Meja
Encyclopedia
Meja is a Swedish
composer, artist and singer. Among her best known songs are "I'm Missing You","All 'Bout the Money" and "Private Emotion
" (duet with Ricky Martin
). She also gained popularity after her single "How Crazy are You?" was used as the main theme music for the Xbox
video game Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball
.
Prior to her solo career, Meja was a part of the dance group Legacy of Sound in the early 90´s where she co-wrote the songs with Anders Bagge on several singles including the top 10 hit "Happy".
At the age of 5, Meja started writing poems, singing in choirs and acting. She had her stage debut at “Ystads City theatre” at the age of 7. She was brought up in a musical family, her grandfather, Per Lundkvist, was a composer of both classical and contemporary music and her mother, a recording artist as a child before choosing a path as a painter.
In 1986, at the age of 16, she moved to Majorca, Spain, to study. She was introduced to American jazz trumpet player/singer Stephen Frankevich and started to take vocal lessons with singer Deborah Carter. This is when she discovered jazz and decided to focus on a music career.
Meja went to Stockholm in 1990 to pursue her ambitions. She was singing in different bands on the Stockholm night life scene, before getting out on tour as a backup singer for the Swedish group Rob n Raz DLC
in 1991 featuring Lutricia McNeal
and David "D-Flex" Seisay. In 1992 Meja moved to Los Angeles to continue her studies at the “The Musicians Institute” in Hollywood. She graduated from the vocal program “VIT” in late 1992 before returning to Sweden.
. She co-wrote with Anders Bagge
(Celine Dion, Jennifer Lopez, Janet Jackson etc.) and the first single, the dance floor hit "Happy" taken from the album “Holy Groove”, reached the Top 10 on Billboards Hot Dance Music/Club play and the top70 of the Hot 100. It also scored significant airplay in Canada. “Happy” was released in over 20 countries.
During these years Meja also contributed to the world's music scene by headhunting her fellow artist Robyn
in a local school in Stockholm, where she was performing one of her first songs as a young girl. Meja introduced the young Robyn to her record company and the rest is history.
She recorded one more album with Legacy of Sound
in 1994, named “Tour de Force”, with songs like “Woman in Me” that later was covered by artists Destiny’s Child and Jessica Simpson.
after two successful albums in search of a more pop-oriented career. In 1995 she teamed up with Swedish manager Lasse Karlsson (Ace of Base) and writer/producer Douglas Carr. The first solo album "Meja", was released in 1996, with songs like ”How Crazy are you”, "I'm Missing you" and ”Rainbow” co-written by Billy Steinberg
. Almost overnight, Meja's main market became Japan where the album sold almost 1 million and won awards, such as "Best Selling Female Artist of the Year" and "Best Pop Album". In 1997 she had her first official concert tour in Japan, “The Flower Girl Jam Tour”.
. Her success in Japan continued, with sales of over 1 million and the doors to Europe and America opened up. The song "All 'Bout the Money" was played on radio stations all around the world. American Billboard Magazine
wrote,
"All 'Bout the Money features an emotive edgy vocal and includes a specific kind of hook that always seem to stand out on the radio." The song holds a solid message of society's dependence on money to reach its goals. It reached Nr 1 on Billboards Border Breakers and top 10 on the European Radio top 50 chart.
"Once in a while, a debut single hits you between your eyes and makes you want to do everything in your power to lend support to its success" (Billboard Mag).
“Meja has made a great record, exactly the kind of songs you like to hear on a top 40 station, something up beat and happy, which lends itself to the texture of most pop stations right now” said Dennis Reese, former senior VP at C2(Billboard). Rolling Stone Magazine wrote “ Meja turns hooky social consciousness into shiny Swede-pop pleasure…”
In 1999 she received the “Best selling female Scandinavian artist” award at the World Music Awards
in Monte Carlo and was up for two “Grammis Galan Awards” – the Swedish equivalent of the Grammys- Feb 15, for best pop/rock female and for the prestigious song of the year. She also performed the on the opening evening at the 33rd MIDEM trade fair in Cannes, after recently topping Music&Media's Boarder Breaker charts for six weeks and reaching No 1. Also hosting the Polar Music Prize
in Cannes 2001 with winners Burt Bacharach, Robert Moog and Karlheinz Stockhausen.
for his self titled English language debut album, in good company with Madonna who also appeared on one track. A Billboard review says,
"Martin sounds grittier and more textured than in past releases, while his duet partner Meja adds a dreamy layer of vulnerability and sweetness". The song was written by Eric Baziian and Rob Hyman and produced by Desmond Child.
(Madonna, Pretenders, Celine Dion, etc.), KC Porter (Carlos Santana) Marti Frederiksen
(The Cult, Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne) and Maia Sharp
. She also co-wrote two tracks for the album in London with Stephen Lipson
(Annie Lennox, Simple Minds). The music took on a slightly more rocky approach compared to her earlier albums. The artwork for this album was shot by Swedish director Jonas Åkerlund
(Madonna, U2, Metallica, Macy Gray, Moby), in the beautiful landscape of southern Sweden. The concept was to create a dream world in between reality and fairytale.
In 2003 Meja started to work with former Sony Music boss, Richard Ogden. Together they explored the idea of a more organic, acoustic album inspired by Meja’s live concerts. Ogden introduced Meja to Hamish Stuart
(The Average White Band), who came to produce the album “Mellow” recorded in London. Musicians for the album were former Simply Red drummer Gota, jazz drummer Ralph Salmins, bassist Steve Pearce and keyboard player Graham Harvey. To get the Brazilian touch of Bossa, Heitor Perreira, the great Brazilian guitarist and the London-based Brazilian percussionist, Bosco De Oliveira, were added to the team.
She got permission from Caetano Veloso
, to translate the well-known Brazilian song “O Leãozinho
” to her version called “Little Lion”. Japanese Magazine “AD lib” wrote “Mellow is filled with soft and adult music that is indeed mellow, with the acoustic sound based on bossa nova, folk and jazz.”
The album “Mellow” was released in 2004, with songs in both Portuguese (“Água de Beber”, “Dindi
”) and Spanish. Swedish national newspaper Svenska Dagbladet wrote:
, and also adding new writers such as legendary Jeff Barry
, Billy Gibbons
(ZZTop), Jed Leiber and Boz Boorer (Morrisey). The first single "At the Rainbow's End" was released in June, second single "Regrets (I Have None)" - in August, and the album Urban Gypsy was released on her own label Seven Sisters Network in October 2009 on a license deal with Sony Music. A remix of "Mando Diaos" Dance with Somebody was released early 2010.
(an equivalent to Walt Disney, with Oscar winning "Spirited Away" etc. ) Meja released an album where she covers the most famous soundtracks from their movie selection for Japan only. The album became a hit and was followed by a successful tour in October 2010, where Meja, for the first time in almost 10 years came back to Japan to meet her fans. "it´s an honor to have done this album and I love the Studio Ghibli movies. Anyone with kids should go get them right away..." says Meja.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
composer, artist and singer. Among her best known songs are "I'm Missing You","All 'Bout the Money" and "Private Emotion
Private Emotion
"Private Emotion" is a pop song written by Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman and originally recorded by The Hooters, for their 1993 album, Out of Body. The song was picked up by Ricky Martin and included on his Ricky Martin album. It was released as a single on February 8, 2000 and featured Swedish...
" (duet with Ricky Martin
Ricky Martin
Enrique "Ricky" Martín Morales , better known as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican and Spanish pop singer and actor who achieved prominence, first as a member of the Latin boy band Menudo, then as a solo artist since 1991.During his career he has sold more than 60 million album copies worldwide...
). She also gained popularity after her single "How Crazy are You?" was used as the main theme music for the Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
video game Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball
Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball
is a beach volleyball game by Tecmo released in 2003 exclusively for the Xbox. The game is a departure from the rest of the Dead or Alive series which otherwise consists of fighting games and marks the first game in the series to have a Mature rating due to the very revealing swimsuits featured in...
.
Prior to her solo career, Meja was a part of the dance group Legacy of Sound in the early 90´s where she co-wrote the songs with Anders Bagge on several singles including the top 10 hit "Happy".
Biography
Meja was born Anna Pernilla Torndahl. At the age of three she named herself Meja, a name that in 1976 became a legal registered Swedish name. Today hundreds of children in Sweden have been named “Meja”.At the age of 5, Meja started writing poems, singing in choirs and acting. She had her stage debut at “Ystads City theatre” at the age of 7. She was brought up in a musical family, her grandfather, Per Lundkvist, was a composer of both classical and contemporary music and her mother, a recording artist as a child before choosing a path as a painter.
In 1986, at the age of 16, she moved to Majorca, Spain, to study. She was introduced to American jazz trumpet player/singer Stephen Frankevich and started to take vocal lessons with singer Deborah Carter. This is when she discovered jazz and decided to focus on a music career.
Meja went to Stockholm in 1990 to pursue her ambitions. She was singing in different bands on the Stockholm night life scene, before getting out on tour as a backup singer for the Swedish group Rob n Raz DLC
Rob'n'Raz
Rob'n'Raz were a Swedish musician duo of Robert Wåtz and Rasmus Lindwall.After some years of disc jockeying in the late 1980s, they decided to start performing and composing together. They worked on production, remixing and scratching...
in 1991 featuring Lutricia McNeal
Lutricia McNeal
Lutricia McNeal is an American R&B/pop singer. She achieved worldwide success with her singles "Ain't That Just the Way" which sold two million copies worldwide, "Stranded" and "Someone Loves You Honey" .-Biography:McNeal is the seventh of nine children...
and David "D-Flex" Seisay. In 1992 Meja moved to Los Angeles to continue her studies at the “The Musicians Institute” in Hollywood. She graduated from the vocal program “VIT” in late 1992 before returning to Sweden.
Legacy of Sound (1993-1995)
Meja’s career took off in 1993 with the dance project Legacy of SoundLegacy of Sound
Legacy of Sound was a Swedish dance music group, active at the beginning of the 1990s, featuring singer Meja before her successful solo career and Anders "Bag" Bagge among others. Legacy of Sound made two records, "Holy Groove" - with the hit "Happy" - and "Tour de Force" ....
. She co-wrote with Anders Bagge
Anders Bagge
Sven Anders Bagge is a Swedish composer, lyricist, musician and record producer and partner with Peer Åström. The two songwriters / producers are known as Bagge & Peer...
(Celine Dion, Jennifer Lopez, Janet Jackson etc.) and the first single, the dance floor hit "Happy" taken from the album “Holy Groove”, reached the Top 10 on Billboards Hot Dance Music/Club play and the top70 of the Hot 100. It also scored significant airplay in Canada. “Happy” was released in over 20 countries.
During these years Meja also contributed to the world's music scene by headhunting her fellow artist Robyn
Robyn
Robin Miriam Carlsson , better known by her stage name Robyn, is a Swedish recording artist, singer, and songwriter. Robyn became known in the late nineties for her worldwide dance-pop hit "Do You Know " from her debut album Robyn Is Here . She co-wrote the song "Du gör mig hel igen" for...
in a local school in Stockholm, where she was performing one of her first songs as a young girl. Meja introduced the young Robyn to her record company and the rest is history.
She recorded one more album with Legacy of Sound
Legacy of Sound
Legacy of Sound was a Swedish dance music group, active at the beginning of the 1990s, featuring singer Meja before her successful solo career and Anders "Bag" Bagge among others. Legacy of Sound made two records, "Holy Groove" - with the hit "Happy" - and "Tour de Force" ....
in 1994, named “Tour de Force”, with songs like “Woman in Me” that later was covered by artists Destiny’s Child and Jessica Simpson.
Breakthrough as solo artist (1995-1997)
Meja left Legacy of SoundLegacy of Sound
Legacy of Sound was a Swedish dance music group, active at the beginning of the 1990s, featuring singer Meja before her successful solo career and Anders "Bag" Bagge among others. Legacy of Sound made two records, "Holy Groove" - with the hit "Happy" - and "Tour de Force" ....
after two successful albums in search of a more pop-oriented career. In 1995 she teamed up with Swedish manager Lasse Karlsson (Ace of Base) and writer/producer Douglas Carr. The first solo album "Meja", was released in 1996, with songs like ”How Crazy are you”, "I'm Missing you" and ”Rainbow” co-written by Billy Steinberg
Billy Steinberg
William Endfield "Billy" Steinberg is an American songwriter. He has achieved most of his success as part of a song writing team, most notably with Tom Kelly. He has also co-written several hit songs with Rick Nowels.-Biography:...
. Almost overnight, Meja's main market became Japan where the album sold almost 1 million and won awards, such as "Best Selling Female Artist of the Year" and "Best Pop Album". In 1997 she had her first official concert tour in Japan, “The Flower Girl Jam Tour”.
All 'Bout the Money (1998)
The album "Seven Sisters", released in 1998, was inspired by the star cluster The PleiadesPleiades (star cluster)
In astronomy, the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters , is an open star cluster containing middle-aged hot B-type stars located in the constellation of Taurus. It is among the nearest star clusters to Earth and is the cluster most obvious to the naked eye in the night sky...
. Her success in Japan continued, with sales of over 1 million and the doors to Europe and America opened up. The song "All 'Bout the Money" was played on radio stations all around the world. American Billboard Magazine
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
wrote,
"All 'Bout the Money features an emotive edgy vocal and includes a specific kind of hook that always seem to stand out on the radio." The song holds a solid message of society's dependence on money to reach its goals. It reached Nr 1 on Billboards Border Breakers and top 10 on the European Radio top 50 chart.
"Once in a while, a debut single hits you between your eyes and makes you want to do everything in your power to lend support to its success" (Billboard Mag).
US launch (1999)
Later that year Columbia (Sony) launched Meja in the U.S with the single “How crazy are you?” Followed by an upcoming release of her album “Seven Sisters” on Columbia’s C2 label.“Meja has made a great record, exactly the kind of songs you like to hear on a top 40 station, something up beat and happy, which lends itself to the texture of most pop stations right now” said Dennis Reese, former senior VP at C2(Billboard). Rolling Stone Magazine wrote “ Meja turns hooky social consciousness into shiny Swede-pop pleasure…”
In 1999 she received the “Best selling female Scandinavian artist” award at the World Music Awards
World Music Awards
The World Music Awards is an international awards show founded in 1989 that annually honors recording artists based on worldwide sales figures provided by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry . John Martinotti is an executive producer and co-founder of the show...
in Monte Carlo and was up for two “Grammis Galan Awards” – the Swedish equivalent of the Grammys- Feb 15, for best pop/rock female and for the prestigious song of the year. She also performed the on the opening evening at the 33rd MIDEM trade fair in Cannes, after recently topping Music&Media's Boarder Breaker charts for six weeks and reaching No 1. Also hosting the Polar Music Prize
Polar Music Prize
The Polar Music Prize is a Swedish international music award founded in 1989 by Stig Anderson, possibly best known to be the manager of the Swedish pop group ABBA, with a donation to the Royal Swedish Academy of Music....
in Cannes 2001 with winners Burt Bacharach, Robert Moog and Karlheinz Stockhausen.
Private Emotion (1999)
Meja went to Miami in 1999 to record “Private Emotion”, a duet with Ricky MartinRicky Martin
Enrique "Ricky" Martín Morales , better known as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican and Spanish pop singer and actor who achieved prominence, first as a member of the Latin boy band Menudo, then as a solo artist since 1991.During his career he has sold more than 60 million album copies worldwide...
for his self titled English language debut album, in good company with Madonna who also appeared on one track. A Billboard review says,
"Martin sounds grittier and more textured than in past releases, while his duet partner Meja adds a dreamy layer of vulnerability and sweetness". The song was written by Eric Baziian and Rob Hyman and produced by Desmond Child.
Realitales (2000)
After shooting the video for “Private Emotion” in Los Angeles with director Francis Lawrence, Meja stayed to work on her next album “Realitales” (2000) with Billy SteinbergBilly Steinberg
William Endfield "Billy" Steinberg is an American songwriter. He has achieved most of his success as part of a song writing team, most notably with Tom Kelly. He has also co-written several hit songs with Rick Nowels.-Biography:...
(Madonna, Pretenders, Celine Dion, etc.), KC Porter (Carlos Santana) Marti Frederiksen
Marti Frederiksen
Martin Harold Frederiksen is an American songwriter, record producer, and musician. He writes and produces music primarily in rock, country, and pop...
(The Cult, Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne) and Maia Sharp
Maia Sharp
Maia Sharp is an American singer and songwriter. In addition to her solo career, she has written songs for and collaborated with several country and pop musicians including Cher, Trisha Yearwood, Bonnie Raitt, Edwin McCain, and Art Garfunkel.-Early life:...
. She also co-wrote two tracks for the album in London with Stephen Lipson
Stephen Lipson
Stephen J. Lipson is a musician and producer who has worked with numerous artists, including Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Cher, Grace Jones, Paul McCartney, Pet Shop Boys, Take That, Simple Minds, Lindisfarne, and Annie Lennox....
(Annie Lennox, Simple Minds). The music took on a slightly more rocky approach compared to her earlier albums. The artwork for this album was shot by Swedish director Jonas Åkerlund
Jonas Åkerlund
Jonas Åkerlund is a Swedish film and music video director, and drummer. He is best known for directing music videos, which are often mock forms of movie trailers and short films...
(Madonna, U2, Metallica, Macy Gray, Moby), in the beautiful landscape of southern Sweden. The concept was to create a dream world in between reality and fairytale.
Mellow (2004)
Hamish Stuart
Hamish Stuart is a guitarist, bassist, singer, composer and record producer.- Biography :Stuart had recorded a couple of singles with his first band, the Dream Police, before he was invited to join the recently formed Average White Band in June 1972.A member of AWB from 1972 to 1982, he went on to...
(The Average White Band), who came to produce the album “Mellow” recorded in London. Musicians for the album were former Simply Red drummer Gota, jazz drummer Ralph Salmins, bassist Steve Pearce and keyboard player Graham Harvey. To get the Brazilian touch of Bossa, Heitor Perreira, the great Brazilian guitarist and the London-based Brazilian percussionist, Bosco De Oliveira, were added to the team.
She got permission from Caetano Veloso
Caetano Veloso
Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso , better known as Caetano Veloso, is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo which encompassed theatre, poetry and music in the 1960s,...
, to translate the well-known Brazilian song “O Leãozinho
Leãozinho
"O Leãozinho" is a Bossa Nova song composed by Brazilian singer/songwriter Caetano Veloso. The song title means "little lion" in Portuguese. It was recorded by Veloso himself in 1977 and published as the eighth track from his album Bicho...
” to her version called “Little Lion”. Japanese Magazine “AD lib” wrote “Mellow is filled with soft and adult music that is indeed mellow, with the acoustic sound based on bossa nova, folk and jazz.”
The album “Mellow” was released in 2004, with songs in both Portuguese (“Água de Beber”, “Dindi
Dindi
"Dindi" is a song composed by Antonio Carlos Jobim, with lyrics by Aloysio de Oliveria. English lyrics were added by Ray Gilbert. Antonio Carlos Jobim wrote this piece especially for Brazilian singer Sylvia Telles whose nickname was Dindi...
”) and Spanish. Swedish national newspaper Svenska Dagbladet wrote:
“When Meja’s voice is captured in the jazz frame it can't get any better, like in “Red Light” where her scent of pop cuts against the piano and a Miles Davies style cool trumpet.”
NU Essential (2005)
Sony Music Japan released the Meja “NU Essential” in 2005. An album that captures Meja’s success in Japan over almost 10 years.Urban Gypsy (2009)
In 2006 Meja went back to Los Angeles to begin the writing and recording of her new album. She continued her over 10 year collaboration with Billy SteinbergBilly Steinberg
William Endfield "Billy" Steinberg is an American songwriter. He has achieved most of his success as part of a song writing team, most notably with Tom Kelly. He has also co-written several hit songs with Rick Nowels.-Biography:...
, and also adding new writers such as legendary Jeff Barry
Jeff Barry
Jeff Barry is an American pop music songwriter, singer, and record producer.-Early career:...
, Billy Gibbons
Billy Gibbons
William Frederick "Billy" Gibbons is an American musician, actor and car customizer, best known as the guitarist of the Texas blues-rock band ZZ Top. He is also the lead singer and composer for many of the band's songs. Gibbons is known for playing his Gretsch Billy Bo guitar and his famous 1959...
(ZZTop), Jed Leiber and Boz Boorer (Morrisey). The first single "At the Rainbow's End" was released in June, second single "Regrets (I Have None)" - in August, and the album Urban Gypsy was released on her own label Seven Sisters Network in October 2009 on a license deal with Sony Music. A remix of "Mando Diaos" Dance with Somebody was released early 2010.
AniMeja (2010)
As a tribute to the Japanese Studio GhibliStudio Ghibli
is a Japanese animation and film studio founded in June 1985. The company's logo features the character Totoro from Hayao Miyazaki's film My Neighbor Totoro...
(an equivalent to Walt Disney, with Oscar winning "Spirited Away" etc. ) Meja released an album where she covers the most famous soundtracks from their movie selection for Japan only. The album became a hit and was followed by a successful tour in October 2010, where Meja, for the first time in almost 10 years came back to Japan to meet her fans. "it´s an honor to have done this album and I love the Studio Ghibli movies. Anyone with kids should go get them right away..." says Meja.
Album
- Holy Groove (Legacy of Sound) (1993)
- Tour de Force (Legacy of Sound) (1994)
- Meja (1996)
- Live in Japan-The Flower Girl Jam (1997)
- Seven Sisters (1998)
- Realitales (2000)
- My Best (2002)
- Mellow (2004)
- The Nu Essential (2005)
- Urban Gypsy (2009)
- "AniMeja" (2010)
- "Original Album Collection" (2010)
Singles
- "Happy" (Legacy of Sound) (1993)
- "I Can't Let You Go" (Legacy of Sound) (1993)
- "Feels So Good" (Legacy of Sound) (1993)
- "Woman in Me" (Legacy of Sound) (1994)
- "Livin'n Learnin'" (Legacy of Sound) (1994)
- "I'm Missing You" (1996)
- "How Crazy Are You?" (1996)
- "Welcome to the Fanclub of Love" (1996)
- "I Wanna Make Love" (1996)
- "Rainbow" (1996)
- "Pop & Television" (1998)
- "All 'Bout the Money" (1998)
- "Lay Me Down" (1998)
- "Beautiful Girl" (1998)
- "Radio Radio" (1998)
- "Intimacy" (1999)
- "Private Emotion" (Duet with Ricky Martin) (2000)
- "Spirits" (2000)
- "Hippies in the 60's" (2000)
- "I'm Here Saying Nothing" (2001)
- "Wake Up Call" (2004)
- "Life is a River" (2004)
- "At the Rainbows End" (2009)
- "Regrets (I Have None)" (2009)
- "Dance with Somebody" (2010)
- "Totoro" (2010)