Jem was born in Wales, a misty and oddly shaped UK peninsula also responsible for bringing the world Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey among other things. From the age of thirteen she was singing and writing songs, basic recording equipment was ever-present and she decided that one day she would be a singer. Keeping her dreams of this future career mostly to herself however, after finishing school she headed to Sussex University.
While in Brighton, Jem's great passion for music drew her into the music industry, but at this point it was the behind-the-scenes side that attracted her. She hurled her energies into club and festival promotion, became a DJ agent and finally helped set-up and run the specialist breaks label 'Marine Parade'. After a time however, it became clear something was missing. She realized that she'd been circling her own artistic instincts and it was time to take a leap of faith. But that great leap forward first required a small step back.
In November of 1999 Jem surprised her colleagues by leaving everything behind and retreating to the creatively inspired air of Wales and a lifestyle of sofa surfing. Moving from the limits of her Dictaphone, she assembled a mobile studio and got cracking on her songwriting and music production craft. This turned out to be a fruitful time. She completed a strong collection of 4 demos and things began to move quickly from there.
Jem moved to London where she continued her nomadic existence and started collaborating with other writers/producers. Two days into her first writing session with acclaimed electronic producer Guy Sigsworth (Bjork, Frou Frou), the song 'Nothing Fails' was born. This collaboration between Guy, Jem and subsequently Madonna, appears as track 6 on Madonna's 2003 album, American Life.
Her love of beats and bass also lead her to Brooklyn where she teamed up with NY hip-hop producer Ge-ology (Mos Def, Talib Kweli) and in autumn 2002 she met her now co-producer Yoad Nevo. Together they have succeeded in fusing her many musical influences to create a fresh and distinctive new sound. Jem's music is a combination of bright melodies, soul-searching lyrics and diverse rhythms that grab you from the first listen. Her seemingly innocent lyrics contain those closely observed details that are as much about optimism as they are about discovery.
The aptly titled song 'Finally Woken' found its way to influential Los Angeles radio station KCRW 89.9 FM. Music Director Nic Harcourt began spinning Jem's demo on the nationally acclaimed program "Morning Becomes Eclectic" and it created a proper stir. "As soon as I heard the demo from this Welsh songstress I had no choice but to put her on our playlist," said Nic Harcourt, "the beautiful 'Finally Woken' first made its way across our airwaves in March 2002 and 'Flying High' has become one of my favorites." With each play causing an assault on the station's telephones, her demo tracks quickly made her one of the most listener-requested artists at the station and landed her in their coveted top 5 played artists, and all prior to any record label being attached.
As fate would have it, A&R exec Bruce Flohr was one of those listeners and he wooed her to sign onto Dave Matthews' ATO record label, which has enjoyed successes with David Gray, My Morning Jacket, Ben Kweller and Patty Griffin. Jem's s debut EP It All Starts Here on ATO Records, released Oct '03, was widely acclaimed. The hit tv show, The OC took notice of Jem immediately, using numerous tracks in its first season and offering Jem an appearance in the show's May season finale.
Finally Woken the highly anticipated full-length album, has been out in the US since March 23, 2004 and in June, Jem embarked on her first ever US tour. The first single, They has been receiving widespread airplay in Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Portland, OR and Minneapolis, fueling sales of the album in upwards of 75,000. A UK release is slated for fall '04.
La música de Jem es una combinación de melodías inteligentes, letras que exploran el alma y ritmos que van desde el folk hasta el electrónico. Te atrapa desde la primera vez que la escuchas
Jem nació en Gales, antigua y mística península de Gran Bretaña de donde han surgido personalidades como Tom Jones y Shirley Bassey. A los 13 años ya cantaba y escribía canciones, contaba con un equipo muy básico para grabar, pero ya había decidido que sería cantante. Durante mucho tiempo mantuvo en secreto los sueños que guardaba sobre su futura carrera para sí misma, hasta que después de terminar la preparatoria se dirigió a la Universidad de Sussex.
Mientras estaba en Brighton, la gran pasión de Jem por la música la dirigió hacia la industria musical; aunque en ese momento era el lado oculto, el trabajo detrás de escena fue lo que atrajo su atención. Empleó con ahínco sus energías en trabajar como promotora de clubes y festivales, se convirtió en agente de DJ y finalmente estableció su propio sellos discográfico 'Marine Parade'.. Pese a todos estos logros, era claro que algo le faltaba. Se dio cuenta que había estado evitando enfrentar sus propios instintos artísticos y que era tiempo de reunir toda su fe y dedicarse a ello. Pero antes de dar ese gran salto necesitaba regresar sobre sus pasos.
En Noviembre de 1999, Jem sorprendió a sus colegas al decidir volver a Gales y al estilo de vida en donde lo más osado que ocurría era surfear en el sofá. Jem equipó un pequeño estudio y se dedicó de lleno a escribir y producirse a sí misma. Este periodo resultó fructífero. Completó una colección de 4 excelentes demos y las cosas empezaron a moverse a partir de ese momento con mucha más celeridad.
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Finally Woken
Finally Woken *
