Victoria Christina Hesketh
(born 4 May 1984), also known by her stage name Little Boots
, is an English electropop musician. [1] As a musician Little Boots sings and plays the keyboard, piano, stylophone and a Japanese electronic instrument, called Tenori-on. [2]
Hesketh was born on 4th May 1984 in Blackpool to Roger Hesketh & Gillian Smith. Hesketh has three younger brothers, Matthew, Edward & Henry Hesketh. Hesketh began her musical career at the age of sixteen as a contestant on the talent competition Pop Idol
, but with her elimination from the show moved on to tour Europe as part of a jazz trio. After a return to college to focus on her studies, Hesketh along with two of her fellow students formed the indie pop/electronic band Dead Disco. The band had limited releases of two their singles but due to increasingly different ideas about the band’s musical direction Hesketh left to pursue a solo career. [3]
Hesketh has cited Captain Beefheart, Pink Floyd, Britney Spears, The Human League and Miley Cyrus as influences. [4]
Taking her new stage name from the film Caligula
(meaning 'Little Boot' in Latin), from which she was nicknamed by a friend, Hesketh began writing her own songs and posting covers on the social networking sites such as Youtube and Myspace. After appearing on several shows including Later... with Jools Holland
and Last Call with Carson Daly
Hesketh entered production on her debut album Hands
. With increasing media attention regarding her then yet to be released debut album Hesketh topped the BBC Sound of Music poll 2009 and received a BRIT Critics Choice nomination. [5] [6] With the release of her debut she has become linked to a wave of recent breakthrough female artists in their 20s including Lady Gaga, Ladyhawke, Florence and the Machine and La Roux. [7]
Her debut album, Hands
, released on the 8 June 2009, peaked at #5 in the UK Albums Chart and at #20 on the Irish Albums Chart. The first single off the album “New In Town” became a Top 20 hit [8], with the next single “Remedy” produced by RedOne [9] reaching the Top 10. She has also released the EP “Illuminations” in the US.[
]
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LITTLE BOOTS TICKETS
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Biography
Early life
Hesketh was born in
Blackpool,
Lancashire [10] to
English parents, her father has a business in car sales and her mother is a poet and author of children's books. The eldest sibling with three brothers,
[11] she was raised in the area of
Thornton, between
Blackpool and
Fleetwood, Lancashire.
[12]
From the age of 5 Hesketh played the piano and began lessons at 6,
[13] later taking lessons from Arthur Lingings and eventually winning a music scholarship. During this time she was taught how to play the
flute, was a member of the school choir and travelled regularly to Manchester to take lessons on her harp. Trained initially in classical singing by Janet Wunderley, by the age of 13 Hesketh was writing her own songs.
Hesketh attended the fee paying
Rossall School in Fleetwood
[14] and then Blackpool Sixth Form College; it was around this time that Hesketh entered the
ITV talent competition search
Pop Idol aged 16. Reaching the third round, she was eliminated by the producers of the show
[15] and did not reach the panel of judges. She stated that "It gave me a thicker skin and it made me realise that it wasn't a short cut to getting where I wanted to be".
[16]
After singing with the Lancashire Youth Jazz Orchestra and performing with a jazz trio for some time Hesketh decided to prioritise her education and studied
cultural studies at the
University of Leeds, attaining a first-class honours degree.
[17] It was during her time at the
University of Leeds that Hesketh, along with two of her fellow students, formed the all girl band
Dead Disco, Hesketh herself eventually becoming the lead singer.
[18]
She also studied Individual Tuition in Voice and Piano at Leeds College of Music.
Dead Disco (2005 - 2008)
thumb
While studying at the University of Leeds, Hesketh answered an online advertisement posted by Lucy Catherwood and Marie France looking for a lead singer in order to start a band.
[19] Sharing an interest and love of
The Killers,
Ladytron,
The Rapture and
Siouxsie & the Banshees, they formed the
electro/
indie pop band
Dead Disco in August 2005,
[20] The band got their name through randomly picking words from a hat.
[21] With Dead Disco, Hesketh sang lead vocals and played synth, with Catherwood on guitar, and France providing bass and backing vocals.
With only a few songs written, Dead Disco began playing gigs around the north of England; their live gig in the headline slot at the “In The City” event in
Manchester gained them enough recognition to get a recording stint with
James Ford. Working with Ford in his
London attic studio, the band issued a limited release of their debut single “The Treatment” in April 2006 on the record label High Voltage.
Their second release “City Place” was a digital only release through Playlouder Records.
With the success of several sell out gigs and an appearance at the Carling
Leeds Festival, the band moved to
Los Angeles to begin recording their debut album with
Greg Kurstin. However, it was around this time that Hesketh herself began to write songs not in keeping with the band’s “
indie” style. Choosing a new musical direction, Hesketh left Dead Disco; they officially revealed their disbandment on their
MySpace blog in December 2008.
[22] In an interview with
The Times online, Hesketh spoke about her gradual shift away from the band - “All the time I'd been hiding my own songs and finally I had to make the sort of music I actually wanted to listen to…..Before I used to always think, ‘What would a jazz performer do?' or ‘What would the band do?' - Now it's so easy because it's ‘What would I do?' It's just me.”
[23]. In a later interview Hesketh noted that the bands' label was pressuring the group to have a certain style and that her fellow band mates lost confidence in her because she wanted to write "cheesy" songs.
[24]
''Hands (2008-present)
With her departure from Dead Disco in August 2007, Hesketh decided to begin a new solo career in pop. Returning to her parent’s house Hesketh began to record various covers of pop songs by artists as diverse as
Girls Aloud,
Wham and
Miley Cyrus and posted them on
social networking websites
YouTube and
Myspace.
[25]
Within a year she had narrowed down a list of her songs to create an album and by getting in touch with Greg Kurstin,
[26] with whom she had previously worked with while at Dead Disco, Hesketh started production on her debut album
Hands.
In early 2008 she began using the stage name Little Boots.
Hands
was recorded in Los Angeles with Greg Kurstin and
Joe Goddard,
[27] [28] and by January 2009 she had begun to compile the album’s track listings. During this period Hesketh topped the BBC Sound of Music 2009 poll ahead of the likes of
White Lies,
Florence and the Machine and
Empire of the Sun, leading to surge of media attention regarding her then yet to be released album.
[29]
Hands
was released on 8 June 2009, a limited edition 12-inch
vinyl of the album was also released on 10 June, which was limited to 1000 copies.
Hands
peaked at #5 on the
UK album charts and has produced the top 20 hit "
New In Town" and top 10 hit "
Remedy". The album is also doing well in Europe and Japan.
[30]
Critical response to the album was generally favourable, generating a score of 70 on
Metacritic.
[31]
In a review for MusicOMH.com, Michael Cragg called it "a well-crafted, glorious pop record."
[32] ClashMusic.com reviewer Joe Zadeh disagreed, writing that the album "falls victim to attempts to reach beyond more boundaries than necessary, and thus ironically loses the concentration of the more earnest listener."
[33] David Renshaw of
Gigwise.com described
Hands
as "a big pop album" that "rival[s]
Lady Gaga,
Girls Aloud or
Lily Allen."
[34] Ben Thompson of
The Guardian
wrote that the album's production was "diverse" and called the song "Symmetry", a duet with
Philip Oakey, a "joyous cross-generational head-to-head."
[35]
NME
reviewer Emily Mackay wrote that "Little Boots gives us an inspiring story of self-realization" and called the album "brilliant."
[36] Pete Paphides of
The Times
named "Stuck on Repeat" the album's "best moment" due to its "exquisite vulnerability."
[37]
Hesketh was also nominated for
BRIT critics choice in 2009.
Little Boots was on
Esquire Magazine's list of 60 "Brilliant Brits 2009."
[38] Little Boots was named a 2009 artist to watch by American publication
Rolling Stone Magazine.
[
]
Illuminations
On 9 June 2009 , Little Boots released the EP entitled Illuminations in the United States and Canada. It includes "Stuck on Repeat", "New in Town", "Magical", "Love Kills" (a cover of Freddie Mercury's) and "Not Now" (which is only available on the US edition). [39] [40] The EP is designed to help relaunch Elektra Records. The EP peaked at the number 14 position on the Billboard Dance/Electronica Chart on 27 June 2009. [41] Little Boots was named Artist to Watch
by Rolling Stone Magazine in August. [42] Hands
is scheduled for United States release in the fall of 2009. [ [43]
]
Touring and performances
To promote the album, Little Boots did several performances worldwide. Her first televised appearance was on Later... with Jools Holland
on 7 November 2008. She was invited to perform on the show after posting songs on MySpace. [44]
On 4 March 2009, Little Boots appeared on late night television show Last Call with Carson Daly
in the United States. She was interviewed by Daly and several clips from a Los Angeles nightclub performance were shown. [45]
Little Boots performed "Stuck on Repeat" using the tenori-on on the 11 May 2009 edition of BBC Breakfast
. [46]
Little Boots returned to Later... with Jools Holland
on 15 May 2009, becoming the only artist to perform on the show twice prior to having an album released.
This was followed by an appearance on the BBC Radio 4 programme Woman's Hour
on 27 May 2009. [47]
Also in 2009, the song "Meddle" was featured in an advertisement for Victoria's Secret. [48]
On 5 June 2009, she appeared on Bebo music show Beat, performing "New In Town" live in the studio. [49]
On 3 July 2009 she closed out Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
. [50]
Little Boots is on tour that will see her play a scheduled 33 festivals in 2009. Hesketh in a column for The Times wrote that she is playing "some extended rave edits of some of the songs, with some ridiculous, epic breakdowns". She is basing her live set on David Bowie's Glass Spider Tour and Kate Bush's The Tour of Life. [51]
On the 11th of July 2009, Little Boots performed at the Oxegen 2009 Music Festival. This was Little Boots first performance in Ireland. She performed on the Hot Press New Bands Stage [52]
On 19 July 2009 , Little Boots Performed At T4 on the beach On The 4Music Stage
Little Boots stage set has expanded as her festival tour has gone on. Hesketh has been wearing a widely diverse set of clothing styles for her performances. [53]
On 29 August Little Boots is scheduled to perform at Manchester Pride an LBGT pride event. [54] In September 2009 Little Boots is scheduled to embark on a 5-city North American tour to support Illuminations.[
]
Little Boots performed a "Live Lounge" On Radio 1 for Jo Whiley on 19 August 2009
On 28 and 30 August Little Boots performed at Reading and Leeds Festival, on the Radio 1/NME stage.
Other pursuits
Little Boots' song "New In Town" will be used in the soundtrack for the upcoming American horror film Jennifer's Body
. [55] Hesketh confirmed she will be working with Joe Goddard of Hot Chip on a song to be used in an unnamed film. [56]
Little Boots and the mobile phone company Nokia will engage in several cross promotional activities. [57]
Hesketh has contributed to a documentary about the Stylophone.[
]
Discography
Albums
- Hands
(8 June 2009), 2010 (U.S.)
[ [58] [59]]
References
- BBC Sound of 2009: Little Boots
- Little Boots: the Tenori-On, the video and the interview
- Info on Little Boots - MTV
- Artist to Watch 2009: Little Boots Rolling Stone 7 August,2009
- Little Boots tops music tips list
- Critics' Choice
- Pop's new wave: quirky, stylish girls fashioned from the 80s
- New In Town Chart Position
- Interview Little Boots Digital Spy 22 August, 2009
- Dutton, Caroline (2009) "Interview: Little Boots", ''This is Lancashire'', 3 July 2009
- Little boots in a big bad world
- http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/blackpoolnews/Fylde-singing-star-tipped-as.4853890.jp
- Interview with Little Boots – The Times
- http://www.isc.co.uk/school_RossallSchool_Fleetwood.htm
- 'I've done so much embarrassing stuff it's untrue'
- Interview with Little Boots – The Herald
- BBC music poll puts Little Boots on the path to stardom
- Little Boots - Biography
- Dead Disco – About Us
- Dead Disco – Biography
- Dead Disco – Interview with Leeds Music Scene
- Dead Disco Disbands
- Dead Disco - Interview
- Little Boots interview for her album Hands The Telegraph 10 August, 2009
- Little Boots Youtube Page - Covers
- Victoria Hesketh Interview with accessallareas.net
- Jones, Damian. "Little Boots lives out her dreams". BBC. 6 May 2009. Retrieved 10 May 2009.
- Balls, Dave. "Interview: Little Boots". Digital Spy. 1 May 2009. Retrieved 10 May 2009.
- Little Boots Tops BBC Sound of Music Poll 2009
- INTERVIEW: Victoria Hesketh, Little Boots Yorkshire Evening Post 14 August, 2009
- Title Unavailable
- Cragg, Michael. "Albums Reviews: Little Boots - Hands". MusicOMH.com. Retrieved 8 May 2009.
- Zadeh, Joe. "Little Boots - Hand: Debut Album from Tipped Popster...". ClashMusic.com. Retrieved 8 May 2009.
- Renshaw, David. "Albums Reviews: Little Boots - 'Hands' (679) Released 08/06/09". Gigwise.com. 7 May 2009. Retrieved 8 May 2009.
- Thompson, Ben. "Pop review: Little Boots, Hands". ''The Guardian''. 17 May 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
- Mackay, Emily. "Album review: Little Boots - 'Hands'". ''NME''. 27 May 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2009.
- Paphides, Pete. "Little Boots: Hands". ''The Times''. 29 May 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2009.
- Lily Allen crowned brilliant Brit Western Daily Press 4 June, 2009
- Little Boots Releases "ILLUMINATIONS" EP Out Today on Elektra Records; British Dance-Pop Sensation Announces North American Tour Dates Kicking Off September 14th in Toronto Marketwire Press Release 9 June, 2009
- Little Boots Deserves Her Dance Party Chicagoist
- Billboard Chart History Little Boots
- Artist to Watch 2009: Little Boots Rolling Stone 7 August, 2009
- Little Boots 'wants to break America Digital Spy 10 June, 2009
- 'Pop Idol snub made me tough'
- Little Boots Interview
- Little Boots and La Roux don't speak for synth pop
- Music Archive: Little Boots
- Little Boots was made for stardom
- Title Unavailable
- Friday Night with Jonathan Ross Series 16 Episode 22
- Little Boots on her 'tour' of 33 festivals
- http://www.oxegen.ie/2009/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51&Itemid=58
- Little Boots Is Hooked on 'Twilight' Spinner 3 August, 2009
- Manchester Pride Website
- Fangoria 28 July, 2009
- Little Boots to collaborate with Hot Chip NME 13 July, 2009
- Nokia Gets Skates On For Little Boots Billboard Business News 21 July 2009
- Breaking: Little Boots
- Madonna Plans Another Greatest Hits Plus Beastie Boys, Little Boots and Florence and the Machine