Sophie Hunger
Encyclopedia
Sophie Hunger is a folk-pop-blues singer from Zurich
.
), London
(United Kingdom
), Bonn
(Germany
) and Zurich
with two older siblings. She graduated
in the fall of 2002 and subsequently studied German
and English
.
listener, Hunger came in contact with that style of music quite early. She herself had a varying taste in music. As a teenager, she first was into hip hop
and rhythm and blues
, later listened to rock music
and as a young adult she eventually discovered country music
, bluegrass
and folk music
.
From 2002 to 2006 Hunger was a guest singer for the project Superterz and appears on the 2006 album Standards released by that group. Starting in 2004, Hunger was the lead singer of the indie rock
group Fisher. The band split in 2007.
She composes most of her songs in English, Swiss Alemanic dialect and German. She also plays guitar and piano. For the last two years, she has been playing with a trombone player, Michael Flury and a multi-instrumentist (flute, piano, guitar), Christian Prader. The band also has a drummer, Marc Erbetta (formerly Alberto Malo, Julian Sartorius and Dominik Chansorn), and a bass player, Simon Gerber (formerly Balz Bachmann).
On July 6, 2008 Sophie Hunger and her band gave a concert in the Miles Davis Hall at the Montreux Jazz Festival
.
After producing an album in her living room, she released a studio album, Monday's Ghost, in October 2008.
In July 2009, Hunger and her band closed out day 2 of TEDGlobal
.
In June 2010, Sophie Hunger and her band played the John Peel stage at Glastonbury Festival. Sophie Hunger was the first Swiss artist that has ever played there.
In July 2010 at the 100 club, london.
In October 2010 at the roundhouse, london.
In September 2010, Sophie Hunger and her band played the Plaça Del Rei stage at La Mercè
in Barcelona.
In late 2010, it was announced that Sophie Hunger will release a debut record for the North American market as Sophie Hunger: s/t on Manimal Vinyl
in April 2011. The CD will contain tracks from 1983 and Monday's Ghost.
On June 29, 2011, Sophie Hunger played at International Jazz Festival in Montreal, Canada, opening for Madeleine Peyroux. Also at the Festival, she opened for the Erik Truffaz Quartet the following Monday, July 4, 2011 for two shows—at 6 pm and 10 pm—and received a standing ovation at the later show. She was also featured on two songs that she recorded on Truffaz' latest CD entitled "in between" produced by Two Gentlemen Records in Lausanne, Switzerland.
With the band Fisher, under the name Emilie Welti:
Soundtrack (with Marcel Vaid):
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
.
Early life
Sophie Hunger grew up in Bern (SwitzerlandSwitzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
), London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
), Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
(Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
) and Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
with two older siblings. She graduated
Matura
Matura or a similar term is the common name for the high-school leaving exam or "maturity exam" in various countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia,...
in the fall of 2002 and subsequently studied German
German studies
German studies is the field of humanities that researches, documents, and disseminates German language and literature in both its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies often include classes on German culture, German history, and German politics in addition to the...
and English
English studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
.
Career
As a child, Sophie Hunger for some time took piano lessons. Since her father was a jazzJazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
listener, Hunger came in contact with that style of music quite early. She herself had a varying taste in music. As a teenager, she first was into hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
and rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
, later listened to rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and as a young adult she eventually discovered country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
and folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
.
From 2002 to 2006 Hunger was a guest singer for the project Superterz and appears on the 2006 album Standards released by that group. Starting in 2004, Hunger was the lead singer of the indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
group Fisher. The band split in 2007.
She composes most of her songs in English, Swiss Alemanic dialect and German. She also plays guitar and piano. For the last two years, she has been playing with a trombone player, Michael Flury and a multi-instrumentist (flute, piano, guitar), Christian Prader. The band also has a drummer, Marc Erbetta (formerly Alberto Malo, Julian Sartorius and Dominik Chansorn), and a bass player, Simon Gerber (formerly Balz Bachmann).
On July 6, 2008 Sophie Hunger and her band gave a concert in the Miles Davis Hall at the Montreux Jazz Festival
Montreux Jazz Festival
The Montreux Jazz Festival is the best-known music festival in Switzerland and one of the most prestigious in Europe; it is held annually in early July in Montreux on the shores of Lake Geneva...
.
After producing an album in her living room, she released a studio album, Monday's Ghost, in October 2008.
In July 2009, Hunger and her band closed out day 2 of TEDGlobal
TED (conference)
TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate "ideas worth spreading"....
.
In June 2010, Sophie Hunger and her band played the John Peel stage at Glastonbury Festival. Sophie Hunger was the first Swiss artist that has ever played there.
In July 2010 at the 100 club, london.
In October 2010 at the roundhouse, london.
In September 2010, Sophie Hunger and her band played the Plaça Del Rei stage at La Mercè
La Mercè
La Mercè is the annual festival of the city of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. It has been an official city holiday since 1871, when the local government first organized a program of special activities to observe the Roman Catholic feast day of Our Lady of Mercy, La Mare de Déu de la Mercè in...
in Barcelona.
In late 2010, it was announced that Sophie Hunger will release a debut record for the North American market as Sophie Hunger: s/t on Manimal Vinyl
Manimal Vinyl
Manimal Vinyl is a Los Angeles based record label founded in 2006 by fashion stylist, Paul Beahan. They are known for releasing underground and experimental pop music. They were originally known as a folk label that makes annual tribute records for worldwide charities, having eventually switched to...
in April 2011. The CD will contain tracks from 1983 and Monday's Ghost.
On June 29, 2011, Sophie Hunger played at International Jazz Festival in Montreal, Canada, opening for Madeleine Peyroux. Also at the Festival, she opened for the Erik Truffaz Quartet the following Monday, July 4, 2011 for two shows—at 6 pm and 10 pm—and received a standing ovation at the later show. She was also featured on two songs that she recorded on Truffaz' latest CD entitled "in between" produced by Two Gentlemen Records in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Discography
- Sketches on Sea (Two Gentlemen 2006)
- Monday's Ghost (Two Gentlmen 2008)
- 1983 (Two Gentlemen 2010)
- Sophie Hunger North America (Manimal VinylManimal VinylManimal Vinyl is a Los Angeles based record label founded in 2006 by fashion stylist, Paul Beahan. They are known for releasing underground and experimental pop music. They were originally known as a folk label that makes annual tribute records for worldwide charities, having eventually switched to...
/ Two Gentlemen 2011)
With the band Fisher, under the name Emilie Welti:
- Fisher (kuenschtli.ch 2006)
Soundtrack (with Marcel Vaid):
- Der Freund (2008)
External links
- Official website
- MySpace
- Official video for Sophie Hunger's Citylights
- Manimal Site for Sophie Hunger's North American label