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Jonna Lee (singer)
Encyclopedia
Jonna Lee is a singer-songwriter
from Linköping, Sweden, currently residing in Stockholm and London
, UK.
and grew up in a small Swedish village in the country with her mother. Lee was musically talented at an early age although no one in her family had any musical background.
In her teenage years, Lee moved to London
to seek work with music. Her first encounter with the music business came at age 17 when she, as a member in a duo, released her first album. However, Lee eventually went solo after being unsatisfied with playing in a group and learned to play the necessary instruments to become the artist she wanted to be.
In her early twenties, Lee found her way back to Sweden and moved to Stockholm where she became a part of the underground indie scene, but still keeping one foot in London. She started recording her own records that were released only through her website until she was signed by the Swedish indie label, Razzia Records
, in the spring of 2007.
ese label P-Vine Records
on 4 July 2008. The first single was "Dried Out Eyes," followed by "And Your Love," a duet with Ed Harcourt
, who also produced three tracks on the album. Lee produced the rest of the record with her fiancé, Claes Björklund who is a member of Travis
in London. A video was released for "For Your Love," and the single was released in Scandinavia on 23 January 2008. Supergrass
drummer Danny Goffey
plays drums on the third single, "I Wrote This Song," which was recorded in Goffey's house in Hampshire, England.
In September 2008 Jonna Lee released a 5-track EP entitled This War, a teaser from her forthcoming second album, that also featured the song "The Light" that Swedish radio picked up and put on the playlist though it really wasn't meant to be a single. The song can also be found on her second album.
This is Jonna Lee, produced by Lee herself together with Claes Björklund, hit the stores and iTunes worldwide in 2009. The first single was "My High" and "Lake Chermain" was released to Swedish radio as the second single. Her second album she describes, is a more honest and forward record but is still musically related to her previous recordings.
Some of the guest musicians on This is Jonna Lee are Neil Primrose from Travis
, Annika Norlin of Hello Saferide
and Andrea Kellerman from Firefox AK.
Jonna Lee has recorded some different covers through the years. Her first known cover is "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" by The Postal Service
that also were the b-side of her debut single "Dried Out Eyes". Later, her version of The Killers song "Human", attracted the attention of American bloggers. In October she released a version of the industrial electro band Nitzer Ebb
's song "Violent Playground". The band themselves found it online and celebrated it by uploading Lee's version on their website along with an interview with Jonna Lee.
She performed at SXSW in Austin, Texas in March 2010. After SXSW, she was in the Top 5 for the SXSW 2010 Next Big Sound
list, which tracks how fast music artists are adding fans across various social networking platforms.
In 2010, Jonna Lee received a Manifest Award nomination for Best Singer-Songwriter.
videos on YouTube
uploaded by the mysterious iamamiwhoami
, although her management claims to be unaware of her involvement. According to rraurl.com and MTV Brasil
, the music video for iamamiwhoami's track, "o" was directed by Viktor Kumlin, who's also the director of Lee's music video, "Something So Quiet".
Lee eventually came to be identified the lead singer when iamamiwhoami released the music video titled "t". She also appears identifiable in the forthcoming music videos released and has performed live at the 2011 Way Out West Festival in Gothenburg
, Sweden. The project has garnered award nominations and has won a Grammis
Award in 2010.
Other
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
from Linköping, Sweden, currently residing in Stockholm and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, UK.
Early life
Lee was born 1981 in LinköpingLinköping
Linköping is a city in southern middle Sweden, with 104 232 inhabitants in 2010. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality with 146 736 inhabitants and the capital of Östergötland County...
and grew up in a small Swedish village in the country with her mother. Lee was musically talented at an early age although no one in her family had any musical background.
In her teenage years, Lee moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to seek work with music. Her first encounter with the music business came at age 17 when she, as a member in a duo, released her first album. However, Lee eventually went solo after being unsatisfied with playing in a group and learned to play the necessary instruments to become the artist she wanted to be.
In her early twenties, Lee found her way back to Sweden and moved to Stockholm where she became a part of the underground indie scene, but still keeping one foot in London. She started recording her own records that were released only through her website until she was signed by the Swedish indie label, Razzia Records
Razzia Records
Razzia Records is an independent record label based in Stockholm, Sweden. It is part of the Family Tree Music group along with Catchy Tunes and Family Tree Music, who are together distributed by Sony...
, in the spring of 2007.
Career
She released her first solo album 10 Pieces, 10 Bruises on Swedish label Razzia Records on 10 October 2007 and on JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese label P-Vine Records
P-Vine Records
P-Vine Records is a record label started by Blues Interactions, Inc., a firm in Tokyo, Japan established in 1975 by Yasufumi Higurashi and Akira Kochi...
on 4 July 2008. The first single was "Dried Out Eyes," followed by "And Your Love," a duet with Ed Harcourt
Ed Harcourt
Ed Harcourt is an English singer-songwriter. To date, he has released five studio albums, two EPs, and thirteen singles. His debut album, Here Be Monsters, was nominated for the 2001 Mercury Prize...
, who also produced three tracks on the album. Lee produced the rest of the record with her fiancé, Claes Björklund who is a member of Travis
Travis (band)
Travis are a post-Britpop band from Glasgow, Scotland, comprising Fran Healy , Dougie Payne , Andy Dunlop and Neil Primrose...
in London. A video was released for "For Your Love," and the single was released in Scandinavia on 23 January 2008. Supergrass
Supergrass
Supergrass was an English alternative rock band from Oxford. The band consisted of brothers Gaz and Rob Coombes , Mick Quinn and Danny Goffey ....
drummer Danny Goffey
Danny Goffey
Daniel Robert Goffey Daniel Robert Goffey Daniel Robert Goffey (born 7 February 1974 in Slough, Buckinghamshire (now Berkshire) is an English musician and singer-songwriter best known as the drummer and backing vocalist for the English Britpop band, Supergrass...
plays drums on the third single, "I Wrote This Song," which was recorded in Goffey's house in Hampshire, England.
In September 2008 Jonna Lee released a 5-track EP entitled This War, a teaser from her forthcoming second album, that also featured the song "The Light" that Swedish radio picked up and put on the playlist though it really wasn't meant to be a single. The song can also be found on her second album.
This is Jonna Lee, produced by Lee herself together with Claes Björklund, hit the stores and iTunes worldwide in 2009. The first single was "My High" and "Lake Chermain" was released to Swedish radio as the second single. Her second album she describes, is a more honest and forward record but is still musically related to her previous recordings.
Some of the guest musicians on This is Jonna Lee are Neil Primrose from Travis
Travis (band)
Travis are a post-Britpop band from Glasgow, Scotland, comprising Fran Healy , Dougie Payne , Andy Dunlop and Neil Primrose...
, Annika Norlin of Hello Saferide
Hello Saferide
Hello Saferide is a Swedish twee pop band fronted by songwriter Annika Norlin. According to Norlin's MySpace, the stage name "Hello Saferide" was "inspired by an intelligent bus driver in a drug-addicted small town, don't ask." The Swedish-language version of the band's biography identifies the...
and Andrea Kellerman from Firefox AK.
Jonna Lee has recorded some different covers through the years. Her first known cover is "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" by The Postal Service
The Postal Service
The Postal Service is an American electronic indie pop band composed of vocalist Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and producer Jimmy Tamborello of Dntel and Headset.-Background:...
that also were the b-side of her debut single "Dried Out Eyes". Later, her version of The Killers song "Human", attracted the attention of American bloggers. In October she released a version of the industrial electro band Nitzer Ebb
Nitzer Ebb
Nitzer Ebb is a British EBM group formed in 1982 by Essex school friends Vaughan "Bon" Harris , Douglas McCarthy , and David Gooday .-Band name:...
's song "Violent Playground". The band themselves found it online and celebrated it by uploading Lee's version on their website along with an interview with Jonna Lee.
Awards, accolades and recognition
"This is Jonna Lee" was chosen as the "Next Big Thing" on iTunes USA's front page in May 2009.She performed at SXSW in Austin, Texas in March 2010. After SXSW, she was in the Top 5 for the SXSW 2010 Next Big Sound
Next Big Sound
Next Big Sound is a music analytics website. Its tagline is "actionable intelligence for the music industry," and the site measures the growth and popularity of bands across the major web properties...
list, which tracks how fast music artists are adding fans across various social networking platforms.
In 2010, Jonna Lee received a Manifest Award nomination for Best Singer-Songwriter.
iamamiwhoami
In March 2010, there was considerable speculation that Lee was the artist featured in the viral marketingViral marketing
Viral marketing, viral advertising, or marketing buzz are buzzwords referring to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of viruses...
videos on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
uploaded by the mysterious iamamiwhoami
Iamamiwhoami
iamamiwhoami is an electronic music and multimedia project headlined by Swedish singer-songwriter Jonna Lee. Videos released from the project's YouTube channel have spread virally. The first clip was uploaded on December 4, 2009, and was forwarded to a number of music journalists and blogs. Another...
, although her management claims to be unaware of her involvement. According to rraurl.com and MTV Brasil
MTV Brasil
MTV Brasil is the Brazilian version of MTV, owned by Abril Mídia, the nation's largest magazine publisher, under license from Viacom - owned MTV Networks Latin AmericaMTV Brasil is one of two versions of MTV available in free-to-air terrestrial television...
, the music video for iamamiwhoami's track, "o" was directed by Viktor Kumlin, who's also the director of Lee's music video, "Something So Quiet".
Lee eventually came to be identified the lead singer when iamamiwhoami released the music video titled "t". She also appears identifiable in the forthcoming music videos released and has performed live at the 2011 Way Out West Festival in Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden. The project has garnered award nominations and has won a Grammis
Grammis
The Grammis Awards are the Swedish equivalent of the Grammy Awards. The awards ceremony is generally held each year in February in Stockholm.The awards were established in 1969 and awarded until 1972 when they were cancelled....
Award in 2010.
Singles
| Year | Title | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | "Dried Out Eyes" | 10 Pieces, 10 Bruises |
| 2008 | "And Your Love" (with Ed Harcourt Ed Harcourt Ed Harcourt is an English singer-songwriter. To date, he has released five studio albums, two EPs, and thirteen singles. His debut album, Here Be Monsters, was nominated for the 2001 Mercury Prize... ) |
|
| "I Wrote This Song" | ||
| 2009 | "My High / Human Human (The Killers song) "Human" is a song by American rock band The Killers, and was released as the first single from the band's third studio album Day & Age. It premiered on Zane Lowe's evening show on BBC Radio 1 on September 22, 2008, with a digital release on September 30, 2008. It became the third song by the band... " |
This is Jonna Lee |
| "Lake Chermain" | ||
| "Something So Quiet" | ||
Other
- "Violent Playground", compilation track (2009)
Albums
- 10 pieces, 10 bruises, album 2007
- This War EP, EP 2008
- This is Jonna Lee, album 2009