Sophie Koh is an Australian singer and songwriter.

Biography

Born in New Zealand, Sophie Koh grew up both there and in Singapore. She got her LMusA (Licentiate in Music Australia, a diploma) when she was just 16 years old and spent her early years majoring in

classical 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 keyboa ...

at the Melbourne Conservatory of Music. After finishing university in Melbourne, where she qualified as an optometrist, she headed to Darwin where she won Triple J's Unearthed contest. She launched her debut album, ''All The Pretty Boys'', in 2005. She released her follow-up album, ''All Shook Up'', in 2008. The album was produced by J. Walker ( Machine Translations). Her third album, ''Oh My Garden'', was recorded in Los Angeles with producer

Brad Wood Brad Wood is an American record producer located in Los Angeles. He has produced many albums, including Liz Phair's '' Exile in Guyville'' and Placebo's debut. Career Wood is from Rockford, Illinois, United States. In 1988, Wood, along wi ...

(Liz Phair, Veruca Salt, Pete Yorn) and includes collaboration with

Ben Lee Benjamin Michael Lee (born 11 September 1978) is an Australian musician and actor. Lee began his career as a musician at the age of 14 with the Sydney band Noise Addict, but he focused on his solo career when the band broke up in 1995. He appe ...

. It was released in 2012. In 2013, Sophie and band completed a major tour of China. Her music has featured on TV's

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into s ...

, Neighbours and Home and Away and in feature films such as The Loved Ones. Koh's fourth studio album, ''Book Of Songs'', was released in 2017. It features a handful of songs sung in Mandarin and is produced by J. Walker. This latest album sees her cross over into the indie-classical world.

Achievements

Sophie Koh signed to In-Fidelity Recordings label after winning

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...

's Unearthed contest. She became a breakthrough female artist, reaching No 3 on Triple J's Net 50 and remaining in the chart for 8 consecutive weeks.

Paul Hester Paul Newell Hester (8 January 1959 – 26 March 2005) was an Australian musician and television personality. He was the drummer for the band Split Enz for a short time in 1984, and co-founding member and drummer of the rock group Crowded House ...

played drums on her debut album, ''All the Pretty Boys''. In 2005, Koh appeared on Australian TV show '' RocKwiz'' performing her song "Anywhere" and singing a duet with Jimmy Little. They performed a

The Turtles ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

song, "Happy Together". In 2008, she appeared on RocKwiz again. This time, the counterpart guest musician was

Steve Kilbey Steven John Kilbey (born 13 September 1954) is an English-Australian singer-songwriter and bass guitarist for the rock band the Church. He is also a music producer, poet, and painter. As of 2020, Kilbey has released 14 solo albums and has col ...

from The Church. They performed a cover of The Go Betweens' "Streets of Your Town". Koh has supported

The Eels Eels (often typeset as eels or EELS) is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1991 by singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mark Oliver Everett, known by the stage name E. Band members have changed over the years, b ...

The Go-Betweens The Go-Betweens were an Australian indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1977. The band was co-founded and led by singer-songwriters and guitarists Robert Forster and Grant McLennan, who were its only constant members throughout ...

, Paul Kelly, Ember Swift, Pete Murray,

Alex Lloyd Alex Lloyd (born 19 November 1974) is an Australian singer-songwriter. Four of his albums, ''Black the Sun'', '' Watching Angels Mend'', '' Distant Light'' and '' Alex Lloyd'', released between 1999 and 2005, made the top ten on the ARIA chart ...

Paul Dempsey Paul Anthony Dempsey (born 25 May 1976) is an Australian musician. He is best known as the lead singer, guitarist and principal lyricist of rock group Something for Kate. Dempsey released his debut solo album, '' Everything Is True'', on 20 A ...

Howie Day Howard Kern Day is an American singer-songwriter. Beginning his career as a solo artist in the late 1990s, Day became known for his extensive touring and in-concert use of samplers and effects pedals to accompany himself. He self-financed and s ...

and

Tim Freedman Timothy James Freedman (25 November 1964) is an Australian musician, best known as the mainstay lead singer and keyboardist of the Australian band The Whitlams formed in 1993. Note: n-lineversion was expanded from the 2002 edition. The song ...

. She was

' national support in 2006. Koh contributed a cover of the Split Enz song "Charlie" for the double platinum album ''

She Will Have Her Way ''She Will Have Her Way'' is a compilation album featuring female Australian and New Zealand musicians performing songs written by Neil Finn and Tim Finn ( The Finn Brothers), members of Split Enz and Crowded House. A follow up album, '' He W ...

: the Songs of Tim & Neil Finn.'' Koh's second album, '' All Shook Up'', which was (produced by Greg J Walker ( Machine Translations)), led her to win Best Female Artist at

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...

EG 2008 Music Awards. Koh appeared on '' Spicks and Specks'', taking over co-hosting duties from

Adam Hills Adam Christopher Hills (born 10 July 1970) is an Australian comedian, radio and television presenter. In Australia, he hosted the music quiz show '' Spicks and Specks'' from 2005 to 2011, and again in 2021 onwards, and the talk show ''Adam Hi ...

for a section of the show. It was the most watched ABC TV show of 2009 The same year, Sophie had a cameo role on '' Neighbours'', performing "Anywhere" with her live band in Charlie's Bar. In 2011, Koh released her third studio album, ''Oh My Garden'', with producer

and musician

. The video for Lo-Fi was ABC RAGE "Indie Clip of the Week" and InPress Street Mag's "Clip of the Year 2011". Lo-Fi was also voted into RAGE's Top 50 clips of 2011. She also launched her own independent label, Crying Ninja Records. Koh is an awarded songwriter, winning Best Contemporary Song at Independent Music Awards (USA) for "I Understand". She was a top ten finalist in the International Songwriting Competition for "Lo-Fi". (Both songs were co-written with Ben Lee and Brad Wood.) She toured China for the first time in 2013 to rave reviews. Cities visited included Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Changsha, Wuhan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Zaozhuang, Qufu, Beijing, Chengdu and Chongqing, and the tour was supported by Arts Victoria and ThisTownTouring. In 2019, she was a finalist in the prestigious Melbourne Music Prize, Emerging Composer category.

Discography

Albums

*'' All The Pretty Boys'' (2005) *'' All Shook Up'' (2008) *''Oh My Garden'' (2012) *''Book of Songs'' (2017)

EPs and singles

*"Anywhere" (2005) No. 3

Net 50 *"Silly Thing" (2006) EP *"Objects in This Mirror" (2008) single iTunes only *"Lo-Fi" single (2011) *"I Understand" single (2012) *"

One Thing Leads to Another "One Thing Leads to Another" is a song by English new wave band the Fixx, from their album '' Reach the Beach''. It is the band's most successful single, reaching number four on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in November 1983. It also peaked at ...

" single (2014) – as heard on

80's band

The Fixx The Fixx are a rock band from London, England, founded in 1979. The band's hits include " One Thing Leads to Another", " Saved by Zero", " Are We Ourselves?", and " Secret Separation", each of which charted in the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot ...

cover *"Tiger Not the Hare" single (2017)

Compilations

*''

'': "Charlie" (2005) *'' Like a Version 2'': " Creep" ( Radiohead) (2006) *'' Lazy Sunday'': "Silly Thing" (2006) *'' Acoustic 2'': "All The Pretty Boys" (2006) *'' RocKwiz Two for the Show'' with Jimmy Little: "Happy Together" (2006) DVD

Awards and nominations

Music Victoria Awards

The

Music Victoria Awards The Music Victoria Awards (previously known as The Age EG Awards and The Age Music Victoria Awards) are an annual awards night celebrating music from the Australian state of Victoria. They commenced in 2006 and are awarded in Melbourne Music W ...

are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. They commenced in 2006. ! , - ,

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

, ''Book of Songs'' , Best Folk Roots Album , , , -

References

External links

Sophie Koh Official Site
* ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzlIzADOuhw Sophie Koh video clip on youtube "Anywhere"br>Sophie Koh video clip on youtube "I Understand"Sophie Koh video clip on youtube "Lo-Fi"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koh, Sophie Living people Australian singer-songwriters Australian pianists Australian women pianists Australian people of Chinese descent Australian women guitarists New Zealand emigrants to Australia Australian women pop singers Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century pianists Australian women singer-songwriters 21st-century women pianists