Mishka (born Alexander Mishka Frith, 1974) is a

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

musician from

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

. He released his first self-titled album ''Mishka'' in 1999 and had a hit single in the UK with "Give You All The Love". He is currently signed to

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffe ...

’s record label,

Mailboat Records Mailboat Records is an independent record label established in 1999 by American singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett after his vanity label Margaritaville Records was absorbed by Island Records when they were sold to Universal Music Group, owner of Buf ...

, and is touring in support of his latest album, 'Ocean is my Potion'. He is also the face of ECO-Neill, surf-clothing company O'Neill's new eco-friendly apparel line.

Biography

Mishka Frith had an unusual childhood. Born to a Bermudian father and

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

n mother, he grew up on his family's boat, sailing from island to island in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean ...

. Mishka and his sisters (one of whom is also a music artist,

Heather Nova Heather Nova (born Heather Allison Frith, July 6, 1968) is a Bermudian singer-songwriter and poet. , she has released eleven full-length albums, six EPs and twelve singles. Biography Heather Nova was born Heather Allison Frith on Bermuda, a B ...

, the other television news reporter and model Susannah Frith) were home schooled until their high school years.Cooke, Stephen (2009)
Mishka’s at home in N.S.
, '' Chronicle-Herald'', 16 July 2009Mishka Biography
Muze Ltd. (Encyclopedia of Popular Music) His uncle,

Michael K. Frith Michael Kingsbury Frith (born 8 July 1941) is a British artist and television producer. He is the former Executive Vice-President and Creative Director of The Jim Henson Company. His contributions to Muppet projects have been extensive and vari ...

, worked for

The Jim Henson Company The Jim Henson Company (formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc.; commonly referred to as Henson) is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is known for ...

, and was a creator of

Miss Piggy Miss Piggy is one of the Muppet characters known for her breakout role in Jim Henson's ''The Muppet Show''. Since her debut in 1976, Miss Piggy has been notable for her temperamental diva superstar personality, tendency to use French phrases i ...

, and of the television shows ''

Fraggle Rock ''Fraggle Rock'' (also known as ''Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock'' or ''Fraggle Rock with Jim Henson's Muppets'') is a children's musical fantasy comedy puppet television series about interconnected societies of Muppet creatures, created by Jim Hen ...

'' and ''

Between the Lions ''Between the Lions'' is an American animated/live-action/puppet children's television series designed to promote reading. The show was a co-production between WGBH in Boston and Sirius Thinking, Ltd., in New York City, in association with Mis ...

''. His son, Mishka's first-cousin, is folk singer

Jonathan Frith Jonathan may refer to: *Jonathan (name), a masculine given name Media * ''Jonathan'' (1970 film), a German film directed by Hans W. Geißendörfer * ''Jonathan'' (2016 film), a German film directed by Piotr J. Lewandowski * ''Jonathan'' (2018 ...

. In addition to developing his skills as a musician, Mishka also spent countless hours honing his windsurfing talents. He represented Bermuda in 1991 and 1992 in the

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...

world championships, before concentrating primarily on his music career. Mishka was signed to

Alan McGee Alan John McGee (born 29 September 1960) is a Scottish businessman and music industry executive. He has been a record label owner, musician, manager, and music blogger for ''The Guardian''. He co-founded the independent Creation Records label, r ...

Creation Records Creation Records Ltd. was a British independent record label founded in 1983 by Alan McGee, Dick Green, and Joe Foster. Its name came from the 1960s band The Creation, whom McGee greatly admired. The label ceased operations in 1999, although ...

in the UK in 1997. In 1999, Mishka released his first single, "Give You All The Love" which was an immediate success charting in the Top 40 in the UK and Top 10 in Japan. Mishka released his self-titled debut album ''Mishka'' (including

on backing vocals) later that year which received much critical acclaim in both the UK and Japan.Huey, Steve " Mishka Biography, ''

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

'', Macrovision CorporationKEEP TAKING THE TABERNACLES
, '' NME'', 26 March 1999NME Reviews: You're Bound to be Suspicious of Mishka
, '' NME'', 7 May 1999 Mishka's second album ''One Tree'' was produced by Swedish producer Martin Terefe (

KT Tunstall Kate Victoria "KT" Tunstall (born 23 June 1975) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and musician. She first gained attention with a 2004 live solo performance of her song "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on '' Later... with Jools Holland''. The ...

, James Morrison) in 2005. On his third album, ''Above the Bones'', Mishka worked with longtime

Sly and Robbie Sly and Robbie were a prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production duo, associated primarily with the reggae and dub genres. Drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare teamed up in the mid-1970s after establishing themselves separa ...

guitarist, Daryl Thompson, who played for many years with

Peter Tosh Winston Hubert McIntosh, OM (19 October 1944 – 11 September 1987), professionally known as Peter Tosh, was a Jamaican reggae musician. Along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, he was one of the core members of the band the Wailers (1963 ...

and

Black Uhuru Black Uhuru is a Jamaican reggae group formed in 1972, initially as Uhuru ( Swahili for 'freedom'). The group has undergone several line-up changes over the years, with Derrick "Duckie" Simpson as the mainstay. They had their most successful pe ...

. It was at this time that Mishka met actor

Matthew McConaughey Matthew David McConaughey ( ; born November 4, 1969) is an American actor. He had his breakout role with a supporting performance in the coming-of-age comedy '' Dazed and Confused'' (1993). After a number of supporting roles, his first succes ...

. The two shared a deeply rooted appreciation for

music and it was a natural fit for McConaughey to sign Mishka to his j.k. livin record label. In February 2009, ''Above the Bones'' debuted at number one on the Billboard Reggae Charts, and Mishka was named 2009's Best New Artist in the singer/songwriter category by

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 mu ...

. Mishka released his album, ''Talk About'', on 30 March 2010. It again debuted at number one on the iTunes Reggae Chart and includes the song "Homegrown" that features

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and ''Stardust'' (1978 ...

. ''Talk About'' also features "Stars Will Be Shining" and "Give Them Love", produced by

Butch Walker Bradley Glenn "Butch" Walker (born November 14, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was the lead guitarist for the glam metal band SouthGang from the late 1980s to early 1990s as well as the lead vocalist ...

(

Pete Yorn Peter Joseph Yorn (born July 27, 1974) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first gained international recognition after his debut record, '' Musicforthemorningafter'', was released to critical and commercial acclaim in 2001. He is ...

, P!nk,

Fall Out Boy Fall Out Boy is an American rock band formed in Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz, lead guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer Andy Hur ...

). Mishka began actively touring in support of ''Talk About'' in the spring of 2010. At the same time, Mishka and surf-clothing giant,

O'Neill The O'Neill dynasty ( Irish: ''Ó Néill'') are a lineage of Irish Gaelic origin, that held prominent positions and titles in Ireland and elsewhere. As kings of Cenél nEógain, they were historically the most prominent family of the Northe ...

, entered into a partnership. O'Neill, the original California surf, snow and lifestyle brand, manufactures wetsuits, drysuits, sports clothing and accessories and is currently developing an eco-friendly apparel line, "ECO-Neill", which Mishka will have a hand in designing. In 2012, Mishka released his EP album "Ocean Is My Potion" on

, featuring his long-time friend and legendary musician

and cover album artwork by surf genre fine artist Jay Alders. His album ''The Journey'', released in November 2013, topped the Billboard Reggae Albums chart in January 2014, his fifth album to achieve that position.Mishka’s Journey tops Billboard
, ''

Jamaica Observer ''Jamaica Observer'' is a daily newspaper published in Kingston, Jamaica. The publication is owned by Butch Stewart, who chartered the paper in January 1993 as a competitor to Jamaica's oldest daily paper, ''The Gleaner ''The Gleaner'' is an ...

'', 10 January 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2014

Discography

*''Mishka'' (1999),

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainmen ...

*''In Dub'' –

compilation album A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for rel ...

(2000), Sony Music *''One Tree'' (2005), Cornerstone RAS *''Above the Bones'' (2009), j.k. livin' *''Guy With a Guitar'' (2009), j.k. livin' *''Talk About'' (2010), j.k. livin' *''Anything Anytime Anywhere'' (2012), WorldSound *''Ocean Is My Potion'' (2013),

*''The Journey'' (2013), Mailboat *''Roots Fidelity'' (2015), Mishka Music *''Way Out Of Babylon'' (2017), Mishka Music *''In an Instant'' - Featured with Gisto, (2019), Historical

References

External links

* *Kurutz, Steve " ''Mishka'' Review, ''

'', Macrovision Corporation {{Authority control 1974 births Living people Creation Records artists Bermudian reggae musicians Bermudian people of Canadian descent