pena made the decision not to book many gigs for the band this year but instead, wanted to focus more on marketing and promotion. With the debut album due for release later in the year, Pena has kept herself busy by keeping the interest in her new project with the regular releases of songs from the forthcoming debut album.
Once Lethia's Natorium's debut gig at the Bedford River Festival is complete, Pena's mind will be focused in adding more gigs for 'Lethia's Natorium's diary for the coming year.
In her solo/Uke capacity, Pena has performed at:-
Strawberry Fair (Cambusters Stage), Cambridge
Carshalton Environmental Fair
St Alban's Folk Festival
Own the Stage, Watford
The Surrey Steampunk Convivial
Cobbles and Cogs, Basingstoke
Hastings Steampunk Weekend
Eastbourne Steampunk Weekend
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