Imogen Heap

Name	Imogen Heap
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Imogen Jennifer Jane Heap
Born	December 09, 1977
Gender	Female
Origin	Havering, London, England
Instrument	Vocals, keyboards, array mbira, cello, clarinet, guitar, drums, keytar, nail violin, vocal percussion, synthesizer, sampler, organ, hang, vocoder
Genre	Electronica, alternative, indie, synthpop,Megaphonic (2005–present)Sony BMG (2006–present)
Associated acts	Frou FrouUrban SpeciesIAMXMIKA
Url	imogenheap.com

Imogen Heap () (born 9 December 1977 in the London Borough of Havering)

Heap states that her song lyrics come from personal experience, but are not straightforwardly confessional. She has stated "Most of the time, the lyrics are kind of like my secret messages to my friends or my boyfriend or my mum or my dad. I would never tell them that these songs are about them or which specific lyric is about somebody. Often, when I sit down to write a lyric, it is in the heat of the moment, and something has just happened."

Career

Early work as musician (including work with Acacia)

After being introduced to Nik Kershaw by his manager Mickey Modern, Heap and Kershaw recorded four demos that Mickey Modern took to Rondor Music. Consequently, a few months later she signed her first record contract at 18 to independent record label Almo Sounds. Modern and Wood formed Modernwood Management, and managed Heap until 2006, when Modernwood was dissolved. Wood continues to manage the artist via his new company, Radius Music.

During 1996, Heap began working with an experimental pop band called Acacia, which featured her future collaborator Guy Sigsworth and was fronted by the singer Alexander Nilere. While never a full member of the band, Heap was a guest vocalist (as a counterpart to Nilere) and contributed to various Acacia single and album tracks. One Acacia song, "Maddening Shroud", would later be covered by Frou Frou.

Mickey Modern asked Dennis Arnold to place Imogen in the line up in the 1996 Prince's Trust Concert in Hyde Park, London organized by Harvey Goldsmith. Heap performed four songs between sets by The Who and Eric Clapton.

1998–2000: iMegaphone

Heap's debut album, iMegaphone (an anagram of "Imogen Heap") was a mixture of self-penned and self-produced tracks, alongside tracks co-written and produced with established producers such as David Kahne, former Eurythmic Dave Stewart and Guy Sigsworth. The album was released in 1998 internationally via Almo Sounds, to favorable reviews comparing Heap's angst-filled songs to work by PJ Harvey, Kate Bush and Annie Lennox. Promotion for the record included a tour of America and performances around Europe. Three singles were commercially released in the UK: "Getting Scared", "Shine" and "Come Here Boy". "Oh Me, Oh My" was sent to US radio stations in place of "Shine".

Heap's early success was soon replaced by problems. Almo Sounds cut funding for UK promotion and gave Heap a deadline to deliver songs for her second album. Upon delivery of the songs, she was told that they lacked "hit potential". It was announced that the record label would be sold to Universal and its artists moved to other labels or released. Heap was one of the artists who was dropped from the label, leaving her without a record contract. iMegaphone had, however, been licensed from Almo Sounds to Aozora Records in Japan, who eventually re-released and re-promoted the album in January 2002, featuring "Blanket" and "Aeroplane" (a Frou Frou remix/remake of one of her B-sides, "Airplane" of the Shine single released in 1998). The album featured new packaging, all-new artwork, and a previously unavailable hidden track, entitled "Kidding", recorded live during her 1999 tour.

Copies of the original Almo Sounds release remain rare. A Brazilian label, Trama Records, currently claims to hold the license to the record and has started re-printing copies of the album in limited quantities. The album was released digitally on the U.S. iTunes Music Store in early 2006. After achieving commercial success with her work with Guy Sigsworth as the duo Frou Frou and her second solo album, Speak for Yourself, Heap was able to secure the re-release of iMegaphone to coincide with her fall 2006 North American tour.

2001: Interim work

In the gap between the end of promotion for iMegaphone internationally and the re-promotion, Heap had also begun to think about her second solo album, and had started writing songs, both solo, as well as working with Guy Sigsworth; however, as she was without a record deal, the songs were shelved. During the time when she was unsigned, Heap appeared on two UK singles, "Meantime" (a track written by her former Acacia colleagues Guy Sigsworth and Alexander Nilere for the soundtrack to the independent British film, ) and "Blanket" (a collaboration with Urban Species). In 2000, Heap sang on the album You Had It Coming by Jeff Beck.

2002–2003: Frou Frou

Heap had kept in contact with Guy Sigsworth (who had co-written and produced "Getting Scared" from iMegaphone) and this led to the pair of them establishing the collaborative project Frou Frou.

The initial concept for Frou Frou was Sigsworth's, and the project was to have been an album written and produced by her with each track featuring a different singer, songwriter, poet or rapper. Heap explains that Sigsworth invited her over to his studio to write lyrics to a four-bar motif he had, with one condition – that she include the word "love" somewhere. The first line she came up with was "lung of love, leaves me breathless", and the Details album track, "Flicks" was born. A week later, Sigsworth phoned Heap up again, and together they wrote and recorded the future single "Breathe In".

Throughout the process, Frou Frou work was an equal partnership, with Heap and Sigsworth making equal contributions to writing, arrangement, production and instrumental performance and Heap handling all of the vocals.

In August 2002, they released the Details album and singles "Breathe In", "It's Good To Be In Love", and "Must Be Dreaming" (although the latter two were not commercially available). The album was critically acclaimed, but did not enjoy the commercial success that they had been hoping for.

In late 2003, after an extensive promotional tour of the UK, Europe and the U.S., the duo were told that their record label, Island Records would not be picking up the option for a second album.

Heap and Sigsworth remain firm friends, and have worked together since the project, including their temporary re-formation in late 2003, when they covered the Bonnie Tyler classic, "Holding Out for a Hero", which was featured during the credits of the movie Shrek 2 after Jennifer Saunders version in the film. Frou Frou saw a resurgence in popularity in 2004, when their album track "Let Go" was featured in the film Garden State.

In a 2005 interview Heap said of frou frou "(it) was really like a kind of little holiday from my own work. Guy and I, we have always worked together, and then over the years, it became clear that we wanted to do a whole album together. It was very organic and spontaneous - just one of those wonderful things that happens. But there was never a mention of a second record from either of us, and not uncomfortably. We're just both kind of free spirits. I love to work with a lot of different people, but I was also just gagging to see what I could do on my own. But I'm sure in the future, Guy and I will get back together to do another record, or to record a few songs together."

2004–2005: The O.C. and Speak for Yourself

In December 2003, Heap announced on her Web site that she was going to write and produce her second solo album, using her site as a blog to publicise progress.

Heap set herself a deadline of one year to make the album, booking a session to master the album one year ahead in December 2004. She re-mortgaged her flat to fund production costs, including renting a studio at Atomic Studios, London (previously inhabited by UK grime artist, Dizzee Rascal), and purchasing instruments.

At the end of 2004, with the album completed, Heap premiered two album tracks online, selling them prior to the album's release – "Just for Now" and "Goodnight and Go".

In April 2005, The O.C. featured the vocoded-vocal track, "Hide and Seek" in the closing scenes of their season two finale. The track was released immediately to digital download services, such as iTunes, in the U.S., where it charted. The track was released to iTunes UK on 5 July 2005 (the same day as the UK airing of the season finale) and peaked at #1 on the iTunes download chart, as well as entering the official UK download chart.

Heap made a decision to put out the album on her own in the UK, starting her own record company, titled Megaphonic Records. The album, titled Speak for Yourself.

Speak for Yourself was released in the UK on 18 July 2005 on CD and iTunes UK, where it entered the top 10 chart. The initial 10,000 physical copies pressed sold out, distributed through large and independent record stores, and Heap's own online shop.

In August 2005, Heap announced that she had licensed Speak for Yourself to Sony BMG imprint RCA Victor for the album release in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The album was released in November 2005, and debuted at #144 in the Billboard Top 200 album chart. In concert, Heap performed solo, controlling the sound through her Apple PowerBook laptop, as well as singing and playing the piano and array mbira.

She returned from the U.S., already having sold over 120,000 copies.

2006–2007: The year of the 'White Rabbit'

Heap also announced, on her return to the UK, that she had signed a deal for the album to be released internationally, as well as re-promoted in the UK, with a new imprint of Sony BMG, White Rabbit, run by former Sony BMG UK A&R; vice president Nick Raphael. The deal meant that the album could have the promotional backing provided by a respected major label, whilst Heap retained sole control and the team she established for Megaphonic Records.

Speak for Yourself was re-released on the label on 24 April 2006, ahead of a full promotional push on 15 May, a week after the second single, "Goodnight and Go", was commercially released in the UK.

In August 2006, Heap performed a set at the V Festival, where it was announced that "Headlock" was to be the third single to be lifted from the album, and released on 16 October 2006 in the UK.

In late September and early October, Heap embarked on a tour of the UK, holding a competition on MySpace for different support acts for each venue, before touring throughout Canada and the USA in November and December. This was her first tour of North America that included a band, incorporating upright bass, percussion, and support acts Kid Beyond and Levi Weaver on beatbox and guitar, respectively. In December 2006, Heap was featured on the front page of The Green Room magazine.

On 7 December 2006, Heap received two Grammy nominations for the 49th Annual Grammy Awards, one for Best New Artist and the other for Best Song Written For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media for "Can't Take It In".

2007–2009: Ellipse

Throughout the creation of her album Ellipse, Heap posted vlogs, or VBlogs as she called them, through YouTube. ! width="30"| CAN ! width="30"| US[A] | 125 | — | 34 | — | 91 | align="left" rowspan="3"| Speak for Yourself |- | rowspan="2"| 2006 | align="left"| "Goodnight and Go" | 56 | — | — | — | — |- | align="left"| "Headlock" | 74 | — | — | — | — |- | 2008 | align="left"| "Not Now But Soon" | — | — | — | — | — | align="left"| Non-album song |- | 2009 | align="left"| "First Train Home" | — | 63 | — | 106 | — | align="left"| Ellipse |- | colspan="9" style="font-size:8pt"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in given country. |- |}

^ "Hide and Seek" was certified Gold by the RIAA on 3 April 2009. |- | 2006 | "Speeding Cars" | 115 | "Goodnight and Go" |}

EPs

"Live Sessions (iTunes Exclusive) - EP" (2006)

"The Song That Never Was – EP" (2009)

"An Evening With iMegaphone" (recorded 2007, released 2010)

Frou Frou

Details (2002 • Island Records/MCA/Universal) (UK: #128)

"Breathe In" (single) (2002 • Island Records/Universal) (UK: #44)

"Its Good To Be In Love" (single) (2002 • Island Records/Universal)

"Must Be Dreaming" (single) (2002 • Island Records/Universal)

"Let Go" (Promotional single)

Guest appearances

Hate EP by Acacia (1996 • Radar Records)

Sway EP by Acacia (1996 • Radar Records)

Maddening Shroud EP by Acacia (1997 • WEA)

Cradle by Acacia – all tracks except "Wire" (1997 • WEA)

Blanket by Urban Species – "Blanket" and "Predictably Unpredictable" (1998)

Amor Fati by Mich Gerber – "Embers of Love", "Sirens Call (Qishm)" and "Mare" (2000)

¡Viva Nueva! by Rustic Overtones – "Valentine's Day Massacre" (2001 • Tommy Boy Records)

You Had It Coming by Jeff Beck – "Dirty Mind" and "Rollin' and Tumblin'" (2001 • Sony Music)

Tell 'Em Who We Are by LHB – "Coming Up For Air" (2003 • Telstar TV)

Contact Note by Jon Hopkins – "Second Sense" (2004 • Just Music)

It's Better To Have Loved EP by Temposhark – "Not That Big (Metronomy Remix)" (2005 • Paper & Glue)

Foiled by Blue October – "Congratulations" (2006 • Universal Records)

Musikain by J.P. Schwalm – "P.I.N." (2006 • Musikain Records)

The Invisible Line by Temposhark – "Not That Big" (2007 • Paper & Glue)

London Undersound by Nitin Sawhney – "Bring It Home" (2008 • Cooking Vinyl)

Kingdom of Welcome Addiction by IAMX – "My Secret Friend" (2009 • Metropolis Records)

The Boy Who Knew Too Much by Mika – "By The Time" (2009 • Casablanca Records)

''Live at Ronnie Scott's - Jeff Beck - (2008 • Eagle Records) - (2009 • DVD)

Compilation appearances

New Dawn (Class of '94) – "Missing You" – (1994)

I Still Know What You Did Last Summer soundtrack – "Getting Scared" – (1998 • Warner Music Group)

Virtual Sexuality soundtrack – "Come Here Boy" – (1998 • EMI)

soundtrack – "Mean Time" (with GMT) – (1999 • Island Records/Universal)

Serve Chilled – "Blanket" (with Urban Species) – (1999 • Hed Kandi)

Women Talking Dirty soundtrack – "Getting Scared" – (2001 • Polygram International)

soundtrack – "Angry Angel" – (2002 • Rondor Music (London) Ltd)

Garden State – "Let Go" – (2004 • Epic Records/Sony BMG)

Nearing Grace Soundtrack – "The Walk" – (2005 • Sony BMG)

– "Goodnight and Go" – (2005 • Warner Music Group)

– "I'm A Lonely Little Petunia (In An Onion Patch)" – (2005 • Astralwerks/EMI)

Just Like Heaven Soundtrack – "Spooky" – (2005 • Sony BMG)

– "Hide and Seek" – (2005 • Warner Music Group)

– "Can't Take It In" – (2005 • Disney Records/EMI)

The Last Kiss soundtrack – "Hide and Seek" – (2005 • Lakeshore Pictures)

Plague Songs – "Glittering Clouds (Locusts)" – (2006 • 4AD)

So You Think You Can Dance (US) – "Hide and Seek" – (2006)

So You Think You Can Dance (US) – "Let Go" – (2006)

The Black Donnellys – "The Moment I Said It" – (2007)

In Search of Sunrise 6 – "Hide and Seek" (Tiëstos' In Search Of Sunrise Remix) – (2007)

The Holiday – "Just For Now" and "Let Go" (Under 'Frou Frou') – (2006)

So You Think You Can Dance – "The Moment I Said It" – (2007)

Heroes Original Soundtrack – "Not Now, But Soon" – (2008 • NBC Records)

Criminal Minds – "The Moment I Said It" – (2008)

Songs For Tibet – The Art of Peace' – "Hide & Seek 2" – (2008)

Greys Anatomy – "Bad Body Double" – (2009)

So You Think You Can Dance (US) - "Aha!" - (2009)

The Vampire Diaries - "Wait it Out" - (2009)

Chuck- Season 3, Episode 1 – "Wait it Out" – (2010)

- "Wait it Out" - (2010)

References

External links

Official website

Imogen Heap, french website.

The Teleheap: Imogen Heap-based Video portal.

Imogen Heap's New Music Business Model

Bob Lefsetz on Imogen Heap

Auralgasms Interview From January 2006

beat Lawrence: Imogen Heap Video Interview

Imogen Heap video interview on TiFFcast, November 2006

Portrait of Imogen Heap on 365portraits.com

Imogen Heap plays the Array mbira on numerous recordings and in concert

Review of First Train Home at Daily Music Guide

Interview with Jessica Lewis at "Exclaim!"

Interview with Imogen Heap for www.4ortherecord.com

Photo Report @ Milano (2010)

Category:1977 births Category:Living people Category:English female singers Category:Female rock singers Category:People from Havering (district) Category:English singer-songwriters Category:Former students of the BRIT School Category:Ableton Live users Category:Grammy Award winners Category:English electronic musicians