Lissette *

About Lissette
Across the oceans that circle the world and leading to the warmer waters of the Caribbean, a strong wind carried the seed of a soul eager to be born on the shores of the enchanted island of Puerto Rico…which in those times, I may say, was known only to pirates and wild life. There, under the beating sun, near a Spanish stronghold, and among gigantic rocks beaten by a roaring and splashing ocean, is said to have been born a rare creature. And to those who witnessed her birth, she seemed to be more like a cat that anything else. Might have been the month of August what brought her to be that way, or perhaps it simply was the intense heat of a typical tropical island that shaped her into the shape of a cat. That day, the feline creatures that surrounded this child during her birth baptized her with the blue ocean waters and named her Lissette.
They named her in honor of a Latin goddess born in Cuba, famed for her singing and noble sensibility. Interestingly enough, and by mere coincidence, this goddess met this child when she visited Puerto Rico in one of her singing trips of the world, as she got off the boat on the shores where the child lived.
So the newborn Lissette was to follow on the steps of her namesake, as though a spell had been cast by the mere naming of this child. And once again, there on the road that lead from one side of the coast to the other, among cats, birds and iguanas, Lissette grew to admire the art of singing, though it was not to be her fate to start singing in her beloved and beautiful Caribbean shores, but in much further lands, near deserts, pyramids and volcano grounds. And, even before that, she was to make her first mystic trip, back into the ocean that brought in her seed, and into the land of America. One day while still in San Juan, evil gossip got to her ears that said that all singers in those shores were doomed to disappear into the nothingness, naked and in poverty.
That’s when she heard the ocean calling, and so she submerged into it and became it, and the ocean in turn learned to become her. She learned to dance in the water, to twist and contort her body with the pulsating rhythm of every wave. Till one day she opened her eyes and saw land. This was America, and when she arrived there, she headed to the land of Ohio and there and for four years she studied the art of writing and the art of whispering from ear to ear the mysteries of communication. Not too long after that she traveled to the nearby land of Michigan where she learned the science of the moving pictures and still images. In that same academy for wizards, just a few years earlier, a very admired artist of the world named Madonna who came to be known by all, had polished the art of movement (rumors abounded that Iggy Pop too had also spent some time here). And it was there where a teacher in the art of dance, who came to know both, blessed Lissette’s trip to one of the most hunted and beloved cities of the world, where Madonna had herself traveled. Lissette by then had mastered many new ideas and skills, and her head was full of creative projects so that she confidently stepped onto the shores of the amazing island of New York. There she met other bohemian souls, and she was to marry one that shared her love of singing. Together, they created a group of sorcerers that sang on the streets of the city and in the alleys of this wonderful glass world full of tall castles and magical theatre buildings. Combining her love of poetry with the instruments that captured the moving photograph, Lissette and Peter created music stories for MTV 3, MTV Puerto Rico, and VHUno. After much singing and dancing and caroling they once again moved this time to a city called Santa Monica. After having visited other countries, they decided to finally live in a sparkling neon city called Las Vegas, inside a magical theatre which they build out of clay and with their own hands, now becoming known to all as the Neon Venus Art Theatre. It was built with the dream of being a place of wonder and of love, and for that to be shared with other artists in this bright town of mystery, creativity, unending growth and yes, passion and more love. Yet sometimes when Lissette looks into the desert and loses her herself in the heat of the sand, she remembers the sand on which she was born, and she knows that she will return there again, someday, to unravel the spell that took her away, and to sing on the shores that witnessed her birth.

Lissette is Lead Singer of the band Neon Venus:
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Songs and Videos:
our myspace website
our videos, our youtube website

Billboard, Rolling Stone, VH1 and AOL link:
Billboard.com (Neon Venus bio)
Rolling Stone (CD compilation to benefit tsunami survivors)
VH1 and Neon Venus
AOL Music and Neon Venus

Buy Neon Venus Music:
Walmart Online Store
Best Buy Online Independent Music Section
Buy Neon Venus CD ‘The Birth of Neon Venus’ at CD Baby’
Buy Neon Venus CD ‘Slip Into Rhythm’ at CD Baby’
Buy Neon Venus CD ‘Irrestible’ at CDBaby
Neon Venus and Itunes
Napster and Neon Venus
Amazon and Neon Venus

NEON VENUS BIOGRAPHY

Neon Venus creates a mix of original, dance/rock music with Anglo and Latin sounds and rhythms.
In 2008, Neon Venus opened the ‘Neon Venus Art Theatre’ in Las Vegas, as a home for their music and shows, and as an outlet of artistic expression for fellow artists.

- In 2007, two songs from their latest CD “Irresistible” were pre-nominated for the 49th Annual Grammys in two categories: “Best Record of the Year” and “Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal”.

- In 2006, MTV Español (USA) aired Neon Venus’ latest video for their song “Irresistible”. The video features underwater singing sequences and shows off Lissette’s background as a national representative in synchronized swimming for Puerto Rico at the Pan Am games.

- Three other Neon Venus music videos (Beso a Beso, Step Into My Island, and Volveremos) have aired on MTV Español, VHUno (Latin VH1- USA) and/or MTV Puerto Rico. “Beso a Beso” first aired on MTV Español in 2003.

- In 2005, MTV Español aired Neon Venus’ self-directed rockumentary based on their tour of Europe, which included cities in Spain, Italy, Turkey, Egypt and the Sinai.

- Many tracks from their records have received college and internet airplay in the US, as well as on commercial stations and shows like Rodney on the Rock, on KROQ 106.7 FM in Los Angeles.

- So far, Neon Venus’ original songs have been on more than 50,000 CDs (compilations and self-released combined) including compilations to benefit tsunami victims (check it out at Rolling Stone.com), and many compilations for top Latin rock magazine “Boom!”.

- Neon Venus has released three CDs: “Irresistible” (2006) a bilingual double CD, with one disc containing songs mostly in English, and the other with songs mostly in Spanish, and two previous CDs, “Slip Into Rhythm/Cae En El Ritmo” (2002) and “The Birth of Neon Venus” (1999).

- Neon Venus members are: Lissette Napoleoni—Puerto Rican born and raised lead singer, and Peter Valentino—lead guitar, bass, keyboards and vocals. Nestor Salazar and Miguel Guidos play percussion for the band.

More great Neon Venus links:
CMT
Promo Only
Glamnation
All Music and Neon Venus
Wikipedia and Neon Venus

Bands we like (and more to come):
Siouxsie Sioux

Friends:
Attagirl Records and Neon Venus
Open Vegas

Neon Venus REVIEWS:
Muse’s Muse

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Lissette
Film Bio

After graduating from high school in Puerto Rico, I relocated to Columbus, Ohio where I got a degree in Advertising from the School of Journalism. After graduation I moved to Michigan, and I got a Master’s Degree in Telecommunication Arts (video and film production) from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (with a Merit Fellowship). My first job came as a director/videographer of a promotional campaign for Miller Lite/Leo Burnett in Detroit, Michigan. After that I worked videotaping castings for Video Portfolios in NYC. This video production agency had clients such as Elizabeth Arden, Calvin Klein, Paramount (TV shows), pilots, etc.

In NYC I also became a professional photographer. It was during those years in New York City that I met Peter Valentino, and after relocating to the East Village we formed the band Neon Venus, for which I focus a great deal of my film and video projects. In Santa Monica, Ca, we worked on community TV shows focusing on the arts and music. We directed/produced our first rockumentary in 2004 based on our band, and we also directed/produced Neon Venus music videos which have aired on MTV Español, MTV Puerto Rico and VHUno. Our next goal is to finish a film screenplay as well as our second documentary about the Las Vegas music scene.
We currently own a theatre in Las Vegas where we rehearse and perform. We teach classes there, feature monthly shows, and are planning a yearly music and film festival.