Alev Lenz (born 17 January 1982, in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
) is a Turkish–German,
Grammy
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...
-nominated record producer, singer-songwriter and composer.
Career
Lenz, the daughter of a
Turkish mother and a German father, signed her first publishing deal with
BMG Music Publishing
Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music co ...
in 2001 with the first recordings of her former band "Alev". At first her father was against her plans to become a musician. After three years of touring and the release of "We live in Paradise", Lenz left the band.
Lenz also left Germany to go to New York City to perform and her original new material. She played
Open Mikes and her first concerts as Alev Lenz Solo.
Lenz achieved some success in Turkey, mainly through her several TV appearances on Turkish television on the shows of the popular Turkish showmaster
Okan Bayülgen.
Lenz founded her own record company with her management and
Groove Attack/Rough Trade in 2008. Her debut album ''Storytelling Piano Playing Fräulein'' was released on 13 February 2009, and is available in stores in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and worldwide on
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
and
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...
. The album was produced in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
with Don Philippe, a member of the group
Freundeskreis
Freundeskreis (meaning "Circle of Friends") also known as FK, were a German hip hop group from Stuttgart. They performed songs in German language, German, English language, English, French language, French and Esperanto. The members were Max Her ...
. Her collaborator on her second album was acclaimed drummer and multi-instrumentalist
Samuli Kosminen
Edea is a Finnish musical group. The Edea's song lyrics are written in an older form of the Finnish language and speak of old traditions as well. The mysterious runic symbols inscribed on the bows of Viking boats, door posts, drinking vessels, and ...
of
Mùm and mixed by Jas Shaw (
Simian Mobile Disco
Simian Mobile Disco are an English electronic music duo and production team, formed in 2003 by James Ford and Jas Shaw of the band Simian. Musically, they are known for their analogue production. Ford is also known for his production work.
...
) who has been a big influence on Lenz work.
Since the release of her debut album back in 2009, in her home country of Germany, Alev has kept herself busy with gigs in London, New York and across Germany, as well as composing soundtracks for several high-profile German films, and collaborating with and producing for established artists such as
Anoushka Shankar
Anoushka Shankar (born 9 June 1981) is a British-American sitar player, producer, film composer and activist. She was the youngest and first woman to receive a British House of Commons Shield; she has had 7 Grammy Awards nominations and was the ...
on the
Grammy-nominated Album, 'Land of Gold’ (
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
), and
Grammy-nominated EP, 'Love Letters’ (Mercury KX) and
Roomful of Teeth
Roomful of Teeth is a vocal ensemble founded in 2009 by Brad Wells. Its stated mission is to "mine the expressive potential of the human voice". . Lenz's big breakthrough came in 2016 when her song ‘Fall into Me’ was used in
Charlie Brooker
Charlton Brooker (born 3 March 1971) is an English television presenter, writer, producer and satirist. He is the creator and co-showrunner of the sci-fi drama anthology series ''Black Mirror'', and has written for comedy series such as ''Bras ...
’s
Black Mirror
''Black Mirror'' is a British anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Individual episodes explore a diversity of genres, but most are set in near-future dystopias with science fiction technology—a type of speculative fictio ...
episode, ’
Hated in the Nation
"Hated in the Nation" is the sixth and final episode in the third series of the British science fiction anthology series ''Black Mirror''. Written by series creator and showrunner Charlie Brooker and directed by James Hawes, it premiered on Net ...
’. Lenz has since been played on NPR
All Songs Considered
''All Songs Considered'' is a weekly online multimedia program started in January 2000 by NPR's ''All Things Considered'' director Bob Boilen. At first, the show featured information and streaming audio about the songs used as bumper music on '' ...
,
WNYC
WNYC is the trademark and a set of call letters shared by WNYC (AM) and WNYC-FM, a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations located in New York City. WNYC is owned by New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit organization that di ...
New Sounds
''New Sounds'' was originally a 10" LP compiling previously released 78 rpm records on the Blue Note label. A CD reissue with the same name and cover appeared in 1991, but while using many of the same personnel, had only two tracks in common with ...
and mentioned by the
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
, as the vocal ensemble
Roomful of Teeth
Roomful of Teeth is a vocal ensemble founded in 2009 by Brad Wells. Its stated mission is to "mine the expressive potential of the human voice". have since taken up her song into their live programme. Most recently Alev's single ‘May the Angels’ from ‘3’ featured on season two of critically acclaimed Netflix series
Dark
Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown.
Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low lu ...
. The series features songs from
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...
,
Agnes Obel
Agnes Caroline Thaarup Obel (born 28 October 1980) is a Danish singer, songwriter, and musician based in Berlin.
Her debut album, '' Philharmonics'' (2010), was released by PIAS Recordings, and was certified gold in June 2011 by the Belgian E ...
and
Apparat, with a score composed by
Ben Frost
Ben Frost (born 1980) is an Australian-Icelandic musician, composer, record producer, sound designer, and director.
Life
Born in Melbourne, Australia, and based in Reykjavík, Iceland, since 2005, Frost composes minimalist, instrumental, a ...
. ‘Splendid Soldiers’, 'Fall into Me'’s Album version, has been featured on the third season of
The Rain. Alev has also contributed vocals to Volker Bertelmann's (
Hauschka
Volker Bertelmann (born 1966) is a German pianist and composer who mainly performs and records under the name Hauschka. He is best known for his compositions for prepared piano.
Early life
Volker Bertelmann was born in Kreuztal, Germany. He ...
) score for the US-film
Downhill
Downhill may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Downhill'' (1927 film), a British film by Alfred Hitchcock
* ''Downhill'' (2014 film), a British comedy directed by James Rouse
* ''Downhill'' (2016 film), a Chilean thriller directed by Patrici ...
,
Stowaway
A stowaway or clandestine traveller is a person who secretly boards a vehicle, such as a ship, an aircraft, a train, cargo truck or bus.
Sometimes, the purpose is to get from one place to another without paying for transportation. In other cas ...
and Netflix movie
The Old Guard with
Dustin O'Halloran
Dustin O'Halloran (born September 8, 1971) is an American composer and pianist. Aside from releasing music as a recording artist, O'Halloran is a film and TV composer, as well as one half of ambient act A Winged Victory for the Sullen.
Early ...
.
Alev's third studio album ‘3’ was released on
Spitfire Audio
Spitfire Audio is an England, English technology company based in London that creates virtual instrument sample libraries used for music production. The company was founded in 2007 by professional composers Christian Henson and Paul Thomson (co ...
's SA Recordings, and
sample libraries were released in conjunction with the album release.
Discography
;Albums:
;;Solo
*''Storytelling Piano Playing Fräulein'' (2009)
*''Two-Headed Gïrl'' (2016)
*''3'' (2019)
;Soundtracks
*''
A Year Ago in Winter
''A Year Ago in Winter'' (german: Im Winter ein Jahr) is a 2008 German drama film directed by Caroline Link. It is based on the novel ''Aftermath'' by American author Scott Campbell, telling the story of a "complicated family situation" after the ...
'' (2008) (
Caroline Link
Caroline Link (born 2 June 1964) is a German film director and screenwriter.
Life and work
Caroline Link is the daughter of Jürgen and Ilse Link. From 1986 to 1990 she studied at the University of Television and Film Munich (HFF), and then wo ...
)
*''Die Wilden Hühner und das Leben'' (2009)
*' (2009)
*''
Bon appétit
''Bon Appétit'' is a monthly American food and entertaining magazine, that typically contains recipes, entertaining ideas, restaurant recommendations, and wine reviews. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered at the One World Trade Center i ...
'' (2010)
*' (2012)
*''The Dead and the Living'' (2012)
*''
The Girl with Nine Wigs
''The Girl with Nine Wigs'' (german: Heute bin ich blond, lit=Today I Am Blond) is a 2013 biographical comedy-drama film directed by Marc Rothemund, based on the autobiography ''Heute bin ich blond: Das Mädchen mit den neun Perücken'' by .
Cas ...
'' (2013)
*' (2013)
*''
Hated in the Nation
"Hated in the Nation" is the sixth and final episode in the third series of the British science fiction anthology series ''Black Mirror''. Written by series creator and showrunner Charlie Brooker and directed by James Hawes, it premiered on Net ...
'' (Black Mirror) (2016)
;Producer
*''Two-Headed Gïrl'' (2016)
*''3'' (2019)
*''Unknown'' Ruba Shamshoum (2021)
;;With Alev
*''We live in Paradise''
*''Broken''
*''Breakable''
References
External links
Official websiteIMDBAlev Lenz Interview – Nakedly Examined Music (2020)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lenz, Alev
1972 births
Living people
Turkish singer-songwriters
German people of Turkish descent
People from Munich
German women singer-songwriters
21st-century German women singers