- Neon Hitch
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Neon Hitch Birth name Neon Hitch Born 1986 (age 24–25)[1] Origin London, England,
United KingdomGenres Pop, Dance-pop, Electropop Instruments Vocals Years active 2007-present Labels The Beats, Warner Bros. Website http://www.neonhitch.net Neon Hitch is a British singer and songwriter. She was signed to Mike Skinner and Ted Mayhem's label, The Beats, before it closed down. She was later discovered on MySpace by Benny Blanco who flew her to New York to work with him. Their work together earned her a music publishing deal with EMI and a record deal with Warner Bros. Records.
Contents
Life and career
Childhood and youth
Hitch was born in the south England countryside in London.[2] For a time being, she was resentful towards her parents for giving her the birth name, Neon, wanting to change her name to a more conventional name, such as Melanie.[3] Her father was a lighting technician.[4] Her mother bought a caravan to live in when their house burned down.[5] They then began street performing, making and selling jewelry and clothing around Europe.[2] As a result, she never attended school as they did not stay in one location for prolonged periods of time.[3] By age four, she was traveling and performing with the Archaos circus. She trained as a trapeze artist, fire swinger and stilt walker and had performed all over Europe by the time she was a teen.[2] Her family was featured in a BBC documentary.[3] At age ten, she began writing poetry which led to her writing lyrics.[4] Her boyfriend noticed that she could sing and encouraged her to hone her singing.[6] She left home at sixteen to live in India for a few years before settling in London for her music career.[2]
Career beginnings: 2007-2010
Through Neneh Cherry's daughter, Hitch met Cherry and her husband, Cameron. He told her to cut a demo, after discussing Hitch's interest in pursuing a music career. Hitch then found a producer in Stage magazine to record a demo, with which Cameron got Hitch signed to 679 Recordings, the label that The Streets was on.[7] After singing on several tracks for Greensleeves Records, Hitch was signed to Mike Skinner's label The Beats, later going on tour with him.[2] She also toured with Professor Green and opened for 50 Cent at the Nottingham Arena before The Beats closed in 2007. Soon after, Hitch was flown stateside by James Johnson, owner of Pilot Creative Services Inc, who asked her to go to New York to meet with him and his client, songwriter Benny Blanco, on MySpace.[5] She was homeless at the time, occasionally checking her MySpace account at friends' houses, and could not afford the plane ticket to meet him.[5] A little over a year later, she signed James and Pilot as her management and quickly landed a publishing deal with EMI.[4] Within the next year she co-wrote and sang background vocals for pop punk band Friday Night Boys' song "Stupid Love Letter", Kesha's "Blah Blah Blah" and 3OH!3's "Follow Me Down" from the Almost Alice soundtrack.[4] She was also featured on Benny Blanco's remix of Miike Snow's song "Burial". Another feature song is 'What's Urban' with WanCee. In early 2010, she was signed to Warner Bros. Records by Kara Dioguardi after a writing session between the two. Hitch later performed at Lollapalooza in the summer.[8] She also co-wrote "Traces" by Sky Ferreira.[9]
Beg, Borrow and Steal: 2011
Hitch began recording her debut album, Beg, Borrow and Steal in March 2010 with Blanco.[4] She released promo single, "Get Over U", co-written by Sia, for free in January 2011. She also released a series of covers and mash-up covers of songs by other artists. Her official first single, "Bad Dog" was released in July.[10]
Artistry
Hitch lists The Beatles, Sia, Kate Bush, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Jay Thomas, Spice Girls, Daniel Johnston, Nelly Furtado, Miike Snow, Amadou & Mariam, Erykah Badu and The Police as influences.[11]
Discography
Singles
Year Title Peak chart positions Album UK 2011 "Get Over U" — As featured artist
Year Title Peak chart positions Album NZ 2011 "Ass Back Home" (Gym Class Heroes featuring Neon Hitch) 19 The Papercut Chronicles II Other appearances
Year Song Artist Album Credits Ref. 2009 "Stupid Love Letter" Friday Night Boys Off The Deep End Co-write, background vocals [4][12] 2010 "Blah Blah Blah" Kesha featuring 3OH!3 Animal Co-write, background vocals [4][13] "Follow Me Down" 3OH!3 Almost Alice Co-write, vocals [4] "Traces" Sky Ferreira As If! Co-write Music videos
Title Year Director(s) Artist "Derek" (Streets Remix) 2007 Mike Skinner[14] Neon Hitch "Get Over U" 2011 Jason Bergh[15] Neon Hitch References
- ^ Shabby Shriek of the Week: Neon Hitch. Dallas Voice. October 7, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e Collar, Matt. "Neon Hitch: Biography". allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p1084376. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
- ^ a b c Bark, Theo. Neon Hitch Trades Circus Life for Music Industry -- Top 100 Acts at SXSW 2011. Spinner. March 1, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Senior V.P. of A&R Kara DioGuardi Signs Neon Hitch to Recording Deal with Warner Bros. Records". Pr-inside.com. http://www.pr-inside.com/senior-v-p-of-a-amp-r-kara-dioguardi-r1731917.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
- ^ a b c "Lollapalooza 2010 | Interview with Neon Hitch - Time Out Chicago". Chicago.timeout.com. http://chicago.timeout.com/articles/lollapalooza/87804/lollapalooza-2010-interview-with-neon-hitch. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
- ^ "Meet Amy Winehouse's room mate, Neon Hitch". Friedmylittlebrain. 2008-07-30. http://www.friedmylittlebrain.com/2008/07/30/meet-amy-winehouses-room-mate-neon-hitch/. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
- ^ http://www.fenuxe.com/2011/08/11/neon-hitch-the-fenuxe-interview/
- ^ "Neon Hitch at Lollapalooza 2010". 2010.lollapalooza.com. http://2010.lollapalooza.com/band/neon-hitch-2. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
- ^ http://www.artistdirect.com/entertainment-news/article/neon-hitch-to-tour-with-3oh13/7680893
- ^ http://www.neonhitch.net/music/a2aceb-bad-dog/
- ^ http://www.neonhitch.net/bio/
- ^ "((( Off the Deep End > Credits )))". allmusic. 2009-06-09. http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jbfrxzq0ld0e~T2. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ http://www.myspace.com/video/neon-hitch/derek/2749195
- ^ http://uxe.uxentertainment.com/?p=965
http://pilot-creative.com/#/ARTISTS/NEON_HITCH
External links
Categories:- English female singers
- Living people
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