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Védís Hervör Árnadóttir
Védís Hervör Árnadóttir
Beautifully lyrical solo artist Védís Hervör Árnadóttir was born in 1982 in Reykjavik, Iceland. She says she “grew up practically breathing music”. In fact, when she was a little girl she says she would often sing her tired mother to sleep. “It sounds beautiful in memory but I’m sure my family often wanted to shut me up during quiet family meals and TV news,” laughs Védís. At the age of six, she joined a choir and took piano lessons, and a few years later starred in stage performances such as La Bohéme, Eva Luna and Kardimommubærinn (Cardamom Town). She also began performing in children’s programs for Icelandic television and starred in a telemovie made by those programs. Early years spent living in Tennessee made English the natural language choice when writing lyrics for her music, and she soon started composing her own songs. Says Vedis: “I was singing about love I had not yet discovered, which was quite comical. If I had a crush on someone they would be idolised through glamorous adjectives and dramatic ballads. A ten-year-old singing about ‘so much heartache’! Looking back I wish heartache really was so simple!”
At 16, Vedis won a college singing competition with her original composition “Finished Melody”, attracting the attention of Icelandic record label Skifan.
As well as starring in huge college musical successes in Reykjavík, such as Dirty Dancing, Thriller and Wake Me Up Before You GoGo, Védís was also singing with Icelandic band Bang Gang (brainchild of Icelandic popster Bardi Johannsson) who, thanks to heavy rotation on MTV, gained popularity across Europe and in Japan.
At 19, she released her debut solo album, In the Caste, through Skifan. The album, which was produced by Bardi Johannsson, received rave reviews.
After graduation, Védís amicably unsigned herself with Skifan and moved to London to pursue her musical career. For four years running she and other expat singers put on the show Frostroses: The Icelandic Divas. They released one studio album and three live albums in Iceland, all of which were well-received by festive Icelanders both at home and abroad.
In addition to singing Vedis kept up her songwriting and won songwriting competitions in Iceland for her own compositions. Vedis has written songs for acclaimed songstresses such as Regína Ósk, Selma, Hansa and always keeps an open slot to write for other artists.
It was in London that Védís met producers Michael Fayne and Jamie Maher. At the time, Fayne was working on his own album, The Rainmaker, and she co-wrote two songs for his album - ”Just Ain´t Feeling It” and “Full Circle”. Over the years, the three have worked on various projects together.
After studying music production at Point Blank, Védís decided to release another solo album, this time with an eye to the international market. Maher and Fayne were the natural choice as collaborators.
“I had so many songs in the bank, and I feel now I actually had something to say,” says Védís. “I am now 25 and I have completely spilled my guts into A Beautiful Life – Recovery Project. The album represents my journey through ‘not always such a beautiful life’ and my recovery project is aimed at ‘making it beautiful anyways’.”
Written by Elizabeth Knowles