Lou Hickey is a singer-songwriter from Neilston

Neilston

Neilston is a village and parish in East Renfrewshire set in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies in the Levern Valley, southwest of Barrhead, south of Paisley, and south-southwest of Renfrew, at the southwestern fringe of the Greater Glasgow conurbation...

 near Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. She has been working as a solo artist since 2006 and in 2008, joined Jon Lawler

Jon Fratelli

Jon Fratelli is a Scottish musician and songwriter best known for his work with the band The Fratellis. He has also played in a band called Codeine Velvet Club but is currently performing as a solo artist.-Early years:Little is known about Lawler's life before he joined the Fratellis. He attended St...

 from the Fratellis

The Fratellis

The Fratellis were an indie rock band from Glasgow, Scotland. The band consisted of lead vocalist and guitarist Jon Fratelli , bass guitarist Barry Fratelli , and drummer and backing vocalist Mince Fratelli .The band released 2 albums during their career, Costello Music in 2006 and Here We Stand in...

 in a band called Codeine Velvet Club

Codeine Velvet Club

Codeine Velvet Club was a Scottish alternative rock band formed in 2008 by Lou Hickey and Jon Lawler. The band's debut album Codeine Velvet Club was released on 28 December 2009 in the UK and on 6 April 2010 in the US....

 which disbanded in 2010. Since then, Lou has recorded her debut album and is currently preparing for its release.

New Shoes and Do It Yourself (2006–2008)

Lou began her time as a musician building up her solo career, which involved performing with Club Noir, the world's biggest burlesque club, as a singer. She spent many years in the Glasgow music scene building up her profile and recording two EPs in this time. As a student, Lou learned about engineering and mixing and took this into her "Do It Yourself" ethic when recording her EPs, which were entitled New Shoes and Do It Yourself (released December 2007). New Shoes cannot be found on any digital download or physical form and is hard to obtain, whereas Do It Yourself remains on iTunes but cannot be bought physically.

During this time, Lou was given a grant by the Scottish Arts Council to record her debut album, but this was eventually put on hold so Lou could pursue a new project called Codeine Velvet Club

Codeine Velvet Club

Codeine Velvet Club was a Scottish alternative rock band formed in 2008 by Lou Hickey and Jon Lawler. The band's debut album Codeine Velvet Club was released on 28 December 2009 in the UK and on 6 April 2010 in the US....

.

Codeine Velvet Club (2008–2010)

Lou met fellow Glaswegian musician Jon Lawler

Jon Fratelli

Jon Fratelli is a Scottish musician and songwriter best known for his work with the band The Fratellis. He has also played in a band called Codeine Velvet Club but is currently performing as a solo artist.-Early years:Little is known about Lawler's life before he joined the Fratellis. He attended St...

 in 2008 thanks to her friend Heather Donnelly (Lawler's wife). Donnelly told Lawler about Lou and asked if he wanted to write a song with her for her debut album; Lawler agreed and the pair met and wrote the song "Vanity Kills

Vanity Kills (Codeine Velvet Club song)

Vanity Kills is the debut single by Scottish rock band Codeine Velvet Club taken from their debut album Codeine Velvet Club. The song was released digitally on November 2, 2009 and on 7" Vinyl on November 23, 2009...

". As Lawler was unable to give the song away, he suggested the pair see how many more songs they could write and form a band.

The duo recorded their debut album

Codeine Velvet Club (album)

- Personnel :Codeine Velvet Club* Jon Lawler – Guitar, Bass, Vocals* Lou Hickey – VocalsFeaturing* Ross McFarlane - Drums * Affy Ahmad - Drums * Helen MacLeod - Harp...

 in 2009 while Lawler's band, The Fratellis

The Fratellis

The Fratellis were an indie rock band from Glasgow, Scotland. The band consisted of lead vocalist and guitarist Jon Fratelli , bass guitarist Barry Fratelli , and drummer and backing vocalist Mince Fratelli .The band released 2 albums during their career, Costello Music in 2006 and Here We Stand in...

, were taking a break. They recruited various session musicians to help record the album and eventually recruited a live setup in the form of Lewis Gordon, Ross MacFarlane and Will Foster

Will Foster

Will Foster is the keyboardist for the English rock band The Tears.Previously, he played with UK art rock band Delicatessen before forming Lodger - alongside Delicatessen singer Neil Carlill, Supergrass drummer Danny Goffey, and Goffey's wife Pearl Lowe....

. They toured the UK during the end of 2009 and did a brief tour of the US in early 2010, before Lawler announced he would be giving the project up, leaving Lou to go onto his solo work. Disappointed with the end of the band, Lou went back to her solo work.

Debut solo album (2010–present)

After the demise of Codeine Velvet Club, Lou used her grant from the Scottish Arts Council to record her debut album in May 2010. She had a week-long session to record most of the album, with extra sessions being squeezed in when she could. As with her previous EPs, Lou is producing, engineering and mixing the album and is hoping to release the album in Spring of 2011.

As a solo artist

• New Shoes EP
• Do It Yourself EP (2007)
• Minutes, Hours, Days EP (2011)