iamamiwhoami
| iamamiwhoami | |
|---|---|
 Jonna Lee singing live at Way Out West in 2011. |
|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Sweden |
| Genres | Electronic, experimental |
| Years active | 2009–present |
| Labels | To whom it may concern., Cooperative |
| Website | www.youtube.com/user/iamamiwhoami towhomitmayconcern.cc |
| Members | |
| Jonna Lee Claes Björklund others unconfirmed |
|
iamamiwhoami is an electronic music and multimedia project by Swedish singer-songwriter Jonna Lee and others. Starting in December 2009, music videos have been released in four series from the project's YouTube channel, with complementary digital downloads becoming available through online retailers. The project has also performed two concert shows, one broadcast via their "towhomitmayconcern" website, whilst the other formed part of the 2011 Way Out West Festival. Critically well-received, the music and videos, containing elements of several electronic sub-genres such as ambient, synthpop, dream pop and trip hop have spread virally and have garnered much attention, and a well-acknowledged loyal fanbase.[1]
Their first studio album Kin, an audiovisual release, is due to be released on 11 June 2012 through the project's own label To whom it may concern., in conjunction with the British Cooperative Music. Currently, Lee's only confirmed collaborator within the project is her long-time producer Claes Björklund. They are managed by the UK-based DEF Management. The group is notable not only for its artistic multimedia output, but also the creators' leveraging of social technology (YouTube) and phenomena (viral videos to disseminate their music and music videos).
Contents |
[edit] Music
[edit] 2009–2012: First uploads, "bounty" series and live debuts
The first two clips were uploaded to YouTube on 4 December 2009, and was forwarded from an anonymous email account to a number of music journalists and blogs.[2]
The project initially received positive, if sceptical reviews and many websites found themselves asking readers to guess the identity of the blonde women within the clips. The project continued with a several series of short videos, each of them displaying a numerical code as part of its title. When indexed into the alphabet, these spell out words such as "educational", "I am", "its me", "mandragora", "officinarum", and "welcome home". Mandragora officinarum refers to the mandrake root, which when fresh or dry may cause hallucination.[3] Imagery associated with the folklore of the mandragora (the flowering humanoid, berries, dogs used to pull out the mandrake, and semen of a hanged man) recurs throughout iamamiwhoami's videos. Each of the first six clips end with a drawing of a different animal (a goat, owl, whale, bee, llama, and monkey). Having blogged about the videos, MTV journalist James Montgomery received a package by messenger, which included a lock of blond hair, a piece of bark, and a pictogram of the six animals with the question "Says what?" Furthering the mystery; the sixth video ("23.5.12.3.15.13.5–8.15.13.5.3383") ends with the woman whispering "Why" or "Y."[3] The number series which were highly stylized teaser videos set the tone of the project, established several mysteries, and served to foreshadow the projects' complete songs.
Early on, iamamiwhoami was speculated to be a project of many artists, including Lady Gaga, Goldfrapp, Björk, The Knife, Trent Reznor and Christina Aguilera.[4][5] With the release of "b" and "o" fans soon guessed that Jonna Lee was the visually distorted lead singer. However, Lee's previous North American management team Philadelphonic commented "If Jonna is involved in this, we have no knowledge of such."[6] Despite this, her involvement in the project was eventually confirmed with the release of the video for "t", in which her face was fully revealed without any makeup or distortion to conceal her identity. According to rraurl.com[7] and MTV Brasil,[8] "o" was directed by Viktor Kumlin, who is also the director of Lee's music video for "Something So Quiet".
iamamiwhoami uploaded their first full length song and music video with the release of "b" on March 14, 2010. As the seven videos with letter titles were slowly released, fans gathered that the videos were likely to spell the word "bounty". Each of the seven videos begins with the corresponding sound of the animal, however, the animal sounds are not present in the released tracks. The conclusion of "In Concert" reveals that the onomatopoeia used to represent the animals' calls can be made to approximate the pronunciation of the English word "bounty". On 7 February 2011, several registered songs on ISWC were discovered to be closely related to iamamiwhoami. For example, songs titled, "Up!/Higher", "The Sound of Letting Go/Love", and "Little Hope/Sing a Song of Fire" all pertain to lyrics in iamamiwhoami's songs, "b", "o", and "y", respectively. The works were registered by Lee and Claes Björklund, the two who are believed to be responsible for the iamamiwhoami project. These songs were registered around the same time as several songs from Lee's This Is Jonna Lee 2009 album.[9]
At the Swedish Grammis held on January 2011, iamamiwhoami won the award of "Innovator of the Year" (Årets Innovatör), a newly inaugurated category. An anonymous woman (referred to as 'Key Lady' by fans as she wore a key necklace) received the award on their behalf and handed to the speaker an envelope with the words "To whom it may concern" taped in front. The content is revealed to be an empty piece of paper. Before leaving, the woman says, "Thank you. That's all I am allowed to say". iamamiwhoami was also nominated for an MTV O Music award in January 2011 in the "Innovative Artist" category. Fellow nominees included Lady Gaga, Kanye West, Radiohead and Tyler, the Creator. The award eventually went to Lady Gaga.[10] iamamiwhoami was nominated again in October 2011 for an MTV O Music award, this time in the "Best Web-Born Artist" category. Fellow nominees included Kina Grannis, Lovett, MNDR, Odd Future and The Weeknd. The award eventually went to Grannis.
The final set of videos, the date series, set up the webcast concert on November 16, 2010. In August 2011, iamamiwhoami played their first live show at the annual Way Out West Festival in Gothenburg, Sweden. Prior to this, the group had released a feature length concert video. After a long absence, they released the songs "; john" and "clump" in quick succession, believed to be a separate storyline in preparation for the release of their studio album kin in 2012, as well as the project's concert debut in Gothenburg.[11] As a conclusion to the "bounty" era, Bullett Media posted a interview article with iamamiwhoami for their Winter 2011 'Secrets' Issue. Questions were answered strictly with sampled lyrics from the current repertoire of songs, with some additional and unknown phrases purported to be lyrics for future musical releases. The article also included promotional images of iamamiwhoami, nude in the forest and posed among similar elements from "; john" and "t".[9] The article is referenced to be written and photographed by iamamiwhoami.
[edit] 2012–present: Kin
On February 1, 2012, the YouTube channel once again became active with the posting of the video "kin 20120611," which was sent to music blogs much in the same manner as the original release. Many speculated that the title of the video pertained to the date 11 June 2012. In 2012, iamamiwhoami was revealed to be signed to Cooperative Music, a group of independent labels. Cooperative Music Italy posted on Twitter that the group will be releasing their first audio-visual album, Kin, on June 11, 2012.[12] Each song from the album will be released digitally and in video form prior to the release of the album itself, which is expected to contain nine tracks.
In 2011, in preparation for the release of Kin, iamamiwhoami were managed by the London-based D.E.F. Artist Management. Other artists on their roster include Fever Ray, The Knife, Robyn, Moby, Röyksopp, and other Swedish artists.[13] In 2012, iamamiwhoami was revealed to be signed to Cooperative Music, a group of independent labels. iamamiwhoami was nominated for "The Best Tease of the Past 12 Months" category by BBC Radio's 6 Music Blog Awards, with fellow contenders being Lana Del Rey, Elliphant, Battlekat, Savoir Adore and The Sound of Arrows. On March 2nd, 2012, iamamiwhoami was declared the winner on BBC Radio by Tom Robinson. iamamiwhoami then made their first large airplay debut with "o" after the announcement.
[edit] Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Grammis | Årets innovatör (Innovator of the Year) | Won[14] |
| MTV O Music Awards | Innovative Artist | Nominated[15] | |
| MTV O Music Awards | Best Web-Born Artist | Nominated[16] | |
| 2012 | BBC Radio 6 Music | Best Tease of the Past 12 Months | Won |
| 2012 | MTV O Music Awards | Digital Genius | ? |
[edit] Discography
| Title | Release date | Related releases | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Video streaming[A] | Digital download | Release | Digital download | |
| "Prelude 699130082.451322-5.4.21.3.1.20.9.15.14.1.12" | December 4, 2009
January 31, 2010[B] |
— | — | — |
| "9.1.13.669321018" | January 7, 2010
February 1, 2010[B] |
— | — | — |
| "9.20.19.13.5.723378" | January 25, 2010
February 1, 2010[B] |
— | — | — |
| "13.1.14.4.18.1.7.15.18.1.1110" | February 10, 2010 | — | — | — |
| "15.6.6.9.3.9.14.1.18.21.13.56155" | February 22, 2010 | — | — | — |
| "23.5.12.3.15.13.5–8.15.13.5.3383" | March 1, 2010 | — | "o" | April 11, 2010 |
| "b" | March 14, 2010 | March 15, 2010 | Tara Busch remix | April 19, 2010 |
| "o" | April 12, 2010 | April 11, 2010 | Adrian Lux remix | April 29, 2010 |
| "u-1" | May 3, 2010 | May 3, 2010 |
|
|
| "u-2" | May 7, 2010 | May 7, 2010 | ||
| "n" | June 2, 2010 | June 3, 2010 | Eineinmeier remix | June 25, 2010 |
| "t" | June 30, 2010 | June 30, 2010 | Tele Tele remix | September 24, 2010 |
| "y" | August 4, 2010 | August 5, 2010 | Zoo Brazil remix | November 3, 2010 |
| "20101001" | October 1, 2010[C] | — | — | — |
| "20101104" | November 3, 2010 | — | IN CONCERT; "." | December 4, 2010 |
| IN CONCERT | November 16, 2010[D] | December 4, 2010 |
|
December 4, 2010 |
| "; john" | May 15, 2011 | May 16, 2011 | "+46 702 888 037"[E] | — |
| "clump" | July 31, 2011 | August 1, 2011 | — | — |
| "kin 20120611" | February 1, 2012 | — | — | — |
| "sever" | February 14, 2012 | February 15, 2012 | — | — |
| "drops" | February 28, 2012 | February 29, 2012 | — | — |
| "good worker" | March 13, 2012 | March 14, 2012 | — | — |
| "play" | March 27, 2012 | March 28, 2012 | — | — |
| "in due order" | April 10, 2012 | April 11, 2012 | — | — |
| "idle talk" | April 24, 2012 | April 25, 2012 | — | — |
| "rascal" | May 8, 2012 | May 9, 2012 | — | — |
| "kill" | May 22, 2012 | May 23, 2012 | — | — |
| "goods" | June 5, 2012 | June 6, 2012 | — | — |
| kin | — | June 11, 2012 | — | — |
[edit] Other videos
These videos are not musical releases and were deleted on November 16, 2010, the day of the concert.
- "20101109"
- "101112"
- "101112-2"
- "101113"
- "101114"
- "101115"
- "http://towhomitmayconcern.cc/"
- "101115-2"
[edit] Remixes for other artists
- "After" by Moby
[edit] Official app
On the same date as the release of the "b" mp3, 15 March 2010, the official iamamiwhoami iOS app appeared in the iTunes Store sold by iLike, Inc.[17] The app's icon features a question mark on a black background. The main menu features the wood grain album art of u-1 and u-2, with sub menus that lead to videos and music. The video menu contains an RSS feed of the currently available YouTube videos. The music menu contains a full stream of the available songs from iLike.com, the option to purchase individual songs in the iOS's default iTunes store app, and the option to see more of iamamiwhoami's music in the iOS' default iTunes store app (such as the In Concert songs, which are not featured in the official app).
The app is currently no longer available for purchase on iTunes.
[edit] References
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ Cragg, Michael (2012-03-15). "New music: iamamiwhoami - good worker". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/mar/15/iamamiwhoami-good-worker.
- ^ a b Musical Mystery Leigh Lundin
- ^ Seitz, Carine (25 September 2010). "Who am I? Why I am...". Leither Magazine. http://www.leithermagazine.com/2010/09/25/who-am-i-why-i-am%E2%80%A6.html.
- ^ Robinson, Peter (26 March 2010). "Pop goes the viral". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2010/mar/27/pop-music-viral-videos-guidelines.
- ^ Montgomery, James (2010-03-15). "'Iamamiwhoami': Is Swedish Singer Jonna Lee Behind Viral Campaign?". MTV. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1633956/iamamiwhoami-swedish-singer-jonna-lee-behind-viral-campaign.jhtml.
- ^ "vídeos: iamamiwhoami – o [2010"]. rraurl.com. http://rraurl.com/videos/1582/iamamiwhoami_-_o. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
- ^ "Clipes exibidos no MTV Lab/teco apple #26". MTV Brasil. 30 August 2010. http://tecoapple.mtv.uol.com.br/2010/08/30/clipes-exibidos-no-mtv-labteco-apple-26/. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
- ^ a b [2]
- ^ Ehrlich, Brenna (29 April 2011). "Lady Gaga Takes Top Honors at MTV's Digital Music Awards". Mashable. http://mashable.com/2011/04/29/oma-winners-lady-gaga/. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
- ^ Ehrlich, Brenna (2012-02-01). "New iamamiwhoami Video Teases Happening on 6/11/12". MTV Hive; MTV. http://read.mtvhive.com/2012/02/01/iamamiwhoami-6-11-12/. Retrieved 2012-04-27.
- ^ Ehrlich, Brenna (15 February 2012). "iamamiwhoami Reveals Her 'Kin'". MTV Hive. http://read.mtvhive.com/2012/02/15/iamamiwhoami-kin-album. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
- ^ "D.E.F. Management: Artists". d-e-f.com. http://www.d-e-f.com/frame-def.htm. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
- ^ "Alla som vann en Grammis" (in Swedish). Expressen.se. 17 January 2011. http://www.expressen.se/noje/musik/1.2294752/alla-som-vann-en-grammis. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
- ^ "Announcing: MTV O Music Awards Categories & Nominees". O Music Awards. http://omusicawards.tumblr.com/post/4367563358/announcing-mtv-o-music-awards-nominee-list. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
- ^ "Best Web-Born Artist: iamamiwhoami". O Music Awards. http://www.omusicawards.com/vote/best-web-born-artist/iamamiwhoami1. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
- ^ "The Official iamamiwhoami app on iTunes". Itunes.apple.com. http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/iamamiwhoami-official-app/id360780477?mt=8. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
Niall Byrne: Best ever viral project? http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/day-and-night/niall-byrne-best-ever-viral-project-2436789.html
The Mysterious Allure of Bands with Secret Identities: http://flavorwire.com/164334/the-mysterious-allure-of-bands-with-secret-identities
The Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7511381/Mystery-over-identity-of-YouTube-star-iamamiwhoami.html
Tv tropes: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Music/Iamamiwhoami?from=Main.Iamamiwhoami
[edit] External links
- iamamiwhoami's channel on YouTube
- iamamiwhoami at Amazon.com
- iamamiwhoami at iTunes Store
- iamamiwhoami discography at MusicBrainz
- Iamamiwhoami discography at Discogs
