Bella Lune biography, last updated July 2019.
2006-2008:
The concept of Bella Lune began to take shape when founding members Fuchsia and Kal3id met in October of 2005. They wrote and produced their debut album ‘Abstracted Visions’ between 2006-2007. The album was released digitally on October 31, 2007 and on CD on March 31, 2008. The album drew comparisons by critics to bands such as The Cure, The Birthday Massacre, Cocteau Twins, and Switchblade Symphony. After the release of their debut album, they recruited Hurley to play live synth and assist with the live production. The first live lineup of Bella Lune shared the stage with Ayria, The Cruxshadows, I:Scintilla, Lycia, Audra, The Captives, The Strand, Reliquary, Acidica, Hotel Hotel, Brian Botkiller, and Vertigo Venus. In the summer of 2008, Fuchsia had a photo shoot with Fender Guitars. By November of 2008, the band had released their first music video for the song ‘Neverwhere’, which was filmed by Light Pulse Studios.
2009:
In early 2009, Bella Lune recruited a drummer, R. Duke, for their live show. They were the first band to open Tranzylvania, Phoenix’s largest goth club, on Friday the 13th of February. In April of 2009, Bella Lune released their second music video for the song ‘Transmissions’, which was also filmed and produced by Light Pulse Studios. They debuted the new video in front of a live audience on Friday, April 10th, 2009, with Voltaire and The Spider Hole on Voltaire’s ‘The Bottom Of The Sea’ tour. They also shared the stage with My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult on May 1st at The Sets in Tempe, AZ and Julien-K (ex-Orgy) on May 11th at Martini Ranch in Scottsdale, AZ. They opened for Peter Murphy at the Marquee Theatre on June 14th with violinist, Teresa (Esteban’s daughter), and live drummer JJ. They debuted a new live guitarist, Divad, at the video premier party for the third music video Blissful Escape. Also on stage at the October 3rd show was Stripmall Architecture (formerly Halou) and Unwoman. Bella Lune opened for Bella Morte and Ego Likeness at Club Mardi Gras in Scottsdale on November 6th, 2009, and celebrated the release of the Dreamgaze ‘Sound Colour’ album, Fuchsia’s side project. Bella Lune opened for Nitzer Ebb on their ‘Industrial Comlpex Tour’ at the Marquee Theatre on December 16th. This show marked the first performance with violinist Beeka. The band continued to receive international press, and were even included in the UK book “Music To Die For” by NME Journalist Mick Mercer. Bella Lune was included on three compilation CDs in 2009: Lunar Sea by Shinto Records, E Ditoria by Shinto Records, and Zoundbies by Zorch Records.
2010:
Bella Lune’s first show of 2010 was in San Francisco, CA with Stripmall Architecture (formerly Halou) and Razor Skyline. After playing to a sold out crowd in San Francisco, they headed to Hollywood to play at the legendary “Bar Sinister” with The Alacrity. Fuchsia contributed backup vocals to several songs for The Alacrity’s “Shapeshifter” album. After the California run, Bella Lune picked up a new guitarist, Jeremy aka Dy, and headed for Japan! They played in Niigata, Japan with MuniMuni, 101A, and Emmuree as well as in Tokyo, Japan at Club Midnight Mess. The 9 hour event in Tokyo included Bella Lune, Seileen, Rose Noire, Rankor, DJ Oto, Mistress Maya, DJ Statik, Seiji Minus, Chaos Royale, DJ Sisen, and more. When they returned, they hosted a successful 2 room club night “Noir” at Martini Ranch, which featured Bella Lune, Stripmall Architecture, Unwoman, The Madera Strand, Beezlewood, 4 DJs, vendor booths, live artist Luxbot Lacheln, photo booth, etc. In the summer, they organized a ChildHelp.org charity benefit show at Chasers in Scottsdale, to assist abused children in need. The Alacrity, Zinforge, DJ Dark Mark, V!, Firespinners and Steam Synthetic joined the entertainment to support the cause. Bella Lune released their second album “Synesthesia”, which features 14 tracks, on July 24th, which received praise from around the world. Bella Lune performed on October 9th at the AZ Fetish Ball, along with Regenerator and Icon Of Coil. They ended the year with a secret show with Ego Likeness and Chant at the Black and Tan.
2011:
In early 2011, Bella Lune began filming two music videos “Ophelia” and “The Dolly Pop Song” along with Light Pulse Studios. Fuchsia also contributed guest vocals to a song by the shoegaze band ‘Ask For Joy’ from Austin, TX. Bella Lune hosted Phoenix’s first Batcave event to celebrate the release of “The Dolly Pop Song” music video. The event was a success with Bella Lune, Jeremiah Saint, Burlesque Dancers, Fire Spinners, Photo Booth, Raffle, Vendors Pierced Heart clothing, Torture Couture and Miss Construed Boutique as well as live art by Shayne of the Dead, Luxbot Lacheln and Aleta Welling. Bella Lune was also featured in a 10 page spread in Giuseppina Magazine and on Side Line Magazine’s Face The Beat Vol. 1 compilation by July. The song “Ophelia” was also included in the 2011 film “Paranoia” by director Bivas Biswas. Bella Lune headlined Club Sanctuary’s Tokyo Rebel event in September in Tucson, AZ. The band was featured by the Phoenix New Times with an interview and special acoustic performance of “Underwater”. In October, Bella Lune had released their “Ophelia Maxi Single” CD and a new music video for “Ophelia”. They were both debuted at their show with Voltaire, This Way To the Egress, and The Hellblinki Sextet. The 9 track maxi single was well received by the press internationally, and included a new remix by Daniel Myer (of Destroid and Haujobb) and a cover of Joy Division’s “Dead Souls”. Bella Lune then played the Festival of Flesh on October 15th. In December, Bella Lune opened for the legendary Ohgr (of Skinny Puppy) and Left Spine Down, and donated all of their proceeds from tickets and merch sales to HALO Animal Rescue, a no kill animal shelter in Arizona. Bella Lune also appeared in Bella Morte Magazine in December. By year end, they booked their first show in Europe!
2012:
Bella Lune began 2012 by opening for The Dreaming, an LA based band fronted by former Stabbing Westward vocalist, Christopher Hall, at Martini Ranch in Scottsdale, AZ. They also opened for Covenant, Left Spine Down and The Break Up at The Nile Theatre in Mesa, AZ in September. They hosted a European Tour benefit show with performances by The Captives, Miss Krystle, Burlesque dancers, DJ Manchester, DJ Beautiful John, and a photo booth by Dethroned on Oct. 6th at Hollywood Alley in Mesa, AZ. They completed their first European tour in October of 2012. Their first performance in Europe was in Berlin, Germany at CCCP with The Wars, The Shredder and DJ Sisen. They performed in Amsterdam, Netherlands at Club Noir Excess, along with darkwave group Sophya and Aztlan Zidonia at Volta. They performed in London, England at The London Stone with The Witching Hour and DJ Rex. The tour ended with a headline performance at the Bram Stoker International Film Festival’s Vampire Ball in Whitby, England, along with Winter In Eden, Method Cell, The Egmont Quartet, burlesque performers and Rosie Lugosi!
2013:
In early 2013, Bella Lune released their third full length album “Secrets”. The third album saw a shift in direction, toning down the electronics and bringing a more organic sound to the forefront. The last track on the album is a live mix of “Transmissions,” featuring heavier guitars and percussion, as well as a violin outro. This is the last album to feature founding member Kal3id. “Secrets” continues to receive positive reviews and feedback from web publications such as Side-Line Magazine, Grave Concerns, Coma Music Magazine, Gothic Paradise and others. The CD release show at Hollywood Alley in Mesa, AZ in March featured performances by Bella Lune, Official Version, Fate Of The Galaxies and DJ Beautiful John. In April, Bella Lune opened for Dope Stars Inc. and The Rabid Whole at 910 Live in Tempe, AZ. They also performed in July with Ikonoklast, The Iris, and Mankind Is Obsolete at Pub Rock in Scottsdale, AZ. Bella Lune was on the cover of and featured in the Fall edition of the dark alternative magazine Carpe Nocturne. Fuchsia was also on the cover of the Phoenix New Times in September 2013.
2014-2015:
Fuchsia and Hurley had their first Bella Lune DJ set ever at Club Shadowplay on August 29, along with DJ Manchester and a special live set by Italian band, The Spiritual Bat, on their Inside The Mosaic tour. They spent most of 2014 in the studio writing, recording and producing their fourth full length album ‘Tranzendance’. In the winter of 2014, Bella Lune contributed a song to Jeremiah Saint’s charity compilation ‘DeathMass Six’, to help feed hungry LGBT families. In January of 2015, Bella Lune released ‘Tranzendance’, which incorporated more danceable, modern electronic elements to their sound. They teamed up with Mike Jenney, of Alter Der Ruine, for percussion and additional production on the release. By the summer, Bella Lune had reformed as a live three piece band, featuring violins by Beeka and vocals & electronics by Fuchsia and Hurley. The trio headlined a dark electronic showcase in June 2015 at Crescent Ballroom, where they debuted a new visual element to their set, created by video artist NyQ Bonaventura. The dark electronic showcase also featured Alter Der Ruine, Body Of Light and A0n. Fuchsia and Hurley did a DJ set at the Spellbound Burlesque show ‘Infamous’ on May 15. In the fall of 2015, Bella Lune was included on Side Line Music Magazine’s Face The Beat Vol. 2 compilation. They opened for Keep Shelley In Athens, from Greece, at Valley Bar in November of 2015. Bella Lune was also included on the final ‘DeathMass Six’ charity compilation in December of 2015.
2016:
Fuchsia and Hurley had their first Bella Lune DJ set in nearly two years at Club Shadowplay on March 19, along with DJ Manchester. Bella Lune shared the stage with Alter Der Ruine and Elias Black on April 23, 2016. They brought drummer, R. Duke, back for 2 live shows in the summer. They played the AZ Fetish Society ‘Color Me Kinky’ event on June 25 in Phoenix. Shortly after, Fuchsia got back on the burlesque stage and did a special performance at Spellbound Burlesque’s “Heartbreaker” rock and roll show. On July 23, Bella Lune headlined at Bar Sinister in Hollywood, CA as a five piece with drummer R. Duke and new keyboardist Lenore. The show at Bar Sinister also included In Letter Form from San Francisco and Arden & The Wolves from New York. On September 9, Fuchsia & Hurley spun a Bella Lune DJ set at Cupcake! They also DJ’d on October 28, for the Scorpius Dance event ‘AZ Vampire Ball’ at Club Palazzo in Phoenix, AZ. Bella Lune played two DJ sets on November 12, including an early set at Missconstrued Boutique during the Grand Avenue Festival in Phoenix, and a late set at the ‘Cirque D’Kink’ fetish event in Mesa. On November 19, they DJ’d the Spellbound Burlesque show ‘Wicked’. On December 6, Bella Lune performed a live set, opening for Ayria and Inertia at Club Red in Mesa, AZ, on Ayria’s Paper Dolls tour.
2017:
As Fuchsia and Hurley wrote their next original studio album, they continued to DJ frequently. The group started a regular dance night in the Phoenix area called Club Nocturne in January 2017, which continues to grow in popularity. Bella Lune hosted and DJ’d five Nocturne events in 2017, including ‘Leather & Latex’, ‘Underworld’, ‘Cabaret’, ‘Palama Party’, and ‘Black Asteroid’. The appropriately titled ‘Black Asteroid’ event featured a performance by the dark techno act of the same name. Bella Lune also became resident DJs at Spellbound Burlesque, as well as the fetish events hosted by ‘Sinful Dreams’ and the ‘Arizona Fetish Society’ in 2017. In the summer, they traveled to Las Vegas to do a DJ set at the Artisan boutique hotel. The group also continued to work on a series of cover songs. In 2017, Fuchsia re-joined forced with her first bandmate ever, Jon, to write and produce an EP worth of songs under their original band name “Annadyne”. The Annadyne singles “The Last Time”, “The Fallen One” and “Anymore” can be heard on Spotify, and their Cocteau Twins cover “Summerhead” can be found on their bandcamp page. In October, Bella Lune did a new wave and post punk DJ set opening for The Cure cover band “The Curse” in Phoenix, along with DJ Manchester. Bella Lune also guest DJ’d on two occasions for Nitewave Radio on KWSS 93.9 FM AZ in 2017.
2018:
On March 23, 2018 Fuchsia and Hurley did a DJ set opening for the witch house act “Sidewalks and Skeletons”. They continued to DJ monthly at Spellbound Burlesque and quarterly at the AZ fetish events. On October 1 2018, Bella Lune released an album of covers appropriately titled ‘Covers Vol. 1’, which includes covers originally done by Cocteau Twins, New Order, Siouxsie And The Banshees, Massive Attack, Led Zeppelin and others. They also hosted and DJ’d three Nocturne events in 2018, including ‘Retro Future’, ‘Subspace’, and ‘Cosplay’. The band released hand-decorated ‘Discography’ thumb drives in August of 2018, featuring five studio albums, the ‘Ophelia Maxi-Single’ and an otherwise unreleased ‘Instrumental’ album. The biggest news of 2018 happened when Fuchsia and Hurley got married!
2019:
Bella Lune began 2019 with a series of DJ sets at Nocturne ‘Cult’, Spellbound Burlesque and a Sinful Dreams’ fetish event. By the Summer of 2019, Bella Lune had finished their sixth studio album and a music video. The new album ‘Stardust’ features performances by more live band members than any other Bella Lune album before! Fans can hear guitar, bass, synth, vocals & drums by Hurley (co-songwriter); violins by Beeka; synth by Lenore; guitar by Divad; drums by Mike Jenney of Alter Der Ruine; and of course Guitar, Bass, Synth, Drums & Vocals by Fuchsia (co-songwriter). The album is available for pre-order on the band’s BANDCAMP page, and will be released on September 1, 2019. The new music video for the title track, ‘Stardust’, was released in July of 2019, and can be seen on YOUTUBE. Bella Lune will be spinning a few new songs from ‘Stardust’ over the summer: On July 25, they are doing an opening DJ set for the post-punk band Twin Tribes in Phoenix. On August 3, they are hosting and DJing Club Nocturne Doomsday at Pub Rock in Scottsdale. On September 21, they had a DJ set at Club Shadowplay in Phoenix, AZ.
2020-2024:
Bella Lune spent 2020 in quarantine writing new songs and participating in the first ever Cure Italia Virtual Festival. They recorded a live performance of The Cure’s Cold as well as A Wish from Stardust and Ride Or Die, an unreleased track, for the livestream. In Spring 2021, they performed in the PhxGoth Virtual Festival, along with Saigon Blue Rain, Dear Deer, Lore, The Wars and more. By summer, the duo reclaimed their monthly DJ residency at Spellbound Burlesque. On June 11, 2021 Bella Lune released a new single “Ride Or Die” from their upcoming album. On December 3, 2021 they released the next single “Silver Lining”. In 2022 Bella Lune released a series of cover songs as singles. On February 12 they released their cover of Cold by The Cure. On April 29, they released their cover of Into The Void by Nine Inch Nails. On June 10 they released their cover of Up The Down Escalator by The Chameleons. Up The Down Escalator was also included on a Chameleons cover album called “Stranger Times (A Tribute To The Chameleons)”. In 2022 and 2023 they also continued to DJ at Spellbound Burlesque and at dark events and shows around the Phoenix area, such as 6 Feet Under, Color Me Kinky, Communion and opened for Ayria on her Battle Cry Tour. 2024 started strong, as Bella Lune’s sixth full length original album, Chasing Shadows, was released on February 9 and played at 6 Feet Under for the album release party at Club Palazzo in downtown Phoenix.
To Be Continued…