The Green Children
Encyclopedia
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
music.
Milla Sunde (born 17 December 1983), from Norway, and Marlow Bevan (born 4 October 1984), from England, also established The Green Children Foundation, to support microcredit
Microfinance
Microfinance is the provision of financial services to low-income clients or solidarity lending groups including consumers and the self-employed, who traditionally lack access to banking and related services....
, education and healthcare. In June 2006, The Green Children shot a music video in Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
to celebrate the work of Professor Muhammad Yunus
Muhammad Yunus
Muhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi economist and founder of the Grameen Bank, an institution that provides microcredit to help its clients establish creditworthiness and financial self-sufficiency. In 2006 Yunus and Grameen received the Nobel Peace Prize...
, the father of microcredit and founder of Grameen Bank
Grameen Bank
The Grameen Bank is a microfinance organization and community development bank started in Bangladesh that makes small loans to the impoverished without requiring collateral...
.
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. Through sales and donations from around the world they raised $400,000 for one of the first eye hospitals in rural Bangladesh. The hospital was opened on the 12th of May 2008 by The Green Children and Prof. Muhammad Yunus, the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner. Prof. Yunus initiated this project with Grameen to save the sight of many of his countrymen and women.
The hospital is currently working towards serving 50,000 people a year, 10,000 of which will receive the vital cataract operation and escape from a life of blindness.
The Green Children met whilst studying at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts
Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts
The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts is, despite its young age, one of the United Kingdom's leading institutions for the performing arts. The university is situated in the English city of Liverpool...
and signed a major U.S. recording contract with Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
in 2008.
Unhappy with their experience at a major label, The Green Children decided to leave Universal Motown in 2010 and signed a world-wide distribution deal with Los Angeles-based Spinside Records, a subsidiary of Inside Recordings
Inside Recordings
Inside Recordings is a Los Angeles, California based independent record label founded by singer-songwriter Jackson Browne in 1999. Browne has stated that the mission of the label is to "create a haven for music that might not find a home in the mainstream." In 2005, Inside Recordings signed a...
, owned by legendary musician Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....
. Spinside Records is distributed by Alternative Distribution Alliance
Alternative Distribution Alliance
The Alternative Distribution Alliance was created in 1993 by Warner Music Group and Sub Pop Records as a joint venture to distribute and manufacture records owned by indie labels. Headed up by Mitchell Wolk, ADA is the leading "indie" distribution company in the U.S. for both physical and digital...
and ADA Global, which are owned by Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
and Sub Pop Records.
Their deal with Spinside Records was secured by their former manager Cheryl Bogart
Cheryl Bogart
Cheryl Bogart , is an American music industry veteran and spinal cord injury advocate.- Personal life :Bogart was born Cheryl Lynn Costanzo in Chicago, Illinois. She spent her early life in Beverly Hills, CA and graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1994, under the name Cheryl Lynn Scheid...
who worked with them in 2009/2010.
Their self-produced album Encounter was released in October 2010, to great critical acclaim. Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
described it as a collection of "Searching dance-pop ballads from elfin dreamers…Encounter glides by like Lady Gaga on a unicorn. Sunde gives synth-diva histrionics a mystical spritz, singing about dragons and black magic over skittering electro beats." Reema Kumari Jadeja from MOBO wrote that, "The Green Children masterfully sprinkle sincere soul and magic into a music scene that requires some much needed fantasy and romanticism…The emerald duo's debut is an audio fairytale that confiscates all grips on reality and leaves one hopelessly daydreaming."
Jackson Browne described Encounter as "A hook fueled, emotional songscape - with powerful tracks and soaring, achingly beautiful vocals."
Their first single "Dragons" was offered as a free download by Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
, peaking at #3 in their 'pop' chart and at #9 overall.
Encounter Remixed was released one month later in November 2010, which includes remixes from star DJs such as Paul Oakenfold
Paul Oakenfold
Paul Mark Oakenfold is a British record producer and a trance DJ.-Early Career: 1979–84:Paul Oakenfold's career was set to be a chef, after having hopes of becoming part of a band. He describes his early life as a "bedroom deejay" in a podcasted interview with Vancouver's 24 Hours, stating he grew...
and Digital Dog.
In April 2011, a remix of "Life Saviour" by 7th Heaven
Neutron and Star
- Overview :Neutron and Star, also known as Seventh Heaven consists of producer/writer Alan Stott and vocalist/writer Lucy Clarke who are British musicians....
(Kylie
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
, Taio Cruz
Taio Cruz
Taio Cruz is a British singer-songwriter, record producer, occasional rapper, and entrepreneur. In 2008, he released his debut album Departure, which Cruz wrote, arranged and produced himself. It achieved initial success in the UK and earned him a MOBO Award nomination...
, Shakira
Shakira
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll , known professionally as Shakira , is a Colombian singer who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s...
) entered the Music Week
Music Week
Music Week is a trade paper for the UK record industry.Founded in 1959 as Record Retailer, it was relaunched on 18 March 1972 as Music Week . On 17 January 1981 the title was again changed, owing to the increasing importance of sell-through videos, to Music & Video Week...
UK Club charts at #17 (Pop Category).
In October 2011, 'Encounter' was nominated in the first round of voting for a U.S. Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
, in two categories, 'Best New Artist' and 'Best Pop Vocal Album'.
External links
- The Green Children official music website
- The Green Children Foundation official website
- The Green Children on FacebookFacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
- The Green Children on YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....