Feist

Feist (born Leslie Feist, 13.2.1976)

Feist is a Canadian singer-songwriter and was formerly a member of the band Broken Social Scene.

Feist: Childhood

Leslie Feist was born in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada. Both of her parents were artists but divorced soon after she was born. Leslie, her brother Ben and their mother, moved to Regina, Saskatchewan and lived with her grandparents. Her father was American and she therefore has dual nationality.

As a child, Feist sang in local choirs and when she was 12, she was one of the 1000 dancers performing at the opening ceremony for the Calgary Winter Olympics.

At the age of 15, Feist founded a punk band in Calgary named Placebo (not the European band of the same name). Placebo won a battle of the bands competition and earned a slot at the Infest festival. At the festival, she met Brendan Canning and Kevin Drew. 10 years later, she would form Broken Social Scene with them.

Feist: Music Career

In 1996, Feist moved to Toronto and was invited by Noah Mintz to play the bass guitar in his band Noah's Arkweld. Two years later, she started playing guitar in the band By Divine Right, with whom she toured until 2000.

In 1999, Feist became flat-mates with Merrill Nisker, better known as the electro-clash performer Peaches. Feist often performed onstage with Peaches, operating a sock puppet called Bitch Lap Lap. In 2000-2001, the pair stayed with M.I.A. and Justine Frischmann of Elastica whilst they stayed in England. She made an appearance on Peaches' album The Teaches of Peaches, as well as beginning her string of collaborations with Gonzales.

In 1999, Feist released her first solo album. Entitled Monarch (Lay Your Jewelled Head Down), the album included the song 'That's What I Say, It's Not What I Mean.' The album was produced by Dan Kurtz, later of the band Dragonette.

In 2001, Feist formed Broken Social Scene with a group of friends. The band recorded the album You Forgot It In People. She also re-recorded the songs from her Red Demos collection, which became her next album, Let It Die. Following the release of the album, Feist moved to Paris and also worked with Norwegian band Kings of Convenience, on their Riot On An Empty Street album. She also duetted with Jane Birkin on 'The Simple Story', from Birkin's album Rendezvous.

In 2006, Feist released an album of collaborations and remix projects, entitled Open Season. Friends working on the album include Gonzales and Jamie Lidell.

Open Season was followed by The Reminder. Her biggest hit to date, the album spawned the popular single '1234'. The song was chosen to soundtrack an iPod advert and became a hit. The album has been certified gold in the USA. Feist performed the song on Sesame Street.

Written by Contactmusic.com