Rosie Vanier | |
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Background information | |
Origin | Cornwall, UK |
Genres |
Indie rock Electropop Punk rock |
Years active | 2007– |
Associated acts | Rosie and the Goldbug |
Website | Official website |
Rosie Vanier is a British singer and keyboard player from Cornwall. She was a founding member and the front woman of Rosie and the Goldbug; following the break-up of the band in 2009, she embarked on a solo career, and went on to form the trio Lightknife in 2014.
Vanier grew up in Bodmin Moor "on a plot of land with no electricity, no heat, no TV, just a piano". Her mother and part-Native American father used to go on cycle tours in Europe, playing folk ballads along the way to entertain passers-by. She studied music at Roehampton University, and then returned home to Cornwall to form Rosie and the Goldbug in 2007, with bass player Lee "Pixie" Matthews and drummer Sarah "Plums" Morgan. Rosie and the Goldbug soon built up a reputation as a live band in Cornwall and started to attract wider attention. They toured Europe with Cyndi Lauper for most of 2008.
The band released an eponymous album on their manager's label, Lover Records, produced by Jim Eliot of electropop duo Kish Mauve; Vanier entered into writing partnerships with Marcella Detroit and Glaswegian band El Presidente for several songs on the record. In August 2009, Vanier announced via the band's MySpace site that "Rosie and the Goldbug are over". Vanier then embarked on a solo career, under the management of Fachtna O'Ceallaigh, who has worked with Sinéad O'Connor, U2 and the Boomtown Rats; she completed her debut solo EP, Ep1, in November 2010. Since going solo, she has collaborated with Adam and the Ants guitarist and songwriter Marco Pirroni, who was introduced to her by O'Ceallaigh, writing and recording new tracks together. She released a second EP, Black Cats and Black Stars, in October 2011, with a third, Neon Nightmare, following in early 2012, supported by a solo UK tour; the EP's title track was featured on a Music Week cover-mounted compilation CD in early February.