Lakyn Heperi | |
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Birth name | Lakyn Heperi |
Born |
Auckland, New Zealand |
28 April 1992
Genres | Pop, pop rock, acoustic, folk rock |
Occupation(s) | Musician, singer-songwriter |
Instruments | Vocals, guitar |
Years active | 2010–present |
Labels | Universal Music Australia |
Website | www |
Lakyn Heperi (born 28 April 1992) is an Australian-based New Zealand singer, songwriter and musician best known for appearing on The Voice Australia; he was eliminated at the quarterfinal stage. His debut EP, Better Than That, was released on 16 November 2012 through Universal Music Australia.
Lakyn grew up in Auckland, New Zealand and played piano from the age of 3, encouraged by his mother Anne-Maree and his musician father Doug. At the age of 12, Lakyn relocated to Victoria, Australia with his family. In his mid-late teens he became a semi-professional skateboarder until he broke his ankle in an accident and was off his feet for eight months. During this time, Lakyn developed his musicianship and songwriting from his bedroom and shared it on YouTube, developing a large fan base and receiving millions of views of his videos. This support gave him the encouragement to submit an audition tape to The Voice (Australia). He cites Bob Dylan, Bon Iver, Jeff Buckley and The Beatles amongst his musical influences.
Lakyn auditioned in Melbourne with an acoustic version of "Kids" by MGMT, accompanying himself on guitar. His audition impressed both Joel Madden and Seal enough to turn their chairs for him and he chose to progress in the competition on Team Joel. He was pitted against Nick Len in the battle round with the song "Big Jet Plane" by Angus & Julia Stone where he was chosen as the winner by Madden. Lakyn's studio recording of "Big Jet Plane" was the first of any of The Voice contestants' performances to top the iTunes singles chart. In his first live show, Lakyn sang "Forever Young" by Alphaville. He progressed in the competition thanks to the public vote. At the quarterfinal stage, Lakyn sang "Friday I'm in Love" by The Cure. Lakyn was eliminated from the competition in the public vote after this performance.