Music Frischmann began writing and studying music at age 11. Frischmann later founded and fronted her own band,
Elastica. In 1994, Elastica were voted Best New Band by
NME readers at the Brit awards. They were signed to
Deceptive Records in the UK, and later with
Geffen Records in Europe and the US. Their first album,
Elastica, released in 1995, became the fastest-selling debut album in UK history. In 1995, Elastica were nominated for the
Mercury Music Prize for
Elastica. The album went on to sell over a million copies worldwide. In 2001, the band announced an amicable breakup, citing, in part, burnout from a grueling touring schedule. Frischmann spent the next few years developing artist
M.I.A., whom she discovered. M.I.A. was Frischmann's friend and flatmate. Frischmann co-wrote and produced M.I.A.'s demos for her first album,
Arular, most notably its 2003 single "
Galang". In 2017,
Rough Trade Records released a remastered version of
Elastica. In 2019, Rough Trade released a limited edition Elastica BBC sessions album on UK Record Store Day.
Television In 2003, Frischmann co-presented a series called
Dreamspaces for
BBC Television about
modern architecture. In 2004, she presented
The South Bank Show and was a judge for the RIBA
Stirling Prize for Architecture.
Art In 2005, Frischmann moved to
Boulder, Colorado, to enroll in a master's program in
visual arts at
Naropa University, a small,
Buddhist-inspired liberal arts college, and "become a nobody". In 2012, her work was shortlisted for the UK's Marmite Prize for painting, and she has been included in The Amsterdam List of 1000 Living Painters. In a 2012 interview, Frischmann said, "The themes and ideas I am working with are in direct relation to an ongoing personal narrative; the big questions are reflected in the choices I make in my art ... [including] my ever-evolving relationship with my spiritual faith. I think my approach and aesthetics reveal internal struggles and speak to my family origins and history." In a 2016 interview with
The Guardian regarding her art career, Frischmann stated, "I don't really have any desire to make music, to be honest." ==Personal life==