We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dante Nottoli. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dante below.

Dante, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

A meaningful project for Luscia Jane is our debut album. We just finished recording it earlier this year, and it is currently being prepared to release. It is an 8-song concept album called “Zariana”, and tells a story about standing up for the environment, bringing people together through music, and connecting with nature. It has been a passion project of ours for about two years and is coming into the world very soon.

Dante, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Luscia Jane (pronounced LOO-shuh JAYN) is a dynamic, Chicago-based indie band with a soulful, immersive sound that blends jazz, psychedelic rock, folk, world, and funk music with their love for nature and passion for environmental activism. They call their distinctive style “Forest Funk”.

The seed for the group was planted back in 2020 after Dante Nottoli and Bredia Santoro met at School of Rock Oak Park and began writing and performing songs together. They released an EP and performed locally as a duo, co-hosting an open mic at the historic Val’s Halla Records in Oak Park for two years.

In 2023, Dante and Bredia were inspired to evolve musically and form a larger band. They met X, Keys, Gabriel and Jayson at Columbia College Chicago, each of whom continue to bring their own unique magic to the group.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Our mission as artists is to inspire people to open their eyes, minds, and hearts to the destruction of nature and natural values all around us. We are environmentalists aimed at immersing listeners in stories and soundscapes in order to help them consider their environment and their own place in the balance of universal harmony.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Society should put a higher priority on supporting local artists and businesses. There was a time when all we could do was depend on our local communities for resources, but now with large corporations aiming to put everything in the palm of our hands for profit, we can lose sight of the importance of local community. Art to us is all about community, and to perpetuate that belief starts with being more conscious of where and who our art and other products come from.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Lusciajanemusic.com
• Instagram: @luscia.jane
• Facebook: Luscia Jane
• Youtube: Luscia Jane
• Other: Spotify/Apple Music/other streaming services: Luscia Jane

  TikTok: @luscia.jane

  Email: [email protected]

Image Credits

Logan Neill

Israel Melendez