- Justine Frischmann
Justine Elinor Frischmann (born
16 September 1969 ,Twickenham ,Middlesex ,England ) is an Englishsinger andguitarist , best known as being the lead singer of the now defunct band,Elastica .Early life
Justine Elinor Frischmann was born on September 16, 1969, in Twickenham, Middlesex, England, to a Hungarian refugee and Holocaust survivor father and a Russian motherFrischmann was born to Willem, a Jewish-Hungarian Holocaust survivor, and to a Jewish-Russian mother. She grew up in a house built by her father, a structural engineer, with her older brother Richard Frischmann and attended St Paul's School before studying Architecture at
University College London . Initially, Frischmann had wanted to pursue art, but after her father expressed doubts, she agreed to swap going to art college forThe Barlett atUniversity College London , spending six years studying architecture. On this campus, she metBrett Anderson .uede
Frischmann began dating Brett Anderson in 1989 and played
rhythm guitar for the band Suede. One of the band's founding members, Frischmann thought of the band name afterMorrissey released his single "Suedehead ". Frischmann and Anderson parted ways in their relationship in 1991, and Frischmann eventually began datingDamon Albarn , the lead singer for the band Blur. She started feeling like "the token girl playing guitar in the back".Fact|date=May 2008Elastica
Frischmann later founded and fronted her own band, Elastica, which were formed in 1992 but emerged in 1993 with the single "Stutter" thanks to help from
BBC Radio 1 DJSteve Lamacq . They were signed to his label,Deceptive Records and band members were: Frischmann on vocals/guitar,Donna Matthews on guitar,Annie Holland on bass andJustin Welch on drums. In 1995, Elastica were nominated for theMercury Music Prize for their album "Elastica". Each track consisted of punchy basslines and sharp lyrics that climaxed at the 2 minute mark, capturing the punk sound that was a large influence on the members. The band struggled to complete a follow-up album. In later interviews, Frischmann admitted that the group's 2000 release, "The Menace ", was a result of burn-out following the stress of long periods of touring. The band touredNorth America in support of the release, but disbanded soon after.From 2002-2003, she collaborated with her friend and flatmate M.I.A. by co-writing the first demos for her album "
Arular ". She co-wrote the music on M.I.A.'s 2003 single, "Galang ." In 2003, she performed lead vocals on Pleasure's single "Don't Look The Other Way". She has also produced demos for the band, White Rose Movement.Television
In 2003, Frischmann co-presented a series called "
Dreamspaces " for theBBC Television aboutmodern architecture . She also wrote the incidental theme tune forChannel 4 's "Working It". In 2004 she presented the UK's premier and longest running arts programme "The South Bank Show " and appeared as a judge for theStirling Prize for Architecture.Personal life
Frischmann split from long term boyfriend
Damon Albarn (of Blur) in 1998. Despite the split, the two have remained friends. Most of Blur's album "13" is about Frischmann, most notably the #2 single "Tender" and "No Distance Left to Run ", which reached #14 on theUK Singles Chart . "Coffee & TV " was the only song on "13" not about Frischmann;lyrics written and sung byGraham Coxon . The sad nature of these songs came about because they were written at the end of the relationship, but there are other Blur songs about the positive sides and the often eccentric and energetic Damon Albarn's love for her before they split up: "Yuko and Hiro " is about his love for her but their inability to see each other because of both being in hugely successful bands) from their 1995 album "The Great Escape" and "Blur".Frischmann now lives in
Los Angeles andBoulder, Colorado , where she studiesvisual arts andpsychology atNaropa University , a small, Buddhist-inspired liberal arts college. In August 2008 Frischmann married her U.S. college professor.External links
* [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/life/story/0,6903,664759,00.html Extensive interview with the Guardian]
* [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/you-ask-the-questions-such-as-so-justine-frischmann-would-you-change-places-with-britney-spears-714265.html interview with The Independent]
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