BIO

Carla Werner has forged a long and productive career as an internationally acclaimed multi- genre composer, vocalist, producer and performer. Signing a major deal with Columbia Records, Sony Music in 2000, she acquired the skills of Coldplay producer, Ken Nelson to complete her debut album 'Departure'. In the same year, she signed a major publishing deal with Chrysalis Music and collaborated with UK DJ, Paul Oakenfold on the trance hit, ‘Southern Sun’, reaching number one on the dance charts in UK/Europe prompting an invitation to perform the hit on the now debunked ‘Top of the Pops’, alongside Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin), Beyonce Knowles and Sophie Ellis Bexter. 'Southern Sun' has gone on to become one of the biggest trance tracks of all time with DJ Tiesto’s Remix garnering 4.7 million streams on Spotify and 2.5 million views on Youtube. Werner's own artist profile on Spotify now garners 110,000 streams a month, and she has featured multiple times on Armin Van Buuren's 'A State Of Trance with her EDM collaborations. 'Southern Sun' made Buuren's TOP 40 in his 'All-Time A State Of Trance Top 1000' in March 2021.

Her love of live performance runs parallel to that of writing, and Carla has toured/performed extensively over the course of her career with performances and tours that have included Leonard Cohen, America, The Pretenders (2005 New Zealand tour), Cog, Coda, Damien Rice, Toots & The Maytels, Ben Harper, Paul Oakenfold, Loverush UK, Sleepthief, The Jayhawks and Soul Syndicate to name a few. Carla has also frequented many festivals throughout Australia and the US including Festival of the Sun, Glenworth Valley, Cockatoo Island, The Great Escape and Reggae on the Mountain. A personal performance highlight was an invitation by the late, great, Jeff Buckleys mother, Mary Guilbert, to perform at the artist's tribute shows to sold-out crowds in Ireland and London’s ‘Garage’ with Jamie Cullum and Ed Harcourt in 2002. 

Continuing to frequent the EDM world, collaborations with Roger Shah, Loverush UK, Davidson Ospina, Clay C, Joey B Lord, Raz Nitzen, Kris O’Neil, Darren Tate and Sleepthief have seen her featured multiple times on Armin Van Vuuren's 'A State of Trance', and grammy-nominated for her work with Sleepthief on his album 'Mortal Longing'. Carla also composes music for film and television. ‘Pure Things in Wild Places’ (2006) was her first, independent, self-produced album following on from ‘Departure’, and features the track ‘Edge of Joy’ that featured in Season’s 2 & 3 of Showtime Networks hit series, ‘Shameless’ with Oscar winner William H. Macy. ‘You Can Follow Me’ (‘My Lover’s Ghost’ EP (2011) featured on US TV show Degrassi, and the title track recently appeared on New Zealand’s ‘Brokenwood Murder Mysteries’ in July, 2021. 

Carla's most recent release is TRUE NATURE (July 1, 2021) under the moniker NATIVE SOUL PROJECT, a joint venture with Californian bassist Alison Wunderland. Listen/Download here.

TRUE NATURE is a culmination of tracks written over several years drawing influence from Alpha & Omega, Massive Attack, Fat Freddy’s Drop, Pink Floyd and Bob Marley. Written and produced by Werner, mixed by Werner and Lucius Borich (Cog) and mastered by Stuart Hawkes (Metropolis, UK), the album was mostly recorded in the US and completed in Australia and New Zealand during the lockdown period of 2020.

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The album takes the listener through an evolution of deep dub frequencies and grooves inspired by reggae, with Werner’s vocals, at times ethereal, weaving through the tracks as social commentary while Wunderland’s deep meditative bass is the glue holding it all together.

Among the tracks on TRUE NATURE ‘Time’ featured on Radio Control’s Top Ten upon its release, with Radio New Zealand premiering the music video which Werner directed, shot and edited. While the album's flagship track 'One To Ten' made RDU's Top Ten in New Zealand and was sought out as a remix for NZ producer/artist Paddy Free of Pitch Black (‘Salmonella Dub’ – Inside The Dub Plates), which features as a dub version on the producers own album ‘Paddy Free In Dub II’ released April 2, 2021.

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