Ali Handal

Ali Handal bio - written by Paul Zollo She contains multitudes. Multitudes of music, that is. “Chrissie Hynde meets Ani DiFranco meets Prince” is how Live magazine attempted to describe the multi-faceted musical phenomenon that is Ali Handal. She’s not an easy musician to nail down, as she covers many bases: best known as one of the few women in rock who can solo on electric guitar with the electric fury and fluid grace of a Hendrix or Jimmy Page, she’s also a multi-award winning songwrite...

Ali Handal bio - written by Paul Zollo She contains multitudes. Multitudes of music, that is. “Chrissie Hynde meets Ani DiFranco meets Prince” is how Live magazine attempted to describe the multi-faceted musical phenomenon that is Ali Handal. She’s not an easy musician to nail down, as she covers many bases: best known as one of the few women in rock who can solo on electric guitar with the electric fury and fluid grace of a Hendrix or Jimmy Page, she’s also a multi-award winning songwriter and a uniquely expressive singer. Her music has been heard in countless movies and TV shows, and her performances have taken her around the world, from L.A. to Japan; she’s performed at Neverland Ranch, danced with Janet Jackson, sung on a Neil Young album, had her hands filmed playing guitar in a Playboy video, and even demonstrated guitars several times on “The Price Is Right.” Born in Armonk, New York, she moved with her family to the Bay Area when she was 12. Her first instrument was piano, which she started when she was four. But it was when she discovered Led Zeppelin that her world was changed forever and her ambition defined. From that moment on “it was all about the guitar,” she said. “I wanted to be Jimmy Page.” She started on a little acoustic, and went electric as soon as she could, ultimately swapping her acoustic for an airbrushed-dragon Fernandez Explorer purchased at a Berkeley music shop. The fact that, with very few exceptions, there existed no role-models for what she wanted to do – be a lead-guitarist - led her to conclude it simply couldn’t be done. “I liked Joan Jett,” she said, “but she wasn’t a lead guitarist. There wasn’t anyone doing what I wanted to do. I didn’t really think it was possible. It didn’t really register as something I could do in the real world. Until I was older.” In high school she did more singing than playing – with the school choir, and in musicals (she was Amaryllis in Oklahoma). A straight-A student in both high school and college, her true nature was revealed mostly by her choice of boyfriends, virtually every one of whom was a long-haired rock guitarist. Come college time, she went first to Occidental and then to UCLA, wanting to be in Los Angeles “because that’s where I thought all the rock music was.” She graduated summa cum laude with a Psych degree, and was driven to pursue a career in that field, but the potential of a life in music haunted her. “I was miserable,” she said. “Every time I saw music on TV I was unhappy. I knew I could be successful outside of music. But I realized that doing anything other than music didn’t make sense. When I’m doing music is the only time I feel spiritually in synch.” Soon she was living in a house full of musicians in North Hollywood, supporting herself with odd jobs while seriously studying and wood-shedding on the guitar. “I had to be willing to suck at first,” she said. “Something I’d never done. But that’s what it takes.” About the first band she joined, she just laughed and said, “We took really awesome photos.” But soon she was stepping into the role of lead guitarist and back-up singer in many bands, including a two-year stint with one band, to which she dedicated herself exclusively and pinned all her career hopes. When the band leader suddenly threatened to walk away from the band and leave Ali with nothing for her investment of time and effort, she realized the time had come to devote herself to her own music. She started playing solo – singing her own songs – and took every opportunity to get onstage she could find, from open mike nights to gigs at Starbuck’s and assorted cafes like Coffee Junction in Tarzana, where she had her first gig as a solo artist. She swiftly surmised that crowds liked drama and flash, and distinguished herself from other women on the scene by bringing rock histrionics to her acoustic shows. “I learned three things right away,” she said, “people love it when I bleed, when I scream and hurt my voice, and when I play really fast, even on acoustic guitar. They liked when I’d do something more masculine, energy-wise, something loud and fast.” It’s then she formed the first of many back-up bands, starting, ala Hendrix, as a guitar-bass-drums trio before expanding into a quartet with the addition of a back-up singer/rhythm guitarist. Much gigging ensued, at festivals, parties, as an opening act, and at all the clubs throughout Los Angeles, such as the Mint, the Viper Room, the House of Blues and the Lighthouse. On her debut album, Dirty Little Secret, for which she wrote and arranged all the songs and played all the guitars, she explored themes of love, lust, and life in aggressively funky rockers and tender ballads, all unified by her impassioned and dynamic vocals. “Dirty Little Secret flat-out rocks,” wrote Performing Songwriter. “Coming off as some child of Ani DiFranco and Jimmy Page, Handal has the guitar chops and fierce voice to knock you on your butt.” Songs from this record began being placed in movies, such as Dancing at the Blue Iguana. “They liked my funky stuff the best,” she says. “They tend to use my music when there are strippers and hookers in a scene. In Blue Iguana, Darryl Hannah strips to my song.” Writers and musicians alike soon caught on to the vast scope of her musicianship, likening her funky rhythm guitar style to John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Jimmy Nolen (James Brown), while recognizing that her lead playing reveals the influence of blues-rock gods such as Jimmy Page, Joe Perry and Joe Walsh. On her sophomore CD Breathing Underwater, she wrote and delivered songs in an even more intimate style, leading Guitar World to write that it’s “drenched with her lush acoustic guitar work and hushed vocals.” Many TV shows such as “Sex In The City” and “Dawson’s Creek” continued to featured her songs, as did many movies, including Emmet’s Mark, Pursuit of Happiness and The Assistants. Ali’s even familiar to viewers of “The Price Is Right” – when an electric guitar is the prize, rather than have one of their regular show models pretend to play it, they invite Ali to show how it’s really done. “I wish that guitar came with Ali Handal,” said host Drew Carey on the show, quickly adding, “Ali Handal’s talent on guitar!” Presently she’s completed her third album, produced by Seth Horan, and is performing through America and beyond with an amazing band consisting of Orlando Sims on bass, Daniel Brecher on rhythm guitar and background vocals, and Adam Gust on drums. She’s an artist unlike any other; a compelling performer, virtuoso guitarist, sensitive and powerful vocalist, and richly gifted songwriter. Her work runs the gamut from spiritual to sexy, and in a music world where so much is artificial, Ali Handal is very much the real deal.