Edgy and non-typically including herself in the good girl image, Katy Perry may be one great example of the future musician. Born on October 25, 1984 in a strict Christian family, Perry was later known for her song “Ur So Gay”. Her parents are two devoted pastors who directed their daughter into singing in churches or local restaurants. Perry said that her mother used to ban her from listening to what they call “secular music.” Thus, young Perry was apt in gospel music until one day during a slumber party she heard the voice of Freddie Mercury.
Inspired by the Queen front man’s style of singing, she was metaphorically ‘opened’ to another possible side of music, although it was not until much later that this side of her would come out as her main music style. At the age of 15 she moved from birth town Santa Barbara, Calif. to Nashville to work closely with songwriters. Steve Thomas and Jennifer Knapp of Red Hill Records signed her to the label to release her debut album which was self-titled while she used her name Katy Hudson. The album that contained Christian songs was released in 2001.
At 17, she met Glen Ballard …
who is responsible for the extreme success of Alanis Morissette in the album “Jagged Little Pill“. Citing Morissette as one of her influences, Perry found comfort in working with Ballard who then gave her necessary mentor. In 2004 she became the vocalist of The Matrix production team and recorded some songs with Ballard that made her dubbed “The Next Big Thing” by Blender magazine. Through her sessions with Ballard, Perry was heard by Capitol Music executive, Jason Flom who then agreed to sign her in Spring 2007.
By being in the club, Perry was introduced to a number of renowned musicians such as Greg Wells, Butch Walker, Dr. Luke and Max Martin. In November 2007 she offered free download of the song “Ur So Gay” on her MySpace account. It was an instant hit, but it was the second single “I Kissed a Girl” that propelled her to chart success. The latter song was used in an episode of teen drama series “Gossip Girl“, thus prompting it to climb up the Billboard Hot 100 chart at #2.
Perry constantly added her live experience by scoring the opening act slots for big singers like Mika and The Starting Line. Her full-length …
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Havana Brown always planned on being a singer – it’s just becoming a world-famous DJ kind of got in the way.
The Melbourne glamour has just released her sizzling debut single ‘We Run The Night’, but she first started singing at the modest age of six. Admittedly though, her ‘performances’ back then were a little different…
“I’d put together shows at family dinners and drag along my poor cousins, who didn’t know how to dance or sing. I don’t know how entertained everyone was,” Brown recalls with a laugh. “I was really into R&B, like Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation and Bobby Brown.”
After countless years of singing lessons, performing in dance troupes and cheerleading for her hometown Aussie Rules and basketball teams, Brown got serious about making her own music right after leaving high school.
She started working with Panos Liassi, a Melbourne-based London DJ/producer and one half of R&B/reggae partystarters, Supafly Inc. Such was their musical connection, she ended up following him to the UK to form a Fugees-style group called Fishbowl with two other members. They got signed to the Polydor UK label almost instantly, but sadly, in-fighting saw the act split before they even got to release a single.
“When I look back, it was a pretty dark time,” says Brown. “Getting signed is a big deal for a new artist. You think, woah, this is it! But it wasn’t…”
Like anyone suffering a break up, Brown threw herself into the party scene and one night, she had a dancefloor epiphany of her own: the DJ had the best job in the room and she wanted in.
After learning the basics from Panos, she scraped together enough money from her four-quid-an-hour job to buy her first pair of decks and started hitting up bars with her demo.
Her persistence finally paid off when she scored her first residency at London’s exclusive Kabaret nightclub. “I told the promoters I’d play my first gig for free and they could throw me off after the first song. I don’t think they even thought I’d turn up the next night. When I did, they were like ‘oh, you were serious?’ I ended up playing for an hour and they loved it.”
Arriving back in Australia at the end of 2006, Brown – in her own words – “worked her little tush off” to keep her DJ dream alive. After working the club circuit, she became the first female DJ in Australia to sign a major label record deal with Universal Music in 2008, released her first mix CD, Crave, and topped the year off opening for the Pussycat Dolls on their promo tour.
The Dolls’ management were so impressed with her DJ-with-dancers show, they asked her back for their full tour in 2009. And as word spread, Brown found herself supporting the cream of the pop crop, including Rihanna, Chris Brown, Lady Gaga and Britney Spears, with the latter inviting her on her European tour a year later.
Since then, Brown’s star has only gotten brighter. These days, she boasts weekly radio mixup shows in Australia and abroad (on the popular Radio FG France dance network), has sold over 150,000 copies of her Crave series (now up to Volume 5) and played events as dazzling and diverse as the official Grammy’s After Party and the Singapore F1 Grand Prix alongside Beyonce and the Black Eyed Peas. Along the way, she’s also clocked up more than 100,000 loyal Facebook fans.
Now, twenty years since that first giddy singing lesson, she’s ready to retake the mic and launch that long-overdue singing career. And she’s not afraid to say she’s a little bit nervous…
“It’s exciting, nerve-wracking and intimidating all at the same time,” she says. “I’ve been working on this for a while and I didn’t want to release anything until I was completely satisfied with it. I can’t wait for people to hear this song.”
Written and produced by dance duo More Mega, first single ‘We Run The Night’ is the perfect introduction to the talents and tastes of Havana Brown. A certified dancefloor detonator, the song’s as epic as it is euphoric with an insanely infectious breakdown that’s guaranteed to throw the crowd into overdrive.
“It’s created for both the clubs and the radio,” she reveals. “That was really important for me and it was very difficult to pull off. As for the track, it’s about how music makes me feel.”
Brown says her vast experience as a DJ playing other people’s tunes has also had a huge impact on how she approaches her own.
“In the past, I wasn’t quite sure what type of artist I want to be. But now, after DJing and Fishbowl falling apart, which has been a blessing in disguise, now I’m very confident about what I want.”
At the same time, she realises that some people can be just as dismissive of female pop singers as they are of female DJs. But that, she says, only motivates her more.
“It actually drives me more when people say bad things,” she confesses. “It doesn’t make me angry, it’s more ‘I’m just going to annoy you even more by going out there even harder.’”
“I know I’m putting myself out there in a different way,” she adds. “Originally I was behind the console playing other people’s music but now I’m up front performing my own. I’m revealing myself – it’s like being naked.”
So far, Havana’s career as a jet-setting DJ has been nothing short of dazzling, but now she’s ready to shine in a whole new light. Ladies and gentlemen, introducing Havana Brown the artist.
Got a request?
Want a song dedicated to you?
PleaseContact Us with the song and artist you like, the name you want published and we will do our best to find it.
Nicknames are fine but nothing rude, please.
Havana Brown always planned on being a singer – it’s just becoming a world-famous DJ kind of got in the way.
The Melbourne glamour has just released her sizzling debut single ‘We Run The Night’, but she first started singing at the modest age of six. Admittedly though, her ‘performances’ back then were a little different…
“I’d put together shows at family dinners and drag along my poor cousins, who didn’t know how to dance or sing. I don’t know how entertained everyone was,” Brown recalls with a laugh. “I was really into R&B, like Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation and Bobby Brown.”
After countless years of singing lessons, performing in dance troupes and cheerleading for her hometown Aussie Rules and basketball teams, Brown got serious about making her own music right after leaving high school.
She started working with Panos Liassi, a Melbourne-based London DJ/producer and one half of R&B/reggae partystarters, Supafly Inc. Such was their musical connection, she ended up following him to the UK to form a Fugees-style group called Fishbowl with two other members. They got signed to the Polydor UK label almost instantly, but sadly, in-fighting saw the act split before they even got to release a single.
“When I look back, it was a pretty dark time,” says Brown. “Getting signed is a big deal for a new artist. You think, woah, this is it! But it wasn’t…”
Like anyone suffering a break up, Brown threw herself into the party scene and one night, she had a dancefloor epiphany of her own: the DJ had the best job in the room and she wanted in.
After learning the basics from Panos, she scraped together enough money from her four-quid-an-hour job to buy her first pair of decks and started hitting up bars with her demo.
Her persistence finally paid off when she scored her first residency at London’s exclusive Kabaret nightclub. “I told the promoters I’d play my first gig for free and they could throw me off after the first song. I don’t think they even thought I’d turn up the next night. When I did, they were like ‘oh, you were serious?’ I ended up playing for an hour and they loved it.”
Arriving back in Australia at the end of 2006, Brown – in her own words – “worked her little tush off” to keep her DJ dream alive. After working the club circuit, she became the first female DJ in Australia to sign a major label record deal with Universal Music in 2008, released her first mix CD, Crave, and topped the year off opening for the Pussycat Dolls on their promo tour.
The Dolls’ management were so impressed with her DJ-with-dancers show, they asked her back for their full tour in 2009. And as word spread, Brown found herself supporting the cream of the pop crop, including Rihanna, Chris Brown, Lady Gaga and Britney Spears, with the latter inviting her on her European tour a year later.
Since then, Brown’s star has only gotten brighter. These days, she boasts weekly radio mixup shows in Australia and abroad (on the popular Radio FG France dance network), has sold over 150,000 copies of her Crave series (now up to Volume 5) and played events as dazzling and diverse as the official Grammy’s After Party and the Singapore F1 Grand Prix alongside Beyonce and the Black Eyed Peas. Along the way, she’s also clocked up more than 100,000 loyal Facebook fans.
Now, twenty years since that first giddy singing lesson, she’s ready to retake the mic and launch that long-overdue singing career. And she’s not afraid to say she’s a little bit nervous…
“It’s exciting, nerve-wracking and intimidating all at the same time,” she says. “I’ve been working on this for a while and I didn’t want to release anything until I was completely satisfied with it. I can’t wait for people to hear this song.”
Written and produced by dance duo More Mega, first single ‘We Run The Night’ is the perfect introduction to the talents and tastes of Havana Brown. A certified dancefloor detonator, the song’s as epic as it is euphoric with an insanely infectious breakdown that’s guaranteed to throw the crowd into overdrive.
“It’s created for both the clubs and the radio,” she reveals. “That was really important for me and it was very difficult to pull off. As for the track, it’s about how music makes me feel.”
Brown says her vast experience as a DJ playing other people’s tunes has also had a huge impact on how she approaches her own.
“In the past, I wasn’t quite sure what type of artist I want to be. But now, after DJing and Fishbowl falling apart, which has been a blessing in disguise, now I’m very confident about what I want.”
At the same time, she realises that some people can be just as dismissive of female pop singers as they are of female DJs. But that, she says, only motivates her more.
“It actually drives me more when people say bad things,” she confesses. “It doesn’t make me angry, it’s more ‘I’m just going to annoy you even more by going out there even harder.’”
“I know I’m putting myself out there in a different way,” she adds. “Originally I was behind the console playing other people’s music but now I’m up front performing my own. I’m revealing myself – it’s like being naked.”
So far, Havana’s career as a jet-setting DJ has been nothing short of dazzling, but now she’s ready to shine in a whole new light. Ladies and gentlemen, introducing Havana Brown the artist.
Got a request?
Want a song dedicated to you?
PleaseContact Us with the song and artist you like, the name you want published and we will do our best to find it.
Nicknames are fine but nothing rude, please.
For some it was a fat mayor on a zipwire or that triple-golden Saturday night in the Olympic stadium. But for others, East London’s incredible summer of 2012 began one month earlier when Hackney Weekend was struck by a storm whipped up onstage by four local boys and their band of friends.
Rudimental’s ‘Feel The Love’, had just topped the singles chart, arms were raised, bodies bounced, neck hairs sprang to attention and throats went a little lumpy as thousands of voices sang along on a grey London day on the Marshes.
Not only was this the undisputed feel-good hit of the summer, it was stamped Made In Hackney, home to three-quarters ofRudimental and still their number-one hangout and recording base. The fourth and final part, Amir Amor, came from nearby Somers Town.
Piers learnt about music playing piano in his dad’s blues and ‘60s covers band, and also as “a white kid called Darker making grime,” he laughs. Amir was making garage beats in a Camden community studio and collaborating with Plan B (as Analog Kid), but also playing bass in “post-hardcore” rock bands as a side line. Kesi got the bug after picking up guitar aged six and was making hip hop beats in his teens, while Leon was spending his pocket money on grime 12-inches, dj’ing with Piers on pirate stations and scratching up his mum’s Anita Baker albums.
He, Kesi and Piers have been together as Rudimental since late 2007, making music reflective of London’s eye-wateringly diverse street scene. But it was 2011’s low-slung, ‘Deep In The Valley’, that was, in Piers’ words, “the first time Rudimental started to sound like Rudimental”. With the arrival of Amir, everything suddenly gelled.
“When we first came together it was like it was meant to be,” he says. “It was like he’d been there all our lives,” concurs Piers.
Rudimental’s work is all hand-crafted, singer and producers in the studio together working on the song, whether it’s emerging talents, such as MNEK, who appears on the incredible ‘Spoons’, or 2012’s superstar Emeli Sandé, co-writer and singer on ‘Yeah’ and ‘Free’.
“Emeli lives in Hackney and she came to our gig when we supported Maverick Sabre. She came down to the studio a few days later and we had a lovely idea on Free. When she came in and worked on it we were so excited,” says Piers. “It was such a simple kick drum and guitar and me going ‘oh oh oh’,” adds Amir. “She heard it and started making up words, singing, putting it together.”
“The beauty of it is that we’re still in the same studio using the same crappy equipment,” says Amir. “The process hasn’t really changed. All the artists on this record are people we’ve worked with before in some capacity. We met John Newman in a pub and ‘Feel The Love’ just fit nicely with his voice so we put him on there.”
Like Soul II Soul, Massive Attack or Basement Jaxx before them, Rudimental are a front person less dance act with a strong supporting nucleus. “Not to say we have a circle we’ve created and no one can access it,” says Leon. “What we’re creating on this album is a family vibe. People like Mark Crown, who follows us everywhere, Sinead, Syron [who also sings on Spoons and the beautiful title track], MNEK are all family we can just call on.”
Family, community and indeed home are themes that are stamped on Rudimental as surely as rollicking rave tunes and a sense of adventure. They’ve all benefited from community music studios, learning their trade on cheap equipment and picking up pro tips, while Leon and Kesi have both had mentoring roles in schools. And this sense of music as a healthy distraction from the inner city’s less productive pastimes informs everything they do. Think of the award-winning ‘Feel The Love’ video, which is shot in Philadelphia’s Fletcher Street project that gives disadvantaged kids the opportunity to ride and take care of horses against the bleak backdrop of North Philadelphia. Or for ‘Not Giving In’, which uses the tale of a Filipino break dancer to illustrate art’s power to transform lives.
Amir says, “The sad thing is the focus is always on the negative side of youth. In our videos we show the positive side.” Leon adds, “Where we came from there was negative things all the time – drugs, violence. Music was a means of escape. Fortunately I had a parent who funded and supported that. A lot of the people didn’t have that. We consider ourselves real people, we’ve been around real things.”
And it was music (alongside football – Leon played semi-pro until Rudimental took off) and the wider sense of musicality that proved their outlet. “There was definitely a moment when I was all about riding Dizzee Rascal for about two years,” says Piers. “But at the same time I’d go and do a pirate set with loads of really aggressive MCs, get really into it, testosterone all over the place, then I’d go home and sit down with my dad and play blues. At school I used to hide my iPod ‘cos it was full of blues and jazz.”
“We’ve all gone through so many phases,” adds Kesi. “The unifying thing is raving and soul music. Blues and jazz and guitar music and house and hip hop all come together. We really love soulful vocals and sing-a-long parties.”
That sense of playfulness, of variety, of ‘what are they gonna do next?’ is what makes Home such a stunningly rich, constantly surprising album. It’s something reflected in their live shows, where they play as a 12-piece band (Piers admits he’d like to go even bigger), including Piers on organ and synths, Amir on bass, keys and guitar, Kesi on keys and percussion and Leon on “MPCs, shouting and getting my top off”.
‘Feel The Love’, of course, wasn’t just a one-week wonder in Hackney. After hitting the top spot, it spent months in the UK top 10, then toured the charts of Europe and went triple platinum in Australia. It also took four mid-20s lads from Hackney and Camden and gave them a new lease of life. Says Leon, “We always go on about Hackney Weekender, but it’s given us the licence to show we’re not just a drum ‘n’ bass track, we can do a soul tune or an Angel Haze track at 119 bpm.”
Dropping ahead of the album, the new Ella Eyre vocalled single ‘Waiting All Night’ went straight in at no.1 in the UK singles chart, selling more in its first week than any other track this year so far.
The summer was packed full of festival appearances including Glastonbury, T In The Park, Global Gathering, Bestival and more. The band have also just completed their sold-out autumn headline tour, and will return for another tour in Feb /Mar 2014, including 3 sold-out dates at London’s Brixton Academy.
As you’ll discover on their debut album – HOME, there’s not much they can’t do.
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Formed in 1969 in Nottingham, England, and made up of Michael Vaughn, Chris Morris, Carlo Santana, Cliff Fish, and Phillip Wright, Paper Lace was one of hundreds of pop bands in England looking for the big time while slogging their way through small club gigs and brief television appearances.
Their big break came in 1974 when their version of the tear-jerking bubblegum tune “Billy, Don’t Be a Hero” won top honours on Opportunity Knocks, a nationwide talent-show on ITV. They rode that song all the way to the top of the U.K. charts but were aced out of any sales in the U.S. by Bo Donaldson & the Haywood’s’ transcendent version.
Their next single, “The Night Chicago Died,” did manage to hit the number one slot on the U.S. charts (number three in the U.K.) and then that was it. The group released two albums, Paper Lace and Other Bits of Material in 1974 and First Edition in 1975, and did a quick fade from the public eye. In 1978 they surfaced briefly with a sing-along version of “We’ve Got the Whole World in Our Hands” with their local football team, Nottingham Forest FC, and the disappeared forever.
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