about:

VIRGINIA PLAIN is a project by singer/songwriter Alfra Martini originally backed by Justin Miller, Christian Reinhardsen, and Robert Boston. The music blends cabaret inspired vocals and cyber-punk synths, over both electric and acoustic arrangements.

Mining similar territory as OMD, The Eurythmics and late period Roxy Music, Virginia Plain creates mood music for slow dances and futuristic night clubs. Their first 7" was released on All Hands Electric in 2012.

The long awaited full length album "Strange Game" was released in December 2019. Filled with dark pop ballads and chilly dance tunes, this timeless gem of an album has been hiding in limbo for over 5 years. Finally coaxed into the light, All Hands Electric will be offering a very limited edition of 100 vinyl LP's with jackets designed by Alfra and hand silkscreened by Keegan Cooke/The Circadian Press.

BIO:

Alfra Martini of Mexican, Italian, and Irish decent was born in Mexico and grew up in California’s San Fransisco Bay Area. She has a degree in English from UC Berkeley, and moved to NYC in 1999. She currently lives in Brooklyn with her longtime partner, singer/songwriter Zach Cale, and their two cats.

She is a freelance graphic designer who created the popular blog THE KITTEN COVERS in 2011. She not only designed the Strange Game's album cover, but has designed record covers for Zachary Cale and Plates of Cake. She has co-written songs and provided harmony vocals on Cale's acclaimed albums: Noise of Welcome, Blue Rider, & Duskland . She also has provided backup vocals to the bands: Trummors, Psychic Lines, Woodsy Pride, and others.

ARTIST CONTACT: virginiaplainnyc@gmail.com

Press for Virginia Plain's 7" Electric Eyes:

“Sophisticated, night-people synth pop from NYC. . . with big, full arrangements and deep roots in the after-after party dramatics of Bryan Ferry and co. Martini keeps things on ice (so nice), because you can’t expect the party to keep going if the drinks get warm.” -Doug Mosurock (Still Single/DUSTED MAGAZINE)

“Virginia Plain’s debut comes off as a Roland 808-driven neo-gloom disco single with goth pop glam vocals. The production on this record is impressive, as is the song writing and instrumentation, leaving both tracks to take infinite turns side up as my favorite.” -I MUST FIND ATLANTIS

“This sultry echo vocal from Alfra Martini is right in the center of the spotlight and is the perfect idea of a prom band like the one at Better Off Dead, EG Daily, not done with any irony or glitch, pulling off a real track in the Siousxie style pop goth, a little bit of a snarl in that attitude.” -7 INCHES

About AHE RECORDS:

"In the spirit of the DIY punk labels of the 80s, the founders of All Hands Electric set out not only to release their own records, but also to develop a collective approach to producing, distributing and touring behind the records." -Janice Brown, SONIC SCOOP

"But it's worth remembering that, despite universal access, there are still gate keepers, and they are fallible. Artists slip through the cracks, others get through untested. The path of the truly independent musician is a difficult one. And yet it's the path we've found Zachary Cale on for the past decade or so. He's an independent musician out of Brooklyn who, with help from friends, runs a small record label called All Hands Electric." - Matthew Fiander, POP MATTER

For more info, photos & videos about the project:

VirginiaPlainNYC.com or: AllHandsElectric.com