Hera

基督城的歌手/作曲家HERA在新西蘭一直生活、創作和表演了12年，但在她的祖國冰島擁有着非常成功的職業生涯。在地球的另一端生活並不容易，但在2003年她獲得了冰島音樂最佳女歌手獎並頗受好評，這一獎項在過去10年一直被全球巨星***所佔有。Hera首張冰島專輯在她2個月內完成37個演出後成為了金唱片，而這個獨唱女歌手也完成了冰島面積最廣的巡演。 幼小的年紀裏Hera就展示了驚人的天賦，8歲開始在雷克雅未克（冰島城市）演奏古典吉他，13歲她就完成了一張令人印象深刻的專輯，裏面的歌曲都是她自己寫的…… 1994年Hera全家移居新西蘭，在那裏她開始在基督城裏或附近舉辦自己的演出，通過巡演她得到了Goldenhorse和Glenn Tilbrook的支持。Hera在新西蘭發行的前兩張專輯都是她獨立製作、出版和宣傳的，慢慢地建立起了小卻至關重要的粉絲基礎。 2002年她的年齡只有18，早期錄音作品的曲目之一"Itchy Palms"被在冰島電台的一個電話採訪節目中播出，並幸運地被電影製作公司"Hafid （The Sea）"的製作人發現了，他到新西蘭找到了Hera，"Itchy Palms"被選為電影的主題曲，Hera也被邀請在冰島的電影首映式中現場演唱了這首歌。電影最終贏得八個Edda獎（相當於冰島的奧斯卡獎），並在全球30個國家上映。帶有電影片段的音樂視頻在全球DVD發行中也佔有相當重的分量。音樂出現在電影的高潮部分，這使得Hera得到了來自傳媒的支持和關注，並推動她站到了冰島傳媒圈的聚光燈下。這一切使她返回祖國冰島成為首要需求，所以在2002年年底Hera搬回到雷克雅未克…… 和Skifan Records簽約了唱片錄製後，她的生涯正式開始了！2004年和2005年，在Nick Cave和Joe Cocker支持下，她在雷克雅未克最大的體育場裏舉辦了演唱會。在2005年年中，冰島音樂網站www.tonlist.is的播放榜單前十名中，她的歌曲同時出現了8首之多！在多日全國巡演的支持下，她發佈了接下來的一張專輯"Don’t Play This"。她還到比利時、荷蘭、意大利和英國進行演出，包括在著名的（也是大雨傾盆的）Glastonbury（英國城市）音樂節演出。作為一個天賦異稟而又熱愛冒險的歌手，Hera以此結束這一年：在地球最遙遠的地方之一——格陵蘭的Ammassalik演出，創造了又一獨特的里程碑。 在2007年，她從美國奧斯汀市的西南音樂會返回後。Hera被新西蘭電台授予了新晉藝術家稱號。去年九月Hera和惠靈頓的製作人David Long （Fur Patrol, Lucid 3）在Roundhouse錄音室合作錄製了一個全新的歌曲"Feels So Good"。結果是一個愉快的令人振奮的新西蘭首張單曲！之後她又和導演Andie Spargo合作製作了的MV，在網絡上大獲成功，全球最著名的博客之一"Cute Overload"也寫了評論。現在Hera已經25歲，在一次冰島巡迴演出後，回到了她的第二家鄉，並再次參加了08年的Glastonbury音樂節和丹麥的兩個演出，宣傳她的新現場專輯"Live at AL’s"，這是5月16日在基督城的AL錄製的。 冰島為世界音樂產業貢獻了風格迥異但傑出的成功音樂人，如 Mezzaforte和Sigur Ros等。HERA是這個來自世界彼端天資聰穎而獨特的藝人隊伍中的下一個璀璨的明星。這就是迄今為止Hera的故事，2008年更多精彩將會繼續。如果這是您第一次聆聽，做好被迷住、被吸引、被感動、被震撼的準備吧，Hera的音樂即將呈現！ Christchurch based singer/songwriter HERA has been living, writing and performing in New Zealand for 12 years now whilst carving out a very successful career in her native country of Iceland. Not an easy task given the global separation, but one that was richly rewarded in 2003 when she was named Best Female Artist at that year’s Icelandic Music Awards, a category dominated for the previous 10 years by global superstar *****! Hera’s Icelandic debut album also delivered her a Gold Record there being backed up by 37 live concerts in two months, the most extensive Icelandic tour ever undertaken by a solo female artist... A prodigious talent from an early age, Hera began playing classical guitar in Reykjavik at the age of 8 building an impressive collection of her own self-penned songs by 13… In 1994 her family moved to New Zealand where she started playing her own shows in and around Christchurch, grabbing some key support slots on visiting tours including Goldenhorse & Glenn Tilbrook. Hera’s first two albums were independently produced, published and distributed in New Zealand, slowly helping to build her a small but very dedicated fan base. In 2002 aged just 18, one of Hera’s tracks from those early recordings, “Itchy Palms”, was performed as part of a live-to-air phone interview on Icelandic radio and fortunately spotted by the producer of a planned Icelandic film production “Hafid (The Sea)”. He tracked Hera down in NZ and “Itchy Palms” was chosen as the film’s title song with Hera being invited to perform it live at the Icelandic Premiere. The film eventually went on to win eight Edda Awards (Iceland’s Oscar equivalent) being distributed in over 30 countries worldwide.The music video with clips from the movie was also featured on the global DVD release. With the track appearing at a very poignant part in the film, it quickly gained strong radio and TV support propelling Hera into the Icelandic media limelight. With all this media activity, relocation to her native Iceland became essential, so at the end of 2002 Hera moved back to Reykjavik…A recording deal was secured with Skifan Records and her career was launched! Live shows continued through 2004 & 2005 with supporting slots for both Nick Cave and Joe Cocker in Reykjavik’s biggest concert arena. Her next album “Don’t Play This” released mid 2005 was supported by another multi-date national tour with the Icelandic music website - www.tonlist.is - featuring 8 of Hera’s songs on their Top 10 Most Played List simultaneously! She also performed shows in Belgium, Holland, Italy and UK including a slot at the famous (and rain-soaked) Glastonbury Festival. Hera ended off that year with a concert in one of the most remote places on the planet, Ammassalik in Greenland, creating yet another unique milestone for this talented and adventurous performer. In 2007, after her return from the South by Southwest Music Conference in Austin USA. Hera was awarded a New Recording Artist Grant from NZ On Air. Last September Hera teamed up in the Roundhouse studio with Wellington producer David Long (Fur Patrol, Lucid 3) to record a brand new song “Feels So Good”. The result is a delightful uplifting debut NZ single! She then teamed up with Director Andie Spargo making the music video, which was a huge success on the internet, and has been featured on one of the worlds most popular blogs ‘Cute Overload’ Now 25, Hera has returned to her her “other home”, after an extensive tour of Iceland, and playing once again at the Glastonbury festival 08, and two shows in Denmark, promoting her new Live album ‘Live at AL’s’ which was recorded May 16th this year at AL’s in Christchurch. Iceland has given the musical world some diverse and wonderful musical success stories in *****, Mezzaforte and Sigur Ros to name a few. HERA is the next in a very talented and uniquely gifted line of artists from the Opposite Side of the World. That’s the story so far. In 2008 it seems there is a lot more to come… If this is your first time, be prepared to be charmed, intrigued, moved & occasionally shocked by the music of HERA! for further information visit www.herasings.com