Siskin (album)

Siskin
Origin	London, England
Genres	Pop, Adult Contemporary
Years active	2008–present
Labels	Siskin Music
Associated acts	Galen, KG
Website	Siskin Myspace [1]
Members	Galen Ayers Kirsty Newton

Siskin are a British pop music duo. The ensemble consists of Galen Ayers, daughter of musician Kevin Ayers, and Kirsty Newton. Galen Ayers lists her contributions as “vocals, guitars, lyrics, elegance” and credits her friend and fellow singer-songwriter Kirsty Newton with “keys, bass, vocals, lunacy”. They have been described as “beautiful, talented but unimpressed by the get-rich-quick blandishments of the mainstream”. They describe themselves as “two very different girls from very different backgrounds who were lucky to discover that they could make beautiful music together.”

Galen Ayers was raised in a 1970s hippie commune in France and was later transported to Majorca for the remainder of her upbringing. From the shores of her Spanish home town, Deia, Ayers claims to have been deeply influenced by her father: "my father’s music influenced me but I think an even greater influence from him was reading. He read everything from Japanese haiku poems to cookbooks.” Her diaries have featured rhyming couplets from early in her life, demonstrating a latent flair for songwriting. At the age of 13, she has said, “I grabbed a guitar and realised that the writing sounded even better when chords were put behind it. Music's an amazing vehicle to convey feelings.” Because of the pronunciation of her unusual name (“Gallon”), she has sometimes been nicknamed Eight Pints.

Kirsty Newton grew up in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire. The northerner has absolute pitch and began banging the glockenspiel at the age of two years. She is classically trained on the piano and oboe, but taught herself bass guitar once she moved to London. She was a full-time music teacher at Fulham Preparatory School but still gives piano, recorder and oboe lessons to pupils one day a week.

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Wikipedia