Amy Studt
Encyclopedia
Amy Jane Studt is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Growing up in a musical family she recorded her first demo by age 14, which eventually got her signed to Polydor
. Studt released her first single "Just a Little Girl
" in July 2002, to international success. It was followed almost a year later by "Misfit
", which came to be her highest charting single. The same month her debut album False Smiles
appeared. Late 2003 and early 2004 two more singles were released, "Under the Thumb
" and "All I Wanna Do" respectively, but only to diminishing sales. That caused Polydor
to drop Studt in February 2004.
From then until the end of 2006, Studt stayed out of the public eye. But in 2007 it was announced that she was working on a new album, now with the label 19 Entertainment
. Some of her new material was published on MySpace. On 3 December 2007, "Furniture
" was released as a digital single, the new album - My Paper Made Men
- was released on 5 May 2008.
, London. Growing up in Bournemouth
, Dorset
, she started teaching herself piano, playing guitar and learning the oboe
. Studt's father is a violinist and a conductor
who has worked with Roy Orbison
, Shirley Bassey
and The Beatles
to name a few, either touring or recording and has played on countless films, while her mother was head of music at St. Katherine's Primary school. Amy also studied a term at Vocaltech vocal school in London, working with close friend, fello co-writer and Vocaltech tutor Yak Bondy
.
From the age of 13, she attended Bryanston School
, Dorset
on a 50% music scholarship (having previously attended Castle Court School, Dorset). By the time Studt was 14, she had written 42 songs. Her father, who regularly works in studios, suggested she record some. She gave or sold the finished CD to various friends, and one found its way to Simon Fuller
(manager of Annie Lennox
, Spice Girls
and S Club 7, among others).
aged fifteen and began to work on her debut album.
In July 2002, Studt released her first single
, "Just a Little Girl
", dubbed by some as the UK's answer to Avril Lavigne
, even though Studt had in fact written most of the songs on her debut album before Avril Lavigne had first entered a recording studio. Her debut entered the UK charts at #14 but straight after the release she seemed to disappear off the scene. "Just a Little Girl" found its way onto playlists in New York City, Los Angeles and throughout the United States. In the United States, she is generally considered a one-hit wonder
, but "Just a Little Girl" still receives occasional airplay on CHR
stations.
Almost eleven months later, however, Studt returned to the UK music scene in June 2003 with her second single "Misfit
". The lyrics of the song criticise those who conform to the general stereotypes of teenage life – the in-crowd – calling them superficial while Studt states she is comfortable with being labelled a misfit. "Misfit" received greater video and airplay than her debut, resulting in a chart position of #6 in the UK chart, an improvement of eight places. Alongside the chart success of "Misfit" was the release of Studt's debut album False Smiles
, which entered the chart at #18.
September 2003 saw the release of the third cut from the album, "Under the Thumb
". The song became her second Top 10 and third Top 20 single, entering at #10, which also helped push the album to a peak of #18. False Smiles has since been certified Gold, selling around 200,000 copies in the UK and was even considered for the much coveted Mercury Music Prize shortlist. In an attempt to sell more copies of the album, False Smiles was re-released at the beginning of 2004 adding one new track, a cover of the Sheryl Crow
classic, "All I Wanna Do". The song failed to set the charts alight at all, peaking at #21. The album re-release also failed to improve sales, missing out on the Top 40 altogether. Subsequently, Studt was dropped from her record label Polydor.
label. She also toured with Razorlight
under the alias Jane Wails in order to stay out of the limelight and overcome stagefright.
"Furniture", a single taken from the album, "My Paper Made Men" was released on 3 December 2007. Some of her new material surfaced through MySpace, including a studio track titled "My Paper Made Man" which was available at the account of music producer Guy Sigsworth
. In March 2007, several live recordings were made available on her own account, to which a recent photo shoot and a new biography were added in July 2007. Her new songs have received positive reviews, which suggested that listeners "ignore any dim memories of her midteens pop phase [from] a while ago."
Her latest single "Chasing the Light
" was released on 28 April 2008. The video for this single is now available to watch on YouTube.
Her second album My Paper Made Men
was released as a digital download on 5 May 2008 and physically on 2 March 2009, along with the third single from the album "Nice Boys
".
It was made public in April that she was dropped by her record label due to poor sales of her album. Studt chose to leave her management shortly after.
In mid 2009 she declared an intention to move to the US to live and work after a brief visit there. However on 20 August 2009 she announced in her blog that she had changed plans and had now moved to a country cottage in the UK where she planned to develop a recording studio and continue to write and tour with her guitarist of two years, Connor McDonald.
It was announced she is currently recording new songs and playing gigs around the UK in order to gain more popularity before the release of her possible third album which could possibly see a 2012 release.
In December 2010 it was announced via her official Twitter that she is currently recording in San Francisco, and in talks of a new direction and record deal. She also announced that she has written a song for Britney Spears
.
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
. Studt released her first single "Just a Little Girl
Just a Little Girl
"Just a Little Girl" is the debut single from English singer/songwriter Amy Studt. Released on 1 July 2002, the single reached a peak of #14 in the UK Singles Chart. It is taken from Amy's debut album, False Smiles, which was released a year later. The song was used in promotion for the last season...
" in July 2002, to international success. It was followed almost a year later by "Misfit
Misfit (song)
"Misfit" is the second single from UK singer Amy Studt. Released on 9 June 2003, the single reached a peak of #6 in the charts and is Studt's most successful single to date. It was also the most successful single internationally. It is taken from her debut album, False Smiles...
", which came to be her highest charting single. The same month her debut album False Smiles
False Smiles
-Charts:...
appeared. Late 2003 and early 2004 two more singles were released, "Under the Thumb
Under the Thumb
"Under the Thumb" is the third single from Amy Studt's debut album False Smiles. Released on September 29, 2003, the single reached a peak of #10 in the charts, and helped the album get to its peak of #18...
" and "All I Wanna Do" respectively, but only to diminishing sales. That caused Polydor
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
to drop Studt in February 2004.
From then until the end of 2006, Studt stayed out of the public eye. But in 2007 it was announced that she was working on a new album, now with the label 19 Entertainment
19 Entertainment
19 Entertainment, based in Los Angeles, United States, is a creator and producer of entertainment properties based around the areas of Music and Television / Film, including American Idol in the United States, Pop Idol in the United Kingdom as well as versions of the Idol series in more than...
. Some of her new material was published on MySpace. On 3 December 2007, "Furniture
Furniture (song)
"Furniture" is a song by Amy Studt which was released as a digital download single on December 3, 2007. It is Studt's first single released on the 19 Entertainment record label. It is taken from her forthcoming album My Paper Made Men...
" was released as a digital single, the new album - My Paper Made Men
My Paper Made Men
My Paper Made Men is the second album by Amy Studt released nearly five years after her debut False Smiles.It is said to be very different from her first album False Smiles, the LA Times said to "ignore any dim memories of her midteens pop phase a while ago".Initially it was released as a...
- was released on 5 May 2008.
History
Studt was born in HammersmithHammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
, London. Growing up in Bournemouth
Bournemouth
Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
, Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, she started teaching herself piano, playing guitar and learning the oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
. Studt's father is a violinist and a conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
who has worked with Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...
, Shirley Bassey
Shirley Bassey
Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...
and The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
to name a few, either touring or recording and has played on countless films, while her mother was head of music at St. Katherine's Primary school. Amy also studied a term at Vocaltech vocal school in London, working with close friend, fello co-writer and Vocaltech tutor Yak Bondy
Yak Bondy
Yak Bondy was a producer of the 2004 success Free Me, the second album by former Spice Girl Emma Bunton...
.
From the age of 13, she attended Bryanston School
Bryanston School
Bryanston School is a co-educational independent school for both day and boarding pupils in Blandford, north Dorset, England, near the village of Bryanston. It was founded in 1928...
, Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
on a 50% music scholarship (having previously attended Castle Court School, Dorset). By the time Studt was 14, she had written 42 songs. Her father, who regularly works in studios, suggested she record some. She gave or sold the finished CD to various friends, and one found its way to Simon Fuller
Simon Fuller
Simon Fuller is a British artist manager, television producer and creator of the Idol franchise, first seen as Pop Idol in the UK. Fuller is also the co-creator and executive producer of the Fox TV reality show So You Think You Can Dance and other U.S...
(manager of Annie Lennox
Annie Lennox
Annie Lennox, OBE , born Ann Lennox, is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving minor success in the late 1970s with The Tourists, with fellow musician David A...
, Spice Girls
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of Victoria Beckham , Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30...
and S Club 7, among others).
2002–04: False Smiles
In 2001 she was signed to Polydor RecordsPolydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
aged fifteen and began to work on her debut album.
In July 2002, Studt released her first single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
, "Just a Little Girl
Just a Little Girl
"Just a Little Girl" is the debut single from English singer/songwriter Amy Studt. Released on 1 July 2002, the single reached a peak of #14 in the UK Singles Chart. It is taken from Amy's debut album, False Smiles, which was released a year later. The song was used in promotion for the last season...
", dubbed by some as the UK's answer to Avril Lavigne
Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more...
, even though Studt had in fact written most of the songs on her debut album before Avril Lavigne had first entered a recording studio. Her debut entered the UK charts at #14 but straight after the release she seemed to disappear off the scene. "Just a Little Girl" found its way onto playlists in New York City, Los Angeles and throughout the United States. In the United States, she is generally considered a one-hit wonder
One-hit wonder
A one-hit wonder is a person or act known mainly for only a single success. The term is most often used to describe music performers with only one hit single.-Characteristics:...
, but "Just a Little Girl" still receives occasional airplay on CHR
Contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
stations.
Almost eleven months later, however, Studt returned to the UK music scene in June 2003 with her second single "Misfit
Misfit (song)
"Misfit" is the second single from UK singer Amy Studt. Released on 9 June 2003, the single reached a peak of #6 in the charts and is Studt's most successful single to date. It was also the most successful single internationally. It is taken from her debut album, False Smiles...
". The lyrics of the song criticise those who conform to the general stereotypes of teenage life – the in-crowd – calling them superficial while Studt states she is comfortable with being labelled a misfit. "Misfit" received greater video and airplay than her debut, resulting in a chart position of #6 in the UK chart, an improvement of eight places. Alongside the chart success of "Misfit" was the release of Studt's debut album False Smiles
False Smiles
-Charts:...
, which entered the chart at #18.
September 2003 saw the release of the third cut from the album, "Under the Thumb
Under the Thumb
"Under the Thumb" is the third single from Amy Studt's debut album False Smiles. Released on September 29, 2003, the single reached a peak of #10 in the charts, and helped the album get to its peak of #18...
". The song became her second Top 10 and third Top 20 single, entering at #10, which also helped push the album to a peak of #18. False Smiles has since been certified Gold, selling around 200,000 copies in the UK and was even considered for the much coveted Mercury Music Prize shortlist. In an attempt to sell more copies of the album, False Smiles was re-released at the beginning of 2004 adding one new track, a cover of the Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop...
classic, "All I Wanna Do". The song failed to set the charts alight at all, peaking at #21. The album re-release also failed to improve sales, missing out on the Top 40 altogether. Subsequently, Studt was dropped from her record label Polydor.
2007–09: My Paper Made Men
After some time away from the public eye Studt returned in early 2006. Studt signed onto the 19 Entertainment19 Entertainment
19 Entertainment, based in Los Angeles, United States, is a creator and producer of entertainment properties based around the areas of Music and Television / Film, including American Idol in the United States, Pop Idol in the United Kingdom as well as versions of the Idol series in more than...
label. She also toured with Razorlight
Razorlight
Razorlight are a UK based indie rock band formed in 2002. They are primarily known in the UK, having topped the charts with the 2006 single "America" and its parent self-titled album, their second...
under the alias Jane Wails in order to stay out of the limelight and overcome stagefright.
"Furniture", a single taken from the album, "My Paper Made Men" was released on 3 December 2007. Some of her new material surfaced through MySpace, including a studio track titled "My Paper Made Man" which was available at the account of music producer Guy Sigsworth
Guy Sigsworth
Guy Sigsworth is a U.K. based composer, producer and songwriter. In his career to date he has worked with many famous artists, including Seal, Björk, Goldie, Madonna, Britney Spears, Kate Havnevik, Bebel Gilberto, Mozez, David Sylvian and Alanis Morissette...
. In March 2007, several live recordings were made available on her own account, to which a recent photo shoot and a new biography were added in July 2007. Her new songs have received positive reviews, which suggested that listeners "ignore any dim memories of her midteens pop phase [from] a while ago."
Her latest single "Chasing the Light
Chasing the Light
"Chasing the Light" is the second and lead single from Amy Studt's second album My Paper Made Men.-Music video:The video for the song was shot on March 14, 2008 on the news section on the website it said that the music video "includes wind, water and paint"...
" was released on 28 April 2008. The video for this single is now available to watch on YouTube.
Her second album My Paper Made Men
My Paper Made Men
My Paper Made Men is the second album by Amy Studt released nearly five years after her debut False Smiles.It is said to be very different from her first album False Smiles, the LA Times said to "ignore any dim memories of her midteens pop phase a while ago".Initially it was released as a...
was released as a digital download on 5 May 2008 and physically on 2 March 2009, along with the third single from the album "Nice Boys
Nice Boys (Amy Studt song)
"Nice Boys" is the third single from Amy Studt's album My Paper Made Men, due to be released on 1 March 2009. This will be the first single from the album to be released in a physical format, and a CD edition of the album is due out around the same time....
".
It was made public in April that she was dropped by her record label due to poor sales of her album. Studt chose to leave her management shortly after.
In mid 2009 she declared an intention to move to the US to live and work after a brief visit there. However on 20 August 2009 she announced in her blog that she had changed plans and had now moved to a country cottage in the UK where she planned to develop a recording studio and continue to write and tour with her guitarist of two years, Connor McDonald.
2010–present: Third studio album
It was announched via her official MySpace and Twitter profiles that she is currently writing and recording material for a possible upcoming third album.It was announced she is currently recording new songs and playing gigs around the UK in order to gain more popularity before the release of her possible third album which could possibly see a 2012 release.
In December 2010 it was announced via her official Twitter that she is currently recording in San Francisco, and in talks of a new direction and record deal. She also announced that she has written a song for Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
.
Albums
| Year | Album | Peak Chart Positions | Sales and certification | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
IRE Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically... |
AUS ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
SWE Sweden Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund.... |
NET | ||||||
| 2003 | False Smiles False Smiles -Charts:...
|
British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... : Gold |
||||||||
| 2008 | My Paper Made Men My Paper Made Men My Paper Made Men is the second album by Amy Studt released nearly five years after her debut False Smiles.It is said to be very different from her first album False Smiles, the LA Times said to "ignore any dim memories of her midteens pop phase a while ago".Initially it was released as a... 19 Entertainment 19 Entertainment, based in Los Angeles, United States, is a creator and producer of entertainment properties based around the areas of Music and Television / Film, including American Idol in the United States, Pop Idol in the United Kingdom as well as versions of the Idol series in more than... |
|||||||||
| "—" denotes albums that were released but did not chart. | ||||||||||
Singles
| Year | Title | Peak Chart Positions | Album | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
IRE Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
AUS ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
NET | SWE Sweden Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund.... |
||||||
| 2002 | "Just a Little Girl Just a Little Girl "Just a Little Girl" is the debut single from English singer/songwriter Amy Studt. Released on 1 July 2002, the single reached a peak of #14 in the UK Singles Chart. It is taken from Amy's debut album, False Smiles, which was released a year later. The song was used in promotion for the last season... " |
14 | 78 | — | — | — | False Smiles | |||
| 2003 | "Misfit Misfit (song) "Misfit" is the second single from UK singer Amy Studt. Released on 9 June 2003, the single reached a peak of #6 in the charts and is Studt's most successful single to date. It was also the most successful single internationally. It is taken from her debut album, False Smiles... " |
6 | 17 | 48 | 11 | 32 | ||||
| "Under the Thumb Under the Thumb "Under the Thumb" is the third single from Amy Studt's debut album False Smiles. Released on September 29, 2003, the single reached a peak of #10 in the charts, and helped the album get to its peak of #18... " |
10 | 36 | — | — | — | |||||
| 2004 | "All I Wanna Do All I Wanna Do (Sheryl Crow song) English singer/songwriter Amy Studt released a cover version of the song as her fourth single. Amy was asked personally by Sheryl Crow to record a cover of the song.... " |
21 | 25 | — | — | — | ||||
| 2007 | "Furniture Furniture (song) "Furniture" is a song by Amy Studt which was released as a digital download single on December 3, 2007. It is Studt's first single released on the 19 Entertainment record label. It is taken from her forthcoming album My Paper Made Men... " |
— | — | — | — | — | My Paper Made Men | |||
| 2008 | "Chasing the Light Chasing the Light "Chasing the Light" is the second and lead single from Amy Studt's second album My Paper Made Men.-Music video:The video for the song was shot on March 14, 2008 on the news section on the website it said that the music video "includes wind, water and paint"... " |
277 | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 2009 | "Nice Boys Nice Boys (Amy Studt song) "Nice Boys" is the third single from Amy Studt's album My Paper Made Men, due to be released on 1 March 2009. This will be the first single from the album to be released in a physical format, and a CD edition of the album is due out around the same time.... " |
165 | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "—" denotes singles that were released but did not chart. | ||||||||||