Manda Rin (real name Amanda MacKinnon,
born 22 March 1977) is a
Scottish singer, artist and songwriter. She is the singer and keyboard player of the Scottish
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...
band
Bis,
later fronted the Kitchen and also released a solo album. She also co-hosted a radio show on
BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland.
It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Ireland. I ...
called ''Air''.
Rin was the only person ever to appear in two of the line up rounds on ''
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first hoste ...
''. Her first appearance was never shown: one of the contestants on the programme was
Russell Brand
Russell Edward Brand (born 4 June 1975) is an English comedian and actor known for his flamboyant, loquacious style and manner. Brand has received three British Comedy Awards: Best Newcomer (2006), Best Live Stand-Up (2008), and the award for ...
who, shortly after taping, became embroiled in
a tabloid row after leaving messages on the answerphone of
Andrew Sachs
Andreas Siegfried Sachs (7 April 1930 – 23 November 2016), known professionally as Andrew Sachs, was a German-born British actor and writer. He made his name on British television and found his greatest fame for his portrayal of the comical Sp ...
for his
radio programme
A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode.
Radio networ ...
, resulting in Brand being banned from the BBC.
Music career
Bis
In 1994, Rin, along with the brothers Steven Clark (Sci-fi Steven) and John Clark (
John Disco
John Clark (born 21 August 1978, better known as John Disco) is a Scottish record producer, sound engineer and songwriter. He started out his career as a member of the band Bis, and has worked in the recording studio with Fangs, Franz Ferdinan ...
), formed the band
Bis in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
.
In March 1996, Bis performed their single "Kandy Pop" on ''
Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...
'' twice,
which charted at number 25 in 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 ...
.
The lead single, "Eurodisco", from their second album, ''
Social Dancing
Social dances are dances that have a social functions and context. Social dances are intended for participation rather than performance. They are often danced merely to socialise and for entertainment, though they may have ceremonial, competiti ...
'' (1999), reached number 37.
Bis toured extensively from 1996 to 2000, and achieved strong fan bases in Japan,
the US and Australia. The band split in 2003, but in 2005 formed a new band,
Data Panik
Data Panik (stylized as data Panik) were a Scottish rock band—Steven Clark (Sci-fi Steven), John Clark (John Disco), Amanda MacKinnon (Manda Rin) (all formerly of bis at the time), Stuart Memo (of Multiplies) and Graham Christie (ex Ken ...
, which lasted until the next year.
Bis reformed in 2007 and released a fourth album, ''
Data Panik Etcetera
''Data Panik Etcetera'' (stylised as ''data Panik etcetera'') is the fourth studio album by the Scottish pop group Bis, released in 2014. The album was the group's first since the band broke up in 2003.
Critical reception
''The Line of Best F ...
'', in 2014.
A fifth album, ''Slight Disconnects'', followed in 2019.
Solo
Rin released a solo single, "Guilty Pleasure", and an
EP, ''My DNA Sampler'', in 2008, both on
This Is Fake DIY Records. The next year, her EP ''My DNA'' was released, and a solo album of the same name followed in 2009.
Other work
Rin contributed vocals to tracks for the 1998 album ''Cat Food'' by
J Church and Meister's 2004 album ''I Met the Music''.
Rin also fronted the Kitchen with Ryan Seagrist from
Alison Mosshart
Alison Nicole Mosshart (born November 23, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, artist, and the lead vocalist for the rock bands The Kills and The Dead Weather. She started her musical career in 1995 with the Florida punk rock band Discoun ...
's first band,
Discount, who released several singles and an album in 2003 on the
Damaged Goods
Damaged goods or Damaged Goods may refer to:
* Goods that have been damaged, where goods are items that satisfy human wants and provide utility
* A person considered to be less than perfect psychologically, as a result of a traumatic experience ...
label.
She later teamed up with
Hyperbubble
Hyperbubble is an international visual and performing arts electropop/synth-pop duo from San Antonio, Texas, formed by Jeff DeCuir and Jess Barnett DeCuir. The music of this American group is variously described as "early Eurythmics meets Josie and ...
on a track for the group's 2011 album ''
Drastic Cinematic
''Drastic Cinematic'' is an LP by the American synthpop/ electropop band Hyperbubble from German label Pure Pop For Now People. Guest vocals on the title track were provided by Aidan Casserly of Empire State Human, with whom the band would lat ...
'' and for the 2013 EP ''
Hyperbubble + Manda Rin
Hyperbubble is an international visual art, visual and performing arts electropop/synth-pop duo from San Antonio, Texas, formed by Jeff DeCuir and Jess Barnett DeCuir. The music of this United States, American group is variously described as "early ...
''.
Following the first dissolution of Bis, MacKinnon became a DJ at nightclubs, most notably Death Disco at the Arches in Glasgow.
Artwork
Rin was responsible for the manga-inspired artwork on all of Bis's releases.
Her sleeves aided the success of the band, most notably in Japan;
she published a monthly comic strip in the Japanese magazine ''Buzz''. More recently, Rin has held an exhibition of her work under the title "Cover Versions and Other Hits".
Personal life
In 2009, Rin revealed that she had been diagnosed with
multiple sclerosis
Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...
in 2005.
Rin married Stuart Memo in 2011 and has a cat called Akiko.
References
External links
Official Bis website
1977 births
21st-century Scottish women singers
Living people
Place of birth missing (living people)
Scottish songwriters
Retard Disco artists
{{Scotland-musician-stub