Zee Avi
| Zee Avi | |
|---|---|
Zee Avi (left) performing at the Filter Party at South by Southwest, Cedar Street Courtyard, Austin, Texas, 18 March 2009
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Izyan Alirahman |
| Also known as | KokoKaina |
| Born |
15 December 1985 Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia |
| Origin | Sarawak, Malaysia |
| Genres | Indie rock,pop rock, jazz, Indie pop, Indie folk |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, musician |
| Instruments | Vocals, acoustic guitar, ukulele |
| Labels | Monotone Label/Brushfire |
| Website | www |
Zee Avi (born Izyan Alirahman, also known as KokoKaina),PBK is a Malaysian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and ukulele player.
She is originally from Miri, located in Sarawak, Malaysia on the island of Borneo. She moved to Kuala Lumpur at the age of 12 and taught herself to play the guitar at 17. Avi played rhythm guitar in a couple of bands while in Kuala Lumpur before moving to London to study fashion design at the American InterContinental University. After returning from London she started writing songs. Avi currently resides in the United States.
In September 2007, Avi posted a video of her first song, "Poppy" on YouTube for one of her friends who had missed her first performance in Kuala Lumpur. The friend convinced Avi to leave the video online even after he had seen it, and soon she received positive feedback. This inspired her to put more videos on YouTube.
Several months later, on the eve of her 22nd birthday, Avi posted what was supposed to be her final video "No Christmas For Me". The next day, YouTube put the spotlight on her video and Avi's mailbox was bombarded with more than 3,000 e-mails and a slew of offers from record labels.
After discovering her video, Patrick Keeler of The Raconteurs, passed the link to Ian Montone, the manager of The White Stripes, The Shins, The Raconteurs, M.I.A. and others. Montone then passed her music on to Emmett Malloy, who signed her to Brushfire Records, a record company that is partly owned by Jack Johnson. "No Christmas For Me" turned out to be her first official song with Brushfire Records. It was featured on Brushfire Records's 2008 charity Christmas album This Warm December: A Brushfire Holiday (Vol. 1).
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