Once you’ve heard Gin sing, you won’t forget the name.
Gin is 23, a Kiwi, a gifted songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and she sings like you’ve never heard anyone sing before. Gin was born in Auckland, lives in Sydney and has just recorded her brilliant debut album, Holy Smoke, in Hollywood’s famed Capitol Studios.
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Gin created Holy Smoke with Mike Elizondo as her producer [Fiona Apple, Regina Spektor, Eminem, Nelly Furtado, Maroon 5] and with The Cardinals as her backing band [as in the very same Cardinals from Ryan Adams & The Cardinals]. Cardinals’ guitarist Neal Casal has described Gin as “unquestionably one of the most exciting new artists to emerge in many years. Her song writing is at once diverse, intelligent, melodic, and soulful. Her voice is raw and emotional, with phrasing far beyond her years. Her debut record is a fully realised statement of intent, promising a great career ahead.”
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Exactly how did a blonde-and-blue-eyed young Kiwi find herself in Hollywood’s most famous recording studio, sitting on Frank Sinatra’s old leopard skin chair and putting down tracks for her debut album with one of the world’s best rock bands?
Personally, Gin has always felt she’s had a sort of guardian angel – or rather a team of guardian angels – guiding her through the formative years of her music career. At 16, Gin won the US-based International Song writing Contest with an aching acoustic ballad called “Hallelujah”, a song she’d penned in honour of her father who’d recently lost his fight with cancer. “Hallelujah” was actually one of the first songs she’d ever written, but it made Gin the competition’s youngest ever winner, and also the first unsigned artist to win the major prize, beating 11,000 songwriters from 77 countries.
In late-2007, Gin signed to Island Records in Australia, the local label’s first ever signing. In 2008, she released her critically-acclaimed debut EP, Extended Play, which featured “Hallelujah”, as well as another epic ballad, “These Roses”, alongside celebratory tracks such as “SOS” and “Under My Skin” – songs that left a lasting impression on anyone who heard them. On the back of the EP, Gin started touring extensively through Australia and New Zealand. Aside from her own shows, Gin was invited to play support act on Australian tours by Pete Murray and Sparkadia. In New Zealand, she performed on an arena tour alongside John Mellencamp and Sheryl Crow.
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In August 2008, Gin was signed to Universal Motown Records USA by label President, Sylvia Rhone and undertook her first US promo trip in October, performing shows in San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles to rapturous media and music industry audiences.
Extended Play went top 10 at home in New Zealand, and together with her next release, as guest vocalist on a track called “Brother” by Kiwi hip-hop outfit Smashproof, made Gin a certified new star in NZ. “Brother”, released in January 2009, would go on to top the local singles charts for a record-breaking 11 straight weeks.
Since then, the young artist hasn’t stopped and with the release of her new album, it looks like she’s on the good path to stardom…
Discover more about Gin on this video :
And listen to her music on:
