Stella Soleil

Infobox musical artist
Name = Stella Soleil


Img_capt = Cover of Stella's album "Dirty Little Secret"
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Stella Katsoudas
Born = November 3, 1971(age 36)
Died =
Origin = Chicago, Illinois, USA
Genre = Pop, dance, Rock
Occupation = Singer, songwriter, Record Label Owner
Years_active = 1996-present
Label = Katharsis Records (Owner), Universal (mid 90s-2002), LunaPark Records (Owner, present label)
URL = [http://www.myspace.com/sisterstellasoleil Official site]

Stella Katsoudas; better known as Stella Soleil, (born November 3, 1971) is an American pop and rock singer best known for her work with 'Sister Soleil' and her 2001 hit "Kiss Kiss", an English language cover of Turkish singer Tarkan's song "Şımarık". She has been working in the music industry for over 10 years. She is currently the vocalist for Dirty Little Rabbits.

Biography

Early life and career beginnings

Stella grew up in Chicago, Illinois and as a child was a classically trained ballet dancer. She discovered her passion for singing when her brother needed a replacement singer for his band on short notice. Soon a local recording studio offered her free time in return for working for their studio. Soon she began doing back up vocals for a number of local bands.

Deciding to make a name for herself she decided to record a 7 track EP disc and send it out to record labels. Discovering labels wouldn't take unsolicited demos she got an idea: she would 'pretend' to be an A&R rep. She made up the fake name 'Sarah Kaye' and made buzz for her fake label "Katharsis Records".

The fake label and A&R rep soon created so much buzz that her debut performance at the 1100 seat Metro Chicago was sold out; despite her having never performed at all before. She used the funds from the performance to make "Katharsis Records" a real live indie label. "Katharsis Records" proceeded to release her EP to the public with the title "Drown Me In You".

In 1996, she sung backing vocals for the Ministry song "Useless", from the album Filth Pig.

1997-2001: Life at Universal Records

In 1997, after the success of her indie label and EP Universal Records signed Stella under the name "Sister Soleil". The music was a mix of rock and techno with an indie twist; a lot of comparisons were drawn between Sister Soleil and The Cranberries. A full length CD (Stella's first full length) was released in 1998 under the title "Soularium". Though the project was mildly successful on the indie and techno scenes, it wasn't Stella's big break. [cite web |title=Stella Vh1 Biography
url=http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/soleil_stella/bio.jhtml
date=2001-04-24 |publisher=VH1]

To gain inspiration for her next album, she took a two year trek around the world, during which she read, wrote in journals, and practiced yoga while recording in five different countries."I spent two years by myself," she said. " [The label] was really supportive that I needed to go across the Atlantic to reinvent myself and to find my voice and my writing muse." [cite web |title=Stella Soleil Lip Works her 'Kiss Kiss'
url=http://www.vh1.com/artists/news/1443115/20010424/soleil_stella.jhtml |date=2001-04-24 |publisher=VH1]

In 2001, Stella was transformed into "Stella Soleil" (Soleil is French for sun) a Pop princess ready to compete with Britney Spears, Mandy Moore, Jessica Simpson, and Christina Aguilera who were all very popular at the time.

The first single released was Kiss Kiss the English version of "Şımarık" originally sung by Turkish star Tarkan. The song's popularity spread after first being played on Y-100, a South Floridian radio station. "Kiss Kiss" was one of Stella's biggest hits reaching #27 on the Billboard Top 40 charts in the US. [cite web |title=Kiss Kiss Chart history
url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wfjx7i33g77r~T31 |date=2001-04-24 |publisher=Allmusic] .

On May 1, 2001 Stella released her 2nd album "Dirty Little Secret". Despite the success of 'Kiss Kiss' the album barely charted at #106 on Billboard though it did reach #2 on the Heatseekers chart. [cite web |title=Dirty Little Secret Chart history
url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:stkzikzabb89~T30
date=2001-04-24 |publisher=Allmusic]

A poll was held on her official website asking what the next single should be. "Pretty Young Thing" was chosen and released to the radio though it never charted. After the low chart positions and failed follow up single, Stella and Universal parted ways the following year.

Many fans criticized Stella's sound during this time. They considered it 'selling out' and too poppy. Unlike her fellow (and younger) Pop princesses, Stella was able to write her own music and had years of experience under her belt. Stella herself has expressed dissatisfaction with this era due to her lack of creative control. In her MySpace biography, it states "Dirty Little Secret was a hit. However, Stella decided to drop the pop act in search of something she could relate to easier."

Whorse and life after pop stardom

After parting ways with Universal, Stella took some time off including taking up dog grooming classes. She eventully relocated to Los Angeles, California, shaved her head, and created her own rock band named Whorse. Whorse consisted of Benjamin Rowley on bass guitar, Jeff Hanes on drums, and Stella on vocals. The band self released their debut album. The album was not available in stores but only as mail order through the band itself. The album featured a cover of "Horse with No Name" originally performed by the band America. They disbanded after a year.

Stella decided to return to recording her own music in 2005. She recorded an EP "To Swell So High" and started working on a full length album "Tatu's and Tattoos". She recorded a duet song "Глаза" ("Eyes") with russian artist Dolphin and the song was released as critically acclaimed and a highly successful single. In 2006, she began performing around the Los Angeles area with her new show "Stella Soleil and the Cosmic Ballet".

As she continues to work on her music, she has other side projects as well. Her label "LunaPark Records", now part of the Universal Music Group, has been signing acts. She has also added 'author' to her resume by penning an autobiography entitled, "Almost a Pop Princess" which is almost finished. Apparently, some publishers are quite interested. She was featured on a remix of the Nine Inch Nails song "A Warm Place", which was intended for use on the 1999 film "Stigmata" soundtrack and is now available for free download at [http://remix.nin.com/ Nine Inch Nails' official remix site] .

April 2007 - Dirty Little Rabbits

In January 2007, Shawn Crahan of Slipknot and Michael Pfaff of Grimes, Iowa, met and started to collaborate on a project they called Pfaffenclown. After initial writing sessions, they began to look for members for this new band and eventually invited Jeff Karnowski of Des Moines, Iowa on bass and Tyler Fyhrie of the Colorado-based band Murder of Crows on guitar. In April 2007, Crahan, who had known Stella since Slipknot began performing in Des Moines in 1995, invited her to become the lead vocalist for Dirty Little Rabbits and she accepted. Since then, Dirty Little Rabbits have performed in Des Moines, Chicago, as well as being on a month-long tour with Stone Sour and Sydonia in August 2007.

Albums

*"Drown Me in You" (EP released under the name Sister Soleil)
*"Soularium" (released under the name Sister Soleil)
*"Dirty Little Secret" (released under 'Stella Soleil')
*"To Swell So High" (EP released under 'Stella Soleil')
*"Breeding" (EP released with Dirty Little Rabbits in 2007)
*"Tatu's and Tattoos" (TBA)

ingles

*"Torch"
*"Kiss Kiss"
*"Pretty Young Thing"
*"Webisode" (released February 1, 2007)

Books

*"Almost a Pop Princess"

References

External links

* [http://www.myspace.com/sisterstellasoleil Official Site (MySpace fansite)]
* [http://www.myspace.com/stellasoleil Official Personal Site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/dirtylittlerabbits Dirty Little Rabbits' MySpace Site]
* [http://www.stellasoleil.net/ StellaSoleil.net]
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:fpdjyl13xpnb~T0 All Music Guide Stella Soleil page]
* [http://debonne.net/StellaSoleil/TheNewEraOfStellaSoleil.pdf The New Era of Stella Soleil Interview 2006]
* [http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/Whorse_Fans/ Official Fan Group]