Planningtorock

by Heather Phares
The alter ego of multi-instrumentalist/programmer/videographer Janine Rostron, Planningtorock fuses all of Rostron's talents into a dazzling audiovisual presentation that borrows from classical music, glam rock, spacey imagery, and hip-hop. A classically trained violinist who began playing at age eight, Rostron moved from Bolton, Lancashire, to Berlin in the early '90s; the Planningtorock persona first surfaced in 2002, when she began performing at the city's clubs. Planningtorock's live shows blurred the boundaries between concerts and performance art, with Rostron wearing outlandish helmets and costumes and interacting with video characters. Planningtorock's debut single Modern Love and the Weimar Tour EP arrived early the following year and showcased Rostron's unique mix of pizzicato strings, beats, and husky vocals that could change from bluesy to quirky (or vice versa) at a moment's notice. In 2004, Rostron issued the MP3 EP Topics on a Foreign Mind via Twisted Nerve Records, as well as EP Eins -- which featured the underground hit "Local Foreigner" -- on her own Rostron imprint (which also released work by the Knife, the Soft Pink Truth, and Kevin Blechdom). After signing to Chicks on Speed Records, Planningtorock released the limited-edition 7" Changes/I Wanna Bite Ya early in 2006 and her first full-length, Have It All, that summer.