Tara Priya
Tara Priya | |
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London-based musician Tara Priya performing at the Sebright Arms in east London's Bethnal Green neighbourhood. | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Tara Priya Chandra |
Also known as | Tara Priya |
Born |
San Francisco Bay Area, California | 3 December 1989
Genres | Soul music, Pop, blue-eyed soul, R&B |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
Years active | 2012-present |
Labels | P-Vine Records (Japan), Avex Group |
Website | http://www.tarapriya.com |
Tara Priya (born Tara Priya Chandra, December 3, 1989)[1] is a London-based[2] American singer-songwriter and vocalist. Tara Priya was born Tara Priya Chandra in San Francisco to a Persian mother, the niece of poet Sohrab Sepehri, and an Indian father.[3]
Early life
Tara Priya attended The Harker School in San Jose prior to Columbia University in New York City.[4] Priya majored in economics while studying jazz and classical voice.[5] After graduating from Columbia two years early, Priya moved to Los Angeles to focus on her career as a singer-songwriter.[6] She started off by singing hooks on rap demos in underground hip-hop studios in exchange for recording time for her own R&B/soul music.[7]
Career
Immediately after releasing a 6-track Motown-inspired EP,[8] Priya was nominated as one of the Best Emerging Artists by The Deli Magazine.[9] Shortly after, Priya was selected as one of three "Pop" genre finalists of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest[10] and named a category winner in the Billboard Song Contest.[11][12]
In January 2012, Priya signed to Japanese indie P-Vine Records[13] after her EP was discovered in a record shop in Kobe, Japan.[7][14] There, her first radio single "Run Like Hell" peaked at number 25[15] on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 and number six[16] on the Billboard Japan Digital and Airplay chart. This led to two subsequent tours of Japan, through Tower Records and Billboard Live, respectively.[17]
Clear Entertainment, a subsidiary of David Letterman's Worldwide Pants Incorporated,[18] signed Priya to their management roster.[19] The following March, Priya showcased at SXSW 2013 in Austin, TX,[20] after which she was named an "emerging icon" by The Huffington Post.[21] She then moved to London to work with British music producer Steve Booker on her 2014 album, Shot in the Dark, which was released in Asia by P-Vine Records and published by the Avex Group.[7]
In autumn 2014, British popular music and fashion magazine and website Clash premiered new music from Priya, noting that the track was "somewhere between classic soul, trip hop and the slumped productions of J Dilla".[22] The track, titled "One Foot Out", was co-produced by Priya and represented a significant departure from her earlier music.[22] UK newspaper The Sun followed by naming the song one of their "Hot Tracks", praising Priya's "jazz vocal".[23] Subsequent releases throughout 2015 gained her UK press and radio support, including by Time Out London,[24] BBC Radio 2's Jamie Cullum,[25] Tom Robinson of BBC Radio 6 Music,[26] and UK record label and club Ministry of Sound.[27]
In November 2016, The Independent premiered new music from Tara Priya, noting the singer "has been tipped for big things" and comparing her "sensual trip hop and soul" sound to fellow Londoner Sinéad Harnett.[28]
Discography
- Tara Priya (2012)
- Shot in the Dark (2014)
- Friends Like These (EP) (2015)
References
- ↑ "Tara Priya Biography". Last.fm. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
- ↑ "Premiere Tara Priya Ronika Remix | Magazine". www.ministryofsound.com. Retrieved 2016-11-09.
- ↑ "NXNE Concert Picks". The Toronto Star. 2013-06-12. Retrieved 2013-06-12.
- ↑ Bukowski, Danielle (September 2011). "Interview, Tara Priya". Side b Magazine. 04.
- ↑ "Tara Priya, CC '09, makes waves with retro soul". Columbia Daily Spectator. 2013-04-11. Retrieved 2013-10-02.
- ↑ "Two Old Souls". Mountain View Voice. 2010-12-03. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
- 1 2 3 admin-amp (2016-08-02). "Tara Priya". avex music publishing inc. Retrieved 2016-11-08.
- ↑ "San Francisco Retro Soul Queen Tara Priya Follows in the Footsteps of Amy Winehouse". mb! by Mercedes Benz. 2011-04-01. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
- ↑ "Best of LA #42: Tara Priya". La.thedelimagazine.com. 2011-02-14. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
- ↑ "John Lennon Songwriting Contest". Jlsc.com. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
- ↑ "Tara Priya". P-Vine.jp. 2012-01-07. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
- ↑ "Songwriting Competitions". ASCAP.com. 2011-03-15. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
- ↑ "P-Vine Records Artist Roster". p-vine.jp. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
- ↑ "Tara Priya - ST (2010) (New CD) - デシネ・ショップ・オンライン - dessinee shop online". dessineeshop.com. Retrieved 2016-11-09.
- ↑ "Japan Hot 100". Billboard.com. 2012-02-18. Retrieved 2012-02-25.
- ↑ "Billboard JAPAN Digital and Airplay Overseas". Billboard-Japan.com. 2012-02-20. Retrieved 2012-02-25.
- ↑ "Tara Priya". Time Out Tokyo. 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2013-02-25.
- ↑ "David Letterman Starts Record Label". Entertainment Weekly. 2010-04-28. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
- ↑ "Clear Entertainment Music Artists". http://clearentertainmentmusic.com/. Retrieved 2013-04-04. External link in
|publisher=
(help) - ↑ "Tara Priya Schedule sxsw". http://schedule.sxsw.com/. Retrieved 2013-02-14. External link in
|publisher=
(help) - ↑ "You Need To Hear This". The Huffington Post. 2013-05-07. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
- 1 2 "Premiere: Tara Priya - 'One Foot Out'". Clash Magazine. Retrieved 2016-11-08.
- ↑ "Hot Tracks". The Sun. 21 November 2014. p. 62.
- ↑ "Five great new female acts from London". Time Out London. Retrieved 2016-11-08.
- ↑ "A-Z of Jazz - I, Jamie Cullum - BBC Radio 2". BBC. Retrieved 2016-11-08.
- ↑ "200415, Tom Robinson Introducing... - BBC Radio 6 Music". BBC. Retrieved 2016-11-08.
- ↑ "Premiere Tara Priya Ronika Remix | Magazine". www.ministryofsound.com. Retrieved 2016-11-08.
- ↑ "Tara Priya releases new single 'Fascinate Ya' - premiere". The Independent. 2016-11-07. Retrieved 2016-11-09.