User:Tetris L/Nicky Holland

Nicky Holland (born 1959 in Hertfordshire, England) is an English musician living in the United States, working as singer, multi-instrumentalist, composer/songwriter, music arranger and producer.

Besides piano and keyboards, her primary instruments, she also plays a number of other string and woodwind instruments. Holland is mostly known for her work as backing musician and vocalist, also as songwriter, arranger, and producer for numerous other artists (most prominently Tears for Fears in the 1980s), but she also released two solo albums in the 1990s. Furthmore she wrote scores for TV and film.

Youth, education, and early musical career
Nicola „Nicky“ Holland was born in Hertfordshire, England, and grew up in nearby Cholesbury, Buckinghamshire.

Both her own mother and her father's mother were pianist, so she learned the piano at very young age. At the age of nine she won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music in London. After she had finished school she studied and eventually graduted from the Royal Academy and continued studies at the City University London.

In 1981 she formed the band Ravishing Beauties together with her City University classmates Virginia Astley and Kate St. John. At this time she still called herself Nicola Holland. Two years later the band split up.

During the early 1980s Holland worked as a hotel lounge musician, and expanded her repertoire with a wide range of cocktail music, blues and classical music. She also started composing TV and film score in 1983

Work as backing musician, composer and arranger for others in the 1980s

 * Worked as backing musician for The Skids in 1981
 * Worked as musical director and played piano for Fun Boy Three in the early 1980s
 * Joined New Wave group The Escape as singer and keyboard player in 1983
 * Got in contact with Tears for Fears through her work with The Escape in 1983. After The Escape broke up, she continued to work with Tears for Fears as keyboard player, background vocalist and songwriter until 1987.
 * Worked as session musician, background vocalist, composer and arranger for other musicians such as Oleta Adams, Cyndi Lauper, Modern English, Stephen Duffy, The Dream Academy, Lloyd Cole, Shelleyan Orphan, Jill Sobule

Solo career in the 1990s

 * Continued to write TV and film score, for example for the 1988 film She's Having a Baby
 * Signed to Epic Records in 1990
 * Released her self-titled debut album in 1991. Much of the work for that album, including songwriting, singing, playing different instruments, arranging and mixing she had done by herself. The album included performance by Lloyd Cole, Gerald Albright, Lew Soloff, David Batteau, Bruce Dukov and Ellen Shipley
 * Second album, titled Sense and Sensuality, released 1997. This time, Holland worked with Larry Alexander (musician), Melanie Feld, Graham Maby, John Peterson, Elliot Scheiner, and Suzie Katayama
 * Signed to BMG in ...

Work as as backing musician, composer and producer since 1990
After 1990 up to present, even in parallel to her own solo career during the 1990s, she continued to work for numerous other artists as backing/session musician, songwriter, arranger and producer.

Besides the ones mentioned above in the 1980s section, the long list of artists Holland has worked with in different roles includes Ryuichi Sakamoto, Tina Turner, Maddy Prior, David Byrne, Todd Rundgren, Tia Carrere, Richard Barone, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jill Sobule, Alannah Myles, Lotus, Robbie Williams, Eden's Crush, Celine Dion, Kathy Sledge, Lisa Taylor, Rumer, Peter Plate, Nick Howard, Anastacia, Belinda Carlisle and others.

Personal life

 * Moved from England to the United States in the late 1980s, were she lives in the New York area
 * Holland is married to record label executive Peter Koepke (London Records, Atlantic Records, ...). The couple has two children.

Solo work

 * Studio albums
 * 1991: Nicky Holland (Epic Records)
 * 1997: Sense and Sensuality (Epic Records)


 * Singles
 * 1992: Ladykiller
 * 1993: Tongue-Tied and Twisted

Cooperations
Nicky Holland has worked with numerous artists as backing musician, backing vocalist, songwriter (composer), arranger, or producer:

... to be completed ...