Five female musos you should know

VICKI ANDERSON

On the eve of New Zealand Music Month, Kimbra, a girl from Hamilton has made a rare leap on to the top of the American charts. We profile five Kiwi female musicians you should know about.

KIMBRA

Middle New Zealand, still reeling from attempts to come to grips with One Direction's hold on our nation's youth, seemed bewildered this week by news reports of Kiwi songstress Kimbra's American chart success. "Where did she come from?" they wondered.

As for the song that got her there, well, it's shaping up to rival the who-owns-the-pavlova-recipe debate.

Australian artist Gotye's single Somebody That I Used To Know, featuring Kiwi Kimbra's vocals, shot to the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States last week after it was covered on popular TV shows Glee and American Idol.

Gotye, aka Wouter De Backer, recorded and produced the song in his home studio for his third album, Making Mirrors, released last year.

The collaboration saw Kimbra Johnson, a 22-year-old girl from Hamilton who has been based in Melbourne since 2008, become the first Kiwi to have a No1 song on the US Billboard 100 chart since OMC's How Bizarre topped the Billboard Pop Chart in August 1997.

Somebody That I Used To Know has already been No1 in 17 countries, including New Zealand and Britain, and its video has had over 166 million views on YouTube.

Kimbra won Best Female Artist at the 2011 Aria awards, won the New Zealand Critics' Choice Award 2011 and released her debut New Zealand gold certified album Vows here last August.

She has recently featured on the new Converse campaign single Warrior alongside Mark Foster (Foster The People) and A-Trak (DuckSauce). The track was released to New Zealand radio last week.

Kimbra began writing song lyrics at 10, performing at a race meeting. She began learning to play the guitar at 12, that same year she sang the national anthem in front of 27,000 people at the NPC rugby final, and, at 14, after three years entering the competition, came second as a solo singer and guitarist in the national finals of the 2004 Smokefreerockquest.

Her second single, Simply On My Lips, won the Juice TV award for best breakthrough music video in 2007.

Her dad, Ken Johnson, says the family is delighted for her. "She has worked so hard in the music industry in New Zealand and Australia building up her audience and developing her song writing and performance skills."

Since moving to Australia at 17 she has been under the management of Mark Richardson.

"She has had the opportunity to work with amazing producers to bring her debut album, Vows, to its release last year. Warner Brothers signed her in the United States in 2011 and have worked with her on adding further songs to Vows in anticipation of its American and British release in May," Johnson says. "Through her hundreds of live performances, both as a soloist and now with her band, she has met many other artists and done collaborations with a number of these. Her collaboration with Gotye has been amazing for her as it has given her name recognition around the world and brought people to her own music."

Success hasn't changed her at all, her dad says, and while she has no immediate plans to tour New Zealand – she's on a promotional tour of Europe, tours Australia and then heads back to the US to tour with Foster The People – her proud dad hopes she'll come home soon.

"Having said that, I am sure that she will be here at some stage in 2012 whether for one-off performances or for a short tour."

RUBY FROST

Ruby Frost, aka Jane de Jong, has previously worked as the roving music correspondent on The Erin Simpson Show.

This pop star looks to the likes of Bjork and Kate Bush for inspiration.

Her parents are Mark and Chris de Jong, the founders of the Christian label behind the Parachute Music Festival which attracts around 30,000 festival-goers annually. Her childhood saw her immersed in the gospel music scene travelling the world with her parents, fostering a love of creative writing and a unique flair for programming her own beats and creating her own unique costumes.

After releasing a folk EP in 2007, Ruby Frost turned her music on its head recruiting a new band and penning synth-pop songs. Her style still has its quirk factor and intricate lyrics, but her music is now aimed at making people dance.

In 2009, she won the MTV 42Unheard Competition.

Wearing a handmade batcape with sequins, the youthful singer-songwriter and guitarist performed two original songs, and won the hearts of judges including Gin Wigmore, Ash Hughes (Kidz In Space) and Shelton Woolright (Blindspott), among others.

It resulted in her signing to Universal Music NZ, who seem to be grooming her carefully.

Last year she released the Moonlight EP, comprising four tracks: Moonlight, Moonlight (Leno Lovecraft Remix), Goodnight and Pressure. Kiwi artist Leon Lovecraft has also remixed her song Pressure. The Moonlight EP went to No3 on the NZ iTunes Album Chart.

On The Erin Simpson Show the first musician she interviewed was Evermore's Dan Hulme who, in a twist of fate, became involved in how she developed her own music.

After signing her, Universal sent Frost to Australia for a writing trip, partnering her with a variety of musicians and writers, including Hulme and Phil Buckle, who had crafted songs for John Farnham.

In 2010 Frost won the Grand Prize for the Pop category in the international 2010 John Lennon Songwriting Contest.

Frost is working with US producer Chris Zane (Passion Pit, Mumford & Sons) on her upcoming album, releasing the singles Odyssey and Porcupine last year. Expect big things.

ZOWIE

Where Universal has been grooming Ruby Frost, Sony has been doing the same with Zowie.

Zowie is Kiwi singer/songwriter/drummer Zoe Fleury. She's based in Auckland and used to perform as Bionic Pixie, sharing stages with the likes of Peaches and The Kills.

Influential blogger Perez Hilton named her as one of the top five artists to watch in 2011.

In March last year Zowie toured with Mark Ronson and The Business and, in May, joined Katy Perry on her Australasian California Dreams Tour.

Her single, Smash It, featured on the ABC TV mystery series Pretty Little Liars.

Last month the fourth official single off her upcoming album – My Calculator – was released, albeit unofficially at first.

Zowie channels all things electropop and synth-laden.

If you look up her music on iTunes, the "Listeners also bought" tag suggests you might enjoy Ke$ha.

Her debut album is tipped for release soon, also expect big things.

DEAR TIME'S WASTE

Dear Time's Waste is the Shakespearean-inspired moniker disclosing the aural meanderings of Claire Duncan and a revolving cast of companions.

Dear Time's Waste have released an EP (Room for Rent, 2009) and an album (Spells, 2010, released on Australian label Speak 'n Spell) and have performed alongside such artists as Deerhunter, Low and Woelv.

This week, Duncan posted that she had "just finished tracking a new album which will be out later this year".

Over the past year Dear Time's Waste have crafted a soundtrack to the film On The Run, directed by Veronica Crockford-Pound, and been working quietly on the follow-up album.

Duncan's music has been previously described as "akin to a morning orgasm".

Thankfully, as far as I understand, there are no labels grooming Duncan for major chart success.

ALDOUS HARDING

Hannah Harding was discovered, as the story goes, busking outside an Anika Moa gig to get enough money to get in.

Harding, the daughter of folk recording artist Lorina Harding, performs under the name Aldous Harding.

Moa and Harding met in Geraldine. Harding, who has previously performed with Christchurch band The Eastern and as a duo with Nadia Reid, had been busking in Cashel Mall on February 22 and, post-quake, fled to her mother's house in Geraldine where Moa was performing at the Geraldine Cinema.

Harding decided to busk to get enough money to see the gig and was spotted by Moa and offered the support slot at that night's gig.

Now Harding is poised to release her album, Beasts and Birds, recorded under the guidance of Moa, and which features Moa singing backing vocals.

While the album was recorded in Auckland, it was finished, and has its heart, in Christchurch.

New Zealand Music Month launch party, Tuesday from 6pm at the Rakaia Centre at CPIT, Madras St, featuring live performances from Anika Moa, Hannah Harding and Nadia Reid. The RDUnit will be there, broadcasting the event live. Free entry, cash bar and free food available.

- © Fairfax NZ News