Barbara Lehnhoff artistically know as Camilla Sparksss is a Swiss Canadian electro punk musician and visual artist. She was born at -30 degrees in Kenora Ontario, Canada. Yes, she had a pet bear as a child and yes her father flew a float plane.
Camilla Sparksss is best known for her captivating live performance mixing her own samples pressed on dub plates (vinyl), combined with thick synthesisers and cutting vocals.
“As an electronic musician coming from a punk background my biggest challenge was to create a physical live experience, by pressing my samples on dub plates I can play them as “real” instruments, the turntables become my guitars”.
Her debut album For You The Wild (2014) is an instinctive mixture of 80’s dark wave experimental electronic music performed alongside a lo-fi dancer on stage, with this she toured as opening act for Jon Spencer Blues Explosion 2014 European Tour. In 2019 she released her second album entitled BRUTAL. A mixture of experimental, lo-fi electronic pop, and melodic collages of a wide range of genre styles, performed with turntables, fat synthesisers and vocals. Brutal was followed in 2020 by a full remix album entitled Brutal Remix containing sixteen remixes by a variety of different artists such as French beat maker Fakear, electro clash artist Rebeka Warrior, American electronic wizard Mike Mare (Dalek) and many more.
Since 2013 Camilla Sparksss has performed over 400 live shows across Europe, North Africa, Canada and the US in venues, theatres and festivals such as Kilbi festival, La Machine Du Moulin Rouge, Holland Festival, Eurosonic, Centre Culturel Suisse à Paris and many more.
In 2016 she was nominated for the Swiss Music Prize with her post punk band Peter Kernel. She is also co-founder of Swiss independent Label On The Camper Records.
Camilla Sparksss is currently preparing a new audio visual album entitled Camilla Sparksss Lullabies. That combines animated picture disc vinyls, which come to life through a magic mirror and other worldly melodic bedtime stories for adults entirely composed with endless grooves, mellotron and spoken words. The album is scheduled for release early 2023 for On The Camper records.
“L’énergie punk est parfaitement maîtrisée.”
Lesinrocks, FR
“... the amount of raw energy and chaos that is happening here is just captivating...”
Gigmit UK
“… Brutal is one of the freshest albums of the moment”
Sentire Ascoltare, IT
“… un voyage d’électronique vantablack chantée. Inquiétant, tranchant, sépulcral, fascinant.”
Tsugi, FR
“...Camilla Sparksss is the new princess of the dark experimental electronic music...”
Sicario, MEX
“Steeds meer publiek stroomt toe, van jong tot oud. Ze is interessant en de shirtjes vliegen de deur uit na afloop van haar optreden.”
3voor12, NL
“… Camilla Sparksss’ Songs funktionieren, weil sie darin Haltung ihrem Konnen und ihrer Kunst gegenüber bewahrt….”
Spex, DE
“… Idylle trifft Raubtier…”
Intro, DE
“... Brutal est une oeuvre ancrée dans notre époque, nourrie de globalisation et de conjugaisons multiples, de brassage des genres et de métissage des cultures, de modernité et d’héritage underground.”
Silence and Sound FR
“Très grand disque, [...], car, finalement, dénué de manipulations ou d’enrobages superficiels. Œuvre de cœur et de tripes. Primordial !”
À Découvrir Absolument FR
“Véritable exutoire, démonstration de style dont la diversité n’entame en rien la cohérence.”
Mowno FR
“ Sa musique, étrange et jouissive emporte l’esprit et les sens.”
Desinvolt FR
“Un album qui interpelle de par sa multiplicité et sa force singulière. Très fortement recommandé.”
Benzinemag.net, FR
“Camilla Sparksss nous trimbale, impuissant.e.s, d’un état mental à un autre et joue avec nos nerfs sans crier gare.”
Manifesto XXI FR
“musique finalement bien plus primitive qu’elle peut en avoir l’air, l’écoute devient jubilatoire et addictive (le single “Womanized”, sacrément captivant).”
Exit Music FR
“…elle jongle avec les genres avec dextérité, met une énergie estimable et une imagination surprenante dans son rendu.”
Muzzart FR
“... é uma artista multifacetada que não se deixa prender a um só género”
Threshold Magazine SPN
“die Sängerin kapituliert damit nicht. Viel eher ist es die eigene Zerbrechlichkeit, welche durchscheinen darf und das Album somit noch menschlicher gestaltet.”
Art Noir CH
“I’ve had this on repeat for a few days and each playthrough blows my mind “
A Little Bit Of Sol UK
“The album may have been an unexpected but it certainly has been an experience I have enjoyed”
Avenoctum UK
“…una follia espressiva che sa farsi terribilmente accattivante…”
Sentire Ascoltare IT
“… un indie hip hop filtrato dai Sonic Youth in versione sexy…”
Buscadero IT
“... l’artista non si fa mancare qualche manciata di lucida ironia.”
Radio Active IT
“...un orgasmo artistico”
Musicmap IT
“Zaokret je velik pokazujući da se Camilla bogato natovarila raznoraznim novotarijama u pozitivnom aspektu kojim je prodefilirala ovim raznolikim albumom sastavljenog kolažno s mnogo poznavanja prošlosti elektron-ske, ne samo pop, već i underground, kao i post-avangardne scene moderne klasične glazbe.”
Terapija CZ
“…ens steengoed en opwindend is en schoonheid aan opzwepende melancholie weet te koppelen.”
Subjectivisten NL
“Hands down, this album is a blast. ... a fun ride from beginning to end, and one of the highlights of the new year so far.”
Everything is Noise DE
“... man kann sich wieder an intelligenter Popmusik mit, richtig, reichlich Tiefgang erfreuen.”
Plattentests DE
“Das liegt m.E. daran, daß sie eine besondere Art des Komponierens/Samplens und der Darbietun hat. (ihr LIVE-Auftritt letztes Jahr hat mich sehr beeindruckt, wie sie auf uns Zuschauer zuging und sich unter die Menge mischte).”
Bermudafunk DE
“Es gibt kein Dazwischen, es ist entweder heiß oder kalt, und kombiniert Horror und Psychedelia in reiner Süße.”
Schall Magazine (print) DE
"Ein Album, das sich nicht festnageln lässt, das zwischen Zärtlichkeit und Wut keinen Mittelweg finden will. Mit "Brutal" zeigt uns Camilla Sparksss ihre extreme Seite - mit Noise auf allen Ebenen. Diese flamboyante Düsternis scheint wenig politisch motiviert, sondern eher zeitlos zu sein."
BR 2 DE
“Eine der bisher aufregendsten experimentellen Electronic-Alben des Jahres”
Legacy DE