Jonathan Joseph Higgs (born 23 February 1985) is an English singer, songwriter, filmmaker, director and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the frontman of the

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an art ...

band

Everything Everything Everything Everything are an English art rock band from Manchester that formed in late 2007. Noted for their eclectic sound and complex, sociopolitical lyrics, the band have released six albums to date – 2010's '' Man Alive'', 2013's '' Arc'' ...

, with whom he has released six

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

s and five EPs. He is noted for having an unusually wide vocal range, particularly his use of

falsetto ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous ed ...

Biography

Early life

Higgs was born in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

in 23 February 1985, and was raised in

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

, in the village of

Gilsland Gilsland is a village in northern England about west of Hexham, and about east of Carlisle, which straddles the border between Cumbria and Northumberland. The village provides an amenity centre for visitors touring Hadrian's Wall and other f ...

. He studied in

Hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden, Northumberland, Warden nearby, and ...

at the Queen Elizabeth High School when he was a teenager, where he first met Mike Spearman and

Alex Niven Alex Niven (born 18 February 1984, Hexham, Northumberland) is an English writer, poet, editor, and former musician. He is a also currently a Lecturer in English Literature at Newcastle University and an editor at Repeater Books. Early life and e ...

and started making music with them.Everything Everything interview in ''The Collective Review''
by Von Von Lamunu, 16 June 2010

Musical career and Everything Everything

Higgs went on to study Popular Music and Recording at

Salford University , caption = Coat of ArmsUniversity of Salford , mottoeng = "Let us seek higher things" , established = 1850 - Pendleton Mechanics Institute 1896 – Royal Technical Institute, Salford 1967 – gained ...

, where the

line-up became complete. Together with Jeremy Pritchard and Michael Spearman, Higgs and Niven wrote and composed songs for their planned first album. For the duration of Everything Everything's career, Higgs has directed the vast majority of the band's music videos. His high-pitched vocals became his trademark in the music world after "

Kemosabe Ke-mo sah-bee (; often spelled kemo sabe, kemosabe or kimosabe) is the term used by the fictional Native American sidekick Tonto as the " Native American" name for the Lone Ranger in the American television and radio programs ''The Lone Ranger''. ...

"'s release in 2013, a song which won him his first grand music award—the UK Single of the Year at the

Music Producers Guild Awards The Music Producers Guild (MPG) (UK) promotes and represents all individuals in the music production and recording professions. It is a professional organisation that embodies collective and individual creative contributions to the production and ...

. Since "Kemosabe", the band have released 22 singles, as well as four LPs and two EPs: Their 2015 album ''

Get to Heaven ''Get to Heaven'' is the third studio album by British band Everything Everything. Recorded primarily in Angelic Studios in Northampton during the latter half of 2014 with producer Stuart Price, it was released on 22 June 2015 on RCA Records. A ...

'', 2017 album ''

A Fever Dream ''A Fever Dream'' is the fourth studio album by English band Everything Everything. Recorded with producer James Ford of Simian Mobile Disco and mixed by Cenzo Townshend, it was released on 18 August 2017 on RCA Records. It peaked at number fiv ...

'', 2018 extended play ''A Deeper Sea'', 2020 album ''

Re-Animator ''Re-Animator'' (also known as ''H. P. Lovecraft's Re-Animator'') is a 1985 American comedy horror film loosely based on the 1922 H. P. Lovecraft serial novelette "Herbert West–Reanimator". Directed by Stuart Gordon and produced by Brian Yuzn ...

'', 2021 extended play ''Supernormal'' and 2022 album ''

Raw Data Feel ''Raw Data Feel'' is the sixth studio album by British band Everything Everything, released on 20 May 2022 through Infinity Industries, the band's own imprint. The album was produced by the band's guitarist Alex Robertshaw and Tom A.D. Fuller, an ...

''.

Personal life

Higgs lives in Manchester with his partner and their seven cats.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgs, Jonathan 1985 births Living people British male writers People from Gilsland Musicians from Northumberland English rock singers Countertenors