Lenka

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This article is about the Australian singer-songwriter Lenka Kripac. For other uses, see Lenka (disambiguation).
Lenka
Lenka performing at Summer Sonic festival in Tokyo, Japan, 2009
Lenka performing at Summer Sonic festival in Tokyo, Japan, 2009
Background information
Birth nameLenka Kripac
Also known asLenka
Born (1978-03-19) 19 March 1978 (age 46)
New South Wales, Australia
OriginSydney, Australia
GenresPop, indie pop
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter, actress
Instrument(s)vocals, piano, trumpet
Years activeSince 2008
LabelsSony Music, Epic Records
Websitewww.lenkamusic.com

Lenka (born Lenka Kripac on 19 March 1978)[1] is an Australian singer–songwriter, known for her song "The Show," (produced by Stuart Brawley,) from her self-titled album Lenka, which was in advertisements, including for Old Navy and Dulux. Previously known in Australia as an actress, she has appeared in Australian television serials and feature films.[2]

Early life

The daughter of a jazz musician father[3] who had immigrated to Australia from Czechoslovakia and an Australian schoolteacher mother, Lenka was born and raised in "the bush",[4] until age seven when her family moved to Sydney, where she received her schooling and music training, and started work as a musician.[4]

Career

Acting

As a teenager Lenka studied acting at the Australian Theatre For Young People,[5] where she trained with actress Cate Blanchett at the school.[6] Lenka starred in the Australian ABC-TV drama series GP as Vesna Kapek in the 1990s. She also hosted Cheez TV and has guest starred in other Australian TV series including Home And Away, Wild Side, Head Start, and Spellbinder. She appeared in Australian feature films The Dish and Lost Things, as well as in theatre productions.[6]

Music

Lenka in Baden-Baden, 2009

Decoder Ring

Main article: Decoder Ring

As Lenka Kripac, she was a member of the Australian electronic-rock crossover band Decoder Ring for two of their albums. She then moved to California in 2007.[4]

Solo career

After adopting her first name as her sole artistic name, Lenka released her eponymous debut album on 24 September 2008, with "The Show" (produced by Stuart Brawley,) chosen to be the first single release from the set.[7] The album peaked at number 142 on the US Billboard 200.[8]

Lenka creates paper art type of stop-motion animated music videos for each of her singles with James Gulliver Hancock, a visual artist from Australia.[3] The childlike appearance to all her music videos is done on purpose by the duo.[3] Her vocal stylings are a juxtaposition of pop and layered, complicated influences.

She provided vocals on two tracks ("Addicted" and "Sunrise") on German artist Schiller's album Atemlos, released in Germany on 12 March 2010.

Exposure

  • "The Show" was used in the British movie "Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging".
  • "Everything at Once" was featured in a Disney Studio All Access advertisement at the beginning of the Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and The Muppets DVDs.
  • "Don't Let Me Fall" was featured in a television commercial for Telus in Canada as well as in a Sears 2009 Christmas commercial.
  • "The Show", produced by Stuart Brawley, has been featured as soundtrack for an Old Navy as well as an Ugly Betty promo, in the film Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging, and the 2009 Spring Campaign of the Polish TV station TVN. It was promoted as an iTunes Free Single of the Week. The song makes a prominent appearance in the Brad Pitt movie Moneyball (2011), sung by actress Kerris Dorsey playing Billy Beane's daughter.
  • The songs "Trouble Is a Friend", "Live Like You're Dying" and "Everything at Once" were featured in Grey's Anatomy.
  • "Trouble is a Friend", "Don't Let Me Fall", "The Show", and "We Will Not Grow Old" were featured in the teen drama 90210.
  • "The Show" was featured in the promotional ad of InuYasha the Final act on Animax.
  • "Dangerous and Sweet" was featured on an episode of The Hills.
  • Lenka has performed on the late-night United States network television interview shows Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and The Tonight Show singing "The Show" with her full band.
  • The beginning of 2009 saw Lenka tour extensively throughout the US and Canada. On 2 February 2009 Lenka performed her first sold-out show in Toronto, Canada.
  • In mid-2009 Lenka's album was released in Europe and Asia, with coinciding tours and festival appearances.
  • In Vietnam, "The Show" and "Trouble Is A Friend" were huge hits and became most-played songs in public and most downloaded songs. Radio VOV3 was the first radio entity that put Lenka's "The Show" and "Trouble Is A Friend" in Vietnam. A dance remix of "Trouble Is A Friend" by DJ Hoang Anh was a most-played song in Vietnam and Laos in the first half of 2011.
  • Indian lifestyle and entertainment television channel Zee Café, part of Zee network, uses a part of the song "The Show" with lyrics "Dum Di Dum... just enjoy the show" at the end of every commercial break.
  • "The Show" was featured in the promotional ad of TM Malaysia.
  • "We Will Not Grow Old" was used in a promotional ad for Olay in the Philippines.
  • "Don't Let Me Fall" was used in a Coca-Cola advertisement entitled "Follow the Bubble".
  • "Trouble Is A Friend" is featured in TV advertisements for "The Mentalist" on TV3 in Sweden.
  • The Show and Trouble is a Friend were both played on the British drama Waterloo Road.
  • The Show is used in short adverts for DFS on the British TV channel ITV.
  • "The Show" is used for a short shampoo advert in Hong Kong.
  • "The Show" was used in the trailer for the 2010 film Easy A, which also featured the song "Trouble is a Friend".
  • In Norway, "Trouble is a Friend" was used early 2011 in TV-commercials for "Boots apotek".
  • "Roll With The Punches" was featured in Lauren Conrad's New Reality Show in March 2011 as the theme song.
  • "Roll With The Punches" was used in MTV's "Awkward." episode "My Super Bittersweet Sixteen"
  • "Trouble is a Friend" is used as signature tune in the Polish TV series "Julia" made by TVN.
  • "Bring Me Down" was used for a Dulux paint ad in Canada in early 2012.

Visual art

Lenka performing on the Hotel Cafe Tour at Doug Fir, in Portland, Oregon, 2008

Lenka's live performance and visual image has become synonymous with a native-art, vintage craft style. These works, (known as "Lenka" on stage), are the result of collaborations with James Gulliver Hancock, an Australian visual artist and illustrator. In 2009 they had their first gallery exhibition, which took place at No. 12 Gallery in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. The exhibition included a collection of works revolving around her music including set pieces and original drawings and prints. A manifesto outlining the philosophy behind their collaboration, "We Will Not Grow Old" was written to coincide with the exhibition. Lenka sometimes involves fans in art-making, with events so far in Los Angeles (in collaboration with Poketo), Hong Kong and Malaysia. Lenka has a Bachelor of Fine Arts majoring in sculpture from the College of Fine Arts Sydney (COFA).

Discography

Albums

Year Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
AUS[9] AUT[10] GER
[11] 		POL SUI[12] UK[13] USA[8]
2008 Lenka
  • Released: 23 September 2008[14]
  • Label: Epic
 — 30 35 4 48 58 142
2011 Two
  • Released: 19 April 2011[15]
  • Label: Epic
 — — — — 88 — 196
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Singles

Year Title Peak chart positions Album
AUT
[16] 		BEL Tip-Fl
[17] 		CZE EU GER
[18] 		JPN NOR
[19] 		SUI
[20] 		UK
[13]
2009 "The Show" 13 4 35 48 23 24 — 21 22 Lenka
"Trouble Is a Friend" — — — — 65 — 10 — —
2011 "Heart Skips a Beat" — 3 — — — — — — — Two
"Two" — — — — — — — — —
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Personal life

Lenka is married to visual artist James Gulliver Hancock.[21] She announced on 27 September 2011, that she was pregnant.[22] In March 2012, she announced on Twitter that she had given birth to a boy named Quinn. She currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.

References

  1. ^ Healy, Topher (interviewer) (4 September 2008). "Rave Magazine – Brisbane Street Press – Lenka". Rave Magazine. Retrieved 5 November 2008. I really didn't want to be a pop star. But it seems now that I'm a 30 year-old, I've regressed back to being five. But you know, that's cool. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  2. ^ Lenka Kripac at IMDb
  3. ^ a b c "Lenka | Artist". MTV Asia. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  4. ^ a b c "Bio". The Official Lenka Site. Sony Music Entertainment. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
  5. ^ "Brisbane Street Press – Lenka". Rave Magazine. 4 November 2008. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  6. ^ a b "Columbia Records UK " Releases " Lenka – Lenka". Columbia.co.uk. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  7. ^ The Show Songfacts
  8. ^ a b "( Lenka > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )". allmusic. 23 September 2008. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  9. ^ "australian-charts.com – Australian charts portal". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
  10. ^ "austriancharts.at – Austria Top 40 – Hitparade Österreich". austriancharts.at (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
  11. ^ "Musicline.de – Chartverfolgung – Lenka (Longplay)". musicline.de (in German). PhonoNet GmbH. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
  12. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community". swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
  13. ^ a b "Chart Stats – Lenka". Chart Stats. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
  14. ^ "Lenka CD". CD universe. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
  15. ^ "Two CD". CD universe. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  16. ^ "austriancharts.at – Austria Top 40 – Hitparade Österreich". austriancharts.at (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
  17. ^ "ultratop.be – ULTRATOP BELGIAN CHARTS". www.ultratop.be. ULTRATOP & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
  18. ^ "Musicline.de – Chartverfolgung – Lenka (Single)". musicline.de (in German). PhonoNet GmbH. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
  19. ^ "norwegiancharts.com – Norwegian charts portal". norwegiancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
  20. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community". swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
  21. ^ http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest+News/Showbiz/Story/A1Story20110225-265251.html
  22. ^ http://www.lenkamusic.com/ca/news/happy-news

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lenka.

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