Miranda Chartrand (born 3 May 1990) and Adam Nichols (born 10 September 1991) are a musical duo. They met and began working together through the

BBC television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

series ''

Chartjackers ''Chartjackers'' is a British documentary series, produced by Hat Trick Productions and commissioned by BBC Switch. It documents the lives of four teenage video bloggers over the course of ten weeks, as they attempt to write, record and release ...

'', which was challenging the

online community An online community, also called an internet community or web community, is a community whose members interact with each other primarily via the Internet. Members of the community usually share common interests. For many, online communities may fe ...

to write, record and release a pop song through

crowdsourcing Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or services—including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers. Contemporary crowdsourcing often involves digita ...

in ten weeks. After initially auditioning through separate YouTube videos, Chartrand and Nichols then successfully auditioned in person to provide vocals on the single. They recorded the song, entitled "

I've Got Nothing "I've Got Nothing" is a song released by the participants of the BBC Two documentary series ''Chartjackers'' and is credited as such. The track was produced by university student Marc Dowding and its music video was filmed by YouTube user Charl ...

", at the

University of Wales The University of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ''Prifysgol Cymru'') is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff � ...

in Newport,

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

on 7 October 2009. The single was given a worldwide release on 9 November through the

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

, and went on to peak at number 36 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Lives and career

1990–2008: Early lives

Chartrand was born on 3 May 1990, and was raised in

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

, Ontario. She studied at the John F. Ross Collegiate Vocational Institute, where she played on the open girls'

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

team until 2009. At the age of 16, Chartrand registered the channel ''mydogmaddie'' on the video-sharing website YouTube on 25 June 2006. She worked as a camp counselor at

Camp Manitou Camp Manitou is a summer camp, year-round outdoor recreation facility, and non-profit Charitable organization (Canada), charitable organization located in Headingley, Manitoba, Canada, just outside Winnipeg. It is operated by the True North Youth ...

in 2009 and 2010 and has also worked in Toronto. In 2009, Chartrand moved to

Stroud, Gloucestershire Stroud is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District. The town's population was 13,500 in 2021. Below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills, at the meeting point of the Five Va ...

, to work as an

au pair An au pair (; plural: au pairs) is a helper from a foreign country working for, and living as part of, a host family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family's responsibility for childcare as well as some housework, and receive a monet ...

. Nichols was born on 10 September 1991. Originally from

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, he went to

Mayflower High School Mayflower High School, founded in 1965, and named after the ''Mayflower'' ship, is a coeducational, secondary school located in Billericay, Essex in the East of England in the United Kingdom. The school has a mixed intake of pupils aged 11–18 ...

and then studied music at the

Brighton Institute of Modern Music The British and Irish Modern Music Institute, now styled as the BIMM Institute, is a group of eight independent colleges which specialise in the provision of creative education in Brighton, Bristol, London, Dublin, Manchester, Berlin, Birmingha ...

. Nichols registered the YouTube account ''FireYourEngine'' on 11 April 2009, at the age of 17. He has built up a fan base of 2,000 subscribers and still uploads original songs on a regular basis.

2009–present: ''Chartjackers'' and beyond

''Chartjackers'' is a cross-platform documentary series that was broadcast on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

during 2009. It documented an attempt to write, record and release a

number one Number One most commonly refers to: * 1 (number) Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song * ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song * ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC * ''n.1 ...

single through

and was looking for vocalists to sing on their forthcoming single, "

". Chartrand and Nichols each submitted a video audition on their respective ''mydogmaddie'' and ''FireYourEngine'' YouTube channels. They were each chosen as one of ten finalists, and were offered the chance to audition in person in

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

. Their respective auditions were successful, and they were selected to duet on the official release. Chartrand and Nichols recorded "I've Got Nothing" on 7 October 2009 at the

in Newport,

. They also featured prominently in the single's official music video, which was shown nationwide on music channels such as

4Music 4Music is a British music television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. The original incarnation was launched on 15 August 2008, and until 29 June 2022, showed a mix of music and entertainment programming. It ...

and

Viva Viva may refer to: Companies and organisations * Viva (network operator), a Dominican mobile network operator * Viva Air, a Spanish airline taken over by flag carrier Iberia * Viva Air Dominicana * VIVA Bahrain, a telecommunication company * ...

. On 4 November, Chartrand and Nichols performed "I've Got Nothing" at a gig at 93 Feet East in London, which was headlined by former pop star

Chesney Hawkes Chesney Lee Hawkes (born 22 September 1971) is an English pop singer and occasional actor. He started his career at the age of 19 when he appeared in the film '' Buddy's Song'', which featured his best-known single " The One and Only", which to ...

. "I've Got Nothing" was officially released worldwide exclusively through the

at midnight on 9 November 2009 by independent record label Swinging Mantis – the single peaked at number 36 on the UK Singles Chart. Chartrand quit her job as an au pair to become more involved with the ''Chartjackers'' project, then moved to London shortly afterwards, where she and Nichols briefly lived together. Later that year, Chartrand and Nichols covered "

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

" by

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...

, which Chartrand described as being "one of erall time favourite songs". Chartrand currently resides in Toronto, Ontario.

Discography

Singles

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chartrand, Miranda and Nichols, Adam Canadian musical duos 1990 births 1991 births Chartjackers Canadian rugby union coaches Canadian rugby union players Canadian female rugby union players Female rugby union players Franco-Ontarian people Sportspeople from Guelph Canadian Internet celebrities Musicians from Guelph Musicians from Essex British video bloggers Women video bloggers Living people British women bloggers