Background
Juniana Lanning began studying sound engineering and computer music composition in 1997 at Moorhead State University, an environment rich with "new music" performers and composers. Under the direction of composers Mary Lee Roberts, Henry Gwiazda, and James Harley, she became passionate about musique concrete and studio and computer-based composition, as well as studio recording. A fascination developed with the practice of hearing music as sound and sounds as music, leading her into the digital manipulation of sampled sounds.
After receiving her music degree, Juniana moved to Portland, OR and became a mother and freelance recording engineer, while continuing to collect myriad sounds from her local environment. In 2009, she teamed up with tape manipulator and Electric Shaman, Kyle Bouchard to form their duo, SevenEngines. It was then that her practice of sound sculpture moved from the controlled environment of the recording studio into a more real-time improvisational performance.
You may find Juniana participating in concerts by the Extradition PDX ensemble, an ongoing experimental workshop which "seeks to draw musicians and audience into the moment, exchanging hard expectations for radical openness." She also has collaborated in multiple live performances with members of Portland's Creative Music Guild, including Doug Theriault, Matt Hannafin, Catherine Lee, Andrew Jones, Brandon Conway, Holland Andrews and Douglas Dietrick.
Juniana is a regular collaborator with members of Portland's contemporary dance scene, having created sound design for choreography by Linda Austin, Allie Hankins, Marissa Niederhauser, Danielle Ross, Hannah Krafcik and Emily Jones.
She enjoys experimenting with different vibes and styles of music, working closely with the direction of the choreographers to shape the sound as closely as possible to their original vision, in support of the whole performance piece.
In 2012 Juniana and her husband Chad teamed up with John Shepski and his wife Jennifer to start up local record label, Fluff and Gravy Records. In 2013, Juniana became lead recording engineer at Fluff and Gravy Studios where she does recording, mixing and occasional sound design for the label's artists, as well as for outside clients. Juniana, Chad and John also perform as Vacilando, in which she plays drums and sound samples, and sings.