Killing Heidi
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Killing Heidi are a rock band from Violet Town, Victoria, Australia.
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Early History
The nucleus of Killing Heidi is singer/songwriter Ella Hooper and her older brother guitarist Jessie Hooper. They grew up in Violet Town, a small Victorian country town, with a population of approximately 2,000 where their parents worked as music and drama teachers.
They started jamming together at home and played an acoustic gig together at the Violet Town Arts Festival in 1996 including a couple of songs written by Ella who was then aged 13. A local record studio owner offered the two some time in a studio with a couple of schoolmates as the rhythm section. They submitted these recordings in the Triple J Unearthed in 1996 and their track Kettle won the competition for their area of rural Victoria.
The name "Killing Heidi" came from the band members generating two lists; one filled with "soft" words, one with "harsh" words. Killing was chosen as the harsh, Heidi the soft.
Producer Paul Kosky who had worked with Crowded House, Kate Ceberano, and The Clouds was looking for a band to manage and decided to check out a live performance by Killing Heidi. He became the manager of the band and arranged a contract with Roadshow Music, who had a contract with Savage Garden.
Killing Heidi had also acquired a new rhythm section with Adam Pedretti on drums and Warren Jenkin on bass. They recorded their first album in 1999.
Career Success 1999-
The first single "Weir" was released in August 1999 and went top 5 at the end of 1999. The second single "Mascara" was released in December 1999 and reached the top of the Australian charts in January 2000 - it stayed at the top of the charts for four weeks. The album Reflector was released in early 2000 and debuted at #1. The third single "Superman Supergirl" also went top ten.
Reflector eventually sold 300,000 albums in Australia earning 5x platinum status and Killing Heidi won four ARIA awards in October 2000. However, the momentum halted when a cyst was found on Hooper's vocal cords and she underwent an operation in 2001. Her voice was slow to recover.
The band recorded its second album Present despite Hooper's continuing problems with her vocal cords. The second album Present wasn't as successful only going gold with 50,000 sold and failing to make the top ten of the Australian album charts. It spawned two singles - "Heavensent" which reached the top 30 in early 2002 and "Outside of Me" which reached a peak of #12 later in 2002. The band left Kosky as a result of ongoing friction between the band and manager and signed up with Chris Robinson.
The band went over to Los Angeles in late 2003 to record a comeback album and rented a house in the San Fernando Valley while the album was recorded. The songs were written both in Violet Town and in Los Angeles. The third self-titled album is due for release in late August 2004. The first single "I Am" was released on July 12, 2004 and debuted at #16 on the Australian singles charts. The song also features on the Australian version of the Spider-Man 2 soundtrack.
Members
As of 2004, Killing Heidi consists of:
- Ella Hooper (vocals)
- Jessie Hooper (guitars)
- Adam Pedretti (drums)
- Warren Jenkin (bass)
The original band had a different drummer and bassist but this lineup has recorded all of their albums.
Discography
- Weir Single (1999)
- Mascara/Leave Me Alone Single (2000)
- Reflector Album (2000)
- Live Without It Single (2000)
- Superman Supergirl Single (2000)
- Heavensent Single (2001)
- Outside Of Me Single (2002)
- Present Album (2002)
- I Am Single (2004)
- Killing Heidi Album (2004)
- Calm Down Single (2004)
External Links
- Killing Heidi web site (http://www.killingheidi.com.au/artists/killingheidi/home/main.do/)
- Killing Heidi All Music Guide entry (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE4781ED947A57520EFB71670E1FA5CDE2DFE62D9BA5007656392940454880C71ED59E695CAAEF877AB7BAFFF2AE85F05D0CBE452FFCC1740&sql=11:48jqeai44xg7~T1/)
- Melbourne Age article on comeback (http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/07/21/1090089208436.html/)