Djunah

Djunah from Chicago, IL

Chicago-based Djunah spotlights the talents of Donna Diane, who pulls triple duty, simultaneously playing guitar, singing, and pulverizing a Moog bass organ with her foot — a feat some have described as "mind-blowing." Drawing a broad range of comparisons from Diamanda Galás to Melvins, Djunah (pronounced “JUNE-uh”) pairs her powerful, unrestrained vocals and abrasive guitar with punishing drums courtesy of drummer Jared Karns (Their/They’re/There, Hidden Hospitals).

Known for their massive, intense live sound, Djunah is fueled as much by big emotions as it is by love of gear. Diane, who has been featured on Premiere Guitar's Rig Rundown, is a self-described gearhead who learned to build footswitches to make simultaneously playing both instruments possible. Shortly before the pandemic started, she launched a YouTube gear series called “Can I Touch Your Gear?” to help represent women’s voices in the gear space.

​CVLT Nation called Djunah’s first album, "Ex Voto" (2019), “an angular noise rock escalator run on power and beauty … a record that should be heard by all music lovers, no matter what scene you are a part of.” New Noise called it “an instant classic, like we’ve got a new Melvins on our hands.” Everything Is Noise raved, “Seismic guitar ... 100% pure emotion ... You gotta see it to believe it.”

Djunah’s newest album, “Femina Furens,” fuses influences from formal poetry (Gerard Manley Hopkins, Sylvia Plath, John Donne) and heavy music (PJ Harvey, Hum, Neurosis) to tell the story of Diane’s diagnosis and continuing recovery from complex post-traumatic stress disorder, or C-PTSD.  Animals, chariots/sleighs, and mythological figures appear prominently on the album as a way of exploring themes of emotional regulation, power, and control — some of the core features of trauma disorders. The album’s title comes from the Latin for a “raging” or “furious” woman. The album artwork is inspired by representations of the divine feminine in 1970s sci-fi metal artwork, particularly the work of French artist Philippe Caza for “Métal hurlant” (later republished in the US as “Heavy Metal" magazine).

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