Melissa Lara Clissold
- Actress
- Additional Crew
Melissa Lara Clissold is a singer, guitarist, music producer, and voiceover artist based in Istanbul, Turkey. Melissa Lara Clissold was born in 1988 to a Turkish mother and an English/Irish father in Ankara. Due to the nature of her parent's work, she has lived and traveled across several countries whilst growing up. A graduate of English Literature and Philosophy, Melissa later completed a master's degree in Social Anthropology of Development in the United Kingdom. She is based in Istanbul and works as a Senior Communications Associate at ATÖLYE, where she also leads the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity, and Climate initiatives.
Melissa's true passion is music and she has been involved in several music initiatives throughout her life. She is the singer and guitarist of "Zeytin", a reggae-rock band, but she also loves collaborating on various musical projects such as with "Sista Sound", an all-female collective, and exploring music production with the dreamy-experimental group "Tehanu". She has a short role as a street musician in "Istanbul Kirmizisi" by Ferzan Özpetek, where her band Zeytin's song "Sabir" also appears on the soundtrack.
She is also the founder of Jam Sessions Turkey, an initiative aiming to create positive social change through the power of music. In her spare time, Melissa likes to write, play adventure games, develop her own indie games under the name "Sista Theta", and work on multidisciplinary projects. Interested in humanitarian work, and activism-through art, literature, and music-Melissa hopes to bridge gaps between cultures through creativity and collaboration.
Melissa's true passion is music and she has been involved in several music initiatives throughout her life. She is the singer and guitarist of "Zeytin", a reggae-rock band, but she also loves collaborating on various musical projects such as with "Sista Sound", an all-female collective, and exploring music production with the dreamy-experimental group "Tehanu". She has a short role as a street musician in "Istanbul Kirmizisi" by Ferzan Özpetek, where her band Zeytin's song "Sabir" also appears on the soundtrack.
She is also the founder of Jam Sessions Turkey, an initiative aiming to create positive social change through the power of music. In her spare time, Melissa likes to write, play adventure games, develop her own indie games under the name "Sista Theta", and work on multidisciplinary projects. Interested in humanitarian work, and activism-through art, literature, and music-Melissa hopes to bridge gaps between cultures through creativity and collaboration.