Daisy May Keeley Coburn (born 27 October 1993), is a British singer and songwriter. She previously performed under the stage name Daisy Dares You, a reference to the character of the same name from the 1990s British television show ''
ZZZap!
''Zzzap'' (rendered ''ZZZap!'') is a British children's television comedy programme. The concept of the show is a giant 18 ft comic that has been brought to life. The show was broadcast on ITV from 8 January 1993 until 21 September 2001 ...
''. After performing under this name between 2009 and 2010 and recording an album which was never released, she was dropped by her record label.
As of 2013 she is in a Brighton-based band called Pink Lizards, where she plays guitar and is the lead singer.
From 2015 she has been performing and releasing music in her Brighton-based band Clever Thing alongside Rich Fownes (Bad For Lazarus, UNKLE, Eighties Matchbox B-line Disaster, Nine Inch Nails)
Early life
Coburn was born in
Great Dunmow
Great Dunmow is a historic market town and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. It is situated on the north of the A120 road, approximately midway between Bishop's Stortford and Braintree, five miles east of London Stans ...
, Essex. Coming from a musical family, with her mother once working as a backing singer for bands
Duran Duran and
The The
() are an English post-punk band. They have been active in various forms since 1979, with singer-songwriter Matt Johnson being the only constant band member. achieved critical acclaim and commercial success in the UK, with 15 chart singles ...
, Coburn learned to play the
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
and
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...
when she was six years old. On
Boxing Day 2007, Coburn played a song she had been writing called "Hurt" to family and friends. A friend of her mother's, Matthew Marston, heard the song and invited her to his home studio to record it. Coburn and Marston later wrote together on her debut album, ''Rush''.
After picking up widespread promotional coverage in the media from ''The Times'', the BBC, and ''The Guardian'' as a young artist to watch for in 2010, Coburn was signed to a record company; She was managed by Empire, and signed to Jive, a subsidiary of
Sony Records. There was reportedly a 'bidding-war' to get Coburn to sign up to a record company. She mainly used social networking websites to broadcast her music, such as MySpace where she posted demos and her YouTube channel where the video for her song "Daisy Dares You" and "Rosie" can be found.
Coburn's first single, "
Number One Enemy", featured British rapper
Chipmunk
Chipmunks are small, striped rodents of the family Sciuridae. Chipmunks are found in North America, with the exception of the Siberian chipmunk which is found primarily in Asia.
Taxonomy and systematics
Chipmunks may be classified either as ...
reached the top 20 in the UK. "Rosie" was released as the second single, however, the album Rush was not released for unknown reasons.
Songwriting, genre and influences
Before Coburn was signed she would write songs on her own on a guitar. For her debut album she co-wrote several tracks with her mother's friend Matthew Marston. Much of Coburn's music is about her own personal experiences such as boyfriends, sibling rivalry, disloyal schoolfriends and emotional growing pains. Coming from a musical family and reading poetry has helped Coburn in her writing.
Coburn's musical genres vary from
teen-pop to
pop rock
Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...
to pop and
electropop. Her musical influences also vary, possibly the reason behind her varying genres; Coburn has stated she is influenced by many bands and artists such as
Nirvana
( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...
and
Lou Reed. She has stated that her writing is influenced by
indie
Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Gaming
*Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies
*Indie game, any game (board ...
singers such as
Florence and the Machine and
Bat for Lashes
Natasha Khan (born 25 October 1979), known professionally as Bat for Lashes, is an English singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. She has released five studio albums: '' Fur and Gold'' (2006), ''Two Suns'' (2009), '' The Hau ...
but when she writes "it just seems to come out as pop". Comparisons have been made between her and British singer-songwriter
Lily Allen
Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. Her music career began in 2005 when she made some of her vocal recordings public ...
as well as Canadian singer-songwriter
Avril Lavigne. Regarding her comparison to Avril Lavigne, Coburn stated "just because I'm female and young they have to put you in a box. Frankly, anyone who says I was influenced by Avril Lavigne can get stuffed".
''Rush''
''Rush'' is the intended debut studio album by Daisy Dares You, and was scheduled to be released in June 2010, with the single "Rosie" released in May 2010. The album was never released.
Discography
Extended plays
Singles
As lead artist
As featured artist
Music videos
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coburn, Daisy
1993 births
Living people
English women singer-songwriters
People from Great Dunmow
English child singers
English women guitarists
English guitarists
Music in Essex
RCA Records artists
English women pop singers
21st-century English women singers
21st-century English singers
21st-century British guitarists
21st-century women guitarists