Jess Morgan better known by her
stage nameA stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
Spark, is an
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
singer-songwriter from
LondonLondon 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...
.
Life and career
Spark was born in
FazakerleyFazakerley is a suburb of north Liverpool, Merseyside, England, and a Liverpool City Council Ward. At the 2001 Census it had a population of 15,062...
,
LiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, England, and grew up in
WalthamstowWalthamstow is a district of northeast London, England, located in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It is situated north-east of Charing Cross...
,
LondonLondon 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...
. At the age of twelve, she learned how to play the guitar and started writing her own music. She grew up listening to artists "from the
Spice GirlsThe Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of Victoria Beckham , Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30...
to
ShaggyOrville Richard Burrell , better known by his stage name Shaggy, is a Jamaican-American reggae singer and rapper. He is perhaps best known for his 1995 single "Boombastic" and 2000 single "It Wasn't Me"...
". Spark has cited "purely people, situations, relationships, losses and gains" as her main influences lyrically. In 2006, she became the youngest person to win the Inter College Vocal Speech competition and came first in an
XFMXfm is a brand of two commercial radio stations focused on alternative music, primarily indie pop, and owned by Global Radio.-History:Xfm was created in London in 1992 by Sammy Jacob, who later co-founded NME Radio in 2008. Xfm subsequently expanded to a network of four stations; there are...
busking contest the following year. She enrolled at the
BRIT SchoolThe London School for Performing Arts & Technology is a British school located in Selhurst, Croydon, in London, England, with a mandate to provide education and vocational training for the performing arts, media, art and design and the technologies that make performance possible...
where she studied music.
Early demos of Spark's songs were arranged by Peter Vettese. Prior to the release of her debut single, Spark supported label-mate Marina and the Diamonds on The Gem Tour in May 2010. "
Shut Out The Moon"Shut Out The Moon" is the debut single by English singer-songwriter Spark. It was released on 12 July 2010.-Critical reception:Paul Lester from The Guardian described the song saying it "features handclaps, a dirty bassline and a theatrically enunciated vocal that is very stage-school, very Toyah...
" was released as her debut single on 12 July 2010. This was shortly followed by Spark getting signed to
679 Recordings679 Artists is a Warner Music Group-owned record label based in London, England....
on 30 July 2010. On being signed, Spark posted on her
TwitterTwitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
that it was "the biggest and most important day of my life so far." She has also supported bands such as Black Cards in October 2010. The video for "Revolving" was premiered on
YoutubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
on 13 October 2010. In an Interview with PopCultureMonster.com in November 2010, she revealed that the video was 'for people to see my face, to hear my song. Just to see what I look like and what I do. And that was exactly it. It was a showcase of that.’. On 12 January 2011, the British rapper
Mike SkinnerThe Streets were a British rap/garage project from Birmingham, United Kingdom, led by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mike Skinner and has included a myriad of other contributors most notably drummer Johnny Drum Machine, vocalist Kevin Mark Trail and the Italian-American beatmaker Leroy.The...
, more commonly known by his stage name
The Streets, posted a remix of Spark's song "Revolving" on Youtube, including a self-made video. Spark was the support act for
Diana VickersDiana Vickers is an English singer-songwriter, stage actress and fashion designer who initially came to public attention as a semi-finalist on the fifth series of British talent show The X Factor in 2008...
' fourth leg of her
Songs from the Tainted Cherry Tree TourThe Songs from the Tainted Cherry Tree Tour was a tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland by British singer-songwriter Diana Vickers, promoting her debut album, Songs from the Tainted Cherry Tree...
.
External links