|
The following biography
is from
Wikipedia.org
“The
Free Encyclopedia.”
Leslie Feist (born February 13, 1976 in
Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada) is a Juno Award-winning Canadian
singer-songwriter. She performs as a solo artist under the name Feist,
and has been a member of the indie rock supergroup Broken Social Scene.
****
Background information
Birth name Leslie Feist
Born February 13, 1976 (1976-02-13) (age 31)
Amherst, Nova Scotia
Origin Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Genre(s) Pop rock, anti-folk, indie folk, baroque pop
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s) Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active 1991–present
Label(s) Arts & Crafts, Cherrytree, Interscope
Associated
acts Placebo
Kings Of Convenience
By Divine Right
Broken Social Scene
Website www.listentofeist.com
****
Biography
Early life
Feist's parents were both artists. Her father, Harold Feist, was an
abstract expressionist painter and instructor at the Alberta College of
Art and Design and Mount Allison University, and her mother was a
student of ceramics. Their first child, Ben, is now a software engineer
in Toronto. The family moved to the Maritimes, and Leslie Feist was born
in Amherst, Nova Scotia. Her parents divorced soon after, and Leslie,
Ben, and their mother moved to Regina, Saskatchewan, where they lived
with her grandparents, and later to Calgary, Alberta. She aspired to be
a writer, but spent most of her youth singing in choirs.[1] At the age
of twelve Feist performed as one of 1000 dancers in the opening
ceremonies of the Calgary Winter Olympics, which she cites as
inspiration for the video "1234". She also has two half-siblings, Emily
and Jackson, from her father's later marriage.
Early career
In 1991, at age fifteen, Feist got her start in music when she founded,
and was the lead vocalist for a Calgary punk band called Placebo (not to
be confused with the British band Placebo).[1] She and her bandmates won
a local Battle of the Bands competition and were awarded the opening
slot at the festival Infest 1993, featuring the Ramones. At this concert
she met Brendan Canning and Kevin Drew (currently her boyfriend), with
whom she formed Broken Social Scene ten years later.
In 1995, Feist was forced to take time off from music to recover from
vocal damage. She moved from Calgary to Toronto in 1996. That year she
was asked by Noah Mintz of the Canadian Band hHead to play bass in his
solo project Noah's Arkweld. She played the bass guitar in Noah's
Arkweld for a year despite never having played bass before. In 1998, she
became the rhythm guitarist for the band By Divine Right and toured with
them throughout 1998, 1999, and 2000.
In 1999, Feist moved in with a friend of a friend, Merrill Nisker, who
then began to perform as electro-punk musician Peaches; Feist worked the
back of the stage at Peaches' shows, using a sock puppet and calling
herself "Bitch Lap Lap".[2] Feist appeared as a guest vocalist on The
Teaches of Peaches. She also met musician Gonzales during this time, and
a long-term collaboration formed.
Monarch (Lay Your Jewelled Head Down)
Feist's solo début album was released as Leslie Feist in 1999, this
album is now out of print, and difficult to come by (although it may be
legally available as a download.[citation needed] Comprised of 10 songs,
it is a companion to her two recent and better known albums Let it Die
and The Reminder. The album contains the songs "Monarch" "That's What I
Say" and "It's Not What I Mean" which her fans will easily recognize.
Monarch (Lay Your Jewelled Head Down) was produced by Dan Kurtz who
would later form Dragonette. During the time this album was released,
Feist played a 1970s J.K. Lado beige guitar that she called "Smoker's
Tooth" (due to its discolouration) which was stolen at a concert in
Kalamazoo, Michigan at the now defunct Bilbo's "Underground" in 2000.
Let It Die
In the summer of 2001, Feist self-produced seven songs at home which she
called The Red Demos, which have never been released commercially. She
spent more than two years touring throughout Europe with Gonzales. In
that same year she and a group of old friends formed Toronto indie rock
supergroup Broken Social Scene and subsequently recorded You Forgot It
in People. While on tour in Europe with Gonzales, they began recording
new versions of her home recorded Red Demos, which would later become
her major label debut Let It Die. Let It Die featured both original
compositions and covers, and Feist has been noted both as a songwriter
and as an innovative interpreter of other artists' songs.
After the recording of Let It Die, Feist moved to Paris. While in
Europe, she collaborated with Norwegian duo Kings of Convenience as
co-writer and guest vocalist on their album Riot on an Empty Street, as
well as co-writing and singing as a duet "The Simple Story" with Jane
Birkin on her album Rendezvous.
Feist toured during 2004, 2005, and 2006 through North America, Europe,
Asia, and Australia supporting Let It Die. She won two Canadian Juno
Awards for "Best New Artist" and "Best Alternative Rock Album" in 2004.
Sales of Let It Die totaled 500,000 internationally, and she was awarded
a platinum record in Canada, as well as a gold album in France.
In 2005, Feist contributed to the UNICEF benefit song "Do They Know It's
Hallowe'en?"
In early 2006, Feist returned to Europe to record a followup to Let It
Die at LaFrette Studios with Gonzales, Mocky, Jamie Lidell, and Renaud
Letang, as well as her touring band Bryden Baird, Jesse Baird, Julian
Brown of Apostle of Hustle, and Afie Jurvanen of Paso Mino. An album of
remixes and collaborations, Open Season, was released on April 18, 2006.
The Reminder
Feist's third solo album, The Reminder, was released on April 23, 2007
in Europe, and on May 1, 2007 in Canada, the USA, and the rest of the
world. She toured worldwide to promote the album. The album features
"1234", a song co-written by New Buffalo's Sally Seltmann, that became a
surprise hit after being featured in a commercial for the iPod nano,
hitting #8 in the US, a rare feat for indie rock musicians and even more
notable since it hit the Top Ten on the strength of downloads alone. She
has been lauded in the press and was featured on the cover of the New
York Times arts section in June 2007. The Reminder had sold worldwide
over 700,000 copies.
"1234"
Main article: 1234 (song)
Prior to the Apple iPod Nano commercial airing, The Reminder was selling
at approximately 6,000 copies per week, and "1234" at 2,000 downloads
per week. Following the commercial, the song passed 73,000 total
downloads and reached No. 7 on Hot Digital Songs and No. 28 on the
Billboard Hot 100. The Reminder jumped from No. 36 to No. 28 on the
Billboard 200, with sales of 19,000.[3] Following the television
advertisement for the iPod nano in the UK, the single beat its original
chart position of 102 to become number 8 in the UK charts. Time magazine
named "1234" one of The 10 Best Songs of 2007, ranking it at #2. Writer
Josh Tyrangiel called the song a “masterpiece”, praising Feist for
singing it “with a mixture of wisdom and exuberance that's all her
own."[4][5]
"My Moon, My Man"
The track titled "My Moon, My Man" was also released as a single and the
intro was featured on a Verizon commercial for the LG Chocolate VX8550
in 2007.
In popular culture
In 2006 Feist collaborated with former roommate Peaches on a track
entitled "Give 'Er", which appeared on Peaches' album Impeach My Bush.
Feist contributed backup vocals. Feist also lent her voice to the two
tracks "La Meme Histoire" and "We're All in the Dance" for the
soundtrack to the film Paris, je t'aime.
Feist was photographed by Annie Leibovitz for the November 2007 issue of
Vanity Fair (No. 567) as part of a photo essay on folk music, also
featuring Joni Mitchell, Peter, Paul and Mary, and The Guthrie Family.
Feist was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live on November 3, 2007,
where she performed "1234" and "I Feel It All". During this appearance,
which was hosted by NBC news anchor Brian Williams, Feist met Fran
Drescher, which led her to comment, "As if this day couldn't get any
weirder." [6]
Feist has had her music covered by many artists such as fellow Nova
Scotians Travis MacRae and Buck 65, as well as bandmates Broken Social
Scene and former tour mate Bright Eyes. Fellow Canadian Buck 65 appeared
in the Feist-directed music video for "One Evening", which was also
nominated for Video of the Year at the 2004 Juno Awards.
Feist works primarily with video director Patrick Daughters, who
directed the videos for "Mushaboom", "1234", "My Moon, My Man", and "I
Feel It All", the "1234" and "My Moon, My Man" were choreographed by the
acclaimed dancer Noemi LaFrance.
Feist currently plays a 1965 red Guild Starfire guitar, and in many
photographs is seen playing a (now discontinued) Framus acoustic guitar,
model/body type unknown.
Feist in November of 2007 performed a duet with Chicago native Brian
Rasek (formally lead singer of "Repus") in a charity benefit concert at
Millennium Park for Aids Relief in Africa.
Feist was placed #9 on Spinner.com's 2007 Women Who Rock Right Now.
She is currently dating fellow Broken Social Scene member and co-founder
Kevin Drew.[1]
Discography
Solo albums
1999: Monarch (Lay Your Jewelled Head Down)
2004: Let It Die (#36 Heatseekers)
2006: Open Season
2007: The Reminder (#2 CAN, #16 US, #28 UK)
Broken Social Scene
2000: Feel Good Lost
2002: You Forgot It in People
2004: Bee Hives
2005: Broken Social Scene
By Divine Right
1999: Bless This Mess
Other collaborations
1997: Fun! - Inborted by Noah's Arkweld
2003: Motor Motel Love Songs by Jason Collett
2004: Folkloric Feel by Apostle of Hustle
2004: Know-How and The Build-Up by Kings of Convenience on the album
Riot on an Empty Street
2005: Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?
2005: Boomerang 2005 on the album Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited, with
Gonzales and Dani.
2006: Navy Brown Blues by Mocky
2006: Somewhere Down the Road by Jesse Harris for the The Hottest State
soundtrack.
2006: Fightin' Away The Tears by Mocky
2007: The Ish by Teki Latex
Singles
Year Single Peak positions Album
U.S.
Hot
100 U.S.
Pop
100 U.S.
Modern
Rock U.S.
Hot
A.C. UK CAN AUS BRA
Hot
100 FRA
2004 "Mushaboom" - - - - 97 - - - - Let it Die
"One Evening" - - - - - - - - 97
2005 "Inside and Out" - - - - 83 - - - -
2006 "Secret Heart" - - - - - - - - -
2007 "My Moon My Man" - - - - - 13 - - - The Reminder
"1234" 8 10 34 30 8 3 36 44 -
2008 "I Feel It All" - - - - - - - - -
Awards and nominations
2003
Juno Award winner: Alternative Album of the Year – You Forgot It in
People (with Broken Social Scene)
2005
Juno Award winner: Alternative Album of the Year – Let It Die
Juno Award winner: New Artist of the Year
Juno Award nomination: Video of the Year – "One Evening" – Directed by
George Vale
2006
Juno Award winner: Alternative Album of the Year – Broken Social Scene
(with Broken Social Scene)
Juno Award nomination: Single of the Year – "Inside and Out"
MuchMusic Video Award nomination: MuchMoreMusic Award - "Mushaboom"
2007
Polaris Music Prize nomination – The Reminder
CBC Radio 3 Bucky Award nomination: Song Most Likely to be a Future
Classic - "1234"
MuchMusic Video Award nomination: MuchMoreMusic Award - "My Moon My Man"
2008
Grammy Award nomination: Best Female Pop Vocal
Grammy Award nomination: Best New Artist
Grammy Award nomination: Best Pop Vocal Album – The Reminder
Grammy Award nomination: Best Short Form Music Video – "1234"
Brit Award nomination: Best International Female Artist
'* Shortlist Music Prize winner- The Reminder'''
Juno Award nomination: Single of the Year – "1234"
Juno Award nomination: Album of the Year – "The Reminder"
Juno Award nomination: Artist of the Year – "Feist"
Juno Award nomination: Songwriter of the Year – "Feist, for '1234', 'My
Moon My Man', and 'I Feel It All'"
Juno Award nomination: Pop Album of the Year – "The Reminder"
Independent Music Award nomination: Album of the Year - "The Reminder"
Independent Music Award nomination: Favourite Solo Artist - "Feist"
Independent Music Award nomination: Single of the Year - "1234"
Independent Music Award nomination: Video of the Year - "1234" Directed
by Patrick Daughters
References
^ a b c Stren, Olivia (July 2007). "Dream girl". Toronto Life 41 (7):
58–62.
^ Everett-Green, Robert. "Grammy girl: Feist", The Globe and Mail,
2008-02-09, pp. R1, R19.
^ Feist gets big boost from little iPod. Retrieved on October 2, 2007.
^ Tyrangiel, Josh; "The Best Top 10 Lists of the Year"; "The 10 Best
Songs"; Time magazine; December 24, 2007; Page 39.
^ Time magazine's Top 10 Songs of 2007 at time.com
^ "Breakout of the Year: Feist", by Phoebe O'Reilly in Spin magazine's
"Best of 2007" Edition, January 20008.
****
The
above biography has been copied in part or in whole
from an article on
Wikipedia.org
"The Free Encyclopedia." It has beenmodified under
the GNU Free Document License Section 5 in the
following manner: (1) All links within the article
have been removed, including text links such as
"[#]"; (2) The "[Edit]" text and link have been
removed [if you would like to update the article,
you may do so from the original page]; (3) the table
of Contents links and text have been removed; and
(4) all of the sections of the original article have
not been copied. All of the above text is available
under the terms of the
GNU Free Document License.
URL of Original Article:
Date Article Copied:
We
will try to replace this article with an original
biography in the near future, but we hope this will
be of help to our visitors in the mean time. |
