Kristian Leontiou
Encyclopedia
Kristian Leontiou is a British singer of Cypriot descent, and is currently the singer for the indie rock
band One eskimO
.
, he finished school and worked several jobs in and around London
whilst concentrating on music when he had any free time. When he was 17 Kristian met Mike Sault of Warner Chappell publishing in 2001, a subsequent deal allowed him to work on his music full time and in 2003 he signed a major record deal with Polydor. His debut single ‘Story of My Life’ was released in June 2004 and reached the top 10 in the UK Singles Chart
. His second single ‘Shining’ peaked at #13 whilst the album ‘Some Day Soon’ was certified gold selling in excess of 150,000 copies
Kristian toured the album in November 2004 taking him to the US to work with L.A Reid, Chairman of the Island Def Jam music group. Unhappy with the direction his career was going, on a flight back from the US in 2004 he decided to take his music in a new direction. Splitting from his label in late 2005, Kristian went on to collaborate with Faithless
on the song ‘Hope & Glory’ for their album ‘To All New Arrivals
’. It was this release that saw Kristian unleash the One eskimO
moniker. It was through working with Rollo Armstrong
on the Faithless album, that Rollo got to hear an early demo of ‘Astronauts’ from the One eskimO project. Being more than impressed by what he heard, Rollo opened both his arms and studio doors to Kristian and they began to co-produce the ‘All Balloons’ album.
It was at this time that he paired up with good friend Adam Falkner, a drummer/musician, to introduce a live acoustic sound to the album. They recorded the album with engineer Phill Brown (engineer for Bob Marley
and Robert Plant
) at Ark studios in St John's Wood
where they recorded live then headed back to Rollo's studio to add the cinematic electro touches that are prominent on the album.
Shortly after its completion, One Eskimo's ‘Hometime’ was used on a Toyota Prius
advert in the USA. The funds from the advert were then used to develop the visual aspect of One eskimO. He teamed up with friend Nathan Erasmus (Gravy Media Productions) along with animation team Smuggling Peanuts (Matt Latchford and Lucy Sullivan) who together began to develop the One eskimO world, the first animation produced was for the track ‘Hometime’ which went on to win a British animation award in 2008.
In 2008 Kristian started a new management venture with ATC Music. By mid-2008 Time Warner
came on board to develop all 10 One eskimO animations which were produced the highly regarded Passion Pictures in London. Now with all animation complete and a debut album, One eskimO prepare to unveil themselves fully to the world in summer 2009.
Murder victim Meredith Kercher made a cameo appearance in the music video for Kristian Leontiou's song "Some Say" in 2004, 3 years before she was found dead in Italy.
In 2011, Leontiou releases a cover version of Tracy Chapman's
"Fast Car", which was originally released as a single in 2005. Leontiou's version was unable to chart, however, due to there being no simultaneous physical release alongside the download single, a UK chart rule that was in place at the time. On 24 April 2011, the song entered the singles chart at number 88 due to Britain's Got Talent
contestant Michael Collings covering the track on the show on 16 April 2011.
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| 88
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Notes: - Originally released as a single in April 2005, Leontiou's version of "Fast Car" did not chart until 2011 in the UK.
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
band One eskimO
One eskimO
One Eskimo is the first full-length studio album by the indie rock group One Eskimo. It peaked at #196 on the US Billboard charts.-Trivia:...
.
Background and Career
Kristian went to Hatch End High School in HarrowLondon Borough of Harrow
The London Borough of Harrow is a London borough of north-west London. It borders Hertfordshire to the north and other London boroughs: Hillingdon to the west, Ealing to the south, Brent to the south-east and Barnet to the east.-History:...
, he finished school and worked several jobs in and around 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...
whilst concentrating on music when he had any free time. When he was 17 Kristian met Mike Sault of Warner Chappell publishing in 2001, a subsequent deal allowed him to work on his music full time and in 2003 he signed a major record deal with Polydor. His debut single ‘Story of My Life’ was released in June 2004 and reached the top 10 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. His second single ‘Shining’ peaked at #13 whilst the album ‘Some Day Soon’ was certified gold selling in excess of 150,000 copies
Kristian toured the album in November 2004 taking him to the US to work with L.A Reid, Chairman of the Island Def Jam music group. Unhappy with the direction his career was going, on a flight back from the US in 2004 he decided to take his music in a new direction. Splitting from his label in late 2005, Kristian went on to collaborate with Faithless
Faithless
Faithless were a British electronica band consisting of Maxi Jazz, Sister Bliss and Rollo. The group is best known for their dance songs . Faithless recorded six albums. During their career they sold over 15 million records worldwide...
on the song ‘Hope & Glory’ for their album ‘To All New Arrivals
To All New Arrivals
To All New Arrivals is the 5th studio album by dance music act Faithless. The album was created after the positive response to the Faithless Greatest Hits tour, originally described as their "final tour". The album was released on 27 November 2006, a week after the single Bombs...
’. It was this release that saw Kristian unleash the One eskimO
One eskimO
One Eskimo is the first full-length studio album by the indie rock group One Eskimo. It peaked at #196 on the US Billboard charts.-Trivia:...
moniker. It was through working with Rollo Armstrong
Rollo Armstrong
Rollo Armstrong is one half of the music producers/remixers team Rollo and Sister Bliss and is a founding member of the electronic music group Faithless.-Early life:...
on the Faithless album, that Rollo got to hear an early demo of ‘Astronauts’ from the One eskimO project. Being more than impressed by what he heard, Rollo opened both his arms and studio doors to Kristian and they began to co-produce the ‘All Balloons’ album.
It was at this time that he paired up with good friend Adam Falkner, a drummer/musician, to introduce a live acoustic sound to the album. They recorded the album with engineer Phill Brown (engineer for Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
and Robert Plant
Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
) at Ark studios in St John's Wood
St John's Wood
St John's Wood is a district of north-west London, England, in the City of Westminster, and at the north-west end of Regent's Park. It is approximately 2.5 miles north-west of Charing Cross. Once part of the Great Middlesex Forest, it was later owned by the Knights of St John of Jerusalem...
where they recorded live then headed back to Rollo's studio to add the cinematic electro touches that are prominent on the album.
Shortly after its completion, One Eskimo's ‘Hometime’ was used on a Toyota Prius
Toyota Prius
The Toyota Prius is a full hybrid electric mid-size hatchback, formerly a compact sedan developed and manufactured by the Toyota Motor Corporation...
advert in the USA. The funds from the advert were then used to develop the visual aspect of One eskimO. He teamed up with friend Nathan Erasmus (Gravy Media Productions) along with animation team Smuggling Peanuts (Matt Latchford and Lucy Sullivan) who together began to develop the One eskimO world, the first animation produced was for the track ‘Hometime’ which went on to win a British animation award in 2008.
In 2008 Kristian started a new management venture with ATC Music. By mid-2008 Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
came on board to develop all 10 One eskimO animations which were produced the highly regarded Passion Pictures in London. Now with all animation complete and a debut album, One eskimO prepare to unveil themselves fully to the world in summer 2009.
Murder victim Meredith Kercher made a cameo appearance in the music video for Kristian Leontiou's song "Some Say" in 2004, 3 years before she was found dead in Italy.
In 2011, Leontiou releases a cover version of Tracy Chapman's
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her singles "Fast Car", "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution", "Baby Can I Hold You", "Give Me One Reason" and "Telling Stories". She is a multi-platinum and four-time Grammy Award-winning artist.-Biography:Tracy Chapman was born in Cleveland,...
"Fast Car", which was originally released as a single in 2005. Leontiou's version was unable to chart, however, due to there being no simultaneous physical release alongside the download single, a UK chart rule that was in place at the time. On 24 April 2011, the song entered the singles chart at number 88 due to Britain's Got Talent
Britain's Got Talent
Britain's Got Talent is a British television talent show competition which started in June 2007 and originated from the Got Talent series. The show is produced by FremantleMedia's TalkbackThames and Simon Cowell's production company SYCOtv. The show is broadcast on ITV in Britain and TV3 in Ireland...
contestant Michael Collings covering the track on the show on 16 April 2011.
Albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales thresholds) |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
|||
| 2004 | Some Day Soon Some Day Soon Some Day Soon is the debut and only solo album by singer-songwriter Kristian Leontiou. He subsequently joined a band, One Eskimo. The album was originally released on 31 May 2004 and then re-released on 4 April 2005 with new artwork and bonus track "Fast Car" - a single and cover version of Tracy...
|
14 | BPI: Gold |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
|||
| 2004 | "Story of My Life" | 9 | Some Day Soon Some Day Soon Some Day Soon is the debut and only solo album by singer-songwriter Kristian Leontiou. He subsequently joined a band, One Eskimo. The album was originally released on 31 May 2004 and then re-released on 4 April 2005 with new artwork and bonus track "Fast Car" - a single and cover version of Tracy... |
| "Shining" | 13 | ||
| "Some Say" | 54 | ||
| 2005 |
| 88
|-
|}
Notes: - Originally released as a single in April 2005, Leontiou's version of "Fast Car" did not chart until 2011 in the UK.
Also featured on
- Now That's What I Call Music! 58 (UK series) (Story of My Life)
- Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! is a 2004 romantic comedy film directed by Robert Luketic and starring Kate Bosworth, Topher Grace, and Josh Duhamel.- Plot :...
OSTSoundtrackA soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
, Love Love Songs - The Ultimate Love Collection (Shining) - SummerlandSummerland (TV series)Summerland is an American drama television series created by Stephen Tolkin and Lori Loughlin. It is centered on a clothing designer in her 30s, Ava Gregory , raising her niece and nephews after their parents die in a tragic accident...
OSTOST- Music :* Original Soundtrack, the soundtrack of a movie, TV series, or video game.* Open Source Track, a licensing and distribution model for music initiative* The alias of electronic musician Chris Douglas- Science and technology :...
(The Crying)