Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions
Hope Sandoval was born June 24, 1966 and grew up in east L.A. with her Mexican-American family. She started her career together with her friend Sylvia Gomez in a band called "Going Home", a folk duo formed in 1986.
Hope had admired Kendra Smith as a teen-age Dream Syndicate fan. Sylvia Gomez handed Kendra Smith a demo tape which was comprised of Hope Sandoval on vocals and Sylvia on guitar. David Roback offered to produce some recordings for them and they went into the studio and recorded an album that to this day is yet to be released.
Hope and Sylvia played gigs in California throughout the mid '80s, and stayed friends with both Kendra and David. During the Opal tour in December '87, Kendra left the band and disappeared. David called Hope to see if she would be interested to take Kendra's place in Opal. They found Kendra and had some discussions. They did two more shows together but then she flew home. Keith Mitchell flew home and the next day he flew back with Hope. After that tour Opal became Mazzy Star.
To date, Mazzy Star has released 3 albums: She Hangs Brightly (1990), So Tonight That I Might See (1993), and Among My Swan (1996) (also see Mazzy Star Boulevard).
Hope writes almost all the lyrics for Mazzy Star. Hope is a very shy and private person, and doesn't seem to enjoy the popularity very much. "For me recording is better," says Sandoval. "Live, I just get really nervous. Once you're onstage, you're expected to perform. I don't do that. I always feel awkward about just standing there and not speaking to the audience. It's difficult for me."
In 2001, Hope Sandoval and The Warm Inventions released Bavarian Fruit Bread and toured the US and Europe in the fall of 2002. Two EPs were also released: At The Doorway Again and Suzanne.
In addition to Mazzy Star and The Warm Inventions, Hope has collaborated with a variety of artists including The Jesus & Mary Chain, The Chemical Brothers, Death In Vegas, Bert Jansch, Richard X, Air, Vetiver, and Le Volume Courbe. In 2008, Hope had a song, "Wild Roses", on a compilation CD from Air France titled In The Air.
Hope Sandoval and The Warm Inventions released Through The Devil Softly on September 29, 2009.
