Ladyhawke (musician)

Phillipa Margaret Brown was born on 13 July 1979 in Masterton, a town in the Wairarapa region of New Zealand. She came from a musical family, with her mother being a singer/guitarist and her stepfather a jazz drummer. During her childhood, various illnesses and allergies kept her in and out of the hospital. At age ten she contracted erysipeloid, a disease that is common in seagulls and sharks but had not been seen in humans in New Zealand for twenty years. Her allergies to antibiotics and antihistamines greatly complicated treatment efforts and almost put her into a coma, and she came close to dying. As an adult, Brown was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. She believes that the large amount of her childhood she spent absorbed in music, be it listening to the radio or to her mother's Beatles and Pretenders albums, was attributable to this syndrome. she played in several grunge bands. After high school, Brown moved from Masterton to Wellington. ==Recording career==

Two Lane Blacktop (2001–2003) In 2001 in Wellington, Brown formed the band Two Lane Blacktop with some friends, playing lead guitar. She described the group as being "like Iggy and The Stooges meets The Clash". She cites her experience playing the notorious New York City club CBGB with Two Lane Blacktop as being a defining moment. Brown and Littlemore co-wrote "Alone Again" and "West" for Teenager. Soon after the album's appearance Brown left to concentrate on her career as Ladyhawke, she later credited Littlemore: Solo career (2006–present) festival 2008/2009 Ladyhawke (2007–2009) Still close with Littlemore, Brown decided to leave Teenager to focus on a personal project she had been developing for some time, a persona she had dubbed Ladyhawke. She named herself so after a character played by Michelle Pfeiffer in the 1985 film of the same name because she sees herself as "a sort of pop superwoman creating radio-friendly songs with a single bound". and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand for sales in excess of 15,000 copies. In both Australia and the United Kingdom, it reached number sixteen, and was certified gold. Its biggest hit single was "My Delirium", which charted inside the top ten in both New Zealand and Australia. A limited 7-inch version of "Back of the Van"—each one hand painted by Sarah Larnach—was sold on eBay. All proceeds were given to the Parkinsons Society of New Zealand. In August 2009 it was announced that she would co-headline a North American tour with Ida Maria, starting 10 September in Atlanta and concluding 3 October in Los Angeles. The tour was sponsored by celebrity blogger Perez Hilton. Her second album was initially scheduled for an October 2011 release, but in September, a spokesperson stated that it was not due to be released until 2012. It was later announced that the album was due for release in March 2012, and that it would be titled Anxiety. Anxiety's release date was later pushed back to May 2012. In an interview with Digital Spy, Ladyhawke said "I've made an album I'm really proud of, so I just can't wait to start playing with the band again, and touring and having some fun. I can't wait to get back into it." "Black White & Blue" was released as Anxiety's lead single on 24 January 2012, the song was featured in the soundtracks of the video games Forza Horizon, FIFA 13, and Sleeping Dogs. The single "Sunday Drive" followed in April, and the album itself was released in late May. In July 2012, a third single, "Blue Eyes", was released. In February 2014, her song "Blue Eyes" was used in a series of Verizon commercials in the United States. Wild Things (2013–2016) On 28 March 2013 Ladyhawke announced she would return to the studio to record her third solo album. By the middle of 2015, the album was finished. In the first half of 2016, it was announced that the record was titled Wild Things. In anticipation, two songs, "A Love Song" and "Sweet Fascination", were made available. The album was released on 3 June 2016. Her song "Let It Roll" was used in an advertisement for Australian telecommunications company Optus. "The River" and "A Love Song" are featured in the soundtrack of the 2016 racing video game Forza Horizon 3. Time Flies (2020–present) On 24 September 2020, Ladyhawke announced that she was in the studio mixing a new record that would be available soon. In March 2021, she revealed that she had signed a new label and publishing deal with BMG. On 27 May 2021, the album title Time Flies was revealed, and the video for the second single, "Mixed Emotions", debuted. The album was set for release on 8 October 2021, but the release date was moved to 19 November 2021. Ladyhawke stated how she was "....lucky and privileged to be alive and in a room making music" after being diagnosed with Clark's level-four melanoma soon after the birth of her daughter. “There were a couple of weeks where they couldn't tell me if I was going to live....that it had not spread was something of a miracle. The level of it was so bad that it sort of should have gone everywhere." Ladyhawke was cleared by her specialist after undergoing treatment and recovered. She started the recording process for Time Flies during the COVID-19 pandemic, with sessions taking place during video calls with producers Tommy English and Josh Fountain. ==Collaborations==

Ladyhawke collaborated with Pnau on "Embrace" from the duo's 2007 self-titled album. The Charlatans' Tim Burgess said in September 2010 that he is collaborating with Ladyhawke and members of The Horrors and Klaxons on his second solo album. "I've been working with Josh [Hayward], the guitarist from The Horrors and Stefan [Halperin], the drummer from the Klaxons and right now we can only do stuff when our other bands aren't doing things. But when we do get together, it's really explosive and it'll be well worth waiting for. I've also got Ladyhawke singing on it." In December 2011, Burgess revealed that he had collaborated with Ladyhawke on a song entitled "Just One Kiss", which was eventually released on his 2018 album As I Was Now. In 2011, Ladyhawke collaborated with New Zealand singer Nik Brinkman, better known as Junica, on the single "Living in My House". Also in 2011, she remixed the song "Sister Wife" by American singer Alex Winston. In 2014, Ladyhawke appeared on the Tiësto album A Town Called Paradise with a track called "Last Train"; Firebeatz also appeared on the track. In 2019, Ladyhawke was featured on the single "Never Dance Alone", from Australian alternative dance group Crooked Colours' album Langata. In December 2020, Ladyhawke released "River", her second collaboration with Pnau. Pnau vocalist Nick Littlemore spoke of their experience working together again, stating "It seems every time we’ve collaborated with her it’s been incendiary. We met a long while ago; within moments of meeting it was clear we had a deep connection." In August 2024, Lawyhawke on stage in Sydney playing her self titled debut in full confirmed she had been working with Nick Littlemore on their 2007 project Teenager with new music to be released. Several crowd members had been yelling the song titles from the project such as "Alone Again" which the singer responded to an audience member by confirming the project. ==Influences and comparisons==

Ladyhawke is noted as being influenced by 1980s music. She has been linked to a wave of 1980s-influenced, individualistic, androgynous female musicians in their twenties who emerged in the late 2000s. Brown also draws inspiration from music of the '90s, including Nirvana. "Listening to Nirvana takes me back to being fourteen at the school disco. Bands from the nineties have that effect on me." Peaches, to whom Ladyhawke's music has been compared, remixed the single "Paris Is Burning", Ladyhawke's music has also been likened to that of Cyndi Lauper, She has also described video game music as an influence, particularly retro Japanese chiptune music from the 8-bit and 16-bit eras. ==Other pursuits==

Ladyhawke appeared as herself in the third episode of the British ITV2 sitcom FM, originally aired 11 March 2009. Also in 2009, she designed Music Inspired Art labels for limited edition bottles of Beck's. Labels were illustrated by Sydney-based artist Sarah Larnach, who lived with Ladyhawke back when she was first getting started on her music career. In 2016, Ladyhawke was featured as part of the group going on a road trip in Air New Zealand's safety video, Summer of Safety. In 2021, Ladyhawke released a limited-edition video game cartridge keychain in conjunction with the release of her fourth album, Time Flies. The game takes Ladyhawke on a journey to complete her album while encountering characters from the "Time Flies Universe", with digitized versions of the album tracks providing the soundtrack. ==Personal life==

Brown is a lesbian. She moved from London to Los Angeles in 2013. On 20 June 2017 she announced her pregnancy. After a police shooting occurred near their apartment, she returned to Auckland, NZ in 2017. Her first child, a daughter, Sami and Brown announced the end of the relationship in 2023. Brown is a fan of video games, describing herself as "a big, big gamer". Brown has a contralto vocal range. ==Discography==

• Ladyhawke (2008) • Anxiety (2012) • Wild Things (2016) • Time Flies (2021) ==Awards==

;New Zealand Music Awards ; APRA Awards The APRA Awards are held in Australia and New Zealand by the Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually. ;ARIA Music Awards ;Brit Awards ;NME Awards ;MTV Australia Awards ;MTV Europe Music Awards ==References==